Tampa Bay Lightning: Top 8 prospects worth getting excited about

6. Boris Katchouk

Boris Katchouk, who was taken in the Second Round (No.44 overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, has had somewhat of a difficult transition to professional hockey so far. The 22-year-old was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning after his rookie season in the OHL with the Soo Greyhounds, where he posted 24 goals and 51 points in 63 games.

After being drafted, he played two more seasons with the Greyhounds, scoring 77 goals and 149 points in 124 games. Thanks to his big numbers, Katchouk was able to represent Team Canada at the 2018 World Juniors, where he impressed with six points in seven games.

After his junior career, it looked like Katchouk would soon be a contributing piece for the Lightning. However, that hasn’t happened yet as he has spent the entirety of the last two seasons in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch. His scoring has yet to translate from the junior level, as he has just 55 points in a combined 135 games.

His 2019-20 season wasn’t terrible by any means, as he had 14 goals and 32 points in 60 games. Boris Katchouk is still young and has a chance to improve on those numbers and become a regular NHLer, though the clock is slowly beginning to tick.

5. Taylor Raddysh

A player who has had a very similar career to Boris Katchouk thus far is Taylor Raddysh. Not only is Raddysh the same age as Katchouk, but he was also taken in the Second Round (No.58 overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft after a 73-point season in the OHL with the Erie Otters.

Raddysh became a very talked about prospect soon after being drafted, as he put up a 42 goal, 109-point 2016-17 season. As a result of the big year, he was able to participate for Team Canada in the World Juniors in 2017, where he had five goals and six points in seven games. He returned to the OHL in 2017-18 for his final season of junior hockey where, despite being traded midway through the year, was able to still put up big totals and was once again selected to represent Team Canada, this time posting two goals and five points in seven contests.

Raddysh, again like Katchouk, has spent the last two seasons in the AHL with the Crunch. His rookie year was very promising as he tallied 18 goals and 46 points in 70 games. Unfortunately, he regressed this past season with 19 goals and 35 points in 62 games. The reason he sits above Katchouk on this list currently is because he has been able to put pucks in the back of the net at a slightly better rate, but there isn’t a ton that separates these two at the moment.