2017 NHL Draft Discussion

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I don't know why they can't answer either.

Hopefully Blake replaces the scouting staff after this draft, since it's too late to bring people in now. The organization needs people who know what they're doing.
 
Here's a fun exercise; Al Murray's draft history with the Kings (1994-2006) vs. Futa's draft history (2007-2016), focusing on drafted players who established themselves as NHLers. I'll also include signed prospects like Muzzin and Jones.

Al Murray selections:
Cammalleri-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Jokinen-Yachmenev
Tsyplakov-Belanger-Lewis
M. Johnson-Boyle-Parros
Steckel-Reinprecht

Visnovsky-Corvo
Berg-Kaberle
Lilja-Grebeshkov

Quick-Bernier
Huet

Michael Futa selections:
Pearson-Kempe-Toffoli
Schenn-Weal-Simmonds
King-Shore-Nolan
Clifford-Dowd-Deslauriers
Vey-Andreoff

Muzzin-Doughty
Martinez-Voynov
Forbort-Miller
Hickey

Jones-Berube

They both have their strengths and weaknesses, Al Murray's staff didn't draft any high end dman outside of Visnovsky, but they were able to uncover some damn good centers and some decent talent.

Futa's staff hasn't had much success drafting goalies beyond finding Martin Jones. Their strength is finding dmen, and some good support players with a few capable of doing anything in the offensive zone.

Since going to Tampa Bay, the Lightning have seen a similar trend with them having great forward depth and goaltending but not much depth on the blueline.

My preference is to see them take a chance on skill. Third and fourth line players are scattered throughout the league, they're always available. But how often do you see players who consistently produce 20+ goals and 40-50+ points get moved around? Not often, unless they're impending UFAs.

Offense doesn't grow on trees, and no team is going to hand over offense for grinders and depth defensemen. The Kings barely have any assets to move in order to make upgrades. That is due to a number of questionable trades and a number of misses with their second round selections, where they're allegedly great at finding NHL talent, despite the last pick made from that round to make an impact was drafted 7 fricken' years ago.
 
Here's a fun exercise; Al Murray's draft history with the Kings (1994-2006) vs. Futa's draft history (2007-2016), focusing on drafted players who established themselves as NHLers. I'll also include signed prospects like Muzzin and Jones.

Al Murray selections:
Cammalleri-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Jokinen-Yachmenev
Tsyplakov-Belanger-Lewis
M. Johnson-Boyle-Parros
Steckel-Reinprecht

Visnovsky-Corvo
Berg-Kaberle
Lilja-Grebeshkov

Quick-Bernier
Huet

Michael Futa selections:
Pearson-Kempe-Toffoli
Schenn-Weal-Simmonds
King-Shore-Nolan
Clifford-Dowd-Deslauriers
Vey-Andreoff

Muzzin-Doughty
Martinez-Voynov
Forbort-Miller
Hickey

Jones-Berube

They both have their strengths and weaknesses, Al Murray's staff didn't draft any high end dman outside of Visnovsky, but they were able to uncover some damn good centers and some decent talent.

Futa's staff hasn't had much success drafting goalies beyond finding Martin Jones. Their strength is finding dmen, and some good support players with a few capable of doing anything in the offensive zone.

Since going to Tampa Bay, the Lightning have seen a similar trend with them having great forward depth and goaltending but not much depth on the blueline.

My preference is to see them take a chance on skill. Third and fourth line players are scattered throughout the league, they're always available. But how often do you see players who consistently produce 20+ goals and 40-50+ points get moved around? Not often, unless they're impending UFAs.

Offense doesn't grow on trees, and no team is going to hand over offense for grinders and depth defensemen. The Kings barely have any assets to move in order to make upgrades. That is due to a number of questionable trades and a number of misses with their second round selections, where they're allegedly great at finding NHL talent, despite the last pick made from that round to make an impact was drafted 7 fricken' years ago.

I think everyone here see's your point Ziggy, however of those 7 years they've traded away 4 1st round picks so thats a huge part of the problem... But of the 3 theyve kept they got Derek Forbort, Tanner Pearson, and Adrian Kempe plus Tyler Toffoli, Paul LaDue, Kevin Gravel who are a big part of the future... I think the offensive prospect pipeline will start this year with the 11th pick ... Also keep a very close eye on Michael Amadio, he's turning into one of those underrated, undervalued players who blossom into something special...
 
I don't know why they can't answer either.

Hopefully Blake replaces the scouting staff after this draft, since it's too late to bring people in now. The organization needs people who know what they're doing.

I think the scouts have done a great job with the lack of high end picks recently.
 
Here is what I put out on the 29th of March...gonna roll with it.
"Is it too soon to get pumped about the draft? Elias Pettersson come on down"
 
I think if you look at recent drafts and where the Kings were picking, they played it relatively safe. When they talk to these kids it is obvious they placed a premium on character and mental toughness.

I believe this was due to the staff's belief that the vets (Kopitar, Doughty, Gaborik, Carter, Toffoli, Pearson, Muzzin, Martinez) were going to fill the need for skill. The Kings have great confidence in their development system. I think they believed if they took a kid with character and the will to work, they could make enough of them into solid NHL'ers to fill out the roster.

I advocate seeing how the current crew does with a new directive from the new GM, which is be willing to gamble on draft picks with higher skill level, but maybe not the mental toughness they were looking for in the past.

I think the development program was sorely lacking under Dave Taylor, and had been improved dramatically under Lombardi. Let's hope it's something Blake doesn't lose that edge.
 
Ziggy, to use a few players you added to Al Murry's list. He picked quite a few older players.
Age of draft date
Tsyplakov was 26
Visnovsky was 23
Kaberle was 25
Lilja was 24
Huet was 25

Curious if the FA status of players overseas has changed since then? Maybe they had to be drafted and not just signed? Maybe someone can clear this question up?
 
I think if you look at recent drafts and where the Kings were picking, they played it relatively safe. When they talk to these kids it is obvious they placed a premium on character and mental toughness.

I believe this was due to the staff's belief that the vets (Kopitar, Doughty, Gaborik, Carter, Toffoli, Pearson, Muzzin, Martinez) were going to fill the need for skill. The Kings have great confidence in their development system. I think they believed if they took a kid with character and the will to work, they could make enough of them into solid NHL'ers to fill out the roster.

I advocate seeing how the current crew does with a new directive from the new GM, which is be willing to gamble on draft picks with higher skill level, but maybe not the mental toughness they were looking for in the past.

I think the development program was sorely lacking under Dave Taylor, and had been improved dramatically under Lombardi. Let's hope it's something Blake doesn't lose that edge.

Im really curious about the new decision making because a few guys have ascended in the draft(mainly Cody Glass)... If the decision is there to pick between ....
Owen Tippet or Timothy Liljegren who would lily be the pick..

I mean you couldn't go wrong with either and they both bring huge offensive upside but is this a BPA, winger need pick, or maybe they feel TL is close to NHL ready and it allows them to move a Dman...Situation...

I'll go out on a limb and say we will see a lot of trades/moves from this new FO...
 
It's really interesting to me how many European prospects they used to draft then versus now.

It kind of reinforces the thought that Lombardi's staff would've passed on Kopitar in favor of Marc Staal. They did it when passing on Tarasenko in favor of Forbort. They went for the big, tough, Canadian defenseman in 2008 over the skilled European defenseman who went a few picks later. They chose Hickey and his character over Voracek and his skill.

Al Murray was named the Director of Scouting for the Lightning in August of 2010. In his first draft with the Lightning in 2011, he made seven selections, six of which have played in the NHL, five of them being regulars. Those five players that came out of that one draft were Namestnikov, Kucherov, Nesterov and Palat. There's no ****ing way a Lombardi managed team would make that many selections out of Europe.

The following year, the Lightning had eight selections in the 2012 draft. Five of those eight have played in the NHL, those names consist of Koekkoek, Vasilevskiy, Pacquette and Dotchin.

The Lightning had six selections in 2013, and four of those six have appeared in the NHL, including Drouin, Erne, Gudlevskis and Vermin.

They also have two prospects from the 2014 draft who have played in the NHL in DeAngelo and Point.

Of all of those names listed, only one selection has been in the top 5, and that was Drouin, who went 3rd overall in 2013.

Now the Lightning do have some holes on their blueline that they need to address, but they are not a team that is lacking in talent. That's why I see them as suitable trade partners should the Kings look to add skill, as Steve Yzerman has said that he's in the market for defense.

I'm just providing examples here of a team that has no fear in taking a shot at drafting skill. That's how they found Tyler Johnson, who was a collegiate free agent signing in 2011.

I realize that the draft is an imperfect science, but I'm also not going to set a low standard and make excuses when the team continues to make the same mistakes in overlooking abilities that can't be taught. You can be taught how to position yourself and to play a system, you can't be taught to suddenly have the ability to be a goal scorer or setup man.

I get it, guys that skilled tend to go early in the draft, but the dozens of forwards I spouted off earlier like Kucherov and what not were 2nd or 3rd round draft selections, with a few taken later. They're not available in every draft, but the opportunities have been there, hell, some of us have clamored for them in these very draft discussion topics when many were hoping for Tomas Tatar in the 2nd round of the 2009 draft, a winger who coincidentally looked great playing alongside Kopitar at the World Cup. But nope, got to have that tough Canadian barnyard character that can't be found in the later rounds apparently.
 
Ziggy, to use a few players you added to Al Murry's list. He picked quite a few older players.
Age of draft date
Tsyplakov was 26
Visnovsky was 23
Kaberle was 25
Lilja was 24
Huet was 25

Curious if the FA status of players overseas has changed since then? Maybe they had to be drafted and not just signed? Maybe someone can clear this question up?

I do believe the free agent status of those players has changed. Those picks were before the lockout the changed everything. My guess as to the main reason the picked so many older Europeans back then, was that there was no cap. The Kings couldn't compete for most FA's, although Schneider turned out to be solid, and they were trying to win today after trading for Palffy. They took the older Europeans because they were cheap talent, and the Kings didn't want to wait years for development. Plus they didn't have great minor league development anyway. For a good chunk of years before Manchester, they were sending prospects to multiple AHL teams all owned by other NHL franchises. Sometimes to the IHL, which was an independent, professional league that wasn't about player development.

It's really interesting to me how many European prospects they used to draft then versus now.

It kind of reinforces the thought that Lombardi's staff would've passed on Kopitar in favor of Marc Staal. They did it when passing on Tarasenko in favor of Forbort. They went for the big, tough, Canadian defenseman in 2008 over the skilled European defenseman who went a few picks later. They chose Hickey and his character over Voracek and his skill.

Tarasenko and Voracek are also wingers, Kopitar isn't. No way to know, but Lombardi loves his centers as much as defensemen or goalies.

Shame Murray got nothing out of the 2004 draft. In 2003, they had two chances to draft Perry, and they didn't. Picked Pushkarev in the 2nd round, a talented little Russian, one pick ahead of some Canadian; Patrice Bergeron or something like that. In 2002, their top 3 picks were non-North Americans, and the best of the 3 was Grebeshkov.
 
Al Murray and his staff generally sucked and then were gone before their two best picks emerged.

Best pick outside of Kopitar/Quick is probably Visnovsky and then Brown/Camm/Frolov? Brown is arguable due to the players that went after him but he's still a King and was instrumental in 2012. Oh...forgot Jokinen. He's up there.

Steckel/Karlsson/Biron/Tukonen/Zultek...Is Storr on them too? Bernier in the 1st too although I prefer to attribute that draft to Lombardi and don't fully buy the "I let Al draft" story.

Lots of misses in the 1st round so it is no surprise that there were no tears shed when he left. Takes special talent to have 3 first rounders in the best draft of all-time and take one of the only busts in the entire first round along with Brian Boyle who was then mismanaged as a prospect and given up on.
 
Here's a fun exercise; Al Murray's draft history with the Kings (1994-2006) vs. Futa's draft history (2007-2016), focusing on drafted players who established themselves as NHLers. I'll also include signed prospects like Muzzin and Jones.

Al Murray selections:
Cammalleri-Kopitar-Brown
Frolov-Jokinen-Yachmenev
Tsyplakov-Belanger-Lewis
M. Johnson-Boyle-Parros
Steckel-Reinprecht

Visnovsky-Corvo
Berg-Kaberle
Lilja-Grebeshkov

Quick-Bernier
Huet

Michael Futa selections:
Pearson-Kempe-Toffoli
Schenn-Weal-Simmonds
King-Shore-Nolan
Clifford-Dowd-Deslauriers
Vey-Andreoff

Muzzin-Doughty
Martinez-Voynov
Forbort-Miller
Hickey

Jones-Berube

They both have their strengths and weaknesses, Al Murray's staff didn't draft any high end dman outside of Visnovsky, but they were able to uncover some damn good centers and some decent talent.

Futa's staff hasn't had much success drafting goalies beyond finding Martin Jones. Their strength is finding dmen, and some good support players with a few capable of doing anything in the offensive zone.

Since going to Tampa Bay, the Lightning have seen a similar trend with them having great forward depth and goaltending but not much depth on the blueline.

My preference is to see them take a chance on skill. Third and fourth line players are scattered throughout the league, they're always available. But how often do you see players who consistently produce 20+ goals and 40-50+ points get moved around? Not often, unless they're impending UFAs.

Offense doesn't grow on trees, and no team is going to hand over offense for grinders and depth defensemen. The Kings barely have any assets to move in order to make upgrades. That is due to a number of questionable trades and a number of misses with their second round selections, where they're allegedly great at finding NHL talent, despite the last pick made from that round to make an impact was drafted 7 fricken' years ago.

From 1994 to 2006 Murray had 16 1st round picks and 16 2nd round picks.

From 2007 to 2016 Futa had 7 1st round picks and 11 2nd round picks.

That's a big difference, so I don't really think it's fair to compare them in this way. Also, players from recent Futa drafts are still in the development phase.

If you're going to add signed prospects, then you'd have to counsider Moulson and Purcell. Purcell was a pretty good NHL forward for a few seasons.
 
I think the scouts have done a great job with the lack of high end picks recently.

But you see, Tampa Bay had that one really good draft and know what they're doing. The Kings haven't had any NHL regulars from 2013 - today (age 22 and younger).

You're living in the past if you want to give the players time to develop and grow into professionals.
 
Curious if the FA status of players overseas has changed since then? Maybe they had to be drafted and not just signed? Maybe someone can clear this question up?

Yup, before the 2004-05 lockout/new CBA, all Europeans had to be drafted in order to play. Starting with the 2005 Draft, Europeans older than 21 were deemed free agents (and the draft itself was reduced to 7 rounds from 9).
 
But you see, Tampa Bay had that one really good draft and know what they're doing. The Kings haven't had any NHL regulars from 2013 - today (age 22 and younger).

You're living in the past if you want to give the players time to develop and grow into professionals.

Or you can make excuses and bury your head in the sand and ignore the wasted second round selections on the likes of McKeown, Zykov, Cernak, Lintuniemi and Gibson.

And TB has had more than one solid draft. You and most of us would be singing their praises if the Kings had as successful of a draft as Tampa has had since 2010. How many drafts since then would you consider the Kings have been successful at since then?

I can answer that for you. Go five years back, half a decade ago.

Maybe you can educate us with write ups on all of these amazing, up and coming prospects the Kings have loaded up on since five years ago. I miss chuckling at the overinflated expectations that you'd share with us based on practices.
 
But you see, Tampa Bay had that one really good draft and know what they're doing. The Kings haven't had any NHL regulars from 2013 - today (age 22 and younger).

You're living in the past if you want to give the players time to develop and grow into professionals.

Zykov - Traded for nothing and traded a 2nd/3rd/4th to get him.
McKeown - Traded for "the" rental of the deadline along with a 1st.
Cernak - Traded for nothing
Lintuniemi - High impact doubtful

The Kings have had five 2nd round picks since 2013: three are gone, Lintuniemi is not even Top 10 in a shallow prospect pool and Clague is too early to tell.

Most of us understand that drafting an NHL regular under the age of 22 outside of the first round is difficult; however, this staff has whiffed on every Top 60 pick they've had starting with the 2012 draft save for Pearson and--most likely--Kempe.

I know you have more of a scouting background than I do over here but I don't need a background in scouting to know the results haven't been there at the top of the Kings' drafts. ****...they would of screwed up 2010 as well with the Forbort pick if not for Toffoli in Round 2. Does it mean these guys are totally clueless? Of course not; however, they don't have much to hang their hats on since Pearson.

It's like we all kind of ignored it because the team was good and it appeared it wouldn't matter *as much* as before. Now they need reinforcements and we don't have the cavalry. I understand the lack of high picks factors in to this but it just places more emphasis on the importance of not missing on all of their 2nd round picks.
 
Or you can make excuses and bury your head in the sand and ignore the wasted second round selections on the likes of McKeown, Zykov, Cernak, Lintuniemi and Gibson.

And TB has had more than one solid draft. You and most of us would be singing their praises if the Kings had as successful of a draft as Tampa has had since 2010. How many drafts since then would you consider the Kings have been successful at since then?

I can answer that for you. Go five years back, half a decade ago.

Maybe you can educate us with write ups on all of these amazing, up and coming prospects the Kings have loaded up on since five years ago. I miss chuckling at the overinflated expectations that you'd share with us based on practices.

I know, sharing my observations and thoughts on the only Kings prospects in the off-season is such a ****head move. What do you do between July and September for the people who haven't watched the players at all?

How do you contribute to the discussion of prospects?

Oh, right. You wait several years after the fact and pretend like you know what you're talking about by piggybacking on the thoughts of others. You accuse people of bringing up the good drafts of Futa and company of living in the past but then bring up Al ****ing Murray from the 90s and mid-00s.

So please bring up some of those laughable posts where I talked about the Kings prospects. I'll bring up your posts from the same time span that don't even have the benefit of being entertaining.

Zykov - Traded for nothing and traded a 2nd/3rd/4th to get him.
McKeown - Traded for "the" rental of the deadline along with a 1st.
Cernak - Traded for nothing
Lintuniemi - High impact doubtful

The Kings have had five 2nd round picks since 2013: three are gone, Lintuniemi is not even Top 10 in a shallow prospect pool and Clague is too early to tell.

Most of us understand that drafting an NHL regular under the age of 22 outside of the first round is difficult; however, this staff has whiffed on every Top 60 pick they've had starting with the 2012 draft save for Pearson and--most likely--Kempe.

I know you have more of a scouting background than I do over here but I don't need a background in scouting to know the results haven't been there at the top of the Kings' drafts. ****...they would of screwed up 2010 as well with the Forbort pick if not for Toffoli in Round 2. Does it mean these guys are totally clueless? Of course not; however, they don't have much to hang their hats on since Pearson.

It's like we all kind of ignored it because the team was good and it appeared it wouldn't matter *as much* as before. Now they need reinforcements and we don't have the cavalry. I understand the lack of high picks factors in to this but it just places more emphasis on the importance of not missing on all of their 2nd round picks.

My scouting background and experience is the same as yours. Like you, I'm a fan who watches hockey players. The only difference is I may spend a bit more time watching the younger ones, but I just like to talk about hockey reasonably.

You are right, the Kings haven't had much to gloat about since Pearson. However, since Pearson/2012, they have had:
1-first round pick. Kempe, who looks like he could be a regular NHLer/middle six forward.

5-second round picks: Clague. Too early to tell. Cernak, who was traded too early, in my opinion. McKeown, who was traded with a first round pick for Sekera. Lintuniemi, whom I don't like at all. And Zykov, who played in his first NHL games this season, scored his first NHL goal, but had some setbacks due to injuries.

2-third round picks: Amadio, who I am a big fan of. He scored 50 goals in junior on a defensive minded team. Dergachyev, who is contracted in the KHL and having his development waste by playing sub 10 minutes a game.

5-fourth round picks. Jacob Moverare. Again, too early to tell, but I'm not expecting much from him. Austin Wagner, who I am a big fan of, and he led the WHL playoffs in goal scoring this year. Steven Johnson, who I expect nothing from. Justin Auger, who I don't expect anything from. Hudson Fasching, who has 3 points in 17 NHL games, and I have high hopes for him.

5-fifth round picks. Mikey Eyssimont, whom I don't expect much from. He led his team in scoring again, but he more or less just matched his production. Matt Schmalz, whom I fully expect not to be signed, and rightfully so. Alec Dillon, who after multiple injuries just hurt his career too much. Patrik Bartosak, who went full ******. Jonny Brodzinski, who I ultimately don't think (and never thought) will pan out as an NHL regular, but others think he has the skills.

3-sixth round picks. Jake Marchment. Good riddance. Matt Mistele, ultimately wasn't anyone special. Zac Leslie, jury's still out, but he's taking longer to adjust to the pro game, and likely won't play a game in the NHL.

6-seventh round picks. Jacob Friend. A character, stay at-home defenseman of whom I expect nothing at the NHL level. Chaz Reddekopp, who went from 30 points in 70 games to 43 points in 51 games, has size, and I think still has a lot of potential. Matt Roy, who I think will be more of a defenseman in the AHL. Spencer Watson, who I think is a longshot in the NHL but could be a good AHLer. Jacob Middleton, who was let go, and is more or less another Jacob Friend. Dominik Kubalik, who led the Czech league in goal scoring, but I don't anticipate much of a translation to the NHL level.

So... yes, the Kings have a very empty cupboard. There's no denying it. It's a combination of trading away key picks (like several firsts), missing on key picks (like Lintuniemi), injuries (like Zykov and Dillon), ******** players (like Bartosak), Europeans who either prefer or are obligated to stay overseas (like Kubalik and Dergachyev, not to mention Prokhorkin from 2012).

But the Kings have just as many 7th round picks in the past four years as they've had first and second round picks combined. Of those five second round picks, three have been traded away.

The point I've made numerous times over is that Lombardi is the much bigger culprit for the cupboard being bare than the scouting. Apparently that means I'm a homer who lives in the past, though.

But hey, this is just a hobby that I suck at, so what do I know?
 
It must be painful to admit the scouting staff can make mistakes. You want to bring up past successes, then chose to ignore past failures as well. So if they're going to get credit where it's due, they should be absolved of any criticism.

That's the definition of being a homer. Like those who rode Lombardi's jock and defended his decisions because they kept thinking of past successes while overlooking recent failures and the organization inability to adapt.

But I guess if they continue to suck for the next 40+ years, we can just fondly look back at what they did from 2012 to 2014. Hell, those might be the only Cup victories we may see in our lifetime. I bet Flyers fans expected more than just a couple of Cups when the Broadstreet Bullies dominated the league, or a loaded Avalanche team that only ended up with two Cups and haven't had any success since 2001.

That very well could be it for the Kings, and we'll continue to see excuses, and there will continue to be suckers who will renew season tickets while they raise ticket prices on a boring on-ice product.
 
It must be painful to admit the scouting staff can make mistakes. You want to bring up past successes, then chose to ignore past failures as well. So if they're going to get credit where it's due, they should be absolved of any criticism.

That's the definition of being a homer. Like those who rode Lombardi's jock and defended his decisions because they kept thinking of past successes while overlooking recent failures and the organization inability to adapt.

But I guess if they continue to suck for the next 40+ years, we can just fondly look back at what they did from 2012 to 2014. Hell, those might be the only Cup victories we may see in our lifetime. I bet Flyers fans expected more than just a couple of Cups when the Broadstreet Bullies dominated the league, or a loaded Avalanche team that only ended up with two Cups and haven't had any success since 2001.

That very well could be it for the Kings, and we'll continue to see excuses, and there will continue to be suckers who will renew season tickets while they raise ticket prices on a boring on-ice product.

It most likely will be the only Cups the Kings win in our lifetime.
 
It must be painful to admit the scouting staff can make mistakes. You want to bring up past successes, then chose to ignore past failures as well. So if they're going to get credit where it's due, they should be absolved of any criticism.

That's the definition of being a homer. Like those who rode Lombardi's jock and defended his decisions because they kept thinking of past successes while overlooking recent failures and the organization inability to adapt.

But I guess if they continue to suck for the next 40+ years, we can just fondly look back at what they did from 2012 to 2014. Hell, those might be the only Cup victories we may see in our lifetime. I bet Flyers fans expected more than just a couple of Cups when the Broadstreet Bullies dominated the league, or a loaded Avalanche team that only ended up with two Cups and haven't had any success since 2001.

That very well could be it for the Kings, and we'll continue to see excuses, and there will continue to be suckers who will renew season tickets while they raise ticket prices on a boring on-ice product.

What you need to learn is that we're not saying the Kings scouts don't make mistakes. We're saying the mistakes they make are no different than any other organization. And the criticisms of the past five years are unreasonable, since the oldest players are 22/23 years old.

Myself, I'll continue to enjoy watching prospects grow and develop, no matter how much I may suck at it.

In the meantime, you can continue to be a bitter while the Kings suck.
 
Having an open mind and a balanced opinion doesn't make one bitter. I try not to set myself up for disappointment and pencil in unproven players as "future top six talent."

Once in a while one of those comes through and it gets me excited to follow their progression, which happened with Toffoli and Pearson.

It's better than being a cheerleader who sits on the fence.
 
Zykov - Traded for nothing and traded a 2nd/3rd/4th to get him.
McKeown - Traded for "the" rental of the deadline along with a 1st.
Cernak - Traded for nothing
Lintuniemi - High impact doubtful

The Kings have had five 2nd round picks since 2013: three are gone, Lintuniemi is not even Top 10 in a shallow prospect pool and Clague is too early to tell.

Most of us understand that drafting an NHL regular under the age of 22 outside of the first round is difficult; however, this staff has whiffed on every Top 60 pick they've had starting with the 2012 draft save for Pearson and--most likely--Kempe.

I know you have more of a scouting background than I do over here but I don't need a background in scouting to know the results haven't been there at the top of the Kings' drafts. ****...they would of screwed up 2010 as well with the Forbort pick if not for Toffoli in Round 2. Does it mean these guys are totally clueless? Of course not; however, they don't have much to hang their hats on since Pearson.

It's like we all kind of ignored it because the team was good and it appeared it wouldn't matter *as much* as before. Now they need reinforcements and we don't have the cavalry. I understand the lack of high picks factors in to this but it just places more emphasis on the importance of not missing on all of their 2nd round picks.

Is Zykov playing anywhere
 
Im really curious about the new decision making because a few guys have ascended in the draft(mainly Cody Glass)... If the decision is there to pick between ....
Owen Tippet or Timothy Liljegren who would lily be the pick..

I mean you couldn't go wrong with either and they both bring huge offensive upside but is this a BPA, winger need pick, or maybe they feel TL is close to NHL ready and it allows them to move a Dman...Situation...

I'll go out on a limb and say we will see a lot of trades/moves from this new FO...

None of these players is ready to play in the NHL next season. It should always be a BPA pick, because you never know what you will need 3 - 5 years down the line.

If you have extra talent at one position, well that's what trades are for in the NHL. For example, an organization can probably never have too many talented RH-shot defensemen.
 
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