The Tampa Bay Lightning made nine selections on the second day of the NHL’s 2015 entry draft. Steve Yzerman entered the day with 10 picks, but dealt the 208th selection to the Edmonton Oilers for a 2016 seventh-rounder. That left him with nine. Here’s a breakdown of the Lightning’s first three selections: No. 33 – Mitchell Stephens – Center Stephens was the team’s first selection of the draft. The 5’11… forward's standing appeared to be a point of contention among scouts and frequent prospect watchers. NHL Central Scouting had him pegged as the 112th ranked North American skater, while others saw him as a high-value pick:
Nobody's stock at the U18 tournament moved up like Mitchell Stephens. He's in a first round discussion now IMO.
— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) April 25, 2015From Sportsnet.ca:
Marek’s Take: Had a fantastic U18 tournament in Switzerland that really turned scouts onto his potential. Doesn’t have an elite skill set but more than works hard enough to compensate for it. He just does everything really well. A solid hockey player. Played RW at the U18s and excelled, perhaps that’s where he’s best suited. NHL Comparable:At center he’s a poor man’s Mike Richards, on the wing Patrick Sharp.
No. 44 – Matt Spencer – Defender Another reach, if you’re going by the rankings, Spencer is a big defenseman who has a reputation for being dependable in all situations.
Matt Spencer - Good overall skater. Plays a responsible brand of D. Doesn't back down and seems to like high traffic battle areas more.
— Ross MacLean (@rossmaclean) June 27, 2015From MyNHLDraft.com:
A big, mean, physical presence from the blueline…strong and steady on defense, and he uses his size to his advantage to control players along the boards, to lay out some big hits and to eliminate opponents from the play…plays a simple, yet effective game on defense, using his size and stick to make plays and contain his man…he breaks up plays with his aggressiveness and is strong down low…offensive game is raw as he shows good outlets and mostly safe first feeds out of his zone…not a natural puck rusher, but will join the attack…shows off a hard shot from the point. (December 2014)
No. 64 – Dennis Yan – Left Wing After making relatively ‘low-risk, low-reward’ picks with their first two selections, the Lightning took a chance with their third. Yan is described as an offensively gifted player who has issues in the defensive zone. However, those defensive deficiencies weren’t enough to push him down Bob McKenzie’s list (ranked #38) or NHL Central Scouting’s (ranked #30 for North American skaters).
While some people will undoubtedly criticize the inherent risk with this selection, it’s not like the Lightning haven’t had success in the past with electric forwards who supposedly struggled in the defensive end leading up to the draft.
McKeen's #38 - Dennis Yan. Highly skilled winger with long reach and sneaky shot,also has good vision and passing skills.
— Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) June 25, 2015--
I’ll be back tomorrow with a recap of the next three picks!
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.