Submitted by chad on June 28, 2015 - 19:14

Another draft has come and gone in Lightningland and the NFL-Draft-trained masses are expecting a grade and a winner or loser label.

Not happening here, sorry. There are few things as meaningless as draft grades the day after a draft. Reactions now to a draft will be completely different in five years, but you already knew that.

That soapbox aside, we can look at what the Lightning did this weekend and compare it to our system pre-draft wish list for player position and player types. Of course, Lightning Director of Scouting Al Murray said the club doesn’t pay attention to positions. He also said we wouldn't believe him.

“We don’t care where you play, just that you play the way we want you to play,” he told Lightning Radio.

Some will believe him, some won’t, but there is a lot of truth in the second part of that statement. Lightning GM Steve Yzerman played his way into the Hall of Fame doing the little things right. He was a player who had all the skill in the world, but it wasn’t until he committed to being a leader and 2-way player that he got to lift that big silver trophy above his head multiple times and watch as his jersey hoisted to the Joe's rafters.

He knows the ingredients required for a winning team.

The Lightning players know it now, too, after coming within two wins of the Cup this season. Lessons were learned, and likely affected this year's draft philosophy at least a little.

Tampa Bay has always prioritized character, compete-level, and hockey I.Q. combined with skill, but perhaps those ingredients were raised a little higher in priority after the Lightning’s 2015 playoff run. The Lightning also learned they weren’t always a difficult team to play against, so those qualities also found their way to the draft list.

The Lightning went into the draft with nine picks, but traded out of the first round to pick up an extra pick (No. 72 overall).

Murray told Lightning Radio the draft leading up to Tampa Bay’s original spot at No. 28 went about as they expected. He said there were two special players at the top (McDavid, Eichel), then a group of about 12-15 players in the second tier. After that, he said, were 30-50 guys who they felt were very strong.

Murray said the team thought there’d be “some movement” in the 20-30 range of the first round. Yzerman tried to move the team up at least once, but it didn’t pan out. Yzerman later told reporters had there been a player they really wanted at 28 he wouldn’t have traded down, but reading between the lines a player was taken just before 28 that caused the change in direction.

Murray said they rank the players by number, but also assign letter grades to each one. At 28 there were several players in the same grade level, so a trade down to pick up an extra pick made sense.

So, who was the player the Lightning were targeting as the draft crept closer to No. 28? They’ll never tell, but we can guess. Gritty scorer Brock Boeser went at 23 to Vancouver, with Travis Konecny (Flyers), Jack Roslovic (Jets), Noah Juulsen (Habs), and Jacob Larsson (Ducks) going 24-27. We’re betting it was Roslovic, though any one of them could have been the guy. All but Konecny arguably fit the Lightning’s needs for the system.

Before the draft we identified the following four “needs” (hopes?) for the Bolts' farm. There were some roles deeper than others, and some ingredients in need of re-supply.

The four needs compared to what transpired (in no particular order):

1. Center with size, playmaking ability

The Lightning took Memorial Cup hero Anthony Cirelli at 72 overall, but at 5’11” 160 Cirelli doesn’t have a lot of size to offer, unless you count the size of his effort, which is substantial. He’s also not a true playmaker at this point of his OHL career, but he will get the chance to show that side of his game next year with the defending champs. Considered one of the draft’s sleepers, Cirelli could pan out as a second line center some day if his offensive game blossoms and he puts on weight. At this moment he projects as more of a bottom-6 forward, but he's not entering the NHL at this moment.

2. Goaltender (or 2) for the next wave behind Wilcox

Kristian Oldham was chosen out of USHL Omaha, where he will play another year before becoming a University of Nebraska-Omaha Maverick like Andrej Sustr. Ideally, the Lightning would have scooped up a CHL goalie who’d be ready for an open Syracuse spot in two years (none were on the docket), but Oldham will have plenty of time to develop at his own pace in Nebraska. Tampa Bay will probably bring in a free agent junior goalie to prospect camp, who could be signed and sent back to the CHL. In the end, it's not like they'll look around in fall 2017 and grab some guy off the street to play goalie. It'll get taken care of.

3. Size at wing

Although Mitchell Stephens (33rd overall) was drafted as a center, Murray said they project him as a wing in the mold of Ryan Callahan. At 5’11” 188, Stephens could be around 6’ and over 200 pounds when he’s ready for NHL time. Callahan is 5’11” 190, but as Lightning and Ranger fans know, plays much bigger and is a coach's dream. Murray pointed out that Stephens was a fourth line banger for a deep Canada squad in last summer’s Ivan Hlinka tournament, but with lighter roster in the spring for Canada’s U18 team, he was on a scoring line and produced like a scorer. He was also the captain. There is offensive upside here.

Dennis Yan (64) is 6’1”, but is more of a skill-first player as opposed to a gritty winger in the mold of Alex Killorn or Callahan capable of winning wall battles and setting up shop in the blue ice. Someone’s got to be a reliable scorer and it’s never a bad idea to swing for the fences with skill in the third round and beyond.

Jonne Tammela (118), like Stephens, is underrated in the skill department, but is known for his play on the wall and forecheck, as well as his overall speed. It would be great if Tammela was a CHL Import Draft pick this week. If he comes to the CHL and plays on a scoring line, his ceiling could be a little higher (or at least clearer). If he plays against men in Finland it will likely be on a lower line, which could diminish his offensive development. EDIT: Tammela was taken by Peterborough 15th overall in the 2015 CHL Import Draft. He'll join Masin and Spencer in Peterborough.

Mathieu Joseph (120) is another player – like Stephens – who plays bigger than his frame. At 6’0”, Joseph is more of an agitator than a power forward, but still fits an overall need/hope in the organization. The Bolts took Cristiano DiGiacinto last year to fill the same projected role. Yzerman may not like traditional enforcers, but he recognizes the need to be feared.

Speaking of fear, Bokondji Imama (180) is 6’1” and already a solid 214 pounds. He fits the power forward description, but he’s not a scoring line player. Like Joseph and DiGiacinto, his role will be to make the Crunch or Lightning a harder team to play against. Jay Feaster used to refer to players like Stephens, Tammela, Joseph, and Imama as providing sandpaper, while John Tortorella called it jam and Steve Ludzik "arriving in an ill manner." Whatever you call it, Yzerman certainly has added to that component with these selections.

4. Puck-moving defenseman

Tampa Bay surprised a few people when they took Matthew Spencer (44) midway through the second round. Murray was quick to point out that Spencer has been on scouts’ radars for years, as he was the third overall (top defenseman) pick in the 2013 OHL Priority Draft (Stephens was 8th). He was Peterborough’s workhorse this year and played on a pair with fellow Lightning prospect Dominik Masin until Masin went down for the season with facial injuries and a subsequent surgery.

Spencer is a 2-way defenseman who hasn’t been able to put up many points on a mediocre team. The Petes had a nice run at the end of the season, though, and Spencer was a big part of that. His decision-making and own-zone play must improve, but he appears to be a player that has all the tools, now it’s up to him and his coaches to complete the toolbox. He has plenty of time to develop in Peterborough, then Syracuse. If he becomes the sum of his parts, he could be a solid second-pair minute-eater, potentially with Masin again someday.

Ryan Zuhlsdorf (150) is another raw defenseman, but like Oldham, will have another year in the USHL (Cedar Rapids) before entering the college hockey scene (Minnesota). The USHL All-Rookie selection is a classic late-round project who will have extended development years to turn into a puck-moving weapon. He will captain the Musketeers next year.

Big Picture

When Yzerman took over the Lightning, his goal was to establish a farm system capable of supplying the Lightning with enough quality players to sustain year-after-year playoff teams. He spent the early years adding much-needed skill into the system (Connolly, Mullin, Namestnikov, Kucherov, Nesterov, Peca, Palat, Koekkoek, Hart, Drouin, Erne, Vermin, Gusev) before later complementing that with some size and grit (Richard, Paquette, Dotchin, Salminen, Masin, MacLeod, DiGiacinto). The switch looks to have happened in the middle of the 2012 draft, though Yzerman has added elite skill pieces like Drouin and DeAngelo, as well as Brayden Point in recent years.

Although the 2015 draft may win a street fight vs any other Yzerman draft, it’s not as though it’s devoid of skill. It’s not the 2011 draft (Vladdy, Kucherov, Nesterov, Peca, Palat), but the combination of these two drafts would be an extremely formidable opponent for anyone – skilled, gritty, responsible, full of character, smart, and ready to do whatever it takes to win.

That’s the big picture, and that's what matters.