Tampa Bay Lightning sign undrafted forward Milo Roelens to entry-level contract

The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed center Milo Roelens to a three-year entry-level contract.

Previously undrafted, Roelens’ deal will kick in with the 2024-25 season. The fifth-year major junior forward has 25 goals and 62 points through 56 games with the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan – the best season of his career.

Roelens has 59 goals and 153 points in 229 career regular season contests with Gatineau, Sherbrooke and Acadie-Bathurst, as well as an additional three goals and eight points in 22 playoff games.

Roelens is a 6-foot-6 power forward who has grown to figure out how to use his frame to his advantage. Roelens is especially good around the net, often finding loose pucks and converting with a quick in-close release. He’s on pace for over 100 penalty minutes for the first time in his career, showing a nasty side of his game that wasn’t there earlier in his career.

A year ago, Roelens received some NHL draft attention for his physical and playmaking abilities. As a skater, he still needs some work, and his hockey sense is below average. But defensively, Roelens is a workhorse, especially on the penalty kill.

Roelens is expected to start in Tampa’s farm system next year, either with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch or the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears.

The Lightning currently sit in the top wild-card spot with 65 points – one clear of the Detroit Red Wings. The Bolts have a five-point buffer over the New Jersey Devils as the first team out, and they’re three points behind Toronto for the third spot in the Atlantic. Tampa Bay will welcome the Montreal Canadiens to town on Saturday before getting a bit of a break ahead of their next game against Calgary on March 7.

Acadie-Bathurst, meanwhile, is seventh in the QMJHL’s Eastern Conference with 58 points. The team hasn’t clinched a playoff spot as of yet, but with the ninth-place Saint John Sea Dogs sitting at 42, the odds are in their favor for now.