(Photo via myq105.com)
By Michael Wax
Ah, redrafts. The moment where we look back on a particular draft class, see how our team did, and then wonder how things would’ve been had they picked a different player.
Seeing as redrafts are the big thing right now, I thought about throwing it back to a different draft and seeing which players the Lightning hit on and who they missed out on. This time, I’m going back to the 2000 draft, a time where the Lightning finished with 19 wins and the NHL draft had nine rounds. A few ground rules:
Trades will be kept (We’ll get to that soon)
The players have to have been selected no more than 10 spots after the Lightning’s original pick to be considered
Ex. The Lightning selected eighth overall in the first round. The only eligible players for that redrafted pick are picks 9-18.
Let's get to it:
1st Round, 8th Overall
Original Selection - LW Nikita Alexeev
Stats (with TBL): 144 GP, 18 G, 17 A, 35 P
We immediately see our first instance of why I’m keeping trades in this redraft. Originally, the Lightning owned the fifth overall selection, which was traded to the New York Islanders along with a fourth and a seventh in exchange for a package that included goaltender Kevin Weekes. Luckily for the Lightning, they had acquired another first rounder (and a 2000 third) in a 1999 trade with the New York Rangers..
Originally, the Lightning selected Nikita Alexeev. After another season in the OHL with the Erie Otters, Alexeev would spend the next two seasons bouncing between the AHL’s Springfield Falcons and the Lightning. Never being able to find a permanent spot on the Lightning roster, Alexeev would spend one more year in Tampa before being shipped to Chicago in a 2007 deadline deal.
New Selection - D Ron Hainsey (Original: 13th overall to MTL)
Stats: 1,132 GP, 59 G, 252 A, 311 P
This redraft pick is a tough one. The 2000 draft is a bit of a nightmare, with Rick DiPietro going #1 overall, while Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik turned out to be the most productive players from that draft. Had I stuck with the original pick at #5, the redraft would’ve seen forward Scott Hartnell as the pick. However, I’ll be taking defender Ron Hainsey instead. Hainsey played for seven different teams across a 17-year career, playing in 1132 games and winning the 2017 Stanley Cup.
2nd Round, 34th Overall
Original Selection - F Ruslan Zainullin
Stats: DNP in NHL
It’s a tough look when your second pick in any draft not only doesn’t play a single game for you, but opts to stay in Russia for the entirety of his career. Zainullin would play professionally from 1999 to 2016, putting up 131 points in 519 games between the RSL and KHL.
New Selection - G Ilya Bryzgalov (Original: 44th overall to MDA)
Stats: 465 GP, 221-162-54 W/L, .912 Sv. %, 2.58 GAA, 34 SO
On the other side of the coin, Ilya Bryzgalov is the slam-dunk pick here. Drafted by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Bryzgalov would play 465 games between the pipes for five different teams, spending 12 years in the NHL. He won the 2007 Stanley Cup with Anaheim as a backup, and is widely considered one of the NHL’s greatest characters.
3rd Round, 81st Overall
Original Selection - F Alexander Kharitonov
Stats (with TBL): 66 GP, 7 G, 15 A, 22 P
Not only did the Lightning draft another player from Russia, but they spent this pick on a 24-year-old. Now, to be fair to the Lightning, Kharitonov had recently come off a point-per-game season with Dynamo Moscow of the RSL. Furthermore, he was ready to jump into the NHL the very next season, appearing in 66 games for Tampa and putting up seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points. Unfortunately that's where the party ended as Kharitonov signed with the Islanders in free agency the following summer, and proceeded to head back to Russia after just five games with NY.
New Selection - D Kurt Sauer (Original: 88th overall to COL)
Stats: 357 GP, 5 G, 28 A, 33 P
Just outside the range I set for this redraft was Dominic Moore, who was drafted 95th by the Rangers and had a long and fruitful career (partially with Tampa). Instead, we’re taking defender Kurt Sauer, who played 357 games between three different teams and recorded 33 points. Sauer made it all the way to the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals with the Mighty Ducks, where they lost to the Devils. Sauer’s career ended prematurely due to concussion symptoms, but he was a solid shut-down defender in his heyday.
4th Round, 126th Overall
Original Selection - C Johan Hagglund
Stats: DNP in NHL
Another player who failed to suit up for the Lightning, Hagglund actually had a nice career in Sweden. He played 14 seasons in Sweden after his draft year, putting up a plus rating in 13 of those years, and had 164 points, mostly in the Sweden 1st Division. Hagglund also played one regular season game in 2021-22 in the Sweden 4th Division.
New Selection: C Matt Hendricks (Original: 131st overall to NSH)
Stats: 607 GP, 54 G, 62 A, 116 P
We’re going into the next round to find the guy the Lightning should’ve taken. It might’ve taken a while, but Matt Hendricks turned into a solid NHL contributor. Hendricks played 11 seasons in the NHL, putting up 116 points in 607 games. Interestingly, he was traded for both Johnny Boychuk and Devan Dubnyk at different points of his career.
5th Round, 161st Overall
Original Selection - F Pavel Sedov
Stats: DNP in NHL
Yet another Russian selected by the Lightning, and one who also never suited up for the team. Sedov played in Russia for 16 years, putting up 151 goals and 300 points in 703 games.
New Selection: G Roman Čechmánek (Original: 171st overall to PHI)
Stats: 212 GP, 110-64-28 W/L, .919 Sv. %, 2.08 GAA, 25 SO
Is it weird to take multiple goalies in a draft? A little. But Roman Čechmánek is just too good to pass up. Even before he was drafted, Čechmánek had won the 1998 Nagano Olympics as the starting goalie for the Czech Republic, and had won back-to-back World Championships in 1999 and 2000.
Though he only played in four NHL seasons, he made the most of his time in the NHL, winning the starting job for the Flyers in his rookie year and finishing second in Vezina Trophy voting. Čechmánek won the Jennings Trophy in 2003. Overall, he finished with 110 wins and a .919 save % in 212 NHL games.
6th Round, 191st Overall
Original Selection - D Aaron Gionet
Stats: DNP in NHL
As we get later into the draft, there's no fault for Lightning necessarily taking a flier on a certain player that they believed in. In this instance, the Lightning went with a right-handed shot defenseman in Aaron Gionet. Gionet had recently come off a five goal, six assist season in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers, and had finished sixth in the entire league in penalty minutes with 243.
After he was drafted, Gionet would stay with the Blazers for three more seasons, racking up a total of 34 points and 620 penalty minutes over those three seasons. After three years in the East Coast Hockey League, Gionet retired.
New Selection: D Deryk Engelland
Stats: 671 GP, 30 G, 97 A, 127 P (Original: 194th overall to NJD)
Engelland was drafted by the New Jersey Devils just three picks after Gionet, but never ended up playing a game for NJ. He spent 6 years in the minors, going from team to team and seeming as if his story would have the same ending as Gionet’s.
After all of that time in the minors, He finally got his chance in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. Engelland would play seven years with the Penguins, including scoring his first career goal on the Lightning fittingly enough. After three years in Calgary, Engelland was selected by his hometown Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 expansion draft. After another three years in Vegas, he retired following 671 NHL games and another 338 AHL games.
7th Round, 222nd Overall
Original Selection - D Marek Priechodsky
Stats: DNP in NHL
Like many other players that were drafted by the Lightning in this particular draft, Priechodsky would have a long career but would never suit up in the NHL. Between the top and second ranked league in Slovakia, Priechodsky would put up 13 goals and 67 assists for 80 points in 325 games, while also dishing out 284 penalty minutes.
New Selection: F Antti Miettinen (Original: 224th overall to DAL)
Stats: 539 GP, 97 G, 133 A, 230 P
Sometimes it's impressive the types of stories you find when going this far into the draft. Miettinen played four seasons with the stars, and was a solid contributor before signing a three-year contract with the Minnesota Wild and continuing his solid production.
After A few months in the KHL, Miettinen had a deal in place with the Lightning to return to the NHL in 2011. Instead of coming to Tampa and potentially playing on the wing of Vincent Lecavalier or Steven Stamkos, Miettinen was claimed off of his re-entry waivers by the Winnipeg Jets, and played with the Jets for parts of the next two seasons.
After his time with the Jets, he returned overseas and finished his career in Finland. It certainly would have been an interesting alternative timeline had he not been claimed off waivers, bringing his consistent production and veteran leadership to a team that was on the cusp of bringing up all of their prospects from the American Hockey League.
7th Round, 226th Overall
Original Selection - G Brian Eklund
Stats: 1 GP, 0-1-0 W/L, .842 Sv. %, 3.09 GAA
Arguably, these are the most interesting stories. Someone who has put all of their blood, sweat, and tears into making the NHL, only to play in a single game. This wasn't the intention for the Lightning, but with the emergence of John Grahame and the trade for Nikolai Khabibulin, the Lightning really didn't need Eklund. Same thing in this redraft, as I've already taken two goaltenders, and don't need a third one. Even if Eklund had a decent career, this probably would have been changed.
New Selection: D Ľubomír Sekeráš (Original: 232nd overall to MIN)
Stats: 213 GP, 18 G, 53 A, 71 P
Sekeráš was one of the first picks in the 8th round during the 2000 draft, at the startling age of 31 years old. He Continues to be one of the oldest rookies in NHL history, and was selected by the Minnesota Wild in their first year of existence. Sekeráš found himself playing more than 190 games for three different leagues across his career; the NHL, the Czech Extraliga, and the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League. Playing 200 games in the NHL is a very impressive accomplishment, and even more impressive when you consider the age that Sekeráš was and the mileage he had put on his body even before entering the NHL.
8th Round, 233rd Overall
Original Selection - G Alexander Polukeyev
Stats: DNP in NHL
One pick after Sekeráš in the actual draft, The Lightning surprisingly decided to draft another goaltender for the second time in seven selections, with no other goalies being taken between the two picks. Unlike Eklund, Polukeyev never made it to the NHL, and never even spent time outside of the European leagues. While data is sporadic on his playing career, which lasted from 1997 to 2013, His 2012 season with Dizel Penza of the VHL saw the most success, with him going 11-4-4 with a .927 save percentage in 19 games.
New Selection: C Zdeněk Kutlák (Original: 237th overall to BOS)
Stats: 16 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 P
At this point in the draft, 16 games in the NHL are better than no games in the nhl. While Kutlák spent a lot of his Time in North America in the AHL instead of the NHL, and played parts of three seasons with the bruins, he did put up a goal and two assists during his brief stint in North america. Overall, Kutlák has had a fruitful career between the NHL, NLA, and Czech leagues, Playing all the way until last year where he put up 19 points in 25 games in his 26th year of professional hockey.
9th Round, 263rd Overall
Original Selection - C Thomas Ziegler
Stats: 5 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 P
For as bad as this draft has been overall for the Lightning, it's pretty impressive that their last pick in the draft ended up playing actual games for them. Ziegler Found his way over to North America for the 2000-01 season, suiting up for five games and going scoreless in those games. Ziegler’s Biggest career accomplishment came in the 2003-04 Nationalliga A season, where he captured the league a championship the same year that the Lightning captured the Stanley Cup.
New Selection: D Jean-Philippe Côté (Original: 265th overall to TOR)
Stats: 27 GP, 0 G, 4 A, 4 P
Even with the Lightning selecting someone who played actual games in this round, there is a better pick available a few selections later. This pick was originally the Lightning’s, and was traded back in 1999 to the Leafs in exchange for G Jeff Reese and a 2000 9th round (which was also traded). The Leafs selected defenseman Jean-Philippe Côté. After years in the AHL and a brief stint with the Montreal Canadiens, Côté Went to the DEL in Germany for two years before returning to North America and signing with the Lightning. He was a part of the 2012 Norfolk Admirals championship, and would play in 19 games for the Lightning in the 2013-14 season. Côté would eventually finish his career in France in 2017-18.
So…
No GM is perfect, for sure. And not every draft is stacked to the brim with talent, this one being a perfect example. But this redraft shows that the Lightning could have done a far better job with their selections.
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