When Lightning coach Jon Cooper first saw Point in the 2014 development camp, he saw the same flaw most other people did with Point. “My first impression of Brayden Point was that he struggled to skate,” Cooper said. “He had all the attributes. He had the hockey sense, the competitiveness, he had all the hockey player traits you need, except shockingly enough, he didn’t have the speed he has now. All he did was improve his skating. He’s gone from an OK, decent skater to an exceptional skater.”
As soon as the Lightning took him, they turned him over to Stacy Roest, who does much of the development work with the team. Roest put Point onto Barbara Underhill, a former World Champion pairs skater who has helped a number of NHLers improve their stride. Among those working with Point was Jamie Heffernan, a golf pro by profession who is also a consultant with the Lightning. He was one of the first in hockey to use the Zenolink 3D motion capture technology system as a tool to analyze skating. The result is the current version of Brayden Point, an elite skater who can play both ends of the ice and could very well end up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy this season.