Advertisement

Lightning looks to continue trend of hidden gems in NHL draft

 
Lightning wing Ondrej Palat gets high fives as he heads down the tunnel for a pregame warmup.
Lightning wing Ondrej Palat gets high fives as he heads down the tunnel for a pregame warmup.
Published June 26, 2015

SUNRISE

Unless the Lightning makes a bold deal for the Coyotes' No. 3 overall pick, which appears available, don't expect to see Tampa Bay snag a household name at this weekend's NHL draft. l "It's really hard to move way up, it's virtually impossible," general manager Steve Yzerman said. "It'd be difficult for us to get one of those picks." l But Tampa Bay boasts nine overall selections — including tonight's No. 28 overall — which could prove fruitful considering its penchant for plucking gems out of later-round picks. l There's Ondrej Palat, a seventh-rounder in 2011 who turned into a Calder Trophy finalist, or "Triplets" linemate Nikita Kucherov, a 29-goal scorer last season taken five rounds earlier.

Alex Killorn, one of Tampa Bay's best playoff performers, was a third-rounder in 2007. Cedric Paquette, charged with shutting down Blackhawks star Jonathan Toews in the Stanley Cup final, was a fourth-rounder in 2012.

"We've been lucky," Yzerman said. "Truthfully, some of the guys, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, drafted not necessarily in the first round, you hear that a lot. If we would have known Ondrej was going to be that good, we wouldn't have waited till the seventh round to get him."

Yzerman, named the league's GM of the year on Wednesday, said any team that has long-term success in the NHL needs "home-grown talent." It's impossible, he said, to build based purely on free agency and trades, especially with the salary cap. "You need those assets to build the team," he said.

And Yzerman, along with his scouting staff led by Al Murray, has accumulated a significant pipeline of prospects that fueled Tampa Bay's run to the Stanley Cup final and what could keep it competitive in coming years. Eleven players on the Lightning's postseason playoff roster were acquired in the draft. Having started with cornerstones such as Steven Stamkos (No. 1 overall in 2008) and defenseman Victor Hedman (No. 2 overall in 2009) — selections by the previous regime — certainly helped. But four came from the 2011 draft, center Vladislav Namestnikov (first round), Kucherov (second), defenseman Nikita Nesterov (fifth) and Palat (seventh).

There's not an exact science to striking gold with later-round picks. It takes strong scouting, persistence and, of course, good fortune. Take the 2011 draft. When some NHL teams were hesitant to take Russian players, the Lightning snagged three in consecutive selections. Murray said they followed Kucherov in European tournaments and on his Under-18 and Under-17 Russian teams, and the wing was "always the best player." Kucherov stole the show while playing with Nail Yakupov, who would go No. 1 overall to the Oilers in 2012.

"Yakupov was a dynamic player with speed and skill, but it came to the end of the tournament, Kucherov was the better player," Murray said.

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter

We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Murray first saw Palat while working for Team Canada, with the wing impressing with his two-way game with Drummondville (QMJHL). Murray told area scouts to keep an eye on him. When it came to the 2011 draft, Murray said assistant general manager Julien BriseBois approached him on the second day, saying they could get an extra seventh-round pick. Was there another player he was interested in? Murray planned to invite Palat to their development camp, but with five other teams interested in doing the same, the Lightning pulled the trigger and selected him 208th overall.

"Always nice to have some extra bullets," Murray said.

That's why Yzerman said they're leaning toward using all nine of their picks, six acquired via trades. Yzerman does have flexibility to deal this weekend, and he would need to unload a contract (such as veteran defenseman Matt Carle's $5.5 million cap hit) in order to do anything of significance when free agency begins July 1. "I'm not really looking at anything like that right now," Yzerman said.

But anything can change tonight while on the draft floor. "I don't believe in doing things just to do it," Yzerman said. "But if something makes sense, we'll look at it."

NOTES: Yzerman said the team is beginning discussions on its restricted free agents such as defenseman Andrej Sustr. Yzerman said he'll also talk with veteran Brenden Morrow, 36. a pending unrestricted free agent, in the next few days about his future plans.

Contact Joe Smith at joesmith@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_JSmith.