Back in January, the Kingston Frontenacs made a couple of huge deals with the Saginaw Spirit. In the end Kingston received three players for two players and a whopping, bring-a-tear-to-Julien-BriseBois’-eye 16 future draft picks. One of those players that went to Kingston was Saginaw’s captain, and Lightning draft pick, Ethan Hay.
The 20-year-old Hay has fit in with his new team, recording 5 goals and 10 assists in 25 games with Kingston. With six games left in the regular season the Frontenacs have locked up a playoff spot as they sit in the fourth spot of the OHL’s Eastern Conference with a ten-point lead over Brampton.
Between his two teams the left-handed center has 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists) which matches the career high he put up in Flint two seasons ago. Drafted in the seventh round by the Lightning in 2023, Hay has been a bit of a project, but is developing into a solid defensive forward.
The Lightning have a decision to make now. Their draft rights expire on June 1, 2025. If he isn’t signed to his entry-level contract by then, he can become a free agent or re-enter the draft as an over-age prospect. Tampa Bay has room to sign him to an ELC as they are currently using 44 of their 50 contract spots. It’s likely they’ll use one on Isaac Howard once his season is over as well.
Hay is the only member of their 2023 draft class that is facing an expiring rights situation. Ethan Gauthier has already signed his ELC while Jack Harvey and Jayson Shaugabay’s rights don’t expire until August of 2028 since they went the college route. While the Lightning have a couple of years to make a decision on those two, they will have to decide on Alex Gagne and newly-acquired Kyle Aucoin by August 15th of this year.
With a depleted prospect pool, it would seem that it’s a no-brainer for the Lightning to sign as many prospects as they can, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the players want to sign with Tampa Bay. Cole Guttman and Sammy Walker allowed their deals to expire and found quicker routes to the NHL with other franchises.
It won’t be the most pressing business the Lightning have over the next couple of months (especially with rumors they are chasing some potential college free agents) but they have a habit of developing late-round draft picks, and Hay could be another one of those players that help them out at some point.
