Lightning's NHL draft strategy leaked on Twitter by Sabres fan

A sneaky Buffalo Sabres fan got his/her hands on a piece of Tampa Bay’s draft playbook Thursday afternoon and the slick Twitter user decided to put images of the Lightning’s purloined trade strategy online.

The piece of computer paper, titled “Trade Ideas - 2016”, lists potential Lightning trading partners based on draft picks.

The user said that his friend found the paper in a hotel lobby. The conversation between the two was later obtained by @TheDailyHockey twitter account and posted again.

I wonder what Tampa Bay is going to do? pic.twitter.com/kDi2bogrpM

— The Daily Hockey (@TheDailyHockey_) June 24, 2016

No players are listed on the posts — only picks. But it listed past trades involving the franchise’s draft picks, and teams’ tendencies when it comes to trading up and down in the draft.

The original tweet was taken down but not before a screen-shot of it was posted by @kikkerlaika, who sent it to her almost-2,000 followers and turned the incident into a sort of Draftgate.

“We’d like to ask you to please take the tweets down and ask that your friend not share it either,” the Lightning pleaded via Twitter after the images were posted.

The leaker had a snarky suggestion in his reply.

“Sure as long as (Lightning star Steven) Stamkos signs with the Sabres.”

Stamkos is expected to become one of the most coveted free agents in league when he hits the market on July 1. Buffalo is one of the front-runners to land the former 60-goal scorer and have the salary cap to do it.

Whether or not the Lightning ended up sticking to their script is unknown but the team did take Brett Howden, a center out of Manitoba, with the 27th pick.

Andong Song becomes first Chinese player ever taken in NHL Draft

For the first time, a Chinese player has been selected in the NHL draft, although, by way of Canada and New Jersey.

Andong Song made history after he was chosen by the New York Islanders with the No. 172 pick in the draft Saturday.

And it's been quite a journey.

The baby-faced (even by NHL rookie standards) 6-foot, 160-pound defenseman, who goes by the name "Misha," started playing hockey on a tiny rink in Beijing when his mother was trying to find him a sport. Once his talent was acknowledged, his family moved to Ontario where the 10-year-old Chinese boy was met with plenty of skepticism on the ice.

Song, now an 18-year-old who also plays on one of China's national teams, continually proved himself at each level, and was an assistant captain this past season on the varsity team at the prep school Lawrenceville in New Jersey.

Now the sixth-round NHL pick's pro rights belong to the Islanders after Song's selection was broadcast live in China.

Song hasn't yet met Islanders owner Charles B. Wang, who was born in Shanghai and moved to the U.S. with his family as a boy, but said he and his agent were aware of interest from the Islanders for some time.  He wasn't even certain that he was getting picked until his name was called.

"Being the first Chinese player, it's a lot of pressure from people back home, but good pressure," Andong said. "I hope that will motivate me to become a better player and hopefully I'll make them proud."

Nihao NHL.