As if the Tampa Bay Lighting morphing into a perennial Stanley Cup favourite isn’t good enough, their AHL squad has mirrored their success building their own semblance of a powerhouse in Syracuse. Here are a few prospects down on the farm that have put together excellent regular seasons and have carried that over into the playoffs.

Mathieu Joseph

A fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft and big brother of recent Arizona Coyotes first rounder, Pierre-Oliver, the elder Joseph’s draft year was anything but eye-popping with 21 goals and as many assists in 59 games for the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. But Steve Yzerman saw that there was something there worth spending a mid-round pick on and it’s starting to pay off in a big way as his game has really taken off since being selected by the Lightning. Following up on a rather pedestrian 2014-15, Joseph put together a big draft+1 year, finishing second on the Sea Dogs in goals (33), assists (40) and points (73).  But it wasn’t until the 2016-17 season that he really jumped up and put himself on everyone’s radar. In his final go-round in junior, Joseph set new personal bests across the board scoring 36 goals, 44 assists and 80 points despite playing just 54 games, earning league second All-Star team honours in the process. His 1.48 point-per-game pace tied him for seventh in the league and fared even better when it came to primary points by placing fifth with 1.22. He continued to excel in the playoffs leading the league in scoring with 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points and helping guide the Sea Dogs to the QMJHL championship. Joseph also represented team Canada at the 2017 WJHC posting five points in seven games, coming home with a silver medal.

As strong as his play was over his last two years in junior, few, if any, would have predicted the level of impact that Joseph would have in his first year of pro. Simply put he has a fantastic first year with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. He led the Tampa farm squad in scoring by putting up 15 goals and 38 assists for 53 points, cracking the top 25 in league scoring and finishing fifth in rookie scoring. While he had over twice as many helpers as goals, he's not shy when it comes to shooting the puck by firing 186 shots suggesting perhaps a bit of bad luck. Four games into the postseason Joseph hasn't slowed down with seven points giving him a share of fourth place in the scoring race.

The Laval, QC native is still pretty slight coming in at 6-01 and just 172 pounds. But he’s proven that slender frame hasn’t prevented him from succeeding at the pro game. A two-way player who is a goal scorer and playmaker in equal measure, Joseph is right on the cusp of earning an NHL look.

Matthew Peca

The seventh round of the 2011 draft has the potential to turn into quite the gold mine for the Lightning. With pick number 208 they snagged Ondrej Palat who has developed into a top-six winger and seven picks earlier they selected Matthew Peca from the CJHL’s Pembroke Lumber Kings. In his draft+1 year, and for the next four seasons, Peca skated for Quinnipiac University in the ECAC where he put together a remarkably consistent college career. Peca strung together seasons of 39, 30, 38 and 36 points wrapping up his NCAA eligibility with 42 goals, 101 assists for 143 points in 157 games, missing only four contests while on campus.  He earned accolades in the form of an ECAC All-Rookie Team nod as well as an All-ECAC First Team selection in his senior year. He’s made a rather seamless transition to the AHL proving to be an impact player right from the start. Peca earned an 11 game look at the end of 2014-15 and produced six points between the regular season and playoffs. In his first full campaign, Peca scored just eight goals but dished out 35 helpers placing him third on the team in the category. There was no dip in his play in year two as he once again topped the 40 point mark, finishing with 41 points in the regular season and 14 in 22 more playoffs games. The second-year pro even earned a one month stint in the show, getting into 10 games scoring once and adding an assist. In 2017-18 Peca established new career bests with 13 goals and 46 points, and a trip to the 2018 AHL All-Star game, and once again earned another 10 game trial in the NHL, this time putting up five points. Currently going head to head against the Rochester American in round one of the AHL playoffs, the Syracuse Crunch have scored six goals in each of their first three games with Peca leading the way with eight points, giving him a share of the playoff scoring lead.

He’s giving me some major Yanni Gourde vibes. Given his status as a pending UFA and the money already committed up front for Tampa Bay next year, it will be interesting to see what Peca chooses to do. Does he commit to another year or two in Tampa, likely on another two-way deal? Or is there some team out there willing to give him a shot on a one-way contract.

Alexander Volkov

The most recent selection out of the three, Volkov was a little bit of an off the board pick by Tampa Bay given that this was his third year of eligibility. He spent all three of his draft-eligible season playing in the MHL, the junior league of the KHL, where he improved his point production year over year. In his first draft-eligible season playing for SKA-1946 St. Petersburg, Volkov didn’t exactly set the world on fire by scoring 11 times and collected 19 points over 54 contests, so perhaps it’s not too much of a surprise he was overlooked. Volkov followed this up with a year that saw him improved his point-per-game average, going from 0.35 to 0.64 on the backs of 16 goals and 11 helpers in just 42 games. In 2016-17 Volkov once again improved upon his previous year’s output by posting 11 points in 16 games in the MHL and earned a call-up to the second tier SKA-Neva squad in the VHL, playing in 15 games and scoring three times. Turns out the third time was the charm as this was enough to convince the Lightning to spend a second-round pick on the 20-year-old and the returns so far have been extremely positive. Volkov was almost immediately signed to an entry-level deal and came over to North America right away to play for the Syracuse Crunch. Like Mathieu Joseph, Volkov was a pleasant surprise, turning out to be one of the top rookies in the league.  He finished fourth on the Crunch in scoring with 45 points and sniped a team-best 23 goals. Among all first-year players league-wide, Volkov finished sixth in goals and ninth in total points.  He continued his strong play into the playoffs with six points in the four contests.

The Lightning love his puck possession skills and hockey sense. Like the other two players mentioned, Volkov is knocking on the door of some NHL duty.

**

As always thanks for checking out this week’s edition of The Journey. Give me a follow on Twitter @BradHPhillips. Enjoy your weekend!

More from The Journey:  Under the Radar Signings