2020 Tampa Bay draft review

Tampa Bay entered the 2020 EHE entry draft with 6 picks.  After a couple of trades were completed, the number of picks remained the same, but an additional late 1st round pick was added to help add to the prospect pipeline of the Lightning. 

1st round, 29th overall, W Jan Mysak

NHL Draft - Montreal Canadians, 2020 2nd round, 48th overall 

Jan Mysak is a guy that can play in all situations and began to really excel offensively in Hamilton of the OHL before the season was lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  He decided to stay in his native land to play in the Czech professional league for Litvinov HC.  This decision was made after he was assured by the current coach that he would get plenty of minutes if he were to stay in Europe to develop.  From September to December, these minutes were in fact hard to come by and once he joined his age group at the World JUnior Championship, he decided to move across the pond to play for The Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL.  Once in Hamilton, he was used as a top penalty killer as well as an offencive weapon.    

1st round, 31st overall, D Egor Zamula

NHL draft - Undrafted - UDFA signing by Philadelphia Flyers

One of the top overagers in the draft available, GM Hill did not want the opportunity to draft a potential top pairing defenseman pass by, therefore the trade was made with the NY Rangers to acquire the 31st overall pick.  In order to do this, Tampa Bay sent their own 2021 1st pick, as well as a 2020 4th round pick to acquire the 31st overall pick in 2020 and a 2021 5th round pick.  “Zamula really popped for us at the World Junior Championship when he was Russia’s top defensmen in all situations”.  Zamula was a point per game player in the WHL for the Calgary Hitman.  Unfortunately for Zamula he ended up having season ending surgery on his back after returning from the WJC.  “Our doctors are fully confident that Egor will make a full recovery in time to join the Syracuse Crunch at the beginning of the 2020/2021 season”, Hill told reporters early.

2nd round, 60th overall, D Mason Millman

NHL draft - Philadelphia Flyers, 2019 4th round, 103rd overall

Another player that was entering his 2nd draft, Mason Millman is a solid two-way defensmen who has recently been invited to team Canada’s evaluation camp for the upcoming WJC.  Millman was passed over in the 2019 entry draft after a less than spectacular season in Sagina of the OHL scoring only 25 points.  This season, Millman has come in and almost doubled his point total from last year (44 points) and in 8 less games played.  The hope is that Millman makes team Canada, has a good showing, and takes the confidence into the rest of the season to give him a good foundation to turn pro for the 2021/2022 season.

4th round, 120th overall, LW Sean Farrell

NHL draft - Montreal Canadians, 2020 4th round, 124th overall

Skill, skill, skill is how we describe Sean Farrell.  A very skilled forward that makes his linemantes better.  Not considered a goal scorer but a puck distributor, leading the USHL in assists with 41 in 44 games.  Committed to Harvard University for the upcoming season, will be fun to watch how he performs against bigger and older competition.  That is because Farrell is listed at 5’9”, 175lbs.  “We feel NCAA is definitely the right road for Farrell to follow, playing against players that could be 3-5 years older then he is will help his development and his overall readiness for when it’s time to turn pro”.  

5th round, 136th overall, C Oliver Tarnstrom

NHL draft - New York Rangers, 2020 3rd round, 92nd overall

Late bloomer alert, at least that's what the Tampa Bay Lightning were thinking when they made Tarnstrom the 136th overall pick.  Listed at 6 foot but only 158lbs, we see a lot of room to grow and get bigger.  “He turned 18 only a couple months ago so there is absolutely room for him to grow and put on some weight so that he can get to those dirty areas when needed.  We actually see similarities in Oliver that we saw in Adam Beckman in his draft year.  Beckman was a shade under 170 lbs, leaving lots of room to grow, and if you look at Adam’s draft plus 1 year, he made huge strides in production  and was named WHL MVP”.  The plan for Tarnstrom is to stay in Europe for a couple years to get stronger while playing against men, then The Lightning would bring him over and spend another year or two in the minors before making the big club.

5th round, 147th overall, D Gianni Fairbrother

NHL draft - Montreal Canadians, 2019 3rd round, 77th overall

A common theme with a few of the draft picks made by Hill during the draft weekend is that he targeted a few, 2nd year eligible players.  Fairbrother is another one that was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2019 NHL entry draft, so snagging him in the 5th round of the 2020 EHE entry draft should be considered a success.  “Calling this pick or any other pick a success is not fair to any of these players drafted this weekend.  Most of these guys will not get a chance in the EHE for at least a few years, it's a long process that we are starting with these players.  That's why we as a franchise look at drafted slightly older, or 2nd draft eligible guys so that they are a little closer to helping our team out in the pros”, Hill commented.  Playing in Everett in the WHL for the last few years, Fairbrother has made progress each year in terms of production and leadership for the team.  Not projected to be a point producer at the next level, the hope is that he can develop into a bottom pairing defenseman that can play on the penalty kill and move the puck up to the forwards efficiently.