Lightning add goalie depth in fifth round of NHL draft in Nick Malik
The Lightning don’t have quick considerations in aim with All-Star Andrei Vasilevskiy beneath contract till 2027-28. However that doesn’t imply they’re ignoring their future.
Tampa Bay used its fifth-round decide (No. 160 total) within the draft Friday at Montreal to pick goaltender Nick Malik, who performed with KooKoo within the prime Finnish league, Liiga, final season.
Amir Miftakhov, chosen within the sixth spherical of the 2020 draft, was positioned on unconditional waivers July 1, leaving Hugo Alnefelt, a third-round decide in 2019, as the one true goaltending prospect left within the group.
In Malik, 20, the Lightning’s scouting division noticed the chance so as to add depth.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/GHEE7WSMZFDRNJSGS5CHUTI3P4.jpeg "Nick Malik and Czech Republic assistant coach Ales Kratoska speak during a training session before the under-20 world championships in 2019 in Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic.")
“It was the man that was there that we felt had actually good potential,” Al Murray, the Lightning’s director of newbie scouting, instructed media in Montreal.
Malik, 6 toes 7, is the son of former Lightning defenseman Marek Malik, who performed with Tampa Bay through the 2008-09 season.
Malik is ready to play with KooKoo in 2022-23. He had a .922 save proportion (fourth finest within the league), a 1.97 goals-against common and 4 shutouts in 34 video games final season.
‘Favourite sleeper decide’
The Lightning selected left wing Connor Kurth of Dubuque of the junior United States Hockey League within the sixth spherical (No. 192). Although he isn’t able to play at AHL Syracuse, Murray hopes that Kurth, who turns 19 on July 30, will profit from taking part in on the College of Minnesota.
“One other little bit of a late developer, however he’s a goal-scorer,” Murray mentioned. “We’ve had some success with the (USHL) with getting some later gamers that proceed to mature and develop and go onto college, and we expect he might be a type of guys.”
Murray famous Kurth’s construct — 5 toes 11, 207 kilos — and taking pictures potential, which produced 35 targets and 81 factors in 62 video games final season.
“Offensive gamers are robust to search out, so we thought this was an incredible alternative this yr so as to add some expert offensive gamers in (first-round decide) Isaac (Howard), (third-rounder) Lucas (Edmonds) and Kurth,” Murray mentioned. “So we’ve added some good offensive talent to our prospect pool.”
Chris Peters, a draft and prospects analyst for the web site FloHockey, referred to as Kurth a “favourite sleeper decide” of his in a Twitter put up after the choice.
“I believe (he’s) going to be a stable goal-scorer on the collegiate stage at Minnesota,” Peters wrote. “The form of man you draft now so that you don’t must battle by a giant crowd when he’s a university free agent.”
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Closing flurry
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/CFGVPY5UCRDWFNZKPQHMFKC67M.jpeg "Latvia's Klavs Veinbergs, right, and Britain goaltender Ben Bowns, left, compete during an Ice Hockey World Championship Group B match in May in Tampere, Finland.")
The Lightning chosen defenseman Dyllan Gill and left wing Klavs Veinbergs with their ultimate two picks, back-to-back within the seventh spherical (Nos. 223 and 224).
Gill, 18, had 21 factors, together with six targets, in 66 video games with Rouyn-Noranda of the Quebec Main Junior League final season, his second with the workforce.
Veinbergs, 19, spent a part of final season with Zemgale in his native Latvia’s prime league and had seven factors in 9 playoff video games as his workforce gained a league championship. He additionally performed for Latvia on the world championship.
Cirelli has surgical procedure
Lightning middle Anthony Cirelli had shoulder surgical procedure Tuesday, common supervisor Julien BriseBois instructed media in Montreal. Cirelli sprained the AC joint in his proper shoulder through the Jap Convention ultimate in opposition to the Rangers after which dislocated it throughout Recreation 4 of the Stanley Cup ultimate in opposition to the Avalanche.
Contact Mari Faiello at mfaiello@tampabay.com. Observe @faiello_mari.
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