We can chalk up at least one more change due to the effects of the coronavirus. Instead of running the Top 25 Under 25 series during the slow moments of the summer, we’re running it in November. The leaves have changed, some snow has fallen in parts of the world, and the scent of pumpkin spice lingers as far as the nose can smell. What better time to figure out the brightest prospects in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization?
With at least a few months left on the calendar before NHL hockey gets back into gear, and things rather quiet on the trade/free agent front, there really isn’t a better time to randomly rank a bunch of kids in the organization, right? Besides, it’s a rather good week to be voting on something other than who gets to be the leader of the free world.
Click here to submit your rankings.
There are currently 46 players that are in some way affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning that are under the age of 25. Most of them have contracts, but we’ve also included those that the Lightning have the NHL rights to, which includes unsigned Restricted Free Agents and recent draft picks. It may seem like a lot, but we’re not asking you to rank all of them (free to do so if you’d like) rather just the top 25.
There are going to be some changes to the list compared to the one from 2019. If you’ve forgotten who finished where, here’s a reminder:
2019 Top 25 Under 25 Ranking Breakdown
| Name | Position | Age | Final Rank | Writer Rank | Reader Rank | 2018 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brayden Point | C | 23 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Mikhail Sergachev | LD | 21 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Anthony Cirelli | C | 22 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Cal Foote | RD | 20 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Erik Cernak | RD | 22 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| Taylor Raddysh | RW | 21 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 6 |
| Mathieu Joseph | LW | 22 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| Alex Volkov | LW | 21 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 |
| Boris Katchouk | LW | 21 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 9 |
| Alex Barre-Boulet | C | 22 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 17 |
| Adam Erne | LW | 24 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 8 |
| Carter Verhaeghe | C | 23 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 20 |
| Nolan Foote | LW | 18 | 13 | 12 | 15 | New |
| Mitchell Stephens | C | 22 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 |
| Gabriel Fortier | LW | 19 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 25 |
| Dominik Masin | RD | 23 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 |
| Sammy Walker | C | 20 | 17 | 19 | 17 | NR |
| Radim Salda | LD | 20 | 18 | 17 | NR | NR |
| Dennis Yan | LW | 22 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 |
| Maxim Cajkovic | RW | 18 | 20 | 18 | 25 | New |
| Danick Martel | LW | 24 | 21 | 25 | 13 | New |
| Cole Guttman | C | 20 | 22 | 21 | NR | NR |
| Ryan Lohin | C | 23 | 23 | 22 | NR | NR |
| Cole Koepke | C | 21 | 24 | 23 | NR | NR |
| Ross Colton | C | 22 | 25 | 24 | 23 | NR |
(Click here for the spreadsheet)
It’s probably a good assumption that the top of the order is going to stay pretty much the same, but was a partial 2019-20 season enough to affect the rankings of the other 22 players that will appear? Who will fill in for those that have departed the organization? Will we get overly upset at who is left off of the list? All this and more will be determined over the next few weeks.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. The survey will be open until 7:00pm on Friday the 6th. Please get your rankings in by then.
Click here to submit your rankings
Have fun doing it and if you need some refreshers on how some of the prospects performed last season, feel free to go through the archives for the Syracuse Crunch (here), the Orlando Solar Bears (here), previous Top 25 Under 25 posts (here), and this year’s draft profiles (here).
Most importantly, have fun doing this. The future of the world definitely does not depend on how you rank the various prospects in the Lightning organization.
