What if we could take a mulligan on a Tampa Bay Lightning draft, and re-do the picks the team made? Maybe the team isn’t where it is now. Maybe some of its future draft picks don’t get made because the team ended up being better and got worse picks in future drafts. Maybe the team has another Stanley Cup in the trophy case. There are lots of trickle down effects that could happen in such a case. But it’s still fun to ask “What If?”
The 2013 NHL Entry Draft should be one of the more interesting ones that we’ve had in the draft mulligan series. At least I hope. After an abysmal 2012-13 lockout shortened season, the Lightning ended up with the third overall pick. There were high hopes for the pick that, before too long. were dashed. The top of the draft featured Nathan MacKinnon and Aleksander Barkov at #1 and #2, players who have turned out to be very good forwards for the Colorado Avalanche and the Florida Panthers respectively.
After having made some trades, the Lightning ended up with just six picks in the 2013 draft, with four players making it to the NHL. The Lightning didn’t make a 3rd or 4th round pick, but had an extra 7th round pick in their pocket. The Lightning had acquired a 4th round pick in this draft in the trade of Pavel Kubina, but ultimately the two 3rds and the 4th were used in trades for Anders Lindback, B.J. Crombeen, and Ben Bishop.
The rules for this Mulligan are that I can only select a player that was drafted within the next 20 draft picks after the Lightning’s selection. This is to give some reality to the possibility of having made the “right” pick according to who was available and who might have been on the draft board at the time. That means that I can’t turn a bust of a first round pick into a super star long shot seventh rounder. Any trades that were made at the draft, including trading draft picks away, can be undone if there is no player worthy of the pick the team traded for, or if there is a star player the team could have selected instead of trading away the pick.
All stats are as of the regular season finale of the 2018-19 season.
First Round, 3rd Pick, 3rd Overall
Original Pick: F Jonathan Drouin, 322 GP, 60 goals, 134 assists, 194 points
New Pick: D Seth Jones, 468 GP, 54 goals, 174 assists, 228 points
When Drouin was selected by the Lightning, he was envisioned to be the next Martin St. Louis next to Steven Stamkos on the Lightning’s top line. Steve Yzerman ended up sending him back to the QMJHL as an 18 year old, which probably started the pouting for Drouin. He made the team as a 19 year old, but didn’t accomplish much, though he showed flashes. A year later, he was asking for a trade, but walked away from it when he didn’t get his way. He did spend the 2016-17 season with the Lightning, finally putting together a good season, but ended up being traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Mikhail Sergachev, which has turned out to be an incredible trade for the Lightning.
On the other hand, Seth Jones was the big counterpoint to Drouin for this pick. The Lightning had long been dreaming of a right handed defenseman to compliment Victor Hedman on the blue line. But the Lightning felt like they couldn’t pass up the potential of Drouin. Jones instead made the Nashville Predators right out of training camp and never turned back. He ended up being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets and has become one of the best young defensemen in the NHL.
The only other player I debated here was Sean Monahan as he is the third best forward to have been selected in the first round after MacKinnon and Barkov. He’s had a great start to his career with the Calgary Flamers, putting up at least 25 goals in the past five seasons. He ranged from 58 to 64 points in his second through fifth season and then broke out last year with an 82 point season. It was certainly tempting, but I just couldn’t turn down Seth Jones here.
Second Round, 3rd Pick, 33rd Overall
Original Pick: F Adam Erne, 113 GP, 13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points
New Pick: F J.T. Compher, 156 GP, 32 goals, 28 assists, 60 points
Talk about a disappointing second round. Artturi Lehkonen is the longest tenured second rounder (but outside of our pick range) with 221 GP and he has just 80 points. Tyler Bertuzzi with 71 points in 128 games played is the best player so far in the second round, but again is outside of our pick range. Even with Erne’s limited playing time, he still has the 7th most games played and points of second rounders. No one has really stuck out as being one of those wild card second rounders that turns out to be a really good player; Bertuzzi being the closest to that.
That could change, but most of these players are already 24 years old. They’re just entering their prime years. Some of them could still break out and show some more potential, but they’re running out of time to become stars.
Fifth Round, 3rd Pick, 124th Overall
Original Pick: G Kristers Gudlevskis, 3 GP
New Pick: Kristers Gudlevskis
Unfortunately the best 5th rounder so far from this draft went a pick before Gudlevskis in defenseman Will Butcher. Only one other player has broken 50 games in the NHL. While there is a goalie in Cal Petersen that has played more NHL games, and Gudlevskis has already returned to Europe, I still can’t help but keep him for the story.
Lightning scouts found him playing in the MHL for Dinamo Riga’s junior team. He also played four games for Team Latvia at the World Championship. The Lightning drafted him and he immediately came over. He started the season with the Florida Everblades in the ECHL. He quickly moved up to the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL. He played for Team Latvia at the Olympics. He then played a NHL game for the Lightning in the NHL near the end of the season and had two relief appearances in the playoffs. He then went on to play for Team Latvia in the World Championship. This marked the first time ever that a player had appeared in the ECHL, AHL, NHL, Olympics, and World Championships in the same season.
Ultimately, Gudlevskis didn’t work out as he was too inconsistent with his play in the AHL. He would get a couple other opportunities to appear for the Lightning in the NHL, but never made it work in the AHL well enough to become the NHL back up. He was traded in the 2016-17 season to the New York Islanders for Carter Verhaeghe and then returned to Dinamo Riga for the 2018-19 season.
Sixth Round, 3rd Pick, 154th Overall
Original Pick: F Henri Ikonen, Never appeared in NHL
New Pick: F Alan Quine, 97 GP, 9 goals, 18 assists, 27 points
Ikonen was an overaged draft pick that spent another season in the OHL before turning professional with the Syracuse Crunch. He played a bottom six role and played out his three seasons of his entry level contract never exceeding 6 goals and 17 points in a season. After his contract was finished, he went home to Finland to play for Jokerit in the KHL.
Quine was also an overage pick. He had been drafted in 2011 in the third round by the Detroit Red Wings but never signed. The Islanders took a chance on him here in the sixth round. Quine has been a stand out offensive contributor at the AHL level, but has yet to translate that into the NHL. His only full season in the NHL came in 2016-17 when he scored 18 points in 61 games. He’s now with the Calgary Flames organization and put up 52 points in 41 games in the AHL last year.
Seventh Round, 3rd Pick, 184th Overall
Original Pick: F Saku Salminen, Never appeared in NHL
New Pick: F Andreas Johnsson, 82 GP, 22 goals, 24 assists, 46 points
Salminen was a bit of a lottery ticket as a Finnish center with some good size. However, injuries derailed his development and he never came over to North America to play. He has played a little bit in the KHL, but mostly has played in Liiga in Finland. However, after a disappointing couple of years in Liiga, he spent last year moving around between the French league, German 2nd and 3rd tier leagues, and the Swedish 3rd tier.
Johnsson, made a name for himself with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. After being drafted, he remained in Sweden playing in the SHL for three more seasons winning SHL Rookie of the Year in 2013-14 and a Champions Hockey League and SHL Championship in 2015-16. He began in North America with the Toronto Marlies in 2016-17 and 2017-18 racking up 101 points in 129 games and winning an AHL Championship in 2017-18.
After showing everything he had in the AHL, he finally made the Maple Leafs roster full time last season and put up 20 goals and 43 points in 73 games. It’s taken him a little bit of time to find his NHL groove, but he’s turned into a nice steal for the Maple Leafs out of the seventh round.
Seventh Round, 5th Pick, 186th Overall
Original Pick: F Joel Vermin, 24 GP, 0 goals, 4 assists
New Pick: D MacKenzie Weegar, 127 GP, 6 goals, 17 assists, 23 points
Vermin was an interesting pick as an overager. He had just finished up a nice season in the Swiss NLA for SC Bern. The Lightning signed him to an entry level contract and then burned the first year while loaning him back to SC Bern for a season. He put up 33 points in 73 games for the Syracuse Crunch in his first season, but then dealt with injuries the next season and only managed 21 points in 37 games. He did earn his first NHL call up and recorded an assist in six games.
In 2016-17, Vermin continued to produce well in the AHL and earned a longer call up of 18 games for the Lightning when they were experiencing a shortage of healthy bodies. He only managed three points in 18 games though and never scored an NHL goal. After the season, he returned to Switzerland.
Weegar has turned into a passable third pairing defenseman for the Florida Panthers, making it to the NHL full time in 2017-18 after three years of development in the AHL. He’s averaged just 15:51 TOI in his career and recorded 15 points in 64 games last year.
