2010 Lightning Unsigned Free Agents

PLAYER NAME Type Age POS
Mark Parrish UFA 33 Right Wing
Stephane Veilleux UFA 28 Left Wing
Paul Ranger RFA 25 Defense

2010 Lightning Free Agent Signings

PLAYER NAME Age P LENGTH CAP NO.
Martin St. Louis 35 R 4 years $5,625,000
Pavel Kubina 33 D 2 years $3,850,000
Steve Downie 23 R 2 years $1,850,000
Dan Ellis 30 G 2 years $1,500,000
Brett Clark 33 D 2 years $1,500,000

2010 Lightning NHL Entry Draft

RND PICK PLAYER NAME POS HT WT
1 6 Brett Connolly R 6.02 191
3 63 Brock Beukeboom D 6.01 200
3 66 Radko Gudas D 6.00 202
3 72 Adam Janosik D 6.00 179
4 96 Geoffrey Schemitsch D 6.02 185

Prospect News

  • Traverse City Roster Surfaces
    08/20/2010 - 1:40am

    Updated: 8/19/2010

    redwingscentral.com has posted the Lightning's Traverse City Prospects Tournament roster. The pre-training camp warm-up tourney is scheduled for September 11-15 in Traverse City, MI.

    The roster includes 15 Lightning prospects and 7 free agent invitees. The roster features the goaltending tandem of Dustin Tokarski and Jaroslav Janus, as well as 2010 #6 overall pick Brett Connolly. Five other 2010 draftees, all defensemen, make up one of the tournament's youngest bluelines and includes Brock Beukeboom, Radko Gudas, Adam Janosik, Geoffrey Schemitsch, and Teigan Zahn. The only other backliner is '08 draftee Mark Barberio.

    Joining Connolly up front will be '09 draftees Carter Ashton, Richard Panik, and Alex Hutchings along with returning pros Dana Tyrell, Mitch Fadden, and James Wright.

    The roster sports seven free agent tryouts, all forwards, including three returnees from the July Prospect Camp in Tampa. Getting a second look will be Jonathan Lessard, Andrew Agozzino, and the hat-trick star of the Young Guns scrimmage Brandon Hynes. Tim Marks, currently under AHL contract with the Norfolk Admirals, gets his chance to continue on the path to be the organization's next Paul Szczechura. Matt Butcher joins the Bolts squad as a graduate of Northern Michigan University, a prolific scorer in the BCHL and an unsigned 2005 5th round pick of the Vancouver Canucks. The final two invitees include Marc-Olivier Vachon, a diminutive winger who was coached by Guy Boucher at Drummondville during the '08-'09 season, and Harvard graduate Doug Rogers. Rogers, an unsigned '06 draftee of the New York Islanders, played alongside Lightning prospect Alex Killorn for the last couple years for the Crimson.

    Conspicuous in their absence from the TC roster are goaltender Michael Zador, and forwards Brendan O'Donnell, and James Mullin. Zador is expected to return to the nets for Oshawa (OHL) this coming season, while '10 draftees O'Donnell and Mullin are expecting to play for Penticton (BCHL) and Fargo (USHL), respectively.

    This roster has been officially confirmed by the Tampa Bay Lightning organization.

  • Bolts Re-sign Mihalik; Sign Two UFA Defensemen
    07/29/2010 - 11:05am

    (Tampa Bay Lightning press release) The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed defenseman Vladimir Mihalik (mih-HAHL-ihk) and signed free agent blue-liners Mathieu Roy (WAH) and Michael Vernace (vuhr-NAYS) to one-year, two-way contracts today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced.

    Mihalik, 6-foot-7, 244 pounds, played in 75 games with the Norfolk Admirals last season, recording two goals and 18 points. He ranked third among Admirals defensemen for points and was tied for fourth overall with a plus-6 rating. Mihalik also played in four games with Tampa Bay. Following the regular season he went on to represent his native Slovakia at the IIHF World Championships, where he recorded one goal in six games.

    A native of Presov, Slovakia, Mihalik has played in 15 career NHL games, all with the Lightning. During his career he has notched three assists. He has also played in 204 career AHL games, all with Norfolk, recording five goals and 49 points with 193 penalty minutes.

  • Tokarski, Mihalik Named to Admirals All-Time 2nd Team
    07/28/2010 - 10:45am

    The Norfolk Admiral fanbase have selected their All-Time AHL 1st and 2nd teams as part of a 10th Anniversary team celebration at norfolkadmirals.com.

    Current Bolt prospect defenseman Vladimir Mihalik and goaltender Dustin Tokarski were voted on the 10th Anniversary 2nd Team. Joining Mihalik and Tokarski on the 2nd team is former Lightning prospect forward Justin Keller. Former Tampa forward Brandon Bochenski was voted on 10th Anniversary 1st Team.

  • Bolts Re-sign Blair Jones
    07/15/2010 - 10:16am

    According to capgeek.com, the Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed prospect forward Blair Jones to a 1 year, two-way contract. The numbers on the contract indicate that Jones may have accepted his qualifying offer, as the contract is identical to his 2009-10 deal with the exception of the mandatory 10% raise for RFA's making less than $1M.

    Jones is entering his 5th year as a pro, and with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman publicly stating a main focus to revamp the Lightning bottom two lines, Jones' fierce forechecking style may very well earn him a roster spot out of camp. The 6'3" and 215 lbs forward was a 4th round pick by the Bolts in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, and has been on the cusp of earning an NHL roster spot for the last two seasons.

  • Bolts Will Return to Traverse City; Johnson Likely Returns to Norfolk
    07/13/2010 - 8:24pm

    Confirming a report from couple of days ago on redwingscentral.com, the St. Pete Times is reporting that the Tampa Bay Lightning will return to the annual Red Wings hosted prospects tournament in Traverse City, MI on Sept 11-15. Regular attendees in the past, the previous ownership group of the Lightning suspended the team's involvement in the yearly event. The Lightning will be replacing the Atlanta Thrashers in the 8 team tourney, as former Lightning GM Rick Dudley now at the helm of the Thrashers have withdrawn from involvement this year. It is rumored that between trades made by Dudley and former GM Don Waddell, Atlanta no longer has enough prospects to field a team to participate in the Traverse City event.

    The Times also is reporting that all signs point towards Jim Johnson returning to the helm of the Norfolk Admirals next season. The Times quotes Lightning GM Steve Yzerman as saying, "We're on the same page," with regard to Johnson and his continued involvement with the organization. Johnson is currently running the ongoing Development Camp that finishes up Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. with the Young Guns scrimmage, which is free and open to the public.

  • Prospect Camp Preliminary Roster
    07/06/2010 - 6:41pm

    The Lightning have assembled a preliminary roster for the upcoming prospects camp July 10-14 at the St. Pete Times Forum. The following roster, courtesy of Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune, includes at least three goaltenders, 12 defensemen and 17 forwards. All 2010 draft choices will be participating.

  • BoltProspects 2009-2010 Supplemental Rankings: Post Draft
    07/18/2010 - 3:04am

    With the 2010 NHL Entry Draft completed, BoltProspects is releasing its Supplemental Rankings of the organization's top twenty-five prospects. The new rankings reflect both the results of the 2010 draft and transfers and signings that have occurred since the release of our 2009-2010 Final Rankings. To be considered a prospect for the sake of our rankings, a player must be under 24 years of age on the Lightning's opening night of the NHL season. Players 24 or over are considered overage prospects and are no longer eligible for consideration. The exception to this rule are NCAA based players, who are considered prospects for the tenure of their college careers. For the skating positions, a prospect is considered graduated if they play 41 or more NHL games in a single season or 82 or more career NHL games. For goaltenders, a player who has 30 or more NHL decisions in a single season or 41 or more career NHL decisions is considered graduated and no longer eligible for the list.

  • 11 for 6: Brandon Gormley
    06/14/2010 - 6:26pm

    Name: Brandon Gormley
    Position: Defenseman
    Shoots: Left
    Height: 6.02
    Weight: 185
    Born: 2/18/92, Murray River, PEI
    Last Team: Moncton (QMJHL)
    Rankings: CSS 6 (NA Skaters), ISS 5 (Skaters), RLR 5 (Overall), THN 7 (Overall)

    2009-2010 Statistics:
    Moncton (QMJHL), 58 GP, 9-34-43, +31, 54 PIM
    Moncton (QMJHL) Playoffs, 21 GP, 2-5-17, +14, 10 PIM

    If you’re looking for a sexy draft pick, you’re not going to find one in Moncton’s Brandon Gormley. If you’re looking for a solid two-way defenseman who is going to play 20+ minutes a night and have a 10-15 year NHL career, Gormley’s probably your man. Gormley’s positives are that he’s got a good sized frame, is a strong skater, passes the puck well, and he’s an extremely cerebral defender. A product of the same Notre Dame prep school that began the careers of Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards, efficiency is the hallmark of Gormley's game. He is incredibly cool under pressure and has a propensity of using his positioning and mobility to win races for loose pucks and move them out of danger long before forecheckers arrive on the scene. The down side is that Gormley is lacking in upper body strength, as evidenced by his poor performance at the NHL Combine, which has been a contributing factor to accusations that he plays a bit soft. In addition, while Gormley has upside as a puck mover at even strength, there are some doubts that he will ever be a top flight power play quarterback in the NHL. The Lightning have no doubt seen plenty of Gormley, whose teammate at Moncton was none other than recently signed prospect Mark Barberio, so they likely know exactly what they’re getting if they select the PEI native. The question is how keen the Lightning will be to use a sixth overall pick on a player that doesn’t have the dynamic offensive upside of a future number one defenseman and who is a lefty shot and therefore likely will be relegated to the second power play unit by Victor Hedman. Will the Lightning be willing to select a quiet, solid, 30+ point a year, minute eating defenseman when there are dynamic scorers at the forward positions still sitting on the board? That’s a tough call to make for any scouting staff, even if it’s the right one.

    Previous Prospect Profiles:
    11 for 6: G, Jack Campbell
    11 for 6: D, Cam Fowler
    11 for 6: D, Erik Gudbranson

  • Koshechkin to Mytischi?
    06/12/2010 - 8:53pm

    Russian website championat.ru is reporting a rumor sourced to Sport-Express that goaltender Vasily Koshechkin may possibly play next season for KHL club Mytischi. Koshechkin split last season between Togliatti and Magnitogorsk of the KHL and was reportedly an option to be signed by the Lightning this summer if ex-GM Brian Lawton had remained in Tampa Bay. Mytischi added Lightning prospect Denis Kazionov to its roster earlier this offseason and recently re-signed former Lightning draft pick Alexei Glukhov.

  • BoltProspects 2009-2010 Final Rankings
    07/18/2010 - 3:04am

    With the 2009-2010 NHL season completed and the Chicago Blackhawks crowned as Stanley Cup champions, and the passing of the annual deadline to sign draft prospects, BoltProspects is pleased to release its 2009-2010 Final Rankings for the season. The release of the Final Rankings will precede a daily series we are going to be running up to draft day titled 11 for 6. 11 for 6 will examine the top 11 prospects we at BoltProspects feel fans should be aware of as the Lightning prepare to pick 6th overall at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.