Lightning Select Steve Stamkos With First Overall Pick In 2008 NHL Entry Draft
The Tampa Bay Lightning hope they have their next franchise player.
New owner Oren Koules handed one of the team’s black jerseys to Steve Stamkos on Friday night after selecting him with the first overall pick in the NHL draft at Scotiabank Place.
Stamkos is a gifted centre who has been the consensus No. 1 choice all season. He was thrilled to finally hear his name called.
“My goal coming into this season was to get as drafted as high as possible,” said Stamkos. “I accomplished my goal.
“I think I’m a guy who works very hard and if I want something bad enough, I’m going to do anything possible to get it.”
The last time Tampa selected first was in 1998 and Vincent Lecavalier has been the cornerstone of the franchise ever since. He helped deliver a Stanley Cup in 2004 and has developed into one of the best players in the NHL.
The team is going to have quite a one-two punch up the middle now and the Lightning are clearly excited about it — the team set up a website in honour of Stamkos before picking him and have already put his image on billboards in Florida.
He can’t wait to be part of it.
“I just had that (sense of) relief,” said Stamkos. “There’s been a lot of talk of Tampa taking me. To finally say that I’m a part of the Tampa Bay organization is a dream come true for me. I couldn’t be happier”.
Stamkos scored 58 goals in 61 games for the Sarnia Sting this season and finished with 105 points. He’s likely played his final Ontario Hockey League game as he’s expected to make the jump to the NHL as an 18-year-old next season.
Scouts believe his speed and competitiveness will one day help him develop into a star.
“I think his potential is that he can be a legitimate star player in the National Hockey League,” said Lightning GM Jay Feaster. “That’s not what we expect right off the bat but I think when you look 10 years down the road, I think he’s going to be really special.”
He was the No. 1 selection in the OHL draft in 2006 before being the first player to walk to the stage at the NHL draft two years later.”
The native of Markham, Ont., is the first Canadian to be selected first overall since Sidney Crosby in 2005.
That was no surprise but there was some uncertainty about who would be selected behind him.
It ended up being Guelph Storm defenceman Drew Doughty, who wore a wide smile after putting on a white Los Angeles Kings jersey. He grew up cheering for the Kings and had been hoping they would use the second pick to get him.
“I really have wanted this since I was a little kid,” said Doughty, who already owned three L.A. jerseys.
Peterborough Petes defenceman Zach Bogosian was selected third by the Atlanta Thrashers while the St. Louis Blues took Niagara Ice Dogs defenceman Alex Pietrangelo at No. 4. The Toronto Maple Leafs traded up to the No. 5 position to grab Kelowna Rockets defenceman Luke Schenn.
They were the first Canadian team to step to the podium. The Vancouver Canucks were next up at No. 10 and selected Brampton Battalion forward Cody Hodgson.
The hometown Senators traded up to get the fifteenth pick, and they selected Swedish defenceman Erik Karlsson,
Players drafted this year are eligible to earn a yearly salary of up to $875,000, plus a maximum of $2.85 million in performances bonuses, when they sign their three-year, entry-level contracts. First-rounders are usually the only ones who get that kind of money.
