The players who participated in the Lightning’s annual development camp came to the TGH IcePlex at various stages in their development. Some already have played games with AHL Syrcause, others just had their names called in the NHL draft. Some will play next season overseas, others will continue their college and juniors careers.
Conor Geekie was in development camp last summer and three months later had earned an opening-night roster spot with the Lightning.
There was a unique trend with this summer’s roster: It’s an older group.
Whether it was goaltender Harrison Meneghin, a 20-year-old drafted in the seventh round last season who was named the Western Hockey League playoff MVP and led his Medicine Hat team to the Memorial Cup final, or a pair of 20-year-olds drafted last week like Finnish forward Benjamin Rautiainan and Marco Mignosa, this camp was deep in age and experience.
(One notable absence this was former first-round pick Isaac Howard, the reigning Hobey Baker Trophy winner whom the Lightning are shopping on the trade market.)
“With the new reality, I think some older guys are probably going to impress more and more, with a lot of guys from the (Canadian Hockey League) going to the NCAA,” said Lightning director of player development J.P. Cote.
Mignosa, who stood out in 3-on-3 play, continued to improve his numbers in his first three years in the Ontario Hockey League. He recently had a 36-goal, 85-point season playing for the Soo Greyhounds before Tampa Bay selected him 215th overall on June 28.
“It’s less guesswork,” Lightning amateur scouting director John Rosso said. “You’re assuming with the 17-year-old, the points will go up, the play will go up, the playing time, the responsibility, the ice time will all go up. But you don’t know that for sure. ... Even though (Mignosa’s) a little bit older, some may look at that as a bad thing. We kind of look at that as a positive thing, because he’s shown that he can improve and he’s willing to put in the work.”
Camp began with skill and skating drills and concluded with a 3-on-3 tournament. Players were split into five five-player teams (goaltenders swapped in and out) that played 10 games on half-sheet, and then the top two teams, with players from the other teams added in, played a full-sheet game of two 16-minute halves.
It wasn’t the Stanley Cup, but the five original members of the winning team, Team Richards, passed the 3-on-3 trophy around like it was, lifting it high for the Fourth of July crowd assembled to see. The final two players to get the trophy, Meneghin and fourth-round draftee Aiden Foster, even kissed the hardware.
A unique format
The round-robin 3-on-3 format was fast paced, and it forced players to work harder to find space. While teams might have small-ice drills in practices, it’s much different than the 200-foot, 5-on-5 game. But Cote said there were specific things coaches were looking for.
“So far this year, what we’re focused on is wall play and coming into the inside, so attacking the inside of the game,” Cote said. “So I love to see plays come in from outside to the inside, and we’ve seen a few of them. So attacking the interior, finding plays, supporting correctly. These are the things that stand out to me, and we can see them in small-area games like that.”
Forward Jayson Shaugabay, a fourth-round pick in 2023, was one of those whose skills shined on the small ice. His goal round-robin snipe from a tight angle below the left circle was one of the best goals of the camp.
“That happens sometimes,” said Shaugabay, who will be entering his second season at Minnesota-Duluth. “I think I got a little lucky. There’s a lot of hockey to be played out there.”
Rautiainen was in his native Finland when he was drafted and then took a 15-hour flight to Tampa in time for Monday’s opening day of development camp. But when it came to adjusting to a smaller-sized rink — then playing small-ice 3-on-3 — Rautiainen enjoyed the challenge of finding more space.
“It’s pretty tight,” said Rautiainen, who is used to playing in larger rinks in Europe. “I think that the rink is the most unusual thing. It’s a lot smaller. I like it. There’s more situations coming up when you play in the small rink. And of course, the mentality playing (is different) a bit. You shoot the puck a little bit more than in Europe.”
Monitoring the Machine
Forward Noah Steen, a seventh-round pick by the Lightning last season, doesn’t blow you away with his numbers. But on the ice, he definitely drew notice. At the end of camp, he was presented with the Absolute Machine of the Week award by former Lightning player P.C. Labrie, who was a guest assistant coach for the camp.
Steen, who turns 21 in August, was everywhere on the ice, showing a strong two-way game throughout the competition. The Norwegian forward will be entering his second season playing for Orebro HK in Sweden’s top pro league.
“I have a lot more responsibility over the puck, and I think I’m a better puck handler,” Steen said of entering his second season in the Swedish Hockey League. “I think my shot has improved a lot.
“When you play in the SHL, you have to be really strong in the park, protect the puck, otherwise you go the other way. So I think I’ve worked with that kind of stuff that’s in my game, and not really, like, going one-on-one trying to do the silky moves. I’m just trying to protect the puck, stay in the offensive zone, get the hard way to the net.”
