Benoit Pouliot Photo by cerebusfangirl / Flickr

After stunning the room with their first round draft picks last night, the Lightning went to work today. It was announced that Tampa has acquired forward Benoit Pouliot from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Michel Ouellet and their 5th round pick. Pouliot is scheduled to become a restricted free agent on July 1st , so the deal isn’t done quite yet.

In 74 games with the Bruins, Pouliot  had 16 goals, 32 points, and 38 penalty minutes. He was also 3rd on the team in game winning goals and had a +16 rating. He also had a goal and 2 points in 6 playoff games for Boston.

Steve Yzerman had six remaining draft picks at his disposal even with the transaction. Tampa had the 40th selection in the second round and took Dylan Blujus from the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League. with the 53rd overall pick, they selected forward Brian Hart from Phillips-Exeter High School.

In  the third round, it was forward Tanner Richard of the Guelph Storm of the OHL. The fourth round saw the selection of forward Cedric Paquette of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Defenseman Jake Dotchin from the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL went in the fifth, and with their final pick it was forward Nikita Gusev of the CSKA Moscow in the KHL.

We’ll definitely learn more about these kids as information rolls in and will pass it along.