Welcome to the latest installment of the future Lightning prospect series. In this column, we take a look at the Tampa Bay Lightning prospects who are standing out and enjoying success, whether they’re playing in Canadian juniors, the American Hockey League (AHL), Europe, Russia, or anywhere around the world.
In this issue, we will take a look at two Lightning prospects who are participating in the 2025 World Junior Championship (WJC), a couple of players who are standing out in the American Hockey League for the Syracuse Crunch, and looking at how some prospects are doing with their respective college teams.
Two Prospects at the WJC
Ethan Gauthier (Canada) and Joona Saarelainen (Finland) are participating for their respective countries in the 2025 WJC but have had varying results. Gauthier was part of the disappointing Team Canada squad that lost in the Quarterfinal to Czechia. Coming into the tournament, Gauthier was doing well with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), scoring 13 goals and 22 assists in 24 games. He did not have any points in the tournament, playing mainly in a checking role for Canada, a team that struggled offensively.
Selected by the Lightning in the second round (No. 37) of the 2023 NHL Draft, Gauther’s strong season in Drummondville included a seven-game point streak that saw him net 13 points (four goals, nine assists), which included five multi-point games. The Lightning have been impressed by the improvement in his 200-foot play and love the swagger he is showing during games.
The 18-year-old Saarelainen is participating at his first WJC as Finland will play Team USA for a gold medal on Sunday (Jan. 5). He has played in all six games for Finland and has one assist for the tournament. Before the tournament, Saarelainen was playing professionally in Finland. The 2024 fifth-round pick split time with KalPa’s U20 team (10 games, 10 goals, three assists) and their professional Liiga squad (14 games, two goals, two assists).
Crunch Goaltender
While Jonas Johansson and Matt Tomkins are names that most Lightning fans are familiar with, Brandon Halverson has been turning heads with his performance for the Syracuse Crunch. The 28-year-old native of Traverse City, Michigan, was the New York Rangers’ first pick (second round, No. 59 overall) in 2014, taken two rounds before the Rangers’ current standout goaltender, Igor Shesterkin. In February of 2018, Halverson made his debut for the Blueshirts in a relief effort against the Ottawa Senators, making five saves on six shots. Since that debut, things have not gone the way Halverson had planned.
In addition to being behind in the Rangers’ goaltending depth chart with Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev ahead, injuries cut into his development in the ensuing years. Halverson didn’t play at all in 2021-22 when he was recovering from knee and wrist surgery and returned to the ice in 2022-23 with Bayreuth in Germany’s second division. Halverson went to camp last season on a professional tryout (PTO) with Syracuse, Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate, and won four of five decisions before earning a two-year AHL contract from the Crunch in late November.
He split time last season with the Crunch and the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL. However, when he did get his chance with the Crunch, he put up excellent numbers, going 7-3-3 in 14 games with a 2.18 goals-against average (GAA), a .913 save percentage, and one shutout. His solid play has continued this season, going 10-4-5 in 19 games with a 1.77 GAA and a .934 save percentage. He has four shutouts on the season, including his most recent one, in which he blanked the Toronto Marlies on New Year’s Day.
NCAA Performances
Isaac Howard was recently named the Big Ten’s First Star of the Week after scoring a pair of goals, an assist in Michigan State’s tie (shootout win), and victory over then-No. 1 Minnesota on the road in Minneapolis (Dec. 14). It was the second two-goal game of the season and the winger’s career. He now has a team-best nine goals, surpassing his career-best total of eight last year as a sophomore. Howard, with a 9-11-20 scoring line, ranks fourth in the Big Ten in goals per game (0.56, 17th nationally) and eighth in assists per game (0.67), and is eighth nationally and third in the conference in points per game (1.25). He owns or shares the team lead in all three categories.
Connor Kurth picked up a goal and two assists in the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ weekend sweep over Mercyhurst. Kurth’s goal and assist in the Friday game (Jan. 3) was his fifth game with multiple points this year and stretched his point total to a career-high 23, surpassing his 21 from a season ago. He now has a point in nine of 11 series-opening games in 2024-25 and seven points over the last five contests. The sixth-round pick in 2022 has 24 points in 22 games for the Gophers.
Related: 3 Tampa Bay Lightning New Year’s Resolutions
The Lightning do not have the deepest prospect pool in the NHL, but they continue to draft and develop mid-round talent that makes significant contributions to the roster. The critical thing to remember about prospects is that development is non-linear. Some players take longer to figure it out than others, and some players never do, but the Lightning have been encouraged by the play of their prospects as they continue to work for the chance at a roster spot.
