Previous leadership made several good draft picks.
By ERIK ERLENDSSON
The Lightning
TAMPA - The new Lightning regime led by General Manager Steve Yzerman and Coach Guy Boucher won't officially begin until the puck drops Saturday in the season opener against Atlanta. But already the future looks brighter.
Sure, owner Jeff Vinik and Yzerman's leadership have brought a sense of stability to a ship that took on plenty of water the past three seasons. That in and of itself certainly is enough to make everything look brighter for a franchise whose future looked bleak not so long ago.
But what has things looking up for the team on the ice is the depth the organization now holds. While the guidance of the OK Hockey ownership group might best be remembered for backdoor drama and behind-the-scenes turmoil for nearly three years, perhaps the legacy - and maybe even the only positive benchmark to record - is how the team drafted during that tenure.
Boucher commented on more than one occasion during the first week of training camp about how impressed he was with some of the Lightning's prospects. So while Yzerman has stated that building the organization depth chart is a process, the fact might be that some of those building blocks are already in place.
The 2008 draft produced four players already under contract with the team, including top overall pick and Rocket Richard Trophy winner C Steven Stamkos, along with G Dustin Tokarski, C James Wright and D Mark Barberio. Stamkos' impact needs no explanation while Wright was a surprise to make the team last year as a 19-year-old while Tokarski is a No. 1 goaltender in the making. Barberio was one of the top defensemen in the Quebec junior league last season and will start his pro career this season.
In 2009, D Victor Hedman was selected second overall but an additional first-round pick was acquired to select LW Carter Ashton, who had a pair of power-play goals this preseason and should have a strong chance of earning a roster spot next season. That draft also produced G Jaroslav Janus and LW Alex Hutchings, already under contract, along with talented second-round pick RW Richard Panik, who returns to Belleville in the Ontario Hockey League this year and should begin his pro career next year, if not sooner.
This year's draft, which was essentially run by the same scouting staff even though Yzerman had already assumed the general manager position, produced highly touted RW Brett Connolly with the sixth overall pick. Connolly impressed many during training camp and will be a top-six forward when he develops. Also from this year's draft are D Radko Gudas, already under contract and playing in the American Hockey League, as well as D Brock Beukeboom, who will captain his junior team in Sault Ste. Marie.
It's a far cry from some of the draft classes in the past decade that produced busts such as RW Nikita Alexeev (sixth overall in 2000), 2001 second-round picks D Andreas Holmqvist and RW Alex Polushin, Adam Henrich (second-round pick in 2002), D Mike Egener (34th overall in 2003), D Andy Rogers and LW Mark Tobin (top two picks in 2004) or G Riku Helenius, the 15th overall pick in 2006.
Fashionable man
Yzerman has been a busy man lately, running his first training camp as a GM, traveling with the team and helping make decisions about players who will make the final roster.
But Thursday, the 45-year-old was in Toronto as the center of attention at a fashion shoot for a men's clothing line launch for Canadian company Hudson Bay. The Hall of Fame player admitted posing as a model isn't his cup of tea.
"I'm a bit of a fish out of water," Yzerman said at the time. "I think most hockey players, we don't really have the build for high fashion."
Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835. Follow on Twitter
@erlendssontrib
Photo: Steve Yzerman
Photo: Guy Boucher
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