Even without a first-round pick, the Lightning wrapped up its draft with seven picks Saturday, starting with Gabriel Fortier, an undersized 18-year-old forward from Quebec in the second round.
"They were guys that we really wanted," Lightning director of amateur scouting Al Murray told reporters at the draft in Dallas. "They fit our criteria — exactly the type of player, the type of person, the background, their situation going forward to develop. They all had all those attributes. It was a really good day for us."
The Lightning has had great success with smaller, quicker forwards, and though Fortier was listed as a left wing, general manager Steve Yzerman said he can play any of the three forward positions.
"I spoke with (the Lightning) a couple of times, so I knew there was an interest, but I never knew this was going to happen," the 5-foot-10, 177-pound prospect said. "When I was 5 years old I started playing hockey. I wanted this moment, so it's a great day for my family and me. It's amazing."
Fortier tallied 26 goals and 33 assists last season for Baie-Comeau of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His brother, Max, is a wing prospect in the Blue Jackets' system. He said one of the players he patterns his game after is Brendan Gallagher, a 5-9 forward for the Canadiens who plays bigger than his size.
"He's not the biggest guy on the ice, but he's not scared to go in the corner against the 6-foot-4 guys," Fortier said. "He works hard every shift. This year Montreal had a rough year, but everyone was talking about him and how he was working every night. I think it's a good comparison with me."
The Lightning didn't have a first-round pick because it traded it to the Rangers as part of the February deal for defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller.
Two in net
The Lightning didn't draft a goalie last year and had taken just two total in the previous four drafts, but it took two Saturday, getting Sweden's Magnus Chrona, 17, in the fifth round and British Columbia's Ty Taylor, 18, with its second seventh-round pick. It had drafted two goalies in the same class just once in the previous 14 years, in 2009. Chrona (6-4, 194) and plays for Nacka HK in Sweden's junior under-18 league. Taylor (6-3, 196) is from Vernon of the British Columbia League.
Defensive-minded
After taking Fortier, the Lightning turned to defense with is next two picks, getting 6-3 Russian Dmitry Semykin in the third round and 6-2 Alex Green, who just finished his freshman year at Cornell, in the third. A third defenseman, 6-1 Radim Salda, 19, of the Czech Republic and Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior League, went in the seventh round.
Semykin, 18, showed scoring potential with junior team Kapitan Stupino in Stupino, Russia, last season, with eight goals and seven assists in 41 games. He also had 118 penalty minutes, nearly twice as many as his closest teammate. Green, 20, had two goals and eight assists last season on a Big Red team that went 25-6-2 and reached the NCAA tournament regions.
One more
In the sixth round, the Lightning drafted forward Cole Koepke, 20, who played for Sioux City of the USHL last season. He scored 28 goals and 11 assists in 60 games, and is committed to play at Minnesota-Duluth, which won a national championship in April.
"I'm a bigger forward, more of a power forward," Koepke, 6-1 and 196, told reporters. "I do things on the penalty kill and forechecking and getting pucks to the net and getting out front and using my size to my advantage."
Contact Greg Auman at gauman@tampabay.com and (813) 310-2690. Follow @gregauman.