Draft

D Slater Koekkoek, 6'2" 184 lbs, Peterborough (OHL), Shoots: Left
CSS #23 North American Skater, ISS #21 Skater, RLR #21 Overall, THN #23 Overall, TSN #16 Overall
2011-2011 Statistics: 26 GP, 5-13-18, -1, 17 PIM

Injuries made Peterborough defenseman Slater Koekkoek a wild card in this draft. The Peterborough defenseman went out after 26 games with shoulder surgery, leaving NHL teams to wonder what he might have accomplished had he not gotten hurt.

Pros: He's extremely mobile with a lot of burst and straight line speed. He's also incredibly intelligent at both ends of the ice and has a good, hard snap shot.

Cons: Not overly physical, despite possessing a pretty good sized frame. Can occasionally be prone to coughing up the puck when under forechecking pressure.

Red Line Report compared Koekkoek to Kevin Shattenkirk and projects him to be a mobile, second pairing puck mover.

The strength of the Lightning organization remains at the forward positions, where the team still boasts an impressive mix of star veterans like Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, and Ryan Malone, and the game's best young star, Steven Stamkos. The team will spend some of its offseason tweaking its third line, and they made overtures to Swiss star Damien Brunner to try to improve their scoring depth on the wings. But, ultimately, the team should feel pretty solid offensively. Keeping the puck out of the back of their own net has always been the bigger challenge.

As uncertain as things have traditionally been for the Lightning between the pipes, the defenseman position may be even more unsettled at this point in the offseason. After cheating father time for much of the 2011-2012 season, age caught up to many of the Lightning's veteran defensemen in 2012-2013. Mattias Ohlund may never play another NHL game after the 35 year old's knee finally gave out after over 900 games of NHL service.

Bolt Prospects' draft coverage begins with the goaltending position, which has been a perennial sore spot since the founding of the franchise. With the exception of short runs by Darren Puppa in the early days of the team and Nikolai Khabibulin leading up to the team's Stanley Cup run in 2003-2004, the Lightning have always seemed to face uncertainty between the pipes.

With the Lightning prospect season finally completed, it is now time to turn our attention to the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. While the team's prospect system enjoyed unprecedented success, the team's struggles at the NHL level last season left the Lightning with a draft pick bonanza after a bevy of pre-deadline deals. Heading into the draft, the Lightning currently holds a pair of first round picks, and at least one second round pick following the trade of picks 37 and 50 to Nashville in the Anders Lindback trade.