The Tampa Bay Lightning are coming off a year in which they debuted two of the hottest prospects in all of hockey, ultra skilled winger Jonathan Drouin, and future starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. That made it a pretty intriguing year for Lightning collectors and prospect fans, because that meant rookie cards of those two players, as well as D Nikita Nesterov, and some holdover rookies like F Cedric Paquette, and F Vladislav Namestnikov.
With the 2015-16 collecting season now upon us, it brings me to think about the Lightning rookie crop for this year, and what players we should see popping up in this year's products. While there may not be players with the fanfare of Drouin and Vasilevskiy set to debut for the bolts this year, the lightning have a solid pipeline, with players knocking on the door.
Lets start things off with some holdover rookies who debuted last year but didn't do so in time to make the 14-15 products:
Slater Koekkoek: His first rookie cards have made their way out via the recent 2015-16 MVP Hockey release by Upper Deck. He got a late season cup of coffee with the Bolts, and performed well, holding his own against the NHL competition. He is a former 10th overall pick in 2012, but his arrival has come with less fanfare than most high picks, as he has been brought along slowly. Right now the blueline is crowded in Tampa Bay, but when the Lightning eventually have to move salary out, he should be able to assume a top four role. I don't think his cards are going to be all that hot, but he has potential and it would be nice to pull one.
Luke Witkowski: Like Koekkoek, his first rookie cards appear in the recently released MVP set. However, Unlike Koekkoek, Witkowski was not a high draft pick. He has been Lightning property since being drafted in the 6th round in 2008, and after four years of college hockey, and another few years in the minors, Witkowski finally made his NHL debut this year, and performed admirably, chipping in with some hitting and a willingness to drop the gloves. His rookie cards probably won't be ones to chase, but he should be with the NHL club this year, and being that physicality is something the Lightning blueline lacks, he could find himself getting some playing time.
Players most likely to debut this year for the Lightning and have 15-16 rookie cards:
Anthony DeAngelo: As I've mentioned before, the Tampa Bay Lightning defense is getting pretty crowded, but DeAngelo is an elite prospect who they would have no problem making room for. He so far has backed up his 19th overall selection in the '14 draft by tearing up the OHL this past season, and is set to turn pro this year. He's probably going to start at AHL Syracuse, but don't be surprised to see him earn a call up to the Lightning at some point, possibly sooner rather than later. He's an offensive defenseman who could help on the powerplay, and could finally be the guy to replace Dan Boyle, traded almost seven years ago, who the bolts never seemed quite right without. DeAngelo is definitely a player to watch, and his rookie cards will be great to have.
Adam Erne: A power forward who starred for the Quebec Remparts, Erne is turning pro this year, and is a dark horse candidate to make the NHL out of training camp, but with the Lightning adding a few free agent forwards, that probably means he goes to AHL Syracuse to start. He likely will get a look in Tampa some point this year, because his skills as a potential top six power forward would be welcome in the Bolts lineup. He got big game experience at the Memorial Cup, and with some AHL experience at the start of the year, he could be NHL ready fairly soon, especially if one of Tampa Bay's forwards goes down with an injury.
Players who could debut this year, but may only get a small look, or end up being holdover rookies:
Matt Peca: Former college star at Quinnipiac, he could turn out to be one of those diamonds in the rough. He was a 7th round pick in 2011, and after 4 years of college hockey he turns pro this year. He definitely needs some time to get adjusted to the pro game as a smaller player, but he has talent and could break into the NHL as a call up at some point this year.
Long Shot for this year, but possibly a holdover rookie, still most likely another year away:
Adam Wilcox: He was great at the University of Minnesota, and got into some games for the Syracuse Crunch late last season. He is far from NHL ready, but with Kristers Gudlevskis having a down year and being erratic at times, if Wilcox is having a good year in the AHL, he could find himself called up for spot backup duty in the event of a goaltending injury. With goalies just having to dress out as a backup to get a rookie card, you never know.
Recap:
While the Lightning still have a ton of young talent on the way in their system, their deep roster at all positions means this year rookies will likely be call ups rather than stick with the team right away out of camp. Still, some pretty good Lightning players stand to appear on rookie cards this season. Here is my ranking in terms of card desirability for the guys I mentioned above who could have cards this year:
1. Anthony DeAngelo (this is a guy whose Young Gun card I want to have when it releases, hopefully this season.)
2. Slater Koekkoek (definitely one of the better rookies in early 15-16 checklists)
3. Adam Erne
4. Matt Peca
5. Luke Witkowski (if you like physical play, this is your guy)
6. Adam Wilcox
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