BRANDON, Fla. — Preparing for his first day on the ice at the Tampa Bay Lightning development camp in July, forward Ethan Gauthier got to watch a few minutes of an informal workout by NHL players, including Lightning forwards Nikita Kucherov and Nicholas Paul.

For the 19-year-old, it was a learning experience he wanted to fully absorb.

“I was just soaking it all in,” said Gauthier, who was selected in the second round (No. 37) of the 2023 NHL Draft by Tampa Bay. “That’s where I want to be. That’s where I want to be in a couple of years.

“Look at guys like Kucherov, he was leading the league in goalscoring, but here he is working, it’s July and they are just working on the little details. That’s what it means to be a professional. He got me excited and ready to work.”

Gauthier has at least another year before he turns pro. Last season with Drummondville, his third season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, he tied for the team lead with 71 points (36 goals, 35 assists) in 64 games and led the team with 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists) in 19 playoff games, helping Drummondville to the QMJHL championship.

He will return to Drummondville this season and hopes to continue his individual and team success in 2023-24.

“It was a good year for me, I felt faster and stronger and overall better as a player,” Gauthier said. “And that’s nice. The best part was having a nice performance in the playoffs and getting into some pressure situations where we all had to perform and do the things that were necessary to win.”

While Gauthier’s game is built on his skill and talent around the net, the 5-foot-11-inch, 185-pound forward understands that there has to be some grit to succeed at higher levels. Lightning director of player development JP Cote said it’s important to continue to challenge Gauthier and other players who have attended multiple development camps.

“Once we get the fitness tests and the drills done, you want to send them back to the juniors with something new that they can use,” Cote said. “Anytime we can engage them, that’s what we do… everything adds up and they become better players. Every little thing adds up and at the end of the day you have a player that’s one percent, two percent, three percent, 50 percent better than what you had at the beginning. And that’s the goal.”

Gauthier is looking for that extra percentage, that extra edge that will set him apart from the rest.

“You learn a lot here,” Gauthier said. “And I’m a more mature person on and off the ice than I was a year ago. Now I just have to continue to build on that and go through the process of becoming the player I want to be.”