2021 NHL Entry Draft - Round 1: July 23 (8 p.m. ET; ESPN2, SN, SN NOW, TVA Sports)

[Schrute farms]

Kings can only pick 1

FIFY

 

[Brodeur]

I remember laughing about one of the broadcasts showing a cherry picked stat around the 2019 Finals. It went something along the lines of "No first round goalie has won the Stanley Cup for the team that drafted him since 2006." The 'never draft a goalie in the first round' crowd still runs with that without acknowledging there haven't been that many goalies taken in the first round since the lockout, the ones who did were usually taken later in the first round after the blue chip F/D were off the board, and the phrasing disqualified Tuukka Rask from counting.

 

[King'sPawn]

I remember laughing about one of the broadcasts showing a cherry picked stat around the 2019 Finals. It went something along the lines of "No first round goalie has won the Stanley Cup for the team that drafted him since 2006." The 'never draft a goalie in the first round' crowd still runs with that without acknowledging there haven't been that many goalies taken in the first round since the lockout, the ones who did were usually taken later in the first round after the blue chip F/D were off the board, and the phrasing disqualified Tuukka Rask from counting.

I agree it's a garbage argument. I'm warming up to goalies being taken in the first round, but am still wary. Goalies are inherently project picks, due to the amount of maturing that needs to develop over a few years.

 

[YP44]

I remember laughing about one of the broadcasts showing a cherry picked stat around the 2019 Finals. It went something along the lines of "No first round goalie has won the Stanley Cup for the team that drafted him since 2006." The 'never draft a goalie in the first round' crowd still runs with that without acknowledging there haven't been that many goalies taken in the first round since the lockout, the ones who did were usually taken later in the first round after the blue chip F/D were off the board, and the phrasing disqualified Tuukka Rask from counting.

I don't think it is a cherry picked stat, but I do think the game maybe moving away from that stat. The issues for me about goalies in round 1 is that goalies historically have taken longer to develop. During that time a team may find a number 1 and that is what makes the drafted guy expendable. So the better value, IMO, is to not draft the goalie and go with a D or F in round one who will play for the team that drafted him.

Now looking at guys like Knight and maybe Askarov I wonder if the time it takes for a drafted goalie to make it to the NHL is going down. It would make sense that as positional players get younger and younger goalies would too. This is what has me re-thinking the goalie in the first round, something I was very against historically.

 

[SmytheKing]

I agree it's a garbage argument. I'm warming up to goalies being taken in the first round, but am still wary. Goalies are inherently project picks, due to the amount of maturing that needs to develop over a few years.

It feels like, in this particular year at least, taking a goalie in the first round might be the safest choice if you're not in the top 2-3 picks, no? At least you've gotten to see a lot of their performance game in and game out whereas the position players have been much less "seen" this year.

I'm fully on board with the Kings taking one of the two goalies this year at 8 if the scouts feel good about either and a guy like Clarke didn't drop. With the uncertainty about everything, maybe this is the year you make the call to go a little sideways.

 

[King'sPawn]

It feels like, in this particular year at least, taking a goalie in the first round might be the safest choice if you're not in the top 2-3 picks, no? At least you've gotten to see a lot of their performance game in and game out whereas the position players have been much less "seen" this year.

I'm fully on board with the Kings taking one of the two goalies this year at 8 if the scouts feel good about either and a guy like Clarke didn't drop. With the uncertainty about everything, maybe this is the year you make the call to go a little sideways.

It's not a bad call, though I have plenty of players I like for the Kings at 8.-10. Still not sure I'd go with goalie with Kings' first.

I have done some draft sims for Seattle and have them taking G if Clarke, Hughes, and Power are gone. So I don't disagree with it in principle.

 

[Brodeur]

I don't think it is a cherry picked stat, but I do think the game maybe moving away from that stat. The issues for me about goalies in round 1 is that goalies historically have taken longer to develop. During that time a team may find a number 1 and that is what makes the drafted guy expendable. So the better value, IMO, is to not draft the goalie and go with a D or F in round one who will play for the team that drafted him.

I think there's a tendency to find the best guy after a goalie pick and focus on him as the "well obviously they should have taken him instead" guy. Here's an unscientific 'next five F/D taken after the goalie' list:

Carey Price: Gilbert Brule, Jack Skille, Devin Setoguchi, Brian Lee, Luc Bourdon (RIP) -- plus an honorable mention to Kopi who most probably had higher at the time. Price was the only top 10 goalie pick post-lockout.

Tuukka Rask: Matt Lashoff, Niclas Bergfors, T.J. Oshie, Andrew Cogliano, Matt Pelech -- Not a highly decorated grouping here outside of Oshie. That'll be a recurring theme.

Jonathan Bernier: Bryan Little, Jiri Tlusty, Michael Grabner, Ty Wishart, Trevor Lewis -- Little had some decent years, Grabner was okay but was a waiver guy early in his career. It's easy to cherry pick Claude Giroux.

Riku Helenius: Wishart, Lewis, Chris Stewart, Mark Mitera, David Fischer -- Stewart had some good years early on, but again not the most awe inspiring group of F/D.

Semyon Varlamov - Dennis Persson, Patrik Berglund, Ivan Vishnevskiy, Nick Foligno, Chris Summers.

Leland Irving - Vishnevskiy, Foligno, Summers, Matt Corrente, Tomas Kana -- Easy to focus on Foligno as the one name who panned out.

Chet Pickard - Luca Sbisa, Michael Del Zotto, Anton Gustafsson, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Cuma -- MDZ had a couple good years early on but another spotty grouping outside of Eberle.

Tom McCollum - Slava Voynov, Phil McRae, Nic Deschamps, Corey Trivino, Cody Goloubef -- Mild upset at the time that McCollum went before Jacob Markstrom. Voynov himself was a mild surprise at the time as the Kings were intending to pick Victor Tikhonov with that pick.

Jack Campbell - Cam Fowler, Brandon Gormley, Jaden Schwartz, Derek Forbort, Vladimir Tarasenko -- I liked Campbell that draft year but had him behind Fowler/Gormley/Tarasenko. Also have to note that guys like Brett Connolly, Alexander Burmistrov, and Dylan McIlrath were taken before Campbell.

Mark Visentin - Charlie Coyle, Emerson Etem, Brock Nelson, Tyler Pitlick, Jared Knight -- Nobody expected Visentin to go in the first, so that one's on Phoenix.

John Gibson - Didn't go in the first round and was considered a bubble first round prospect. I was debating with an Ottawa fan about whether to take a goalie in the first round last year and he said you should draft a F/D because they could still play down your lineup. I asked him if he'd still take Stefan Noesen and Matt Puempel in the first over Gibson with that logic and never got a response.

Andrei Vasilevskiy - Scott Laughton, Mark Jankowski, Olli Maatta, Michael Matheson, Jordan Schmaltz -- Worked out alright for Tampa.

Malcolm Subban - Schmaltz, Brendan Gaunce, Henrik Samuelsson, Brady Skjei, Stefan Matteau -- Despite being picked close to Vasilevskiy, I think most had there being a considerable gap between Vasilevskiy and Subban/Oscar Dansk.

Thatcher Demko - Similar to Gibson, was a bubble guy and didn't go in the first round. Thought he would have been perfect for San Jose when they traded down that year. Guys who snuck in the end of the first round that year: Nikita Scherbak, Nikolay Goldobin, Joshua Ho-Sang, Adrian Kempe, and John Quenneville.

Ilya Samsonov - Brock Boeser, Travis Konecny, Jack Roslovic, Noah Juulsen, Jacob Larsson -- Still TBD if Samsonov is the future in net for Washington.

Jake Oettinger - Morgan Frost, Shane Bowers, Henri Jokiharju, Eeli Tolvanen, Klim Kostin -- These guys are just getting established, but Oettinger is tracking fine so far.

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I think it's a bit of nuanced conversation. Don't take a goalie if there's a blue chip F/D available is something I agree with. But I think in general we can overvalue the term "first rounder" to imply a greater upside for the guys in the 10-20 range than there is.

It's also easier said than done to find the mid-round goalie who panned out and say "we could have just taken him." The Kings were intending to draft Connor Hellebuyck in 2012 but Winnipeg took him ~20 picks before LA wanted to.

 

[Yog S'loth]

I think the only sane way to look at this draft is that it's going to be a total crapshoot from top to bottom. There are going to be top-line players drafted in the 5th round and half the 1st rounders will bust. Nobody really knows anything.

When the Kings round up their usual basket of idiots, I'll just smile and nod like I usually do, root for their development as always, but have no expectations of anybody, including whomever we draft in the top ten.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I think the only sane way to look at this draft is that it's going to be a total crapshoot from top to bottom. There are going to be top-line players drafted in the 5th round and half the 1st rounders will bust. Nobody really knows anything.

When the Kings round up their usual basket of idiots, I'll just smile and nod like I usually do, root for their development as always, but have no expectations of anybody, including whomever we draft in the top ten.

 

[Lt Dan]

When the Kings round up their usual basket of idiots, I'll just smile and nod like I usually do, root for their development as always, but have no expectations of anybody, including whomever we draft in the top ten.

Yog S'loth be like

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Draft Lottery tomorrow ( JUNE 2 ) is at 7pm ET / 4pm PT on NHLN/NBCSN and Sportsnet/TVAS

Lotto gods smile on Kings 2 years in a row? Yes.

 

[Yog S'loth]

Also, all existence is futile, the sun will never come out tomorrow, and I've taken up an absinthe habit.

 

[Reclamation Project]

We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

If we don’t see a Kings logo at 10, 9, or 8, we can all start drinking in celebration.

 

[Basilisk]

Draft Lottery tomorrow ( JUNE 2 ) is at 7pm ET / 4pm PT on NHLN/NBCSN and Sportsnet/TVAS

Lotto gods smile on Kings 2 years in a row? Yes.

If we win the lottery, I still say trade down!!! This draft is set to be the biggest crap shoot since Daigle was taken first overall.

 

[Schrute farms]

When we win this lotto, I would not trade down. If the Kings don't like the options to take at the top of the draft, then i'd rather them trade the pick for an established , young player. Trading down from 8-10 (if there's a guy we want that will be available later) is ok. But not trading down from #1.

 

[LAKings88]

When we win this lotto, I would not trade down. If the Kings don't like the options to take at the top of the draft, then i'd rather them trade the pick for an established , young player. Trading down from 8-10 (if there's a guy we want that will be available later) is ok. But not trading down from #1.

Take Power at 1 if you can. They can still get a decent player at 10 honestly. I'm all for packaging it for proven talent tho.

 

[kovacro]

If we don’t see a Kings logo at 10, 9, or 8, we can all start drinking in celebration.

I have a feeling we end up 9 or 10. One of the Canadian clubs behind LA is moving up.

Watch the Krakpots win the lottery.

 

[SFKingshomer]

I’d rather win next years lottery but this year will work. I order Hughes over Power...don’t know much about the other players.

 

[Schrute farms]

I’d rather win next years lottery but this year will work.

We can do both -- new 5 year rule isn't effective until starting with the 2022 draft. I'd really like to get back into the playoffs next year and have meaningful Kings games played. But there is a valid argument that getting Shane Wright is worth another year of suckage -- heck, Savoie & Lambert are not a bad option either. But not making the 2022 playoffs and picking around 4-10 would suck.

 

[lumbergh]

I’d rather win next years lottery but this year will work. I order Hughes over Power...don’t know much about the other players.

I'd rather the Kings not be in the lottery next year. I'd rather the Kings made the playoffs.

 

[Reaper45]

My prediction? Pain.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

T - 4 to POWER hour.

Q: will there be more Power or Byfield jerseys seen at Staples next year?

 

[ru4reals]

Wait so you're saying we have a chance? LOL. Can I defer to getting next years 1st Overall if we win it.

 

[Brodeur]

My prediction? Pain.

Mr. T: Ziggy Palffy Fan #1