2025 Lightning Draft Class - 8 New Prospects
The Tampa Bay Lightning drafted 8 players from the 2025 NHL Entry Draft last week. Don’t worry, I don’t know anything about our new prospects, either! Well, I didn’t.
I’ve studied all there is to know about them; now, allow me to write and tell you about them. Whether you’re a secret scout & know everything about them already or whether you’re a die-hard Lightning fan without the time to study random 18-to-19 year-olds playing in other places, this week’s Bolts Breakdown will help you learn the important details about our new draft picks.
To make the most of your time, I’ll keep things brief. For each player, there will be a player profile, followed by a short synopsis of my thoughts on the player, littered with quotes, highlights, and more.
Let’s dive right in:
1) Ethan Czata (56th overall)
Ethan Czata is a prospect our Lightning front office held high on their lists. John Rosso, the Lightning’s director of scouting, said the following:
"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 [Vegas traded for the 55th overall pick], 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.”
Julien BriseBois noted Czata’s work-ethic as something that attracted the Bolts to draft him.
“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.”
Czata was scouted as a strong, two-way player who often matches against the opponent’s best players. He describes himself as a hard-hitting 200 foot centermen. He prides himself on playing with the penalty kill & playing strong defensively, while being a good skater & making moves to drive play.
“I try to be almost kind of like a Sam Bennett. I love being physical, I love going to the net front, being a little bit of a gritty player.”
He also described Dylan Larkin as someone he models his game after.
My Player Comparison: Anthony Cirelli
Anthony Cirelli is a hard-nosed, gritty, 200 foot center just like Czata described. They’re both left-handed centers coming in at 6’1. Czata weighs 174lbs. Cirelli weighed 165lbs when he was drafted.
They’re both Canadian centers who play(ed) in the OHL.
They were drafted 14 picks apart with 10 years in between.
Highlights:
Nifty pass:
Breakaway Goal:
2-on-1 Snipe:
2) Benjamin Rautiainen (108th Overall)
The Lightning traded their 4th round pick in next year’s draft to the Boston Bruins in order to select Benjamin Rautiainen at 108th overall.
Rautiainen clearly impressed the Lightning — enough for them to send next year’s pick away to grab Rautiainen while he was still available.
There is a lot to like about Rautiainen. First off, he’s a pure-bred sniper. His shot shows a lot of potential. To be honest, he reminds me a lot of Oliver Bjorkstrand. The difference with Rautiainen, though, is he lists as a center, where Bjorkstrand plays the wing. The similarity that I see lays in their shot. Both of them are able to fire the puck with accuracy and power from just about anywhere in the offensive zone.
Rautiainen was ranked 36th overall in the international skaters prospect rankings. He played 50 games in the Finnish Liiga for Tappara last year, scoring 33 points. He’s known for his offense — EliteProspects called him a deceptive handler that has the ability to slow things down or speed things up.
Rautiainen flashed those skills at the Lightning’s development camp last week. He helped propel his team to take home the annual 3-on-3 prospect tournament trophy, displaying his illusive puck-carrying ability and dynamic shot.
The Finnish league he played in last year is the highest professional league in Finland. Don’t be surprised if Julien BriseBois signs Rautiainen to an entry level contract for some AHL experience this year.
Highlights:
His powerfully deceptive wrist shot:
3) Aiden Foster (127th Overall)
Aiden Foster is an 18-year-old enforcer in the WHL. He’s known for his toughness and ability to get under the opponent’s skin. Accumulating the 3rd most penalty minutes in the WHL, Foster has seemingly found skill in agitating the the other team.
Players like Foster often find homes with NHL Clubs. Tanner Jeannot & Brad Marchand are current NHLers with this reputation. Will Foster become a Brad Marchand? No idea — that is not what I am saying.
But, Foster’s grit and determination with playing tough hockey is certainly something that will benefit him for years to come. He’s a hard-hitting and hard-checking forward that reminds opposing players of his presence shift-in, shift-out.
I’m personally looking at the offensive side of his game as the deal-breaker. Foster will need to flash more brilliance — like the video below — if he wants to make a career in the NHL. His strong defensive play, though, is certainly worth the draft pick gamble.
Highlights:
4) Everett Baldwin (151st Overall)
Everett Baldwin is an 18-year-old defensemen who has committed to NCAA hockey with Providence College next year. He’s known for his speed & agility, which he credits for the success he’s had.
“I think most of the time I’m one of the faster guys on the ice, and I think that helps in my game for sure.”
He also is a defensemen that focuses on the rush, creating offensive opportunities wherever possible:
“I’m a confident, two-way defenseman who has really good transition speed and likes to produce offense and can play in the rush a lot.”
Playing in the USHS-prep for St George’s School last year, Baldwin put up 20 points in just 22 games.
There is a recent trend in the NHL that prioritizes tall, lengthy defensemen who can skate & handle the puck well. We’ve seen this style of defensemen work in our system, too, with Mikhail Sergachev being the most notable. Hopefully, with enough growth, physically & developmentally, Baldwin will work his way into becoming another successful tall, lengthy defensemen, though 6’0 isn’t necessarily “tall”.
Highlights:
Watch Baldwin Break Ankles:
5) Caleb Heil (193rd Overall)
Caleb Heil is the only goalie the Lightning drafted during the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. He’s on the shorter end of what most teams like to draft when it comes to goalies, but he’s someone who garnered a lot of attention pre-draft. In fact, in 2023, FloHockey was questioning if Heil would be a top prospect in the 2024 NHL draft. A year later, the Lightning drafted him in the 7th round.
When you look at Heil’s stats, nothing jumps off the page. Last year, he posted a 2.85 GAA with a .896 SV%. Those numbers aren’t great, but they aren’t bad. Perhaps the Bolts see something that can’t be conveyed through statistics.
Heil impressed last week at the Lightning’s development camp. We’ll see how he turns out.
With Andrei Vasilevskiy getting older-and-older, the Lightning clearly need to be on the lookout for a new up-and-coming goaltender. Let’s hope Heil is the answer.
Highlights:
Watch Heil Work Without His Stick:
Breakaway Save:
6) Roman Luttsev (206th Overall)
Roman Luttsev is a 19-year-old Russian center playing in the KHL. He’s known as a hard-nosed checker with a diligent ability to interrupt opposing team’s plays.
In 50 games last year, he scored 63 points. To put that in perspective, Kucherov played in 64 games in Russia, scoring 101 points.
Points are scored more freely in the other leagues, but Luttsev’s production is certainly promising.
Highlights:
7) Grant Spada (212th overall)
Grant Spada was the second defensemen the Lightning drafted last week. Again, like Everett Baldwin, Spada is a tall, lengthy defensemen — towering over people at 6’5 185lbs. Baldwin was only 6’0, which makes Spada’s extra 5 inches very noticeable.
Spada is reported to be a physical blue-liner who steps up frequently to break up plays or slow down the rush.
Spada will be an interesting player to watch. Next year will be his second year in the OHL; some players develop into superstars during their CHL journey, while others realize the reality of their hockey talents. With late-round draft picks, such as this, one can only hope that the development staff helps Spada get over the hump.
Highlights:
Breaking Up The Rush:
8) Marco Mignosa (215th overall)
Marco Mignosa is a fascinating draft pick. He’s a Canadian winger who scored 85 points in 58 games in the OHL last year. He’s described as a smart defensive forward, playing penalty kill & power play.
He’s physical, he’s quick, he’s elusive.
On paper, Mignosa seems to be someone drafted much higher in the draft. For whatever reason, though, Mignosa fell to 215th overall. I’m sure the Lightning were stoked to be able to draft him.
Already, Mignosa has shown the Lightning that he can play. During the 3-on-3 development camp tournament, Mignosa scored several goals, including the opening goal in the championship game.
He has four years of OHL experience and is 20 years-old…if JBB wanted, Mignosa could sign his ELC & join the Syracuse Crunch next year for further development.
Highlight:
Mignosa scored an even-strength goal, a power play goal, and a short-handed goal in this game.
SUMMARY:
All in all, it is still incredibly early to predict how successful this draft class will be for Tampa Bay. There is simply no way to guarantee anything. With that being said, though, Julien BriseBois and co. have expressed excitement regarding their selections. They say that every player they put on their so-to-speak “wishlist” prior to the draft ended up on their roster. Only time will tell.
With 5 forwards, 2 defensemen, and one goalie, the Lightning restacked their prospect pipeline. Developing these prospects will be crucial to ensuring Lightning success for many more years to come.
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It seems like they’re all gonna work out but that’s never the case. Sad