Seth Griffith Ready for Rookie Tournament With Tampa Bay Lightning
Seth Griffith of the London Knights - Photo copyright Aaron Bell/OHL Images
After impressing Tampa Bay Lightning brass earlier this summer at their mini-camp, Wallaceburg’s Seth Griffith is headed back to Florida for an NHL prospects tournament this week.
Griffith who was selected for Tampa Bay’s rookie tournament team, will open the tournament Friday with fitness testing, and will play exhibition games against prospect teams from the Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators over the next week in Brandon, Florida.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Griffith said about the opportunity to play with and against some of the NHL’s top prospects in Florida. “I’m looking forward to it. I got the nerves out at the mini-camp, so now I can just go out and play. Obviously they (Tampa Bay) see something in me, so I’m just going to go out and play hard, and hope the hard work pays off.”
Tampa’s roster for the tournament features three former NHL 1st round draft picks, and nine players with professional hockey experience at the AHL, ECHL, and NHL levels. Griffith said he understands this tournament will be a new challenge as the competition begins to get tougher,
“The guys at the next level are a lot bigger and stronger. I have to make sure I’m ready before games, bear down on my chances offensively, and be responsible defensively.”
For Seth Griffith, this is another chance to prove to the rest of the NHL that he was worthy of a draft pick this past June; however, in his eyes, it’s even more important to show Tampa Bay that they made the right decision by giving him this opportunity,
“I hope to go down and do my best in the games and show Tampa that they were right about me.”
When Griffith returns to the OHL, which is inevitably his destination this season, he believes his London Knights are ready to build on the positive steps they took in the second half of last season,
“We bonded well with the new guys in the preseason and it’s only going to get better,” said Griffith.
“I’m hoping for a good year with our team, I think it’s a team that can really go far in the playoffs.”
Although Griffith will undoubtedly be a key weapon for the Knights this season, he isn’t thinking about that just yet. For now, he’s living his National Hockey League dreams in Tampa.