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2022 NHL Prospect Watch – Tampa Bay Lightning – WHL Network

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With the 2022-23 NHL season on the horizon, we’re putting a focus on current and former WHL players looking to make their mark at the next level.

The 2022 NHL Prospect Watch series will feature some of the current and past WHL talent recently drafted or signed to NHL contracts, and having appeared in fewer than 50 NHL games.

Our series continues with a look at the prospect pool of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Jaydon Dureau
Selected in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, forward Jaydon Dureau concluded his WHL career by registering 66 points in 49 games for the Portland Winterhawks in 2021-22. Dureau, from White City, Sask., scored more than 200 regular season and playoff points over his five WHL seasons, all spent with Portland. He begins his full-time professional career this fall having already earned some AHL experience with the Syracuse Crunch; Dureau has made five appearances at the AHL level over the past two seasons, recording two points.

Jack Finley
Forward Jack Finley split the 2021-22 season between the Spokane Chiefs and Winnipeg ICE, amassing 50 points in 60 games. The product of Kelowna, BC, spent his entire WHL career in Spokane prior to the mid-season move east last winter; His 27 goals last season were a career best. Finley added 13 points in 15 playoff games for Winnipeg, as the ICE reached the Eastern Conference Championship. Finley was selected by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft.

Gage Goncalves
Hailing from Mission, BC, forward Gage Goncalves begins his second full professional season having put up 17 goals and 32 points in 2021-22 with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. The former Everett Silvertips forward was a second-round pick by the Lightning in the 2020 NHL Draft, and over his final two WHL seasons totaled 105 points. Goncalves broke out offensively during the 2019-20 campaign, scoring 33 times for the Silvertips and finishing the season with 71 points.

Ilya Usau
Forward Ilya Usau spent just one season in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders, but made an impression on the league by scoring 52 points in 58 games during the 2019-20 campaign. He was signed to an entry-level contract by Tampa Bay in March of 2022. This past season, the Belarusian played his second full KHL season with Dinamo Minsk, scoring nine times and collecting a total of 26 points.