By Benjamin Rautiainen Is the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Training Camp Wild Card
By Ken Filler | Tampa Bay Sports Journal
TAMPA — Every NHL training camp seems to have one player who arrives with enough talent to change the conversation completely.
For the Tampa Bay Lightning this fall, that player may be Benjamin Rautiainen.
Sam O’Reilly will understandably receive plenty of attention. Dylan Duke will be watched closely.
There are roster battles throughout the bottom six.
But Rautiainen might be the most fascinating player in camp because nobody really knows just how quickly his game will translate to the NHL.
What we do know is this: the kid can produce.
And if Rautiainen proves during training camp that his offensive ability translates immediately to the smaller North American ice, the Lightning could have a very interesting decision to make.
Rautiainen Is Coming Off a Remarkable Season
Calling Rautiainen’s 2025-26 season in Finland a breakout doesn’t really do it justice.
It was historic.
Playing for Tappara in Finland’s Liiga — the country’s highest professional league — Rautiainen finished with 25 goals and 52 assists for 77 points in 59 games.
That’s 1.31 points per game while playing professional hockey at 20 years old.
His 77 points led Liiga and made him the first player to surpass 70 points in the league since the 2007-08 season.
He also broke Tappara’s single-season scoring record and won the Lasse Oksanen Award as Liiga’s top regular-season player.
Even more impressive, his 77 points surpassed Saku Koivu’s previous mark of 74 for the most points in a Liiga season by a player before his 21st birthday.
This wasn’t a teenager beating up on junior competition.
Rautiainen was producing against professionals.
Then, he helped Tappara win the Liiga championship, adding seven points in 18 playoff games and assisting on the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Final.
That’s the kind of season that makes you forget Rautiainen was only the 108th overall selection in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Lightning may have found something here.
Something potentially very good.
What Rautiainen Brings to Tampa Bay
Rautiainen isn’t going to overpower NHL defenders.
At approximately 6-foot and 174 pounds, he’s still developing physically, something Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois has acknowledged.
But this is what makes Rautiainen dangerous. It’s his ability to create offense.
Rautiainen described his game perfectly when speaking with the Lightning earlier this summer.
“I’m a pretty offensive guy. I like to play with the puck, and I try to make smart decisions with the puck.”
Tampa Bay doesn’t necessarily need another player who shoots the puck. The Lightning need young forwards who can create offense, extend possessions, and find teammates in scoring areas.
Rautiainen has shown an advanced ability to do that.
He also told the Lightning that he has studied Nikita Kucherov since Tampa Bay drafted him.
Nobody should expect him to become the next Kucherov. That’s an unfair comparison for virtually any prospect. But there are worse players to study if you’re a young, creative forward trying to understand how to manipulate defenders and create space.
Rautiainen also grew up idolizing Sidney Crosby.
Again, we’re talking about two future Hall of Famers.
It also tells you something about how Rautiainen sees hockey. He’s not trying to play a straight-line game. He wants the puck on his stick, and he wants to create.
Julien BriseBois Clearly Likes What He Sees
The Lightning signed Rautiainen to a three-year entry-level contract in May, and BriseBois hasn’t tried to hide his excitement.
The Lightning GM described Rautiainen as possessing a “tremendous level of skill and playmaking ability.”
BriseBois also noted that Rautiainen remains young and still developing physically.
The biggest question in September won’t be whether Rautiainen has NHL-caliber offensive talent. We’ve already seen enough evidence to believe he does.
The question is whether he’s physically ready to use that talent against NHL players.
There is a huge difference between finding an opening against a Liiga defenseman and trying to create that same opening with an NHL defenseman closing on you almost immediately.
That’s what training camp will tell us.
The Smaller Ice Could Actually Help Him.
One of the most interesting things Rautiainen said this summer involved the transition to North American ice.
Normally that’s one of the biggest concerns surrounding European prospects.
Less room. Less time, and more contact.
Rautiainen doesn’t seem particularly worried about it.
He has already played on the smaller surface internationally and said he actually likes how quickly things happen.
Players with Rautiainen’s vision can sometimes benefit from the smaller ice because offensive opportunities develop faster.
If he processes the game as quickly as his production suggests, he may adjust quicker than expected.
But he’ll also have to prove he can handle the physical side of the NHL.
Rautiainen Has a Real Chance to Make the Lightning
Rautiainen isn’t coming to Tampa for the experience.
He has a legitimate opportunity.
If he doesn’t make the Lightning roster, the current agreement between the NHL and international hockey means he is expected to return to Tappara rather than immediately head to Syracuse.
He could potentially join Tampa Bay or Syracuse later after his Finnish season ends.
The Lightning essentially have to determine whether Rautiainen is ready now.
If he starts producing in preseason games, the decision could become much harder than the Lightning anticipated.
I wouldn’t call Rautiainen a favorite to make the opening-night roster.
Too many experienced forwards, and too many other young players are fighting for opportunities.
O’Reilly could be further along in terms of playing an NHL-style game. Duke has his own case to make.
Tampa Bay also isn’t an organization known for rushing prospects simply because they had a great season somewhere else.
But Rautiainen has something that can force coaches to reconsider plans very quickly.
High-end offensive skill.
You can plan your roster all summer. Then a young player walks into camp, starts creating scoring chances every night, and makes it impossible to send him away.
That’s Rautiainen’s path.
Where Would He Fit?
This is another reason I don’t see Tampa Bay keeping Rautiainen merely to play eight minutes a night on a fourth line.
His game needs offensive opportunities.
If Rautiainen makes the Lightning, it should be because Jon Cooper believes he can contribute somewhere in the top nine and potentially provide another creative option on the power play. That’s what I’ll be watching throughout camp.
Who does Cooper put him with? Does Rautiainen receive opportunities alongside established NHL forwards?
Does he get power-play time during preseason games?
And does he keep creating offense as the competition improves?
Tampa Bay Needs Players Like Rautiainen
This is bigger than one training camp battle. The Lightning have reached the point where finding inexpensive young talent isn’t just nice. It’s necessary.
The core of this organization can still compete for another Stanley Cup, but keeping that window open requires young players on entry-level contracts to become legitimate contributors.
You can’t build an entire roster through expensive free-agent signings. At some point, the pipeline has to produce. That’s why O’Reilly and Duke matter.
And that’s why Rautiainen might be one of the most important players to watch this September.
The Wild Card of Lightning Training Camp
Rautiainen may ultimately return to Finland. There would be nothing wrong with that.
He’s 21 years old and still has plenty of development ahead of him.
But after watching him score 77 points in 59 games against professionals, I’m not ready to automatically pencil him into another season overseas.
Give him skilled linemates during preseason games.
Give him some power-play opportunities, put him against NHL players, and see what happens.
Because every once in a while, a prospect develops faster than the organization’s original timetable.
Most Lightning fans already know the big names heading into training camp.
But remember this one.
Benjamin Rautiainen.
He might return to Finland. He might need another year.
Or he might walk into Lightning training camp, start making plays, and force Julien BriseBois and Jon Cooper to find him a locker.
That’s what makes him the Lightning’s biggest training camp wild card.
