Tampa Bays 2016 Entry Draft

With the 2016 EHE entry come and gone, GM Hill and fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning feel they have a lot of excitement to look forward to with the selections made.  From a future star winger to an underrated, undrafted (NHL Entry Draft) 5^th round goalie, there is a lot to look forward too.

With the 9^th overall pick, GM Hill was expecting to take defensemen Mikhail Sergachev or small, but super skilled Clayton Keller, but to say Hill was upset when Swedish winger, Alex Nylander fell and was available is an understatement.  Nylander proved to be one of the most skilled players in the OHL in just his first year playing on North American soil with the North American game.  With 75 points in just 57 games for the Mississauga Steelheads, he proved that he has plenty of skill and that his style of play transfers well to the North American game.  What also makes that point total impressive is that he outscored the next leader point getter on the Steelheads, Michael McLeod, by 14 points.  Oh and not to mention McLeod was also a 1^st round pick.

With the first, of eventually four 2^nd round picks, GM Hill selected large forward Cliff Pu from the powerhouse London Knights at 41^st overall.  While not putting up earth shattering numbers with only 12 goals and 31 points in 63 games, the argument can be made that those totals would have been greater if he wasn’t playing behind such players as Mitch Marner, Christian Dvorak, Max Jones and Keith Tkachuk.  This year, the 6.02 winger will become a top line player for the Knight who unfortunately could have a little bit of an down year with the expectation that Marner and Dvorak will be gone and the chance of Tkachuk sticking with his NHL team.  If those scenarios pan out, Pu could form a top line with 2016, 1^st rounder, Max Jones.  No matter what happens to the London Knights, Pu will look to build upon a solid post season in which he produced 13 points in 18 games, again playing a secondary role on a stacked team. 

At 42^nd overall, The Lightning selected undersized, but super skilled Russian, Vitali Abramov.  If a player is only 5.09, 175b lbs, it’s important that they have speed to burn and a high skill level to navigate the playing field.  Abramov showed those skills in his first year in the QMJHL by scoring an impressive 93 points in just 63 games.  That point total lead the Gatineau Olympiques by an impressive 20 points on his way to winning the QMJHL rookie of the year award. Abramov will most likely return to Gatineau to build on the success he had this past year while GM Hill hopes that he gets a chance to play for his country at the WJC to showcase his world class skill against the best in the world in his age group.

The 45^th overall selection brought skilled WHL center, Sam Steel to the Lightning’s farm system.  The young center was not expected to be available this late in the 2^nd round after being selected with the 30^th pick in the NHL entry draft by Anaheim.  A highly touted center ever since he was drafted into the WHL, Steel put up good numbers for the Regina Pats with 70 points in 72 games and has been invited to Team Canada’s WJC camp this summer.  Like Abramov, the hope is that Steel can earn a spot on team Canada to show what he can do against the best.

With the fourth and final pick in the 2^nd round, at 52^nd overall, GM Hill selected offensive defensemen Frederic Allard.  Very similar to fellow 2^nd round pick, Samuel Girard, both players are known for putting up points, and a lot of them at that.  Allard put up an impressive 59 points in 64 games which placed him 3^rd on the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.  Where Allard may need to change the way he operates is his attitude.  He is a little bit of show off which can get him in trouble on and off the ice at times.  There is no doubting his skill which will only get him so far before he needs to become a professional. 

With the Lightning’s final pick in the 2016 EHE Entry Draft, they selected goaltender Michael McNiven.  McNiven was passed over in last years in the NHL entry draft but was immediately signed by the Montreal Canadians.   McNiven was given the starting job in Owen Sound this year and had an impressive year on a bad team.  He is expected to be back in the OHL next year with the hope that his team can be improved in front of him to help his stats out.