C-<\/a><\/p>\nPlayer Ranking1. Sam O\u2019Reilly, RW<\/p>\n
March 30, 2006 | 6-foot-2 | 184 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 32 in 2024
Tier: Bubble top and middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: High-end<\/p>\n
Analysis: O\u2019Reilly had a fantastic year. He was the best player in the OHL regular season, playoffs and Memorial Cup. He\u2019s a diligent and versatile center who competes very hard, creates a lot of offense at the net-front and has physicality. He\u2019s a solid skater who can transition pucks and can skate at the top level. O\u2019Reilly has quality skill and vision, and tries to create offense in a direct, translatable way. He\u2019s not dazzling, but he finds ways to score and does so in ways that should work in the NHL. He projects as a second-line center who can be used in a variety of situations.<\/p>\n
2. Conor Geekie, C<\/p>\n
May 5, 2004 | 6-foot-4 | 212 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 11 in 2022
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Geekie played most of the year in the AHL, where he was one of the better forwards in the league. Geekie is an exciting prospect because he\u2019s a big center with very good offensive skills. He has great hands in tight, makes tough plays to his teammates and has a big one-timer that can score from a distance. He doesn\u2019t shy from using his big body, either. However, his overall effort level can waver, and despite his frame, he plays on the outside too often. His skating has also long been an issue, and the NHL pace will be a problem for him. Geekie projects as a third-line center.<\/p>\n
3. Benjamin Rautiainen, C<\/p>\n
June 12, 2005 | 6-foot-0 | 174 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 108 in 2025
Tier: Middle of the lineup player<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Above NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Rautiainen was the best player in Liiga last season as a 20-year-old. He\u2019s a good skater with very good hands and offensive creativity. He sees the ice at a very high level and makes a lot of good decisions with the puck. Rautiainen isn\u2019t overly physical, but he competes well, creates offense in the high-percentage areas and is depended on by coaches to drive play. He projects as a middle-six winger.<\/p>\n
4. Tom\u00e1\u0161 Kr\u00e1lovi\u010d, D<\/p>\n
Aug. 28, 2005 | 6-foot-3 | 202 pounds | Shoots right<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 90 in 2026
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: Below NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Kr\u00e1lovi\u010d took significant steps forward in his fourth draft-eligible season, becoming a top defenseman in the Slovak league. He\u2019s a tall right-shot who\u2019s quite mobile and can lead an attack like an NHL defenseman due to his speed. With his reach, feet and being quite physical, he makes a lot of stops. His puck game is average at best, but he\u2019s shown more consistency making passes \u2014 enough that he has a path to playing NHL games.<\/p>\n
5. Jan Goli\u010di\u010d, D<\/p>\n
June 30, 2006 | 6-foot-5 | 203 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 118 in 2024
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: Poor
Puck skills: Below NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Goli\u010di\u010d is intriguing as a huge defenseman who can contribute at both ends of the ice and makes a good first touch with the puck. Ideally, he\u2019d be a mean big guy, but he still competes hard enough. The issue for him with the NHL will be his heavy skating.<\/p>\n
6. Noah Steen, LW<\/p>\n
Aug. 16, 2004 | 6-foot-1 | 187 pounds | Shoots left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 199 in 2024
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Below NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Steen has progressed nicely after being a seventh-round pick. He\u2019s not the flashiest player, but he\u2019s a fast, competitive winger who plays both ways and can make enough skilled plays. He has a chance to be a bottom-six forward.<\/p>\n
7. Stepan Shurygin, G<\/p>\n
Aug. 26, 2007 | 6-foot-4 | 207 pounds | Catches left<\/p>\n
Drafted: No. 186 in 2026
Tier: NHL prospect<\/p>\n
Skating: Below NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average<\/p>\n
Analysis: Shurygin didn\u2019t put up great numbers this season in the OHL, but he looked good on a team that allowed a lot of grade-A scoring chances in Saginaw. Shurygin is a huge goalie who moves OK for his size. He\u2019s a smart and aggressive goalie who makes a lot of good reads while being able to assert himself in the play when needed. He doesn\u2019t make a lot of excess movements, either. He has a chance to be an NHL backup.<\/p>\n
Player eligibility: All skaters who are 22 years old or younger as of Sept. 15, 2026, regardless of how many NHL games they\u2019ve played, are eligible. Player heights and weights are taken from the NHL.<\/p>\n
Tool grades: Tool grades are based on a scale with six separate levels, with an eye toward how this attribute would grade in the NHL (poor, below-average, average, above-average, high-end and elite). \u201cAverage\u201d on this scale means the tool projects as NHL average, which is meant as a positive, not a criticism. Skating, puck skills, hockey sense and compete for every projected NHL player are graded. Shot grades are only included if a shot is notably good or poor.<\/p>\n
Tier definitions: Tiers are meant to show roughly where in an average NHL lineup a player projects to slot in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Lightning\u2019s system is thin, but it does have some real top-end talent. Sam O\u2019Reilly is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,862,137,136],"class_list":["post-374534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-lightning","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}