By trading out of the first round the team gets three players it had in its top 29.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published June 22, 2003
NASHVILLE - By no means was Jay Feaster's strategy a sure thing.
The Lightning general manager said he was fairly confident the players he and his staff wanted on the first day of the draft would be available in the second and third rounds.
So to gain two extra picks, Feaster traded Tampa Bay's first-round pick, 25th overall, to the Panthers for the 34th and 41st picks in the second round and the 192nd pick in the sixth round.
"It's like a riverboat gamble," Feaster said. "When you do it, you cross your fingers and toes and anything else you can cross."
The gamble paid off. Feaster said the Lightning drafted the players it wanted. In fact, it got three players out of its top 29.
Defenseman Mike Egener from WHL Calgary was taken in the second round with the 34th pick. Defenseman Matt Smaby, from Shattuck-St. Mary's High School in Minnesota, was taken with the 41st pick and goaltender Jonathan Boutin, from QMJHL Halifax, was taken in the third round with the 96th pick.
"It was a great day," Feaster said.
"Everybody at the table nodded that it was a gamble we were willing to take," head scout Jake Goertzen said of the trade. "It was huge. It's hard to explain all the emotions that go into it. It's like a dream come true. If we would have written the script in the morning, we would be clicking our heels."
Egener and Smaby are prototypes in Feaster's vision of the Lightning. Both can hit. Smaby had 114 penalty minutes last season. Egener, though, is ready to fight, and had 210 penalty minutes.
"But I told them I'm not going to be a fighter in the NHL," Egener said. "I have a lot of skills and defensive ability and a good shot. I'm always willing to fight and step up for my teammates but I don't want to be just a fighter."
Egener missed about half of last season with two concussions, but Feaster said he has been checked by a Montreal concussion specialist, Dr. Karen Johnson, and cleared.
Boutin had to be checked by Lightning goaltenders coach Jeff Reese.
Goertzen said Boutin looked bad when he scouted him. But Goertzen sent a videotape to Reese, who liked Boutin's size (6 feet 1, 200), controlled butterfly style and lateral quickness, and gave his approval.
Still, Boutin's stats last season - a 2.90 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage - were not terrific. He even lost his starting job. But that appears to have solidified his resolve.
"If you drop the ball, someone else will pick it up," Boutin said. "There's no way I'll drop the ball twice."
