NHL Prospect Watch: Tampa Bay Lightning
Ahead of the 2025-26 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. This series will highlight current and former WHLers who are signed to an NHL contract, have recently been drafted by an NHL team, or meet the NHL’s definition of a rookie.
This crop of Tampa Bay prospects proves it’s not about where- or if- you’re drafted, it’s about what you do with the opportunity in front of you.
Jack Finley
This season is shaping up to be a massive one for former Spokane Chiefs captain Jack Finley. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward made his NHL debut in 2024-25 and was featured at the 2025 NHLPA x Upper Deck Rookie Showcase. Finley made his debut against the Boston Bruins on January 14, 2025, and registered a shot, a hit, and a +1 rating while going 3/5 at the faceoff dot in 8:25 of ice time. In his third full professional season, the Kelowna, B.C. product buried 14 goals (including two game-winners) and 14 assists for 28 points in 40 games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. He finished sixth on the team in points and third in goals, despite being sidelined until December with an injury. Finley put pen to paper on a three-year contract with the Lightning on June 8, 2025. The 23-year-old will be on a two-way deal for 2025-26 before moving to a one-way contract for the final two years. Finley picked up 55 goals and 72 assists for 127 points in 191 regular-season WHL games over parts of four seasons. He played the bulk of his career with Spokane, serving as captain in 2021-22 and an alternate in 2020-21, before joining the Winnipeg ICE for a run to the 2022 Eastern Conference Championship, where he picked up another 13 points (7G-6A) in 15 matches. He was drafted with the 57th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
Rookie lap to start us off 🤝 pic.twitter.com/45GoSnwcZm
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 15, 2025
Aiden Foster
The Lloydminster, Alta. product more than doubled his offensive output in his sophomore WHL season, tallying 11 goals (with two game-winners) and nine assists for 20 points and 136 PIMs (the third-most in the league) in 68 games. Foster, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound winger, made a name for himself with punishing hits and gritty play that made opponents miserable. He tacked on another six helpers in seven playoff games. The Lightning chose Foster with the 127th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old has surpassed 100 career WHL games- 134, to be exact- with 14 goals and 13 assists to go with it. Expect the formidable forward to play a key role on the Cats in a competitive B.C. Division in 2025-26.
Aiden Foster is bananas. 🍨 @PGCougars | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/QzZhDHlgCz
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 26, 2025
Niko Huuhtanen
Niko Huuhtanen is so back. The 22-year-old hopped the pond for his first regular season in North America in two years. Huuhtanen picked up eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 51 games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch after spending two campaigns with Jukurit of the Finnish Liiga. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound winger tied for ninth on the team in points and flexed the defensive side of his game with a +13 rating- good for third among Crunch skaters. It’s a promising trajectory for Huuhtanen, who was selected with the final pick of the 2021 NHL Draft (Round Seven, 224th overall). The Helsinki, Finn. product netted 37 goals and 40 assists for 77 points in 65 games in 2021-22 with the Everett Silvertips and erupted for 10 points (5G-5A) in five playoff tilts.
NIKO 🚨 HUUHTANEN 🚨 pic.twitter.com/LPRFmGohIR
— Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) November 14, 2024
Harrison Meneghin
Netminder Harrison Meneghin captured the hearts of hockey fans across the world with an inspirational, heartfelt run to the 2025 Memorial Cup. The 20-year-old from South Surrey, B.C. backstopped the Medicine Hat Tigers to first place in the Eastern Conference with a 23-10-1-1 record (he played one game with the Lethbridge Hurricanes to start the season), a 2.58 goals-against average, a .900 save percentage and three shutouts. Meneghin earned Tempo WHL Player of the Week honours six times, in addition to WHL Goaltender of the Month wins in January and March. But tragedy struck when Meneghin’s father, Derek, passed away unexpectedly on the final day of the WHL regular season. Meneghin opted to return to the Tigers for the postseason and grabbed the reins with a 21-save shutout in Game 1 of the 2025 WHL Playoffs. He didn’t look back and went 14-1-0 with a 2.35 GAA, a .906 save percentage and three shutouts to help the Tigers capture their sixth WHL Championship in franchise history. What’s more? He was also named the WHL Playoffs MVP and was the first player to lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup after captain Oasiz Wiesblatt called him forward to receive the trophy from WHL Commissioner Dan Near. Meneghin signed his three-year, entry-level deal with Tampa Bay just days later before going 3-1-0 at the 2025 Memorial Cup, where the Tabbies bowed out in the final. The 6-foot-4, 174-pound goaltender was originally drafted in the seventh round of the 2024 NHL Draft and now looks forward to his first season of pro puck after leaving an unforgettable legacy in the junior ranks.
Another night in the office for Harrison Meneghin!😮💨@tigershockey | @TBLightning | #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/2VPYJeQUwy
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) May 28, 2025
Gabriel Szturc
The former Kelowna Rockets Captain is fresh off his first professional season with the Crunch, where he snagged seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 54 games, highlighted by a four-game point streak that saw him pot six assists in the fall of 2024. Szturc even earned a call-up to the Lightning, though he didn’t make his NHL debut, in early October. The 5-foot-11, 194-pound winger made the most of a bottom-six role in the AHL and continued to showcase the workhorse mentality that earned him a pro contract in the first place. Despite going undrafted to the NHL, Szturc earned an invite to a Tampa Bay training camp and, subsequently, signed a three-year contract with the Lightning in March of 2024. The Cesky Tesin, Cze. product collected 203 points (73G-130A) in 185 games over parts of three seasons with the Rockets, highlighted by a 33-goal, 50-assist run in 62 games in 2023-24.
The @SyracuseCrunch end their weekend on a high note with the shootout-winner from Gabriel Szturc✋️ pic.twitter.com/deChySXKw6
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) April 6, 2025
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