A look at the top prospects of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League
Tampa Bay Lightning, which plays in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) is a team which did not have many prospects and upcoming players in last few years but now they are starting to have players which can develop in coming years
and will their team ahead.
Also called “The Bolts”, Tampa Bay have signed few years in free agencies and picked up few players in the draft, which has made their prospects pool look much better now. There are still few places in their team which have to be filled and players need
to brought in but they are right on their way to fill them.
Following is the list of few of the top prospects of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Nikita Kucherov
Nikita Kucherov is a 19-year-old Russian forward, who plays in the position of right winger and currently plays in Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has also represented Russia in the under-18 and under-20 world junior championships, as he won silver medal
in under-20 world championships.
The Maikop, Russia native was selected 58th overall in the second round of 2011 NHL draft and he is expected to join Quebec Remparts in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) sometime.
J.T. Brown
J.T. Brown is one of the exceptional cases when a player remains undrafted but still makes his way into the national team. The U.S. international player represented USA in the 2012 World Championships of Ice Hockey and was signed by Tampa Bay Lightning,
even though he had other teams wanting him as well.
Son of former NFL player, Ted Brown, Joshua Thomas Brown made his NHL debut at the end of last year when he played five games and scored one point, which was an assist. He would be looking to score more next season when he gets more chance.
Director of Amateur scouting of Tampa Bay, Al Murray thinks that Brown could occupy a first team place next season, as he said,
"He finished the end of the season five games at the end of the year and showed himself very well on one of our top two lines. J.T. will be right in the thick of competing for a regular position with Tampa Bay this year."
Cory Conacher
Cory Conacher is a Canadian professional player and he is playing for Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League (AHL) presently. He was also undrafted but he was signed by Lightning this year in March and played last season with Norfolk Admirals.
Though he is very short at 5-foot-8 but he is a very talented left winger and would be expected to do well in coming years.
Murray also had good things to say about him as he said,
"He's got a competitive streak. Like http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8476806, he'll come in and have a chance to compete for a spot on our team. He really proved himself as a first-year pro last year as the dominant offensive player in the AHL."
Andrey Vesilevskiy
Vesilevskiy is one of the top upcoming goaltenders in the world of hockey, who represents Russia regularly in junior competitions. He was Lightning’s top pick in the 2012 NHL draft as he was selected 19th in the first round.
The Tyumen, Russia native has already won bronze medal in under-18 world championships and silver medal in under-20 world championships, so he can be expected to go on and become a great goalie for Lightning.
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