Jeff Tambellini left his scouting job with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022 for a promotion with the Seattle Kraken. As director of player development, Tambellini has helped shape the Kraken’s talented and deep prospect pool. That put him in line for another promotion – and a return to the Sunshine State.
Tambellini on Monday was named the Lightning’s new assistant general manager. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman had speculated on his 32 Thoughts podcast that “(Tambellini’s) someone Julien BriseBois (Lightning GM) knows and trusts.” Friedman added that unlike the Kraken, BrieBois doesn’t let his lieutenants speak publicly, so Jeff would “have to go back into the Witness Protection Program.”
So, because Seattle GM Jason Botterill doesn’t prohibit it (thanks, Jason!) – we were able to debrief Tambellini before he took his new post, concerning last week’s development camp at Kraken Community Iceplex. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
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Glenn Dreyfuss, DJLR: “Jeff I’ve heard other coaches say that these development camps aren’t as much about evaluation as they are giving the players a chance to see the facility, get acclimated.
Jeff Tambellini, Kraken: “Yeah, it’s a short amount of days and we don’t get these guys a lot, but when we do get this group, we’re trying to instill multiple things. They got a chance to understand our franchise and really get a good sense of what it means to be a Seattle Kraken.
“This was our youngest group, probably by a mile. No American League players. Year one it’s seven guys and there is no camp. Now we’re at 43 prospects and we get to pick just the youngest group, because we believe our American League system has done a great job and we don’t need to bring that group in as much.
“(The Firebirds are) going to have probably their youngest American Hockey League team this season, full of these talented entry-level contract players. It’s a long time coming, but I think we’re all excited to see what the Coachella Valley roster looks like full of draft picks.
“We’re trying to build a foundation for these prospects. Talk about what we do in Seattle from a development standpoint. We tried to give them every session with purpose.”
Fun off-ice activities are actually part of that purpose, too.
“We’re always trying to evolve what we do with the kids off the ice, on the ice. Away from the rink, just trying to make sure they enjoy what Seattle has and what it offers.
“We saw the Seahawks. Our guys were out on the field learning how to throw footballs. The biggest thing is feeling comfortable in this building, falling in love with the city of Seattle.
“It’s important that they become friends, because when they get to training camp and they’re up against our best players and men, it’s these friendships with guys their age that can carry them through those tougher moments.”
A chance meeting led to development camp netminders getting on-ice instruction from Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer.
“He was in the gym on July 1st and I asked him, ‘Do you want to go with the goalies?’ And he asked if I was serious. It shows you what Grubauer’s made of, the type of person he is. This guy is a first-class professional, and those four goalies took a ton out of what he gave them this week.”
Glenn: “Jeff, when this camp is over, what’s the next step for your group?”
Jeff: “Now we (as of Monday, “they”) get into the research phase of really trying to understand this new draft class. You know, we got them (at development camp). We’re trying to play catch-up for a couple of days of figuring these guys out. But now we (they) have a month to really get into these guys and figure out who they are, what they do well, and how to help them moving forward.”
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Glenn: “Do you remember when hockey used to have an off season?”
Jeff: “I do. And that day seems like it’s gone. There’s so much going on. Now we have a big prospect group. We owe it to these kids to make sure that come training camp (in September), we’re ready for them.”
The player development team will be looking for future NHL role players as much as potential future stars.
“We see them all having different roles in our organization. Just because they’re not all top scoring guys doesn’t mean that they’re not going to play in the National League. The guys fighting for penalty kill minutes, depth minutes, maybe have a chance to make the league quicker than most. Everybody’s got their own path, their own process and their own timeline.”