GDT: 2019 Draft Discussion: LA Kings pick 5th, 22nd overall 8 p.m. ET (NBCSN, SN, TVAS)

[kingsfan28]

Kings have probably done better than any team in Round 2 , the last several years:

2015 43rd Cernak
2016 51st Clague
2017 41st Anderson-Dolan
2018 51st Thomas
2019 33rd Kaliyev
2019 50th Fagemo

Then, also consider the Kings have 2 of Toronto's #2 picks:

2016 57th Grundstrom
2018 52nd Durzi

That's pretty stellar. Time will tell. But like every pick. Too bad Cernak was traded,

Yeah, he looks like he's gonna be a good dman for tampa. Wished DL had traded Gravel instead.

 

[ru4reals]

Yeah, he looks like he's gonna be a good dman for tampa. Wished DL had traded Gravel instead.

Imagine a young pretty good Dman on this team.

 

[deaderhead28]

 

[Butch 19]

No real complaints overall. Looking forward to see who makes it.

Hope springs eternal.

 

[johnjm22]

Ultimately we had 4 picks in the top 50. That's pretty great. Hopefully next year we will too.

 

[cyclones22]

Amazing how much better the pipeline looks when you actually make draft picks. I expect that next season the Kings will be making 10+ picks again. There will be some hopefully in demand 30+ year old rentals to sell off to make room for more kids in the lineup.

Pronman's final grade:
Los Angeles Kings: A

The Kings’ pick of Alex Turcotte is a gigantic piece for their rebuild. And while I like a lot of their other picks, Turcotte becoming the star I think he can become will be one of the most important things for the Kings in the next five years. Tobias Bjornfot was a safe pick, but I think he plays. I know some teams who think he can be a top-four defenseman, but I have some reservations. I’m a huge Arthur Kaliyev fan, and while he has some major flaws, he also has some major strengths. I think Turcotte can be an impact player, Kaliyev could help their power play, Samuel Fagemo and Bjornfot play, and that both Lukas Parik and Jordan Spence have chances to play. It’s a big weekend, and I’m as excited about this Kings draft class as I’ve been about any I can recall in recent memory.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Love that coming from Pronman.

The more I learn of Jordan Spence, though, the more stoked I am about that pick than even Kaliyev from a strictly pick-to-value perspective. Some major upside there.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

TWO FUTURE LA KING LEADERS. WITH CHARACTER, GRIT, AND TALENT!
They won't care about Bark Madness or Teddy Talks. They want no part of frivolous crap.
They're here to kick ass and win hockey games.

Dig this. The culture is a changin"

 

[kingsfan28]

In just a couple of drafts, Blake has done a great job filling a very bare prospect pool.

 

[Rekingsfan17]

TWO FUTURE LA KING LEADERS. WITH CHARACTER, GRIT, AND TALENT!
They won't care about Bark Madness or Teddy Talks. They want no part of frivolous crap.
They're here to kick ass and win hockey games.

Dig this. The culture is a changin"

Can Turcotte and Bjornfot please include Kaliyev in their bromance and teach him that culture of "character, grit" and competitive drive.......

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Turcotte, Kupari, Grundstrom, Anderson-Dolan, Kaliyev, Fagemo, Thomas. ...Mikey Anderson, Clague, Bjornfot, Durzi, Petersen.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel...and it's an oncoming train!

 

[DoktorJeep]

Solid work by Blake and his team at the draft. I think after seeing how the two days played out, the Kings did the right thing by just using their picks to draft prospects their scouts had worked all year on. Rewarding the one part of the organization that has done comparatively well during these down years is smart and sends the right message.

I did expect some vets to move, but with the late announcement of next years cap, it’s understandable that a deal couldn’t materialize. And there is still time through the summer and next season through the TDL.

 

[Reaper45]

Looked at few pics of Kaliyev and he looks like Billy Bob Thornton in Slingblade.

You shouldn't have done that, hes just a boy.

 

[LAKings88]

Looked at few pics of Kaliyev and he looks like Billy Bob Thornton in Slingblade.

You shouldn't have done that, hes just a boy.

I thought the same thing lol. I feel terrible.

 

[tonellisghost]

I think allot of us are omitting a couple of our picks that are turning out great and some including myself think have a great shot at being exceptional NHL'ers. One of them is AThomas.

The only thing that he had going against him in his draft year was an alleged attitude problem. I know I am not the only one here to have spent some time talking to the kid and I think his attitude problem is a great benefit to our teams overall success. He is a highly talented player and bound and determined to become one of the elite players in the league. That is good thing to a team that rebuilding our whatever the heck they want to call it.

Thomas will be a top 6 sniper who likes it gritty. Then we add JAD and our bottom 6 looks formidable.

So far so good.

 

[kings11]

Kings have probably done better than any team in Round 2 , the last several years:

2015 43rd Cernak
2016 51st Clague
2017 41st Anderson-Dolan
2018 51st Thomas
2019 33rd Kaliyev
2019 50th Fagemo

Then, also consider the Kings have 2 of Toronto's #2 picks:

2016 57th Grundstrom
2018 52nd Durzi

That's pretty stellar. Time will tell. But like every pick. Too bad Cernak was traded,

Hearing our staff say Fagemo is already equal to Kempe is exciting and damning... especially the part where Fagemo already plays a better game..

I think we nailed our first 4 picks.. over the next 3 seasons they should trickle into our lineup unless some unforeseen issue arises

 

[dman3474]

Kaliyaev is such a solid O player and has a good compete.

I have't watched anything but his highlights, so correct me if I am wrong.

Hearing people saying his compete level isn't great and reading that he isn't in the best shape and then you saying the opposite is good news to me. I think people might see him not back checking or taking shifts off is because he is gassed and expels all his energy in the O-zone. Get the 17YO kid with the kings trainers, and nutritionist, and watching how the pros train. If the will is there, I think he could be an amazing player. Very high hopes for him.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[member 88115]

Turcotte, Kupari, Grundstrom, Anderson-Dolan, Kaliyev, Fagemo, Thomas. ...Mikey Anderson, Clague, Bjornfot, Durzi, Petersen.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel...and it's an oncoming train!

Gosh if we get another top 5 next year and maybe Vilardi is ready to go by then. The push to the top my start then

 

[Frolov 6'3]

I have seen so much of Vilardi and I think he was the best player of that draft and I am far from a homer.

He is our guy for the promised land.

 

[ru4reals]

TWO FUTURE LA KING LEADERS. WITH CHARACTER, GRIT, AND TALENT!
They won't care about Bark Madness or Teddy Talks. They want no part of frivolous crap.
They're here to kick ass and win hockey games.

Dig this. The culture is a changin"

There's a clip of Zegras and Turcotte meeting in the hallway at the draft as well pretty cool to see both guys stoked to be in So Cal. They'll learn soon enough how each team dont like each other.

 

[kovacro]

Sam Cosentino a fan of the Spence selection...

Jordan Spence │ 4th round, 95th overall │
Los Angeles
Kings

A player born in Australia, who moved to Japan and eventually back to his dad’s home province of Prince Edward Island, Spence had to live with a friend while waiting for his family to relocate just so that he could play at a competitive level.

Undrafted in his first year of QMJHL eligibility, the Moncton Wildcats jumped up and took him in the second round of the 2017 draft. Before you know it, he’s put up 49 points best amongst QMJHL rookie rearguards en route to the league’s rookie of the year award.

One standout selection from each round of the 2019 NHL Draft - Sportsnet.ca

 

[ru4reals]

Some of us may have already seen these vids on youtube but these shift by shift clips of Kaliyev may indicate why many scouts were down on him. Yes I know it's a game or two but he does float around and doesn't seem to have that compete level. However, there is no questions about his release and his one timer. I'm not even worried I think he'll be fine.

 

[tonellisghost]

Some of us may have already seen these vids on youtube but these shift by shift clips of Kaliyev may indicate why many scouts were down on him. Yes I know it's a game or two but he does float around and doesn't seem to have that compete level. However, there is no questions about his release and his one timer. I'm not even worried I think he'll be fine.

Sure the only thing I would say is you need to watch a bunch more of his play to get it into context. His high level of compete in the O zone (which nobody questions) does leave him gassed a bit too often but in the scouting world when one person says something most everyone says it. It is a very gossipy world.

Still it leads to the conclusion that for whatever reason he does have work to do in order to be ready to play at the NHL level and to be a part of a legitimate cup contender but then so do allot of kids.

For my money he is another Thomas and I believe that kid is well on his way to becoming a great young player.

 

[BigKing]

I got a total 2018-19 Kovalchuk vibe from watching AK's highlight reel.