tbl-Three Things To Watch For At The Lightning’s Prospect Showcase

Summary

The 2026-27 Tampa Bay Lightning season unofficially gets underway this afternoon as a small group of their prospects take on the Nashville Predators young guns at 2:00 PM up in Raleigh, North Carolina. While it is little more than a glorified scrimmage game, for many of the players competing it will be their first taste of action in a NHL uniform. Not every player on the ice is going to have the same goal over the next two days. Prospects on the cusp of the NHL can start their campaigns for earning a spot on the opening night roster while the newest of draft picks can show off why the team selecting them. Meanwhile, those young players in-between can show how they’ve progressed since last year. What happens over the next two days (after they face Nashville today, the Baby Bolts will take on host-team Carolina on Tuesday) should be taken with a grain of salt. Just because someone has an outstanding showing over two games doesn’t mean they’re destined for a NHL call-up in the near future. They are competing against their peers, not against veteran NHL players. The competition should be good, but not necessarily elite. That being said, there are some things to look for as the showcase plays out over the next two days. A strong showing from the veteran showcase players A look at the roster shows a few players that have been through this a time or two. Dylan Duke, Ethan Gauthier, and Gabriel Szturc are three that come to mind. Having been through the motions a few times, it stands to reason that they should have a leg up on some of the other prospects competing this week. It’s also important for them to get off to a good start to impress the coaching staff as they try and make the case to crack the Lightning’s roster. There aren’t many spots available, but all three could, in theory, earn a spot on the fourth line. The three veteran Crunch players all play with defensive responsibility and can grind out minutes in the bottom-six while potentially putting some pucks in the net. Duke in particular should be pushing for a spot after a really strong season in the AHL last year that saw him finish third overall in goals scored with 32 while leading the league with 18 power play goals. He’s one of the older players on the roster, and should garner some top line minutes over the next couple of days. Another “veteran” to keep an eye on will be Sam O’Reilly. A wrist injury kept him out of the development camp, so this will be his first taste of competition since leading Kitchener to the Memorial Cup. As a dark horse to make the Lightning this season, a lot of attention will be focused his way. First Impressions From the 2026 Draft Class Five out of the six most recent draft picks are on the roster with only Morgan Anderberg missing out (his season with Vaxjo in the SHL is already underway). For the rest of the draft class, it will be their first chance to show the Lightning what they can do against NHL-level talent. Again, it’s not the elite of the league, but a good portion of the players participating will hear their names called in a NHL arena at some point in the near future. Coaches and fans will be able to see how Oleg Kulebiakin’s stick-handling skills work against better competition. They’ll also be able to see how Tomas Kralovic’s skating plays against faster forwards. Can Max Vilen and Cooper Soller make impressions that last in their first appearances as members of the organization? There are usually a few surprises along the way as players stand out among their peers. Aiden Foster had a strong training camp last year and helped his standing among prospect watchers. The same can be said for Grant Spada. Ethan Czata excited some fans last year as he was everything advertised as a second-round pick in 2025. It’s really unlikely that anything the players from this draft class do will keep them in training camp longer than the first cuts before being dispersed back to their junior clubs (or, in Kralovic’s case – Syracuse) but their play over the next two days will give the organization a general idea of what they need to work on over the next season. The goaltenders With only two games to play, the Lightning decided to bring just two netminders, both recent picks. Harrison Meneghin was selected in the seventh round of the 2024 draft while Stepan Shurygin was picked in the sixth round of 2026. Both players are coming off of seasons in which they want to improve. Meneghin signed his entry-level contract last season after a spectacular season with the Medicine Hat Tigers. It wasn’t the smoothest transition to professional hockey for him as he went 4-9-0 with a 3.26 GAA and .889 SV% in Orlando. He did get an appearance in Syracuse as well, making four saves in 13 minutes against Bellevue while allowing two goals. He did pick up an assist, though, making him the highest point-per-game goalie in the league. Chances are Meneghin will start the season with the Solar Bears as the Crunch stocked up on veteran netminders this summer, but he’ll want to get started on the right foot in training camp and show Joel Bouchard, who will be behind the bench, that he can move past the struggles and claim a role with Syracuse at some point in the near future. Shurygin is a bit farther away from that challenge. He played a lot of hockey last year (59 games) for a Saginaw Spirit team that struggled with coverage in front of him at times. He is a big goalie that is very athletic and his play in the showcase will give Frantz Jean and the goaltending staff some ideas of what they need to work with him on before he heads back to the OHL. It should be a fun two days of hockey that will lead right into training camp started. For the players participating, it’s a little taste of how things operate at the NHL level and will help show them what they need to do to take things to the next level. For the Lightning, it gives them a solid baseline of where their prospects are at, and what they need to work on over the next year. For the fans – it’s competitive hockey! Something Lightning fans haven’t seen for a few months. If you have the chance, and the boss isn’t looking, feel free to stream the games through the Lightning app.