This season Bolt Prospects introduced our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their on-ice contributions.
We wanted to highlight prospects throughout the year to help fans get better acquainted with the next round of Lightning stars while recognizing the prospect’s achievement on the ice.
This week’s BP Prospect of the Week award goes to … Mark Barberio [6], D, Norfolk Admirals (AHL).
It was quite a week for Barberio, the Lightning’s sixth round pick in 2008. First the defenseman scored the game winning goal last Tuesday when the Admirals squeaked by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Penguins 2-1, then he added a goal on Friday night in a close 3-1 win over Binghamton. On Saturday he was scoreless and plus-1 as Norfolk rallied late to beat the B-Sens 4-1 to extend their winning streak to 25 games.
Barberio’s most significant achievement this past week was the announcement that the second-year pro would be receiving the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top defenseman.
For an NHL team desperately in need a reliable offensive defenseman, you can bet they were cheering on Channelside Drive in Tampa. Barberio may be a year away from making his mark in Tampa, however. He has to get stronger, which is achievable this summer, but he also has to improve his awareness in the defensive third. He could learn at the NHL level as a third pair or No.7 defenseman, but with Marc-Andre Bergeron [7] coming back for another year, it’s likely Barberio gets prime minutes in the AHL to start next season.
Previous BP Prospects of the Week:
Tyler Johnson [8], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - April 4, 2012 [9]
Norfolk Admirals Hockey Club (AHL) - March 27, 2012 [10]
Richard Panik [11], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - March 21, 2012 [12]
Tyler Johnson, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - March 13, 2012 [13]
Danick Gauthier, Saint John (QMJHL) - March 6, 2012 [14]
Matt Peca, Quinnipiac (NCAA) - February 29, 2012 [15]
Pat Nagle [16], Florida (ECHL) - February 21, 2012 [17]
Alex Hutchings [18], Florida (ECHL) - February 14, 2012 [19]
Alex Killorn [20], Harvard (NCAA) - February 6, 2012 [21]
Adam Wilcox [22], Tri-City (USHL) and Alex Killorn, Harvard (NCAA) - January 30, 2012 [23]
Nikita Kucherov [24], CSKA Jr. (Russia) - January 24, 2012 [25]
Riku Helenius [26], JYP (Finland) - January 16, 2012 [27]
Brett Connolly [28], Canada (U20 WJC) - January 10, 2012 [29]
*Due to the Christmas break when few games below the NHL level were played, no POTW award was given.
Mark Barberio, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - December 19, 2011 [30]
Vladislav Namestnikov [31], London Knights (OHL) - December 12, 2011 [32]
Tyler Johnson, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - December 5, 2011 [33]
Alex Killorn, Harvard (NCAA) - November 28, 2011 [34]
Nikita Kucherov, Team Russia/CSKA Jr. (MHL) - November 21, 2011 [35]
Vladislav Namestnikov, London Knights (OHL) - November 14, 2011 [36]
Dustin Tokarski [37], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - November 6, 2011 [38]
Riku Helenius, JYP (Finland) - October 30, 2011 [39]
Matthew Peca [40], Quinnipiac Bobcats - October 23, 2011 [41]
Radko Gudas [42], Norfolk Admirals - October 16, 2011 [41]
Carter Ashton [43], Norfolk Admirals - October 9, 2011 [44]
Brett Connolly, Tampa Bay Lightning - October 2, 2011 [45]
Mattias Ritola [46], Tampa Bay Lightning - September 25, 2011 [47]