Pre-Game Talk: 2023 Draft Discussion

[Sol]

Yes but maybe not for the reason you think. I actually love learning about the draft and writing content. When higher picks are gone, there's a much wider net of players I need to get to know. But, during the year, articles about less hyped players are scarce. So, it's just difficult to do a deep dive into the players to be compiled into an interesting article.

So, I still get excitement for the draft, even with high picks missing. But it begins as frustration, if that makes sense.

It was kind of a relief to have the first round pick gone at the trade deadline instead of draft day last year though. It sucked doing a deep dive on several first round prospects, and getting excited about different ones for various reasons, only to see that none would be picked.

That’s really interesting. I’m happy you really seem to enjoy what you do. Sucks that that deep dive element kinda went to waste with the picks being unavailable. But I’m sure the process was fun nevertheless

 

[King'sPawn]

That’s really interesting. I’m happy you really seem to enjoy what you do. Sucks that that deep dive element kinda went to waste with the picks being unavailable. But I’m sure the process was fun nevertheless

You are very kind for the genuine interest and compassion. I hope to give you enjoyable content you deserve soon.

 

[Surf Nutz]

Barfed

 

[King'sPawn]

With the draft two weeks away now, there are a lot of resources to help you get primed. I'll put a few links if you would like to buy any of the draft guides along with some of my own thoughts (take my thoughts for what it's worth, of course; some of these can be pricey and just want to give you suggestions). Hopefully screenshots will help provide context and info:

Elite Prospects: 2023 Elite Prospects NHL Draft Guide
Comes with your monthly subscription to EliteProspects (I think it's $11.99 a month?), but you should be able to get it for a month. They have a top 136 ranking but have profiles on 400+ players. They contain your basic information on players (height, weight, etc), player cards of some basic analytics, and they rank 6 skillsets (Skating, Shooting, Passing, Puckhandling, Hockey Sense, Physical), and they rank these skillsets on a 1-9 scale. There are then paragraphs more in depth about how they see and evaluate the player. Then there are quotes from scouts they spoke to as well as their own internal reports. They have over 1600+ pages. If you can get this with one month subscription, and you needed just one, this is arguably the most comprehensive and cost-effective guide.

Future Considerations: Home - FCHockey
More in-depth with their rankings, as well as additional general articles. However, their analysis and profiles of players are a lot leaner. They rank players up to 300. Once they get to the players, you have 6 profiles per page in column format (like a newspaper). For me, it's a harder read because of this format. For the profiles they have, they have write-ups on the top 200 prospects they ranked.

McKeen's Hockey: Home
Prospects ranked up to 224 with accompanying profiles, as well as quite a few fluff articles and mock drafts. In their player write-ups, they have a scouting report on the player as well as a ranking of the player's Skating, Shot, Skills, Smarts, Physicality, and "OFP" (on a scale of 20-80). No explanation on how they define/rank any of these, so it's a little bit less user-friendly.

Draft Prospects Hockey: DRAFT PROSPECTS HOCKEY – AN INDEPENDENT SCOUTING SERVICE EVALUATING THE GAMES NEXT GENERATION OF TALENT
Rankings of up to the top 240, but have write-ups on the top 224. The top 64 also has a little bit more information, listing their strengths and weaknesses as well as how they would score their Skating, Shooting, Hands, Hands, Physical, and Defense. At the end they also have a list of the 32 organizations, their current picks for the draft (round only, not specific position), as well as the top 10 prospects for each organization and their U-23 players.

Hockey Prospect: HockeyProspect.com - Hockey's Future Stars
I'll be honest. I'm a bit biased as this is my favorite. But I also know it's not for everyone, so I'll try not to oversell it. They try to set up their guide and go through the process each year like they are an NHL team trying to run their own organization. They rank a player's Ceiling, Floor, Hockey Sense, Compete, Skill, Skate, Misc on a scale of 3-9 (these are the actual rankings that an unnamed NHL team uses). What I like most of all is they are very clear in their intro as far as what each ranking is based on. They ranked the top 112 players as if they were an NHL team; but have profiles on around 300 players. They also have rankings for their current top 2024 and 2025 prospects. There is no fluff in this book - but it probably gives you the best insight/process of how their scouts evaluate players and how a team may see the draft. The downside is it's the most pricey at $40.

Hopefully this isn't too much of a copyright issue as it's all about the same prospect that the Kings aren't taking anyway that you'd read each time.

As far as accuracy of their rankings, I don't put a whole lot of weight on that since we all know that teams develop players differently which would have a huge impact on how a player actually turns out.

If anyone wants to add their own thoughts, or other guides I might have missed, please feel free to add. I know there's Grant McCagg's Recrutes draft guide as well - I haven't taken a look at it yet, but I would have to make a new account to purchase a book and not use that account for anything but to buy it... so, I'm not sure. At least I still make use of the EliteProspects premium subscription.

I also like The Draft Analyst when his comes out. But I don't even think his came out last year till after the draft. It's usually the least expensive if you are just looking for a writeup provided by one dude's observations. That's not out yet.

 

[Sybil227]

I didn't see this posted elsewhere, and this seemed like a good spot for it. Yahoo says we're the best drafting team in the league:
NHL draft: Which teams have fared the best and worst in the salary-cap era?

 

[Surf Nutz]

I didn't see this posted elsewhere, and this seemed like a good spot for it. Yahoo says we're the best drafting team in the league:
NHL draft: Which teams have fared the best and worst in the salary-cap era?

Thank you Sybil, it takes courage sometimes to add information or an opinion that you know may not be well received by the prevalent attitudes of some of the regulars here and the way they respond at times.
I encourage people to stop walking on eggshells, stand up to any personal attacks and post all information and opinions because that is what we are here for.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The article goes back to draft results since 2005 and doesn't even make any mention of recent draft results.

 

[King'sPawn]

The article goes back to draft results since 2005 and doesn't even make any mention of recent draft results.

True, but it still encompasses what we've said about the Kings drafting and developing - you get few superstars, but a lot of players who carve out NHL careers.

And maybe that's the reason why they prefer the slow-boil method. Not that I necessarily agree with it. I feel there's always a hybrid approach since people learn differently.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yeah, it says what we've said for years--for NHL placement, the Kings are the best in the business. They churn out JAGs from any round like it's nobody's business.

The problem comes to star talent, they have an impossibly hard time cultivating it here while they have zero problem coaching it out of our draftees elsewhere, they essentially treat 1st rounders like 7th rounders. Good for the 7th rounders, like Roy and Dowd, bad for the 1st rounders unless we can wait on them to break out like Kempe.

 

[yankeeking]

I think we need to hire a coach that can relate to a possible great prospect/player, our development staff were decent to good players not stars or natural goal scorers, maybe hire bernie nicholls again, he helped back in 2014 with the PP if i remember right . Not having a good coach hurt our PP the last couple years and getting the right guy this year made tons of difference , one thing this management team does poorly is react to what the issue is that keeps us from joining another echelon of teams , example of leaving Brown on the PP for so long even while he couldn't even get hit by the puck for long periods going pointless but not losing his spot , On defence we have greener and o'donnell who we all love but neither was an offensive guy and we haven't had a great offensive dman in quite a while , even DD wasn't developed by these guys he has the natural talent that most don't . In todays world everything is specialized time for the kings to invest if we want to go to the next level

 

[chris kontos]

the problem aint drafting, its development. all ya have to do is look around at the leauge and notice how many young talented players the kings have shipped out during thier development phase. some of this also has to do with burying them in the ahl.
by long history.

 

[johnjm22]

I wonder if Michkov falls substantially.

On 32 Thoughts they were saying that teams have had difficulty trying to talk to him. Considering that, and the current geo political situation, using a high pick on him may be very risky.

 

[King'sPawn]

I wonder if Michkov falls substantially.

On 32 Thoughts they were saying that teams have had difficulty trying to talk to him. Considering that, and the current geo political situation, using a high pick on him may be very risky.

I would shake my head if he goes outside the top-10.

 

[Moses Doughty]

I wonder if Michkov falls substantially.

On 32 Thoughts they were saying that teams have had difficulty trying to talk to him. Considering that, and the current geo political situation, using a high pick on him may be very risky.

I doubt he falls past Washington

 

[Kudelski37]

I doubt he falls past Washington

Ovechkin knows people so the Caps don't have issues with Russian players.

 

[King'sPawn]

Here's a player who has a very slim chance of falling to the Kings. Very talented, but inconsistent. As far as his style of play - a skilled playmaker who might throw a little extra here or there, not too different from Trevor Zegras (not saying his upside, but his style of play)



Last week I published an article of 10 goalies. I have an article of 20 skaters the Kings should be interested in drafting; it's currently being reviewed. But in the meantime, just some more hockey to watch and potential draft picks to get excited about.

 

[LAKings88]

When Mayor asked Yannetti his over under on if LA would have more or less than 5 picks, didn’t Yannetti say more. Almost sounded like the Kings could trade back out of second or was I mistaken?

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

When Mayor ask Yannetti his over under on if LA would have more or less than 5 picks, didn’t Yannetti say more. Almost sounded like the Kings could trade back out of second or was I mistaken?

That sounded like Yannetti offering his wishful thinking that he would be able to have the opportunity to make more picks. Doesn't mean they won't trade down to get more picks if the situation presents itself but I would be shocked if they've already mapped that out before players start going off the board.

 

[LAKings88]

That sounded like Yannetti offering his wishful thinking that he would be able to have the opportunity to make more picks. Doesn't mean they won't trade down to get more picks if the situation presents itself but I would be shocked if they've already mapped that out before players start going off the board.

Good point but I think they operate on some kind tier system. Move back five spots for an extra pick thing. Maybe not out of the second completely.

 

[KingsHockey24]

I just want them to draft a Russian whose last name ends in "OV"

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Kings picks this year are:
54th
78th (from Pittsburgh)
118th
150th
182nd

 

[King'sPawn]

When Mayor asked Yannetti his over under on if LA would have more or less than 5 picks, didn’t Yannetti say more. Almost sounded like the Kings could trade back out of second or was I mistaken?

Yeah, he said he wants to make more, but that "probably" means not picking where they're slated to pick.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

The Kings will definitely pick a goaltender or two and a LDman and RDman and Forward! I fully expect if Blake doesn't make some major deals he'll trade some of our excess Forward and D depth(in LA and Ontario) for draft choices either for 2023 or 2024

 

[King'sPawn]

I had a couple more videos I forgot to post on here if there's any interest in any of the prospects in particular. Trying to churn more out.

What sucks is I thought I had a lot more video. I'm more disappointed in myself that I didn't get more and have better discipline about it. I'll try better next year though. Europe games are toughest because they're around 7 AM to 1 PM (during a chunk of my work day, so I can't audit the quality).

But if you want to watch some more potential Kings picks (as I focused on players who may fall to the second round):
Tom Willander:


Gracyn Sawchyn:


Thomas Milic:


Jesse Kiiskinen:

 

[Statto]

That sounded like Yannetti offering his wishful thinking that he would be able to have the opportunity to make more picks. Doesn't mean they won't trade down to get more picks if the situation presents itself but I would be shocked if they've already mapped that out before players start going off the board.

I thought it was simply that he expected to have more picks. From the tone I felt it was more about Blake getting additional picks due to a roster player of 2 moving (we’ve discussed that need frequently).

It was a very good listen though.