NHL Features
Prospect and NHL Draft News: Champions Are Built Outside of Round 1
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson becomes the first Spokane, WA native to lift the Stanley Cup.
The Stanley Cup has now been awarded and the 2020 NHL Draft is only a week away. Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Lightning on capturing Lord Stanley in an unconventional, but equally admirable fashion. Considering the NHL now has a champion it is time for the pundits, myself included, to dissect how this Lightning team was built.
The day after the Stanley Cup is awarded can be a great time to scan the many different angle’s folks can spin on the winning team. One such angle that caught my eye was the following tweet by Darren Haynes:
It personally resonated for me because so much of the draft hype inevitably focuses upon top prospects that are scheduled to be taken early. However, any good scout will tell you that every pick is critical. As such, the Lightning hockey operations staff clearly did an amazing job constructing this team. On that note, Steve Yzerman should be commended for the contributions he made to this Lightning team during his nine years as GM (2010-2019). Detroit Red Wings fans should be pumped about that!
Hockey Still Growing
Another encouraging note from the Lightning Stanley Cup victory is that the game continues to grow in non-traditional North American hockey markets. Two Lightning players – Tyler Johnson, Spokane, Washington and Blake Coleman, Plano, Texas – will become the ‘first-ever’ players to win a Stanley Cup for there home state or hometown.
Spokane has had the WHL Chiefs since 1982, but we are now seeing the genuine development of minor hockey in Spokane. In addition to Johnson, Spokane can also claim current NHL players: Edmonton Oiler, Kailer Yamamoto and Calgary Flame, Derek Ryan.
As a passionate fan of the game, these are great indicators of hockey’s continued growth.
Upcoming WHL Feature
Several draft features ago I hinted at additional coverage of WHL prospects that should be taken outside of the 1st round in the 2020 draft. Considering the depth of this 2020 draft class and the Tampa Bay depth example, I will work on providing a more comprehensive WHL draft feature in the next few days.
In the meantime – here are all the details you need for next week’s draft coverage:
Stay tuned for more draft coverage over the next week!
NEXT: Prospect and NHL Draft News: Virtual Preparation in 2020
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