Prospect Info: 2021 Los Angeles Kings Prospect Rankings #8

[BigKing]

Prefacing this with I don't know much about guys I haven't watched, I still went with Grans solely on potential, pedigree and positional importance. Not making the WJC and then getting outshined by the later 2nd round pick in Faber has really knocked him down to where he is kind of forgotten. No issues with anyone that goes with Fagemo. When evaluating Grans rough season, we can look at Fagemo not even getting drafted when first eligible and then he didn't do much at the WJC the following season. In what was really his D+2 season, he lit up the WJC.

If Grans lights up the WJC this year, this Board's collective Grans Deferens will be working overtime.

Add Moverare over Helenius once again because of position.

 

[kilowatt]

Prefacing this with I don't know much about guys I haven't watched, I still went with Grans solely on potential, pedigree and positional importance. Not making the WJC and then getting outshined by the later 2nd round pick in Faber has really knocked him down to where he is kind of forgotten. No issues with anyone that goes with Fagemo. When evaluating Grans rough season, we can look at Fagemo not even getting drafted when first eligible and then he didn't do much at the WJC the following season. In what was really his D+2 season, he lit up the WJC.

If Grans lights up the WJC this year, this Board's collective Grans Deferens will be working overtime.

Add Moverare over Helenius once again because of position.

I don't think Grans has fallen so much as Faber and perhaps others have risen. This is a big year in Grans' development, coming to Ontario and playing in the WJC. I'm hopeful that at next year's rankings, we'll be saying "I don't know which first-pairing defenseman is better, Clarke, Faber, or Grans!".

 

[King'sPawn]

Grans has the highest upside and his decision to come to Ontario shows a real desire to get himself prepared as quickly as possible. I think folks are sleeping on him a bit since he has less video available than some of our other high end prospects.

Please add Moverare.

FWIW, it's multifactorial for me.

He had a strong start, which had a relatively strong decline in performance as the season went on. After that decline, he saw his playing time reduced.

The combination of him learning a new position and reduced ice time has me concerned as a whole. The desire to come to NA is encouraging, but him, Durzi, and Spence makes it a challenge for him to get prime ice time on the right side. With him being the youngest, he'll likely get third-pairing. All this, and a disappointing cut from last year's WJC just has him playing very little.

So, I think he's evolved into more of a project by sheer circumstance. Until a project starts yielding promise, it's understandably difficult to envision a role.

But again, that's what I find so fascinating about these lists. People have vastly different criteria. Some have stated they use NHL readiness. Some who like upside can have high hopes for Grans.

There's never a wrong answer. Ultimately, these lists become a culmination of which prospect best encapsulates ALL criteria compared to the rest.

You bring up a good point about there not being as much video on him as well. I try not to let that influence me, but maybe that's done subconsciously.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Re the WJC for Grans in particular--it was widely seen as a snub/bad move by Sweden not bringing him, I wouldn't go so far as saying 'shocking' but there were a LOT of pissed off Swedes.

But it just adds to his 'down' perception in a year where it's more others were rising.

 

[Vino]

The combination of him learning a new position and reduced ice time has me concerned as a whole. The desire to come to NA is encouraging, but him, Durzi, and Spence makes it a challenge for him to get prime ice time on the right side. With him being the youngest, he'll likely get third-pairing. All this, and a disappointing cut from last year's WJC just has him playing very little.

And there is also Austin Strand and/or Kale Clague (if he's playing right side) fighting for ice time.

Secretly I hope, that they move Grans back to offence/forward. One thing, what our prospect pool misses, is a big, right shooting winger.

 

[bland]

FWIW, it's multifactorial for me.

He had a strong start, which had a relatively strong decline in performance as the season went on. After that decline, he saw his playing time reduced.

The combination of him learning a new position and reduced ice time has me concerned as a whole. The desire to come to NA is encouraging, but him, Durzi, and Spence makes it a challenge for him to get prime ice time on the right side. With him being the youngest, he'll likely get third-pairing. All this, and a disappointing cut from last year's WJC just has him playing very little.

So, I think he's evolved into more of a project by sheer circumstance. Until a project starts yielding promise, it's understandably difficult to envision a role.

But again, that's what I find so fascinating about these lists. People have vastly different criteria. Some have stated they use NHL readiness. Some who like upside can have high hopes for Grans.

There's never a wrong answer. Ultimately, these lists become a culmination of which prospect best encapsulates ALL criteria compared to the rest.

You bring up a good point about there not being as much video on him as well. I try not to let that influence me, but maybe that's done subconsciously.

Well, AHL teams frequently make use of extra defenders, so I am not too concerned about ice time yet. It will sort itself out and competition for spots early is a good thing. Grans will most likely be leaving in December for a good run in the WJCs, and by mid year I would trust them to have figured out who needs to where.

Regarding my video comment, I would just point to Fagemo getting the lion's share of votes here to say that it's fairly easy for casual fans to find clips of a goal scorer scoring goals, it's not easy to find clips or gifs showing off the skills that made a "project" defender so appealing that early in the draft.

I have Fagemo coming up pretty soon on my list, but after my top 6, who are all easily projectable, I tend to not favor one aspect consistently over another, but put value on how high players rate at the thing that makes them attractive. Some its NHL likliehood, some its projectable upside at more valuable positions, others for specific traits that are absent in the comparably rated players.

In this stage of the rankings, I think Grans pure offensive upside trumps the NHL readiness of Fagemo even though I would bet the farm that it's more likely Fagemo plays in the NHL.

 

[King'sPawn]

Closing 30 mins early because I'm evil. And I doubt we'll get enough rush to make up the difference. If anyone feels they were cheated out of a vote, I'll reopen.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

@Rumpelstiltskin is this true?

I wish. These days, my only trick is turning oxygen into carbon dioxide. And the only children I scare are my own (that's OK, though; last season's Kings were scary enough anyway).