The Tampa Bay Lightning added eight players to their prospect pool during this weekend’s 2025 NHL Draft, and the team’s hockey operations staff say they are happy with their newest additions.
Tampa Bay selected five forwards, two defensemen and one goalie, all on the second day of the draft on Saturday.
Director of Amateur Scouting John Rosso liked how this year’s draft unfolded for the Lightning.
“That's what made it easier for this whole draft is all the guys that we got, we got them in the spot that we really wanted to get them,” Rosso said, “and almost everyone agreed in the room about taking that player in that spot.”
Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois has faith in the amateur scouting staff and player development group, which he thinks can help this year's draftees to possibly reach the NHL.
"Today we added eight players to our organization that we believe in, that we think have potential, that have a high-end work ethic,” BriseBois said. “We also strongly believe in our development program, which has been really successful in helping players realize their potential. And that's what we're going to start to do with those players.”
Tampa Bay began its draft in Round 2 with the 56th overall pick, where they selected 18-year-old forward Ethan Czata from the Niagara IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Czata scored 21 goals and 55 points in 68 games for Niagara last season. Czata said during the draft that he relies on his defensive acumen, physicality and skating.
Those were traits the Lightning noticed, too.
"He's a strong, two-way player who at the junior level can go up against the best players and do a good job shutting them down and still contribute offensively. So that bodes well when you have that in your toolbox where you can play in all situations,” BriseBois said. “What we also really like about Ethan in particular is his work ethic. We have every reason to believe he's going to put in the effort to realize his potential, and we think that should ultimately lead him to the NHL at some point.”
Going into the draft, Rosso thought it was a “slim possibility” that Czata would still be available at pick 56. When the Vegas Golden Knights traded up for the 55th pick, Rosso admitted there were some nerves, but Tampa Bay still got its preferred player in Czata when Vegas chose another player.
"You get down to one or two picks, and you're just kind of holding your breath at that point. And like I said, they did the trade, and then your heart kind of drops because you're thinking, 'Oh, they're thinking what we're thinking—he shouldn’t (still) be here.' So luckily everything worked out for us.”
Tampa Bay selected two players in the fourth round, beginning with 20-year-old Benjamin Rautiainen from Tappara of Liiga—the top professional league in Finland. The Lightning traded with the Boston Bruins to receive the 108th selection, where they selected Rautiainen.
Rautiainen scored 10 goals and 33 points for Tappara last season and had two goals and four points for Team Finland at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships.
The Lightning’s next pick was 127th overall, where they took forward Aiden Foster. Foster, 18, played 68 games for the Prince George Cougars in 2024-25, scoring 11 goals and 20 points while compiling 136 penalty minutes—third-most in the WHL.
Defenseman Everett Baldwin was the team’s lone pick in Round 5 at 151st overall. Baldwin scored 10 goals and 20 points playing prep hockey for St. George’s School in Rhode Island and also saw time in the United States Hockey League.
Tampa Bay then made four picks in Round 7, adding USHL goalie Caleb Heil, Russian forward Roman Luttsev and OHL defenseman Grant Spada before closing the draft with 20-year-old forward Marco Mignosa of the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds.
Rosso said Tampa Bay’s seventh-round selections all bring different traits, adding that the team’s scouts were high on all four players.
This year’s decentralized draft worked for the Lightning, and now the team aims to keep the development on an upward trajectory, beginning this week at the team’s 2025 development camp. Seven of the eight draftees will attend development camp, with the exception being Luttsev.
