Award

This week we continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

This week’s winner, as we say on Twitter, “is good at the hockey.”

The Prospect of the Week for November 26 is … Tyler Johnson, center, Syracuse (AHL – USA)

Tyler Johnson doesn’t get the most attention on the Syracuse roster, that title may go to everything-award winner Cory Conacher, top AHL defenseman Mark Barberio, or even everything-championship winner Dustin Tokarski. Such is the “first world problem” Tyler Johnson and his fans must endure with the near embarrassment of riches on the Lightning farm right now.

This week we continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

This week’s winner scored five goals in three games.

The Prospect of the Week for November 12 is … Alex Hutchings, winger, Florida (ECHL – USA)

While many focusing on how the NHL lockout is affecting NHL players, coaches, administration, and even arena workers, the work stoppage is having a drastic effect on minor league players. Players like Alex Hutchings.

This week we continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

This week’s winner has only been on the ice for a couple of weeks, but is quickly making his mark.

The Prospect of the Week for November 5 is … Nikita Kucherov, winger, Quebec (QMJHL – Canada)

This week we continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

This week’s winner is watched closer than any other Lightning prospect.

The Prospect of the Week for October 30 is … Slater Koekkoek, defenseman, Peterborough (OHL – Canada)

The only reaction stronger than the surprise many Lightning prospect fans felt when the Lightning chose Slater Koekkoek with the 10th overall pick in June’s draft was the concern they felt when the 2-way defenseman went down in his first preseason game.

In other words, though the pick may have surprised them, they’re behind him 100 percent.

This week we continue our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their recent contributions on and off the ice.

This week’s winner is no stranger to winning.

The Prospect of the Week for October 23 is … Dustin Tokarski, goaltender, Syracuse Crunch (AHL - USA)

Spoon!

Despite winning a Calder Cup last season, Lightning goaltending prospect Dustin “Tic” Tokarski wasn’t guaranteed anything when he moved with Tampa Bay’s affiliation from Norfolk to Syracuse. Even with a Calder Cup, World Juniors gold medal, Memorial Cup, Ed Chynoweth Cup (WHL), and Telus Cup (Canadian Midget-level hockey) on his resume, the Saskatchewan native had to outplay former Lightning first rounder and Finnish import Riku Helenius for the right to start the Crunch’s season-opening game.