The Tampa Bay Lightning organization has a storied history of giving players who are overlooked because of their size an opportunity to shine. Names like Martin St. Louis, Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Marchessault, and Yanni Gourde have all gone undrafted and been considered undersized by scouts. Each of those players got their first shot in the NHL with the Lightning, and they all have gone on to become champions, win awards including the Art Ross, Conn Smythe, and Hart trophies, set franchise records, and become leaders with their teams. For decades, this organization has shown that a player’s skill and ability, rather than their draft day ranking, will determine how far that player goes. Maybe the next player who will join that legacy of players is Alex Barre-Boulet, out of Montmagny, Quebec, CA.

Alex Barre-Boulet signed with the Lightning on March 1, 2018 as an undrafted free agent. In his final year in the QMJHL, he scored 53 goals and 63 assists for 116 total points in only 65 games. Since joining the Lightning organization, Barre-Boulet has played most of his games with the Syracuse Crunch. He has been a force in the AHL, leading the Crunch in goals in 2018-2019 (34) and 2019-2020 (27) Earlier this year, Barre-Boulet set franchise records for the Crunch, including most points in a playoff game (5) and most points in a single season (84). Over the years he would often get called up to the Lightning when a main roster player would go down with injury, but didn’t play more than 15 NHL games in a given season.

Barre-Boulet has gone through the developmental process of playing in the AHL to round out his game, and has been through waivers before, even being claimed once by the Seattle Kraken before being reclaimed by the Lightning less than two weeks later. His journey has similar elements to those of the players mentioned above. Marty St. Louis didn’t start on the top line. Under coach John Tortorella, St. Louis would often be a fourth or third line player, and worked his way up the lineup. Jonathan Marchessault played in 53 regular and postseason games with the Lightning, before signing with the Florida Panthers. After leading the Panthers in goals, he went unprotected in the Vegas expansion draft. Now, he hold essentially every Vegas franchise scoring record and led the team in scoring in the playoffs, on his way to the Conn Smithe earlier this year.

Barre-Boulet has spent a few years lightning the lamp in the AHL, and now in his first consistent run in the AHL finds himself on the top line with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. His four goals this season have been things of beauty, and playing on a top line will only help elevate his game. Having a solid defense game is what will keep him at the NHL level, but he has proven himself at every level, and now is showing his ability to be a full-time NHL player.