Lightning add two Russians in draft
The Tampa Bay Lightning put the expansion draft and the entry draft in the rearview mirror on Saturday, but the offseason continues to roll on.
The official window for clubs to speak with pending unrestricted free agents from other teams opens at midnight Sunday. And even though such players cannot be signed until July 1, the Lightning will be exploring their options in the market. They have several roster spots, including a top-four defenseman, to fill, and $23 million in cap space.
Of course, they also have their own pending free agents to try and re-sign first: Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. Yanni Gourde is an unrestricted free agent the Lightning would like to re-sign as well.
While those storylines will play out in the weeks ahead, Saturday’s storylines involved youth, particularly young Russians.
The second through seventh rounds of the annual NHL Entry Draft were held Saturday in Chicago. Because of trades, Tampa Bay had only five picks. The Lightning used them to draft three centers, a right wing and a defenseman.
“We were able to fill some needs and get some players that we liked and identified before the draft,” Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said at the United Center, where the draft was held. “When it comes to that spot in the draft, which player do we really really want, and we were able to get some of the guys that we really wanted.”
The Lightning used their second- and third-round picks on Russians Alexander Volkov and Alexey Lipanov. Lipanov is a 17-year-old from Moscow, who is a 6-foot, 169-pound center. Volkov, a right wing, missed the World Junior Championships and part of his Russian junior season because of a broken foot.
“We really like the way he plays the game,” Yzerman said of Volkov. “He’s a big, strong kid, and he’s 19 years old. We believe he fits into the style of play that we play.”
Both players speak English, and the Lightning expect both to attend the team’s development camp, which is scheduled for next week. Volkov is not under contract to an overseas club.
“We don’t care whether they are Russian or Canadian or American,” Yzerman said. “We want good people. We want people with character. We want good hockey players who are intelligent hockey players.”
With their two picks in the sixth round, the Lightning chose high school players, defenseman Nick Prebix and center Cole Guttman. Prebix is from Elk River High School in Minnesota. He plans to play with Omaha in the USHL next season before attending St. Cloud State University on a scholarship. Guttman scored 54 points in 53 games for Dubuque (Iowa) in the USHL and plans to return to the club this season. He also plans to attend St. Cloud State.
In the seventh round, Tampa Bay selected Sam Walker, a University of Minnesota commit out of Edina (Minn.) High School.
This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Lightning add two Russians in draft."