The Tampa Bay Lightning are making moves – for the future. The first player inked to a deal was forward Milo Roelens. Forward Gabriel Szturc joined the Lightning organization the following day. Both received three-year entry-level contracts from the Lightning, and both deals have an annual cap hit of $870,000, bringing in new pieces at a very low price.
While it’s likely that Roelens and Szturc will start in the minor leagues first, it doesn’t hurt to take a look at what these guys can offer to the big league club. They’re young guys locked into multi-year deals, the expectation is likely that we will see them at Amalie Arena at some point in the future. To be ready for when that time may come, let’s see what they got.
Big Man Milo Roelens
Roelens has spent the last five seasons in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He took time to find his footing at the junior level. In the first three seasons, his season high in points was 18. Meanwhile, his season high for goals was just six. He also didn’t have much playing time initially either, playing at most 47 games in a season.
That all changed last season when he finally started to break out. In 68 games, Roelens scored 22 goals and had 37 assists for 59 points. This season, he took yet another step forward. In 58 games thus far, he has a new career-high 25 goals, he’s matched his 37 assists total and has a career-high 62 points. These stats can all have “and counting” tacked on to the end since the Titans have another 10 games left in the season. His current pace puts him on track to finish with 72 points in 68 games.
These improvements caught the eye of the Lightning. Now that he can produce at the junior level, he can at the very least be something at the professional level.
Based on Roelens’ production in juniors, he might not bring a lot of scoring production to the NHL, at least not at the beginning. If he continues to grow, maybe he can become a 40- to 50-point player, which the Lightning would be fine with.
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A stat that truly stands out here is the 98 penalty minutes he’s amassed this season along with the 84 minutes from last season. Think of the guys who have had a lot of penalty minutes as a member of the Lightning. One who comes to mind is Pat Maroon. To put it lightly, he’s not a player who has been afraid to flash his hard style of play on the ice. Lightning reporter Chris Krenn even posted a video highlighting Roelens’ physicality.
It’s not a stretch of the imagination that Roelens fits this bill and can take on this type of role with the team. Any scoring on top of that is a massive bonus. Unlike other acquisitions, such as Tanner Jeannot, he comes at a much lower cost, making him an affordable and long-term option for bottom-six depth.
International Competitor Gabriel Szturc
This is not the first time Szturc has been connected to the Lightning. He was an invitee to the team’s training camp ahead of this season. So this signing was a long time coming.
The 20-year-old forward out of Czechia began his hockey career with BK Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Extraliga, the highest level of hockey in Czechia, during the 2019-20 season. In two seasons, he played in 15 games and had zero points. The high school-aged teen struggled and made the transition to junior in North America at 18, joining the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
Szturc has been with the Rockets for three seasons, finding more success. In 177 games, he has 188 points, including 67 goals and 121 assists. Last season, he had a career-high 79 points in 56 games. While his pace is a little slower this season, with 68 points in 54 games, he does have a new career high in goals with 27 (and counting as the Rockets have eight games left).
Szturc is currently on pace to finish with 80 points this season. Not the best pace of his junior career, but that is a new season high in points.
He represented Czechia during the 2022 and 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships. Szturc’s standout year came in 2023 when he had eight points in seven games – five goals and three assists. Czechia won the silver medal in that year’s World Juniors.
Szturc was highlighted in a story by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) about his pride in taking home the silver medal.
“It’s my last tournament of my junior international career,” Szturc said in the 2023 story. “I’m very proud of this team, what we’ve done here, and how we finished this tournament. Second place hurts right now, but it’s going to be an awesome feeling tomorrow.”
What does he bring to the table for the Lightning? The short answer is affordable depth. But you guys didn’t read this far just to get the short answer. Let’s find a solid comparison of someone who has played for the Lightning to get a real idea.
He’s not racking up penalties like Roelens has, so he would have to make some big changes to fill a similar role. Since he’s undrafted, it would be fun to go out on a limb and try to make comparisons to Martin St. Louis but the goal is to be realistic. Let’s roll with Yanni Gourde – a former fan favorite and Stanley Cup champion. The expectation could be he becomes a guy who can score the extra clutch goal and finish with 20 goals or more in a season from time to time.
In a few months, we’ll get the first glance at what these newly signed players bring out of the gate. However, it could be more than a season before we truly see what their ceilings are. It’s a low-risk gamble for the Lightning. The cap hits are low and leave room for other moves. But the reward can be high. With the success they have had with draft picks in the lower rounds, it would be a surprise to few should these guys become the next mainstays in Tampa Bay.
