2022 Draft Discussion (after the trade)

[SaltyElkHunter]

Yeah, here we go......
The black and white is in full swing. Small=Talented, Big=Gritty and untalented.

Just out of interest, would you prefer Arvidson/Caufield over Rantanen or Lizotte over McKinnon?

Fact is that the big and talented teams crush the opposition since years and the teams with a bunch of smurfs find them self at the bottom of the league.
It goes even so far that whole teams cry in public about the size of certain goal tenders in the cup finals.

What we need is to continue to draft for speed and size

I take the first overall pick every time. Wanna try that analogy again?

 

[Herby]

Yeah, here we go......
The black and white is in full swing. Small=Talented, Big=Gritty and untalented.

Just out of interest, would you prefer Arvidson/Caufield over Rantanen or Lizotte over McKinnon?

Fact is that the big and talented teams crush the opposition since years and the teams with a bunch of smurfs find them self at the bottom of the league.
It goes even so far that whole teams cry in public about the size of certain goal tenders in the cup finals.

What we need is to continue to draft for speed and size

The Kings aren't going to be in a position to draft a McKinnon, there isn't going to be a 6'2 locked in superstar in this draft, and certainly not at pick 17-21.

Assuming we go forward again this draft, the Kings last four first round forwards were.

6'4
5'11
6'1
6'3

How have these picks worked out so far?

This organization needs to find skilled players that can generate offense, and picking around #20 it's very likely the best option for that is going to be someone under 6'0. So we are supposed to pass on that player, for what reason? People like you wanted to pass on Caufield for those same reasons too, how did that work out?

If by some chance Nazar fell to the Kings or the Kings traded up to get him you would oppose it? Because that is what the poster I was responding to basically said.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I would be perfectly happy with a draft like the last one at this point--quality over quantity.

Agreed that more swings is generally better but when the org is so excited to get 'our guy' thats' more important than straight volume at this point.

 

[Kurrilino]

I take the first overall pick every time. Wanna try that analogy again?

No idea what this has to do with my answer

 

[Kurrilino]

The Kings aren't going to be in a position to draft a McKinnon, there isn't going to be a 6'2 locked in superstar in this draft, and certainly not at pick 17-21.

Assuming we go forward again this draft, the Kings last four first round forwards were.

6'4
5'11
6'1
6'3

How have these picks worked out so far?

This organization needs to find skilled players that can generate offense, and picking around #20 it's very likely the best option for that is going to be someone under 6'0. So we are supposed to pass on that player, for what reason? People like you wanted to pass on Caufield for those same reasons too, how did that work out?

If by some chance Nazar fell to the Kings or the Kings traded up to get him you would oppose it? Because that is what the poster I was responding to basically said.

There are some talented 6+ft in this draft.

Bichsel and Yurov could possibly be in our range and there is not a single reason not to take one of them.
Nazar would be the prototype of what we don't need. Yes he is small quick and has hockey sense but we already have that in Lizotte.

Beside that, i like what i have seen from Kupari, Byfield and Kaliev so far.
Those guys will get better and better from here on.
Even Vilardi has lots of room to improve.

 

[kingsfan]

No idea what this has to do with my answer

The examples of Rantanen and McKinnon -especially McKinnon- are guys we wouldn't have opportunity to draft in the first place. Of course we'd pick them over Arvidsson/Lizotte but they aren't available. If Wright falls to 18 somehow we obviously are picking him but he's not falling to there so why mention him?

 

[Herby]

There are some talented 6+ft in this draft.

Bichsel and Yurov could possibly be in our range and there is not a single reason not to take one of them.
Nazar would be the prototype of what we don't need. Yes he is small quick and has hockey sense but we already have that in Lizotte.

Beside that, i like what i have seen from Kupari, Byfield and Kaliev so far.
Those guys will get better and better from here on.
Even Vilardi has lots of room to improve.

Lizotte and Nazar are nothing alike besides both being under 6’. You are talking about others doing the black and white thing but you are comparing a player with point per game , first line upside to Blake Lizotte.

You said in the other thread you wanted scorers and you didn’t care about whether they were all around players but these takes don’t make it seem like that.

 

[King'sPawn]

The Kings have shown they can have smaller people do well in their system, especially now that Sutter isn't the coach (not that Sutter has anything against them, but the Kings were very much war-of-attrition style which is not friendly on small players).

Size is not the boon it once was.

They need another year or two of leveraging good picks for better players, especially considering very little has come to fruition up front.

 

[Kurrilino]

Lizotte and Nazar are nothing alike besides both being under 6’. You are talking about others doing the black and white thing but you are comparing a player with point per game , first line upside to Blake Lizotte.

You said in the other thread you wanted scorers and you didn’t care about whether they were all around players but these takes don’t make it seem like that.

I said i expect goal scorers to score goals and nothing else, that is correct.
We have a team full of defensive responsible players but since years we don't have a single offensive responsible player.
Everyone is talking about qualities like face offs, locker room, board battle, puck possession etc.
But i don't hear a single time that someone is supposed to be responsible to score goals.

This is why i want a player who does nothing else then scoring goals.
Think of Ovechkin or Laine minded players.
Those guys have no idea what board cycling is neither do they want to be involved in that.
They also never heard of a 200 ft game since they are normally 15 ft away from the opponent goal.

We don't need well rounded anymore, we need merciless killers and those guys do not come in 5"8

 

[Rekingsfan17]

I would go for Bichsel or Yurov

I really like Bichsel. In our expected draft range he would be a great choice.

 

[Sybil227]

Just stay away from drafting smurfs and we'll do fine.

But smurfs are so smurfing good at hockey! They can smurf the smurf out of the smurfing puck!

 

[TopT]

Brad Lambert if he falls to our position also I really wouldnt want to pick first this year, bad time to suck

 

[funky]

I just can’t get into this draft. I think we will trade our first for immediate help.

We have also been spoiled with high end picks the last 3 years. After years of suck the draft was my Stanley Cup.

I am pleased that we are winning again and I am more then willing to sacrifice this 1st in a package for an NHL ready DMan (Chychrun) or high scoring forward (Laine, Ehlers, etc)

 

[Sleeping Dog]

I have no idea who they’ll pick, but I’d be fine if they use the same strategy as last year - going for potential quality over quantity. Keep packaging two picks to move up.

 

[Docgonzo]

I just can’t get into this draft. I think we will trade our first for immediate help.

We have also been spoiled with high end picks the last 3 years. After years of suck the draft was my Stanley Cup.

I am pleased that we are winning again and I am more then willing to sacrifice this 1st in a package for an NHL ready DMan (Chychrun) or high scoring forward (Laine, Ehlers, etc)

Maybe it’s because they’re in a playoff spot but I can’t get excited about any real players this season like I have previous years. Or maybe it’s because we have a big need LHD and goalies and they’re slim supply for the first round this year.

Kings are in a perfect position to draft a goalie in the first finally but sadly no first round talent this season.

 

[King'sPawn]

It's very hard to get hyped about a player when you're expecting to pick in the middle of the first at the earliest, and usually things scatter a lot outside the top 10.

2021 was Clarke, Eklund, Edvinsson, Wallstedt, etc

2020 was Byfield vs Stutzle

2019 was Dach, Byram, Turcotte, Zegras, etc.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I'm not sure who I really like--I agree with Herby that Nazar is an exciting prospect, but I also wonder if we're OVERdrafting small forwards because of market inefficiency--but regardless I actually think it's pretty exciting because this is ANOTHER draft affected by covid scouting/development where all sorts of craziness can happen.

I imagine Kings either trade UP or trade out for a young player, it's time to hit the gas.

 

[Rekingsfan17]

I went on draftprospectshockey.com/draftsim/#/ and ran their draft simulator.
I traded our 19th pick for Arizona's 30th and 34th pick's. I ended up with all defenseman........

apparently I place a high value on defense........lol

pick #30 - Lian Bichsel LD
pick #34 - Mats Lindgren LD
pick #51 - Owen Pickering LD
pick #91 - Jackson Dorrington LD
pick #115 - Michael Fisher RD
pick #147 - Noah Warren RD

 

[kilowatt]

I went on draftprospectshockey.com/draftsim/#/ and ran their draft simulator.
I traded our 19th pick for Arizona's 30th and 34th pick's. I ended up with all defenseman........

apparently I place a high value on defense........lol

pick #30 - Lian Bichsel LD
pick #34 - Mats Lindgren LD
pick #51 - Owen Pickering LD
pick #91 - Jackson Dorrington LD
pick #115 - Michael Fisher RD
pick #147 - Noah Warren RD

Don’t like your trade at all. We need quality not quantity. We have quantity in spades. I’d rather trade our first and second to move up.

As a counterpoint, our best prospects consistently come from the second round so maybe you’re onto something.

 

[Rekingsfan17]

Don’t like your trade at all. We need quality not quantity. We have quantity in spades. I’d rather trade our first and second to move up.

As a counterpoint, our best prospects consistently come from the second round so maybe you’re onto something.

Yeah......it seems like the Kings scouting staff plays it on the super safe side with their high first round picks (maybe a little too safe) and pass on players with higher upside. They seem to go with the "safe" pick. Then in the second round they seem to go for players with more upside.

I went back on draftprospectshockey.com/draftsim/#/ to see if it would let me trade for another second round pick with the available picks the Kings have. It ended up that it let me trade #91, #115, #147 and #179 for Ottawa's pick #60. With the previous trade I made of pick #19 for picks # 30 and #34 that would give the Kings #30, #34, #51 and #60 (three second round picks). Who knows if Arizona and Ottawa would make those trades IRL but apparently the value of the picks is about right.

The way their rankings line up I had results I liked better with the first trade but not the second one (i.e..... picks #30,#34, #51, #91, #115, #147 and #179). I think in this draft with the limited games/viewings that a lot of players were given because of the restrictions in place that quality players may drop to later rounds more than usual.

 

[JeanBlanc]

it seems like the Kings scouting staff plays it on the super safe side with their high first round picks (maybe a little too safe) and pass on players with higher upside. They seem to go with the "safe" pick. Then in the second round they seem to go for players with more upside.

I think we've gotten a ton of insight into how the scouting staff values first round picks from all the interviews with Mark Yannetti.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

This draft just does nothing for me. Would be fine trading picks to next year if possible. Like seriously double up 1st and 2nd rounders next year once our depth chart has revealed itself a bit.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

2017:
Vilardi
Necas
Suzuki

2018:
Bowlby did good in the first round

2019:
Turcotte
Seider
Cozens
Zegras

2020:
Byfield
Stutzle
Raymond
Drysdale

2021:
we shall see

2022:
some bonehead
superstar
superstar

 

[kingsfan]

Imagine that, we passed on a good player in previous drafts, just like every other team has passed on good players in every draft.

Revisionist drafting will always look like that. Vilardi was considered by some a top 3 pick and he fell to 11. Great pick at the time, and who knows what would have happened if he didn't blow out his back for 18 months. There's no one to blame for that. Turcotte over Seider was likely on every teams draft list except Detroit. Byfield and Stutzle were a coin flip with more people leaning towards Byfield. Not to mention, Byfield is still a teenager, so pretty early to judge that one.

 

[Trash Panda]

Player selection has been somewhat suspect in hindsight, but far and away the major issue plaguing this organization is player development, especially at the NHL level.

It’s complete shit.