For the first time in their franchise history, the Tampa Bay Lightning have the top collegiate player in their system. On Friday, Isaac Howard was awarded the Hobey Baker trophy, given annually to the collegiate player that “demonstrates exceptional hockey skills, leadership, character, sportsmanship, and scholastic achievement”. Ryan Leonard (Boston College, Washington Capitals) and Zeev Buium (University of Denver, Minnesota Wild) were the other two finalists.
The award caps off a tremendous season for the Lightning’s 2022 first-round pick. In his second season at Michigan State (third collegiate season overall) he exploded for 26 goals while adding another 26 assists. He captured Big 10 player of the year honors while leading the Spartans to a top seed in the NCAA championship tournament. Unfortunately, their season ended in the first round as they were upset by Cornell.
From that point, speculation grew that Howard would forgo his senior season and sign with the Lightning. Unfortunately, the two sides could not come to an agreement (partially due to Tampa Bay’s lack of salary cap space) and Howard committed to returning to Lansing next season. The failure to sign, coupled with Howard’s opportunity to become an unrestricted free agent in August of 2026 have led to some more speculation about the possibility of Julien BrisBois trading his draft rights prior to that happening.
Howard is a bit of a unicorn in the Lightning’s system. Considered by many, including Raw Charge, to be the second-best prospect, he also has the most offensive upside. The 21-year-old is a natural goal-scorer, and plays a fearless game in the offensive zone. In college, and internationally, he has shown the ability to come up big when the lights are the brightest. In an organization that churns out middle-to-bottom-six forwards like donuts at Krispy Kreme, Howard projects as a true top-six forward whose offense should translate to the professional level.
There was some brief belief that the injury to Luke Glendening that will keep the veteran out for the rest of the season, could provide an opportunity for the Lightning to sign Howard this season, but as Erik Erlendsson points out, with less than 10 games to go, the Bolts can’t use LTIR to free up any cap space (Ed. Note – if you’re going to pay for any Lightning coverage, pay for EE’s.)
The Lightning are wildly conservative when it comes to developing their prospects. With limited exceptions, all roads have led through Syracuse/Norfolk before beginning a NHL career. Howard believes he is good enough to skip that level, if not this year, then next year. He is also apparently making enough NIL money that he isn’t beholden to the siren call of his first professional contract. Honestly, good for him if that is the case. He can complete his college studies and try to become the first back-to-back winner in the awards history.
Congratulations to Isaac Howard.
