Goalies in Draft

[Nigel]

Who are some of the top goalies in this years draft and would it be wise to take one in the first couple rounds for Tampa? We do have quite a bit of depth at the position but the off season may have some changes with it. A possible buy out of Denis and whether or not Koshechkin comes over to NA. This leaves Boutin, Munce, Helenius and Jung.

If Koshechkin doesn't make the flight, a kid I'd like to see Tampa grab would be Boston College's John Muse. The kid just won a national title as a freshman, only allowing two goals through the frozen four against offensive teams North Dakota and Notre Dame. But the most impressive stat is that he played every minute of every game this season for the Eagles. They started the season with a trio of freshman having no collegiate playing experience and this kid ran away with everything after game one. 44 GP, 25-11-8, 2725 MIN, 2.20 GAA, 1171 SA, .921 SV%

He's born in 88, he should be eligible.

[chad]

He was actually eligible last year and went undrafted. Always hard to project where older undraftees could go in the next draft. TB isn't shy about taking them.

We know Tampa Bay won't take a goalie in the first, and their second round pick is a UFA wearing No.77 and ruby slippers (I try not to think about this - that's a pick in the Rogers-Mihalik area that would be fantastic to have in the pipeline, and the payoff wasn't there for it).

I think there are still too many holes to fill in forward depth on the farm and the next wave of dmen to take an early pick on a goalie, unless they think there's one they have to have.

It wouldn't surprise me to see them take a late flier on a goalie like they did with Jung. They've had success with this with Ramo in the past, too. And Muse could be there mid-late draft if they want him. He's under 6', which usually isn't ideal for what TB likes under this management team, but it's hard to argue with results.

He played with Lightning pick Matt Marshall at Nobles Prep last year, so I'm sure TB scouts have a book on him.

I don't think GT depth is a huge issue at this time, compared to other areas. If VK comes over, and with Helenius coming in and an NHL No.3 for NF, it's getting crowded. Munce's contract is up, I believe, and he likely won't be back.

All that to say, if situations were different and TB was in need of a goalie and had a mid-first rounder to use, Chet Pickard of Tri-City is outstanding. He was the No.1 NA GT at midseason. Feaster saw him in person earlier this year and gushed over him.

But I like Stamkos better.

(Welcome to the boards. Don't be a stranger.)

[CTLightning26]

Probably can grab the best goalie available with one of those five picks in the 6th and 7th rounds for depth.

[Nigel]

It would seem silly to me that if in fact Munce is not resigned and Denis bought out and even if VK comes over that they wouldn't take a goalie somewhere in the draft. I would think with those stats Muse would be hard to pass up in the mid/late rounds even with his size.

[pete]

I do think they'll take a goaltender. I was thinking they might use their 3rd on one.

[bassassin]

Would Chet Pickard be around in the 3rd or is he going long before that?

[CTLightning26]

Originally Posted by pete

I do think they'll take a goaltender. I was thinking they might use their 3rd on one.

I dunno, with only a 1, a 3 a 5 and all those 6s and 7s, would much rather get a forward with that third pick. Maybe we can get an extra pick for Kuba, Luk, Ward, etc. I was thinking with an extra 3 (or two) and 4 next year maybe we can use those to get a few more picks in the first four rounds this year.