What Jakob Pelletier’s Big AHL Season Means for the Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning have some irons in the fire for the future of their team. Some are up-and-coming prospects who are MVP winners across the world and in the junior ranks. However, one potential piece could be a 25-year-old first-round pick finding his stride in the American Hockey League (AHL).

He’s not a prospect, per se. He has 91 NHL games under his belt, more than half of which came during the 2024-25 season. But he’s taking a step further in his development at 25 years old in the minor leagues.

Jakob Pelletier took home some serious hardware at the end of his first season with the Syracuse Crunch. The 2025-26 AHL First Team All-Star led the league in points with 77, earning him the John B. Sollenberger Trophy. To top it off, he was named the AHL Player of the Year.

Let’s take a look at the road he had to the big season. Then, we’ll see the type of role he could play with the team next season.

Path to Player of the Year

The 2019 first-round pick in the NHL Draft signed with the Lightning to a three-year contract. It started as a two-way deal for the first season, which just concluded, and it converts to a one-way deal afterward.

Going forward, he’s getting the same pay whether the Lightning have him in the NHL or the AHL. He’s set to make league minimum, according to PuckPedia, but NHL pay is NHL pay.

Out of the gate in preseason, he started to make noise. He scored a goal during the two preseason games he saw action in. His overall performance beyond the scoresheet built a case for him to crack the NHL roster for opening night, but the Lightning wanted to see him get more work in Syracuse.

He ultimately played in five NHL games. But he, for all intents and purposes, had a full AHL season.

It proved to be a solid decision. The aforementioned 77 points were the highest he has recorded in a season at any level. Special teams were his specialty. His 31 power-play goals were the most by any AHL forward, and he finished tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with five.

Midway through the season, he made his first appearance in the AHL All-Star Classic. He followed up his All-Star honor with a fiery push to the finish. Pelletier finished the season on a 20-game point streak, the longest by an AHL skater in more than 17 years. If he hasn’t made his way into the conversation yet, he’s certainly forcing it to happen.

Where Pelletier Could Fit Into Lightning’s Equation

The team did a lot to improve the offensive depth this season, and Pelletier received credit as a potential option last offseason. The cap is going up, and they’re certainly going to make their moves. However, they’re going to need affordable help no matter how you slice it.

Pelletier could provide that low-cap-hit option who could be ready to provide an offensive boost. He would more than likely be a depth piece, at least to start. While the Lightning did a lot to improve its roster last season, it could still use some extra help. They still haven’t quite seen the depth step up the way they did earlier in the decade.

Keep expectations hopeful but cautious, at least to start. As noteworthy as this season has been for him, that latest breakout has to translate to the NHL. Maybe he becomes more of an impact player than that, but time will tell. The goal is just to avoid getting ahead of myself.

It would certainly make for a great story if he finally overcame the uncertainty. Alongside other promising players in the system, he too becomes one of the next X-factors on the team. Darren Raddysh just had a breakout season at 29 years old. You truly never know.

It’s tougher to gauge because he has that NHL experience under his belt. He’s not a prospect who just signed his entry-level contract, and you can say he’s going to be good. The narrative here is that he may finally live up to being a first-round pick.

To put a bow on this piece, let’s say a reasonable ceiling for him based on his breakout is a solid middle-six forward. If that’s what he becomes, he’s likely a 30- to 40-point guy who has double-digit goals along the way. That makes him a Gage Goncalves-level player. The Lightning would take that, and he would, too.