27. Florida Panthers
G: Kevin Weekes
D: Jaroslav Spacek, Filip Kuba
F: Kristian Huselius, Oleg Kvasha, Radek Dvorak
In the Florida lineup, only Radek Dvorak was a first-round pick, 10th overall in 1995, and he brings pretty decent value for that slot. The rest of the team includes some good-not-great names like Kristian Huselius and Jaroslav Spacek, and Kevin Weekes is a career backup (but a fantastic analyst).
But most of these picks were later on in their draft years, and that pushes the Panthers up a couple of spots in these rankings. This is a combination of middle of the lineup players with a backup goalie. Not gonna compete with other teams you’ll see here.
26. Tampa Bay Lightning
G: Andrey Vasilevskiy
D: Pavel Kubina, Roman Hamrlik
F: Nikita Kucherov, Brad Richards, Richard Panik
The Lightning lineup is buoyed by Nikita Kucherov already being the best 58th overall pick in NHL history by age 26. Brad Richards is the best 64th pick overall ever and was clutch when it mattered most. Only one player ever came close to Pavel Kubina’s value at 179th overall (that being Jaroslav Modry). Andrey Vasilevskiy is a very good goaltender now and has plenty of time to improve on his standing as the best goalie Tampa’s ever drafted.
In terms of winning games, this team has a big hole on one side of the ice, which could slow things down. Otherwise, not a bad lineup.