A lot of the fans who came out to Brandon to see the Lightning’s developmental camp will have their eyes on Cal Foote this week.
The 18-year-old defenseman chosen by the Bolts with the 14th overall selection in the NHL Draft has officially started his work as a professional hockey player.
Foote was on the ice Tuesday with a number of young Lightning prospects to begin the team's five day developmental camp at the Brandon Ice Sports Forum.
The camp, which will feature 30 players, runs through Saturday.
Cal comes to Tampa with a lot of game and roots deep in the sport.
His father, Adam Foote, won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche- the second coming when he was just two years old.
And now Cal is happy to also be part of winning organization.
“People have been outstanding with me,” Foote said. “They took me in so far and just really made me feel comfortable.”
It's been a whirlwind of a week for Foote, who was just picked by the Lightning in the first round on Friday.
The six-foot-four defenseman led the WHL's Kelowna Rockets defensemen in scoring last season with 57 points (6 goals, 51 assists) and is looking forward to lending his skills to the Bolts organization.
“It feels more and more real every day,” Foote said. “It definitely feels more real that I’m here and I started skating.”
Adam foot has advised his son to just have fun and take everything in in the ice.
Cal says his main focus is simply on getting better, and he’s set some early goals for himself.
“There’s a couple of things,” Foote said. “I definitely want to build strength in my core and upper body and also work on my skating. Those two (things) are my main focus this summer, and we’ll continue to work at it.”
Foote is already getting some advice from another Lightning first round pick, Brett Howden, who has shown a lot of promise since being picked 27th overall in 2016.
After being promoted to Syracuse in the second half of last season, Howden could challenge for a spot on Tampa Bay’s N-H-L roster during training camp.
“It’s obviously exciting that each year you’re progressing, but I don’t want to look too far ahead,” Howden said. “Right now, I’m just focused on being here. And then (I’ll) go home and train and see what happens at the end of the summer.”
Another important young player, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev,is expected to join the developmental camp on Wednesday.
Sergachev is a young former top 10 first round draft pick who the Lightning acquired as the key piece to the recent Jonathan Drouin trade with Montreal.