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. I covered the first three names two days ago and the next three names yesterday. Here’s a breakdown of the Lightning’s final three selections: No. 150 – Ryan Zuhlsdorf – Defender His last name might sound European (German, maybe?), but this defenseman is all American. The Minnesota native, who played for the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL last year, was NHL Central Scouting’s 202nd ranked North American skater. He appears to have leadership qualities, as evidenced by the fact that he has been named Captain of his Junior team. He scored three goals and added 19 assists in 56 games with the Musketeers during 2014-15.
Those totals may not jump off the page to you, but by all accounts he had a strong season for a first-year player in the USHL:
Zuhlsdorf was named to the USHL all-rookie team. Also has a name that was rejected from the Lord of the Rings meets Ghostbusters movie.
— Bolt Prospects (@BoltProspects) June 27, 2015No. 153 – Kristian Oldham – Goaltender Ben Bishop. Anders Lindback. Andrei Vasilevskiy. Kristers Gudlevskis. What do those guys have in common, other than the fact that they have all played games for Tampa Bay over the last two seasons? They’re all big goaltenders.
Murray said Kristian Oldham, the lone goalie drafted by #TBLightning, is similar to Ben Bishop. "He's a big guy who fills the net."
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) June 27, 2015From BoltProspects.com:
Scouting Comments: "Big, athletic project goaltender fits Frantz Jean's preferred goaltending template." -BoltProspects Strengths: Big, athletic goaltender was a winner on a pretty good Omaha team this season. Has had to mature a lot as a person moving from Alaska to Nebraska to develop his game. Moving to the NCAA ranks with Omaha-Nebraska next season. Weaknesses: Still a raw product. Needs ongoing refinement in mechanics, positioning, rebound control, and puck handling. Projection: Long term project netminder with upside
No. 180 – Bokondji Imama – Left Wing We’re back to that grit factor again. You want a guy who will make the Lightning tougher to play against? Imama might be your man.
Bokondji Imama, LW, from Saint John. Good-sized forward who plays bigger. I believe he was passed over last year. Not certain.
— Bolt Prospects (@BoltProspects) June 27, 2015The bottom line is that Imama probably doesn’t come with much offensive upside. His skill set isn’t really suited to a scoring role. What he does come with, though, is the greatest name in hockey history. Sorry, Tommy Wingels, you’ve been dethroned.
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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.