With hockey season all around the world pretty much underway, it’s a good time to check in on the progress of some of the top Lightning prospects. As we all know, the Lightning prospect pool isn’t necessarily the deepest in the league, yet they still have some players that could make an impact on future Tampa Bay teams. So, lets dive right into that pool and see how they’re doing.
Ethan Gauthier – Right Wing, Drummondville Voltigeurs
In his first season with Drummondville, the 18-year-old is off to a fast start with 15 points (7 goals, 8 assists) in his first 14 games. Named an alternate captain prior to the start of the season, Gauthier was fourth on our Top 25 Under 25 this summer, and was quite impressive in the Lightning’s rookie showcase prior to training camp. He is currently 3rd on his team in scoring and has been productive on the power play with 7 of his 15 points coming with the advantage. He’s been especially hot of late with 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists) in his last 4 games.
Dylan Duke – Center, University of Michigan
Now in his third season with the Wolverines, Duke is taking his offensive production to another level. Through 8 games, he’s almost halfway to his career-high of 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) as he has 4 goals and 9 helpers on the young season. Our 7th ranked Top 25 Under 25 prospect is on a top line with fellow draft picks Gavin Brindley (Columbus) and Rutger McGroarty (Winnipeg) and is helping lead the offensive charge as Michigan is off to a 5-2-1 start with wins over #13 Ohio State and #18 Providence early in the season.
Duke, who is playing with brother Tyler for the first time in college, was a Preseason All-Big Ten honorable mention. Much like Gauthier, he’s warming up as the season gets going with 4-game point streak that has produced 2 goals and 7 assists for the 20-year-old.
Isaac Howard – Left Wing, Michigan State University
Our top-ranked prospect under 25 is enjoying his new digs. After putting up just 17 points for the defensive-minded University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, he transferred to the Spartans and is off to a 9 point (1 goal, 8 assist) start in the green and white. His one goal has come on the power play, but it’s only a matter of time till he starts adding more. He’s second on the team in shots on goal with 28 and has too much talent to shoot 3.6% all season long.
The Spartans dropped a pair of games to top-ranked Boston College recently, but Howard played well with 3 assists and 7 shots during the match-up. The 5’11” forward is riding a five-game point streak with all, but one of his points coming over that stretch.
Niko Huuhtanen – Right Wing, Jukurit
We jump over to Europe for the final prospect on today’s list. Niko Huuhtanen might be the player fans are most impatient to see come across the Atlantic. A 17-goal pro debut with Jukurit in 2022-23 as a 19-year-old raised a few eyebrows and he seems intent on improving those numbers as he’s off to a 5-goal, 5-assist start in the Liiga.
He was also recently named to Finland’s national team to represent the country in the upcoming Karjala Cup to be held from November 9th-12th. The ninth-ranked prospect in the system, at least according to us, still has that big shot that got him noticed by the Lightning scouts, but is now also improving his skating, which should help once he makes the leap over to North American hockey.
