Lightning won't get top 3 on wish list

If the Lightning can't trade the No. 4 pick in Saturday's draft, whom does general manager Jay Feaster choose?

First, assume the Panthers take defenseman Jay Bouwmeester No. 1.

If goalie Kari Lehtonen is available, the Lightning pounces, no questions, and slots him as Nikolai Khabibulin's backup.

The 18-year-old is considered a franchise player, and he led his team to the title as the youngest goalie in Finland's elite league. He also was the No. 3 goalie at the World Championships.

"We think he's the best goalie to come along in a long time," Lightning head scout Jake Goertzen said. "He's so big (6 feet 3, 189), and he moves really well and he's practically unflappable."

It is that kind of critique that makes Lehtonen's availability at No. 4 a long shot.

Next on the wish list is probably left wing Rick Nash, who had 32 goals and 74 points last season for London in the Ontario Hockey League. The 6-3, 188-pounder is "everything you want," Goertzen said. But he also is expected to be gone by the time Tampa Bay picks.

That means the debate probably comes down to right wing Scottie Upshall, forward Joffrey Lupul and defenseman Joni Pitkanen.

Lupul (6-1, 194) had 56 goals last season for Medicine Hat in the Western Hockey League. Upshall (5-11, 176) scored 32 for WHL Kamloops but pushes the grit meter to places Lupul has not. Finland's Pitkanen (6-3, 202) is the No. 1-rated European skater and may be able to play immediately in the NHL.

Tampa Bay needs forwards throughout the organization, which elevates Lupul and Upshall.

Goertzen said it will be a good debate.

"If it came between those guys, we would be discussing it right to the final minute," he said.

Other players on Tampa Bay's radar include University of Michigan left wing Eric Nystrom, son of former Islanders star Bob Nystrom, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, a center for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Chicoutimi.