Count me as a doubter of Alex Barre-Boulet being able to make an impact at the NHL level for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s small. He’s not an elite skater, which is usually necessary for a smaller player to be to succeed. Plenty of prospects have had skill and hockey IQ going for them, but lacked in other areas of their game that kept them from being able to progress out of the AHL and into the NHL.
The first couple of pre-seasons that Barre-Boulet played for Tampa, I wasn’t very impressed. He wasn’t playing against particularly tough competition when pre-season line ups, especially early in the pre-season when he was getting into games, usually consist of a handful of NHLers, a good chunk of AHL players, and a smattering of juniors prospects.