Which team is expected to have an underwhelming time at the 2023 NHL Draft?

The 2023 NHL Draft goes down on Wednesday and Thursday in Nashville, and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be very quiet at the draft.

The Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 and made the Cup Final in 2022, and because of that, they have dealt a lot of picks away. In the 2023 NHL Draft, the Lightning have just three selections and don't pick before the 179th selection in the sixth round. They also pick 193rd overall - in the seventh round - and 211th in the same round.

With the Lightning not making a selection before the sixth round, general manager Julien Brisebois has said they expect to be quiet. Tampa Bay amateur scouting director Al Murray admitted that this draft will pose a lot of challenges for them.

“There’s teams that will have taken eight or 10 picks before we get our first pick,” Murray said, “and our hope is that we can find three players that are going to be better than any of the guys they take. Likely not, but you always hope for that.”

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NHL analyst on Tampa Bay's 2023 NHL Draft picks

Although the Tampa Bay Lightning only have three selections and won't pick until late on Thursday, they have had a history of finding talent late. They have found Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat outside the first round, which gives the scouting department confidence.

“(The Lightning are) in a position where they don’t have high draft picks right now, so they’d like to make the ones they have count as best they can,” said NHL Network analyst E.J. Hradek.

“And these guys they get for the most part are long-term projects for their organization. Picking them is one thing, and then trying to develop them is another, with the idea that, ‘Hey, this particular individual is somebody that we’ve identified that, if we can put them through our system, he’s got the characteristics that could make him a part of our team down the road.’"

Along with not having many selections, Tampa Bay don't have much cap space so they might not even be active on the trade front in the 2023 NHL Draft. Tampa Bay will likely just make their selections and focus on re-signing Ross Colton and Tanner Jeannot, but Colton could be moved at the Draft for a pick.

However, the Lightning with just three picks and none until the sixth round, are expected be quiet this week.