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.
Prospects were one of the topics as general manager Julien Brisebois spoke about the faith he holds in his NHL roster during his annual midseason media availability. He spoke on nearly every aspect of the organization, touching on strong analytics for his NHL group, fast starts for first-year Bolts, the Lightning prospect pool, the push for the playoffs, and the quickly approaching NHL trade deadline.
In talking about the prospects, he told the media: “If we don’t have a lot of first-round picks, we don’t have a lot of second-round picks, it’s harder to infuse the pipeline with high-end skill because that’s where you’re gonna find high-end skill. That’s where getting guys like (Conor) Geekie, getting guys like (Emil) Lilleberg, getting guys like (JJ) Moser that are still really young, early 20s and already are helping us at the NHL level helps for sure. It makes players like Isaac Howard and others all the more important to our pipeline because we don’t have the volume of those higher-end guys.”
Let’s take a look at Howard and the other Lightning prospects in the NCAA, as well as others of note in the organization.
NCAA Prospects
Howard has proven to be one of the best players in the NCAA this season. His goal-scoring for the Michigan State Spartans has been second to none. The junior forward and Hobey Baker Award candidate was the first player in the country to reach 20 goals. He also leads the country in points with 39, and has 19 assists this season, along with his 20 goals scored.
The consistent scoring and production have been the Lightning’s first-round selection’s greatest asset, as he also leads the nation in points per game at 1.50. He has four assists and two goals in his last three contests, all against top 10 teams. The Minnesota-Duluth transfer has been the catalyst for the Spartans’ immense success.
Don’t be surprised to see Howard in a Lightning or Syracuse Crunch sweater after his NCAA season concludes.
Connor Kurth, a sixth-round pick in 2022, is a point-per-game player for the University of Minnesota in 28 games this season, continuing the trend of the Lightning finding late-round gems. He is coming off a season in which he finished by tying his career high of seven goals and set career bests in assists (14) and points (21). He also put up 15 of his 21 total points during 22 games in Big Ten Conference play, while 20 of his points were in Minnesota wins or ties.
Pouliot Named AHL All-Star
While technically not a prospect, Crunch defenseman Derrick Pouliot was selected to represent the AHL North Division at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino, held February 2-3 in Palm Desert, California. At the time of the announcement, Pouliot led the Crunch and was second in the league with 26 assists on the season. He is also tied for first among all AHL defensemen with 31 points. This is the fourth time he’s been selected for the AHL All-Star Classic.
Pouliot ➡️ Goncalves ➡️ Sheary pic.twitter.com/UIfcknRwlp
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) January 18, 2025
Pouliot represents one of the players with NHL experience on the Crunch roster who could provide some help to the Lightning this season. The well-traveled blueliner has suited up for 226 career NHL games and has made stops with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas Stars. Being an offensive-minded defenseman does give the Lightning an in-house option should they decide to go that route at some point in the season.
Prospect Swap With the Rangers
Last week, the Lightning acquired forward Ryder Korczak from the New York Rangers in exchange for forward Lucas Edmonds.
Edmonds, a third-round selection of the Lightning, picked up five points in 26 games for the Crunch this season. Korczak played in 35 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack this season, recording three goals and 11 points with 14 penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating. The 5-foot-11, 172-pound forward has skated in 107 career AHL contests, all with Hartford, registering 12 goals and 31 points with three power-play goals and 42 penalty minutes. He made his Calder Cup Playoff debut last season with the Wolf Pack, collecting one goal and two points in 10 postseason contests.
It is not a major move by any means, but it appears that the teams made this trade to give a couple of prospects a chance to develop with different organizations.
Related: Lightning Can Turn to AHL Syracuse for NHL-Experienced Help
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.
