Lightning get first look at intriguing prospect Barre-Boulet

A day after Martin St. Louis was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2018, a similarly undersized forward from Quebec got his introduction to the Tampa Bay Lightning organization during day one of the on-ice portion of Bolts development camp in hopes of following a similar path to stardom as St. Louis.

Alex Barre-Boulet is an intriguing player for the Lightning. His resume is as strong as any prospect in any organization. In four seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Barre-Boulet averaged well over a point a game, collecting 140 goals and 197 assists in 263 career games. Last season while playing with Blainville-Boisbriand, Barre-Boulet scored an incredible 53 goals in 65 games and led the Q for goals, assists (63) and scoring (116 points). He's a big-game producer too. He led the Q for goals (14) in 2017, and in 2018, he contributed 13 goals and 27 points in 19 playoff games for the Armada.
Following the season, Barre-Boulet won the Michel Briere Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Q - current Lightning forward Yanni Gourde won the award in 2012 -- and was named Player of the Year in the CHL, which covers all three junior leagues in Canada, joining former winners Sidney Crosby (2004 and 2005), John Tavares (2007), Jonathan Drouin (2013) and Connor McDavid (2015), among others.
"He had an unreal year in the Quebec league, and you can see out there in the skill drills and some shooting he's got a good package," Lightning director of player development Stacy Roest said following the first day of development camp.

Lightning 2018 Second Round draft pick Gabriel Fortier played against Barre-Boulet this season in the Q and remembers him as a "dangerous" player who was "a threat every shift." Otto Somppi, who signed a three-year entry-level contract with Tampa Bay in April, got an up-close look at Barre-Boulet while with Halifax this season.
"He's a very skilled guy," Somppi said. "He can make plays. He's good."
Yet, Barre-Boulet was never drafted, only joining the Lightning after signing as a free agent on February 28, 2018. Where Barre-Boulet loses interest from other NHL teams is his size. He's listed at 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds. And at 21 years old, it's unlikely he'll grow much more.
The Lightning, however, have never shied away from players deemed undersized. Just look at the career St. Louis had in Tampa Bay, or, for more current examples, the success of Brayden Point (5-foot-10), Yanni Gourde (5-foot-9), Tyler Johnson (5-foot-8) and Cory Conacher (5-foot-8).
Like Barre-Boulet, Gourde and Johnson were also undrafted, smallish forwards the Lightning identified through diligent scouting and have developed into stars in the NHL. Johnson was selected for the All-Star Game in 2014-15. Gourde finished sixth in voting for the Calder Trophy (NHL rookie of the year) after setting Lightning rookie records for goals (25) and points (64) in 2017-18.
"Size is the last of our criteria that we worry about," Lightning director of amateur scouting Al Murray said at the NHL Draft in Dallas last week. "We don't want to be the smallest team in the NHL, but we want to have smart, competitive, fast people."
Tampa Bay's success developing smaller players and finding a fit for them in its system was a major factor in Barre-Boulet signing with the Lightning.
"When I had the chance to play with Tampa and I saw all the players they had, the young players, small players, big or small here, it doesn't matter," he said. "I was happy to sign with them because they develop really well and that's what I was looking forward to."

The Lightning are looking forward to seeing if they've uncovered another underappreciated star in the making in Barre-Boulet, starting with his participation in this week's development camp.
"This is our first chance since signing him to really get to know him, and that's important too to see these guys in this facility here and get to meet the whole staff," Roest said. "That's a big part too is get them comfortable, get them comfortable with all the staff and how we operate."
The Lightning are giving Barre-Boulet a chance when others overlooked him.
Barre-Boulet wants to show them they made a smart decision.
"I want to prove to them that I belong here," he said. "I can play here, Syracuse, it doesn't matter. I want to be a pro hockey player, and I want to be here. That's what I'm going to try to do."