It was a busy season for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2024 fourth-round draft pick. It was also a really good one as he moves up seven spots in the rankings.
| Name | Jan Golicic |
| Position | Defense (Left Shot) |
| Age (as of October 1) | 19 |
| Height/Weight | 6’6″, 201 lbs |
| Expected 2024-25 Team | Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL) |
| Draft – Year, Round | 2024, 4th round (18) |
| Previous Rankings | 24 (2024) |
| Justin G.’s Ranking | 22 |
| Final Rank | 17 |
Stats:
Our Thoughts:
What do we know about Jan Golicic? He’s a big gentleman. He skates a little better than you think he can. If an opponent has the puck in his general vicinity, he will envelope him. Other than that there are still a lot of questions about his NHL future. Luckily, there is time for those questions to be answered. His immediate future will be another season in Gatineau, and then possibly a try-out with the Crunch.
Golicic played a ton of minutes last season for an Olympiques team that finished with the fifteenth-worst record in the QMJHL last season. Only Halifax, SaintJohn, and Victoriaville had fewer points. Still, it was a pretty good season for the Lightning draft pick. He led Gatineau defenders in scoring while finishing fourth on the team overall with 35 points.
In addition to his role as a top-pairing defenseman at 5v5, the big Slovenian logged quite a bit of power play time racking up 15 points on the man advantage. While he has a fairly big shot from the blueline, it’s unlikely he’ll stay in that type of role as he progresses through the pros. With his skillset his ceiling is a third-pair defenseman who also kills some penalties.
Following the junior season, he played for Slovenia at the World Championships, getting his first taste of action against NHL-level competition. He appeared in five games without registering a point, but gained some valuable experience. After that, it was back to Tampa for the developmental camp where he was one of the standouts as part of the 3-on-3 tournament-winning team.
While there are a lot of intriguing aspects to his game, especially his ability to stay calm in the middle of chaos, there are some things he needs to work on. The biggest is dealing with speed. In juniors, he can use his size to mask some issues in dealing with quicker skaters that can change direction. There is such a size mismatch at times, that him just reaching out can cut off a forward’s progress. As he moves up in competition, better players will be able to evade him easier.
The Lightning have some interesting defensive prospects in the system, and several of them are ahead of Golicic in terms of development. However, they don’t have his size, and as the experts say, that’s something you can’t teach. With the Lightning’s system, his reach and size are assets. He can break up passes with his stick and use his size to snuff out attacks before they get started, a la another 6’6″ defenseman named Victor Hedman.
With a strong season in Gatineau, Golicic can move from project to prospect. From there it’s a matter of improving his skating and strength. If he continues to trend upwards, then the Lightning might have found themselves a nice shutdown defender.
Highlight Videos:
🚨 Jan Golicic (#21 in white) puts home the rebound on the power play for his 1st goal of the QMJHL Playoffs!#GoBolts pic.twitter.com/ZyjTgP157E
— Future Bolts (@LightningProsp1) April 5, 2025
Golicic starts the play with a pass back to the point and then hangs out on the weak side tracking the play. He reads it really well and knows that a rebound chance could arise when the shot comes from the other side of the ice. He doesn’t rush his shot and puts it up and under the bar.
🚨 Jan Golicic (#21 in black) fires home the loose puck for his 4th goal of the QMJHL season!#GoBolts
— Future Bolts (@LightningProsp1) March 9, 2025
pic.twitter.com/mqUnRi2lDm
Look at the moves! It’s a smart decision by Golicic. He knows his reputation of being someone that shoots the puck from that spot. The defender assumes that’s what he’s going to do and gets his ankles broken when the big guy cuts into the middle of the ice. He gets the shot on net and no one is going to shove him out of the spot once he sets himself.
🍏 Jan Golicic (#21 in white) picks up assist #27 of the QMJHL season.#GoBolts
— Future Bolts (@LightningProsp1) March 3, 2025
pic.twitter.com/QiFiSM9ZMc
This is a fun highlight for Golicic. It starts with some really nice lateral movement along the blueline. It’s not quite the Sergachev Shuffle, but he moves really well. His shot gets through traffic, but goes a little wide. He helps reset the play and helps his team re-enter the zone with an indirect pass. His next shot leads to a scramble in front of the net and a rebound goal.
