Stevie Y Makes His Mark: Drafts Connolly With Sixth Pick

The Tampa Bay Lightning went against convention and drafted forward Brett Connolly with the sixth pick of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. GM Steve Yzerman chose the talented scorer despite highly rated defensemen Cam Fowler and Brandon Gormley still being available. Many of the “experts” assumed the Bolts would pick a defenseman if one of the top three were left on the board. My thought was that Yzerman would look to pick a forward with his first pick as GM.

The 6’2″, 180 lbs. winger may be the best offensive player in the entire draft and would have vied for the number one overall pick if not for an injury. He has been compared to Hall of Famer Brett Hull.

In 2008-09, his WHL rookie season, Connolly netted 30 goals and  30 assists for 60 points in 65 games for the Cougars.  He was named the WHL Rookie of the Year.  He went on to score three goals and added three assists in six games for Team Canada at the Under-18 World Junior Championships.

Connolly suffered a hip injury at the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament prior to the WHL season.   Connolly played in only 16 games for the Cougars, scoring ten goals and adding nine assists for 19 points.  He played in four playoff games for the Cougars, picking up two assists.  He was named to the 2010 CHL Top Prospects Game ut could not play due to his injury.

Bolt Prospects says of Connolly:  “If he’s healthy, the Lightning have a first line scoring winger for the next ten years. Red Line compares Connolly to Sharks star Patrick Marleau in terms of his skills package. But, it’s also a possibility that Connolly’s injury problems never go away and he’s a part time player a la Buffalo’s Tim Connolly. High risk. High reward.”

Bolts GM Steve Yzerman stated that Connolly has been deemed healthy by three seperate doctors and that he is familiar with this kind of injury and it will not slow Connolly down.

Connolly is the younger brother of current NHL player Tim Connolly of the Buffalo Sabres.