Lightning face decision with top prospect Isaac Howard
One of the top prospects in college hockey could be available on the trade market this summer.
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One of the top prospects in college hockey could be available on the trade market this summer.
Earlier this week, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Michigan State star Isaac Howard will not be signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning and will instead return to school for his senior season.
Now the Lightning face a tough decision with the Hobey Baker finalist.
Under the NHL and NHLPA CBA, teams hold the rights to drafted NCAA prospects for four seasons. Howard was drafted by the Lightning in the first round in 2022, 31st overall. By choosing to play his senior season, Howard can become an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 15, 2026, and, according to Friedman, the expectation is the Lightning will consider trades for his rights instead of risk walking him to free agency.
“I think the Lightning know that the odds are now against them and that he probably is not going to be part of their organization, but nobody said anything bad about him,” Friedman said on Friday’s episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. “Basically, what I was told, because nobody really wanted to get into mud slinging, they just didn’t see eye to eye. … Whatever the path Howard saw and the path the Lightning saw, it didn’t line up.”
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32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
Howard, 21, is a five-foot-11 left winger who led all NCAA players in scoring this season with 52 points and was tied for third in goals with 26.
Howard is the only first-round pick the Lightning have drafted in the past five years because the team has been aggressive in trades to keep their Stanley Cup window open.
Despite the empty prospect cupboard, Friedman said Lightning GM Julien BriseBois will try to keep any leverage he can in this situation. That could mean trading Howard as early as this summer’s draft.
“People who follow college hockey more than I do thought for sure (Howard) was going to the Lightning,” Friedman said. “(But) BriseBois’s history is that he generally knows what he’s doing.”
