How Would You Grade the Kings' 2020 Draft?

[kingsboy11]

I gave them a solid B+ mostly due to the fact that I thought last years was better even if we got Byfield. But I'm still not complaining. We've had basically 4 consecutive years of exceptional drafts. Blake and Yanetti have put the team in an incredible position.

 

[Telos]

Andersson put it to an A for me. Obviously, anything can happen in the future, but if things went as they were going without the trade, I would have graded it a B, but I feel Andersson is actually going to work and become at least a stopgap top 6 left wing for this team, maybe more.

In the end, we made a fantastic pick at 2, I feel every defenseman we took will get a sniff at the show, and we took reasonable risks on our forwards and goaltenders and even got a steal pick with Chromiak. Yannetti said that they going who they targeted, didn't sound like we missed out on much outside of them trying 7 times to trade back into the first round unsuccessfully, but it wasn't there this year.

 

[Mats26]

For me in a draft that was deep with talented forwards I would of wanted to see more top end talent\ potential in our forward picks.
Chromiak, Simontiaval ,Laferrier do add some depth in our forward ranks though.
Andersson trade is a risk. But I guess they feel he can play in the top 6 as a LW?

I do trust the staff and we'll see how these player develop over the years.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Nuetral fan from down the freeway.

I think the kings had a pretty good draft.... I really feel like during 17-20 drafts the kings have been the best drafting team in the league(hurricanes/rangers prob in the arguement). Idk that 20 was as good as their 17/18/19 drafts but i think it was still a pretty good draft(and a kid like byfield really helps tip the scale a bit)

Obviously getting a guy like Byfield is a great start, just turned 18. I think the scary thing about him is id call him relatively raw at this point and has lots of room to really develop into a premier center in the league.

Grans was a player i watched/liked alot and was hoping Anaheim would get with our 27 pick.. i think he should be a pretty solid nhl player down the line. I admittedly dont know much on faber so cant comment on him. Chromiak was another player i wanted the ducks to grab as the rounds went by.

I also include the Andersson move as part of their draft, and i think its a move that will payoff for them, i think he was worth taking a chance on... and a late 2nd... isnt bad. I still think he can be a 2nd line LW at the NHL level.

Anyway just checkin in... excited about some of the future matchups between our 2 teams

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

NHL Draft: Podium Worthy Draft Classes

The Kings were narrowly edged by the Hurricanes and it might not even be fair. The Kings turned everything they touched into gold it seemed. They didn’t over complicate things early and grabbed the player with the highest upside in the entire draft in Quinton Byfield second overall. The massive center plays with the speed and skill we’ve come to expect from a player who is 5’11” but the hulking Byfield stands 6’4″. He was the best center available and might be the best player from the class when it’s all said and done.

The second round featured both my own and the DobberProspects Scouting team’s third-best defender in Helge Grans and U.S. National Development Team Program member Brock Faber. Grans is a big Swede who skates well and has the ability to pitch in on both special teams, likely in a secondary role. Faber is a picture-perfect skater who showed some good two-way ability this year.

Adding the highly skilled Kasper Simontaival in the third round was another tidy piece of work for general manager Rob Blake. The Finnish forward has a ton of skill and brings excitement to the game when he has the puck. They also made a move to acquire Lias Andersson from the New York Rangers for the 60th overall pick, used to select Will Cuylle. The former seventh overall pick from 2017 has been in need of a change of scenery and this might allow him to flourish after a season at home in Sweden. While not technically a pick, I’m lumping him into their class.

The hits didn’t stop there though! Alex Laferriere was taken at 83rd and while that might be a bit high, he is a player who I pegged for the mid-late rounds as a value grab. Ben Meehan has his fans, EliteProspects’ J.D. Burke among them and represents a nice swing on talent late in the draft. The real nice piece that makes this class very good though is Martin Chromiak at 128th overall. He may not be a guy who drives play or pushes the pace on his own but he played very well with Shane Wright and not everyone can play with a high-level talent like that and hold their head above water and Chromiak did more than that.

 

[AzKing]

I'm on a solid B+. I like a lot of what they did, definitely got some solid guys, and they seem to have gotten 'their' guys. But would have liked to have seen more movement with so many picks, and this is a 'me' problem rather than a Kings problem, but I would have like to see some more swings for the fences given how many guys we have in the system, we can afford to take some risks. But I'm sure after I hear some more commentary from those within the organization they probably will see some of those guys a lot higher than I do which would change my view a bit (i.e. I'm dumb and limited in my viewing vs. Yanetti )

Byfield--I don't need to say anymore here. I'm as happy as can be.
Grans--Really like this pick, he fits what I said above. Definitely has some warts, but the Swedish contingent is insanely high on this guy, and you can see some serious tools there. Will need to marinate and that's fine.
Faber--Trading up for this guy tells me the organization really likes him but I'm still not sold. I know rankings had him all over the map and some that I really like had him higher so it's probably just me being stubborn or missing something entirely. Just feels like too 'safe' a pick. I mean if he projects as 2nd pairing great, and I feel better, but he doesn't seem to.
Andersson trade--love it. Low risk, medium/high reward, I think some people had suggested Poolparty as a reclamation project and I see this as the extremely diet version with a lot of in-house stuff going for him.
Simontaival--I like it a lot, big boom/bust there.
Laferriere--Like this one a lot too, especially where we got him. Great trajectory.
Markkanen--Great value, I liked other goalies better, especially Commesso and Clang and Bednar, but I appreciate where we got him and seems like there's some good talent for the goalie whisperer there.
Chromiak--another swing for the fences like Simontaival, like it, especially at value.
Meehan--got their guy, no complaints here. Seems like a good pick at face value especially this deep.
Jamsen--I honestly don't know shit so I'll just nod and smile for now but this pick is usually where our organization does much much better than the field so.

Overall I guess I just don't particularly care for the Faber pick, especially trading for it--I'd love to be wrong and I'm looking forward to hearing much much more about him and why they coveted him so much. You guys know me, I'm okay with 'boring' defensemen, I stuck up for Forbort way too long, so it's not just that. Edit: to add--and it's not so much Faber himself as the opportunity cost of the other pick as well vs. what was available around him. It almost felt like a "we missed on O'Rourke" reaction move. With all the assets we have, I thought there would be more aggressive movement for the 1st/2nd rounds, feels like we sat on our hands a lot and the one real move we made was for Faber. But again, that's still really critical looking, I'm still good on B+, maybe even A-. I just think we, along with NYR and Ottawa, were uniquely positioned with our wealth of assets and didn't tap them much. Maybe there's more to come.

And I totally forgot to add the Andersson trade above which I love. Fixed.

Great analysis. I can pretty much echo it. The Faber pick for me was a reach. I also think the goalie is a guy who doesn't really move the meter. He needs to do a lot to be a guy who ever sees the NHL.

Chromiak and Simontaival were really great picks especially Chromiak. To get him at that pick when he was projected as high as a 2nd rounder is fantastic. They have plenty of safe guys in the system so they need to take their shots on boom/bust players.

 

[AzKing]

I know that this doesn't mean much for some here, but both Wheeler and Pronman at The Athletic listed the Kings among the best results for the draft as well. Wheeler loved most of our picks, while Pronman was more focused on Byfield, Grans, and Faber.

They often have polar opposite views on things so that's a good thing. To say that the Gold Medal Hurricanes barely inched out the Silver Medal Kings is pretty cool.

 

[RocketKing]

Will take a stab at this - all from memory, so I will probably forget a few - so many prospects. Not sure if Gabe should be on it...he's graduated, but only 10 NHL games.
Hard to rank atm. Once season gets underway, will be easier to rank them. I will get called out for having Bjornfot at #4....but think he's the next Voynov,
with more intensity and with the impeccable character / leadership element. How do you rank a guy like Simontaival now? Really can't. I just wanted to
make a list and see it.

Byfield
Vilardi
Turcotte
Bjornfot
Kaliyev
Fagemo
Kupari
Grans
Lias Andersson
Madden
Thomas
Mikey Anderson
Grundstrom
Anderson-Dolan
Clague
Spence
Nousiainen
Hults
Faber
Simontaival
Ingham
Durzi
Dudas
Moverare
Strand
Laferriere
Chromiak
Villalta
Markannen

Just reading that list is something to see. We have a massive Warchest. Exceeded my expectations for what I ever thought this team could do to position for a rebuild.

 

[BigKing]

Bjornfot wasn't a consensus pick at his spot either but that seems to be working out RE: Faber.

These guys read the room correctly last year by grabbing Bjornfot over Kaliyev and then ultimately getting the latter anyways.

They must have thought there was a good chance he would be snagged so they ultimately made the move. With the amount of picks and prospects they have, why not? I totally understand wanting to swing for the fences all the time but Faber does sound like a guy that already plays great defense and is a great skater. If those two traits carry over, it sounds like a guy that should carve out a career. On the other hand, you have a more talented guy in Grans that is being knocked as a defenseman that has issues playing defense. Higher upside, for sure, but the knock on him is more of one that can preclude you from having a career as an NHL defenseman v. Faber's possible lack of upside offensively.

As an aside, I really love the Lias trade. Not a ton of impact from that age range yet with Vilardi and Anderson just now seeing NHL time from the same draft as Andersson. JAD could carve out a career and they might have a decent one in Hults but it is real nice to add some more NHL potential from that draft class.

 

[Steve Zissou]

I'm a little bummed about not nabbing Jan Mysak where he was at – I think he has some upside in his game and I'm excited to see where it goes.

 

[Lt Dan]

I'm a little bummed about not nabbing Jan Mysak where he was at – I think he has some upside in his game and I'm excited to see where it goes.

I am definitely going to miss the potential jokes.
But we did get a guy named Juho


There will a lot of "Quiet Juho!" jokes in my future

 

[Steve Zissou]

Yannetti said there was an element of frustration on Day 1 when they tried to get another first-round selection, adding: “We tried seven times to move up to the first round and we couldn’t get past hello.”

 

[Lt Dan]

JAD could carve out a career and they might have a decent one in Hults but it is real nice to add some more NHL potential from that draft class.

How did I not think of Jabba The Hults until right now, I am sooooo fired!

 

[kilowatt]

I can’t believe the embarrassment of riches that the Kings now have. At this point, a 50% success rate can fill out an entire roster.

 

[SufferingSelfCreated]

There is obviously a reason Chromiak dropped. It's not like he slipped half a round. He dropped multiple rounds. Here's my theory.

I believe the Kings, and probably other teams, are heavily relying on "Corsi For Percentage" analytics. IE looking for players who "drive the play". Here's a snippet from NHL Draft: Podium Worthy Draft Classes

"The real nice piece that makes this class very good though is Martin Chromiak at 128th overall. He may not be a guy who drives play or pushes the pace on his own but he played very well with Shane Wright and not everyone can play with a high-level talent like that and hold their head above water and Chromiak did more than that."

That last part is important. Just because a player doesn't "Make everyone around him better", doesn't mean he can't be that player that thrives off of other playmakers. His "Relative to Teammates" #s were great. He clearly showed he can do this playing alongside his teammate, Wisdom.

In short: He needs to improve his skills in controlling play. But he's potentially GREAT alongside other playmakers.

 

[HeadInjury]

To me, the key to assessing the draft begins and ends with the Byfield pick. The last time we were in the position to draft second overall, we absolutely killed it with Doughty. We can all talk about whether a third rounder here or a fourth rounder there was a "steal", but you have to make the right selection when drafting second overall. If they did, it's a great draft and everything else is gravy. If they didn't, it's a huge miss.

I'm optimistic, but we have to see how Byfield develops.

In the 2008 draft, we selected 9 players and only Doughty and Voynov had any positive impact. And that's typically the normal "hit" rate in a good year.

 

[regulate]

I'm on a solid B+. I like a lot of what they did, definitely got some solid guys, and they seem to have gotten 'their' guys. But would have liked to have seen more movement with so many picks, and this is a 'me' problem rather than a Kings problem, but I would have like to see some more swings for the fences given how many guys we have in the system, we can afford to take some risks. But I'm sure after I hear some more commentary from those within the organization they probably will see some of those guys a lot higher than I do which would change my view a bit (i.e. I'm dumb and limited in my viewing vs. Yanetti )

Byfield--I don't need to say anymore here. I'm as happy as can be.
Grans--Really like this pick, he fits what I said above. Definitely has some warts, but the Swedish contingent is insanely high on this guy, and you can see some serious tools there. Will need to marinate and that's fine.
Faber--Trading up for this guy tells me the organization really likes him but I'm still not sold. I know rankings had him all over the map and some that I really like had him higher so it's probably just me being stubborn or missing something entirely. Just feels like too 'safe' a pick. I mean if he projects as 2nd pairing great, and I feel better, but he doesn't seem to.
Andersson trade--love it. Low risk, medium/high reward, I think some people had suggested Poolparty as a reclamation project and I see this as the extremely diet version with a lot of in-house stuff going for him.
Simontaival--I like it a lot, big boom/bust there.
Laferriere--Like this one a lot too, especially where we got him. Great trajectory.
Markkanen--Great value, I liked other goalies better, especially Commesso and Clang and Bednar, but I appreciate where we got him and seems like there's some good talent for the goalie whisperer there.
Chromiak--another swing for the fences like Simontaival, like it, especially at value.
Meehan--got their guy, no complaints here. Seems like a good pick at face value especially this deep.
Jamsen--I honestly don't know shit so I'll just nod and smile for now but this pick is usually where our organization does much much better than the field so.

Overall I guess I just don't particularly care for the Faber pick, especially trading for it--I'd love to be wrong and I'm looking forward to hearing much much more about him and why they coveted him so much. You guys know me, I'm okay with 'boring' defensemen, I stuck up for Forbort way too long, so it's not just that. Edit: to add--and it's not so much Faber himself as the opportunity cost of the other pick as well vs. what was available around him. It almost felt like a "we missed on O'Rourke" reaction move. With all the assets we have, I thought there would be more aggressive movement for the 1st/2nd rounds, feels like we sat on our hands a lot and the one real move we made was for Faber. But again, that's still really critical looking, I'm still good on B+, maybe even A-. I just think we, along with NYR and Ottawa, were uniquely positioned with our wealth of assets and didn't tap them much. Maybe there's more to come.

And I totally forgot to add the Andersson trade above which I love. Fixed.

I give the Kings an A grade in this draft, which I think they have earned in 2017, 2019 and now 2020. The Kings made 3 different trades and tried, according to Yannetti, 7 times to move into the 1st round but "couldn't get past hello". I really like the fact they traded to get players they coveted, and having the draft capital to accomplish that was a bonus, yet only gave up a 7th round pick in 2021 and a 4th rounder this draft. I saw the results of this poll, hard to imagine why people rated this draft a C grade, I guess we'll find out in 5 years. All the pundits that publish for a living gave us an "A" or a "winner" grade. I had 4 players on this list on my draft list, including the first 3, so I'll pat myself on the back a little. I had Byfield at #2, Grans at #35 (if we went D and a strong offensive forward didn't slip) and Faber at #59 (they traded up from #51, obviously they really liked him). Granato said Faber reminds him of Charlie McAvoy in his style of play. The Andersson trade has the potential to really be the kicker in this draft. No doubt he's a talent and I think the Kings will get his head on straight. He's played 66 NHL games already. I remember watching him toss the Silver Medal in the stands in the WJC's a few years back and I wasn't too thrilled with that, but he's sure got a competitive fire, and maybe something the Kings have lacked with their "quiet" leadership group. I also had Laferriere on my list at #112 pick, obviously the Kings liked him better than that. Some services ranked him in the 60's. I agree on Simontaival being boom/bust, but he's that quick, dynamic smaller forward the Kings lack. He's got a shot at this in 2-3 years. I knew nothing of Markkanen, Jamsen or Meehan, so I'll defer to the scouts. Chromiak was a really good get for the 5th round, so yet again a skilled player falls to the Kings unexpectedly. Watched his highlights, pretty impressed although Scouching was just okay on him. He has some maturing to do, but he's got skill. And of course, the biggest prize of all. The Kings didn't overthink it or get cute, they took the BPA. And I'm of the opinion like many that Byfield will not play in the NHL this year, unless there are little other options since the OHL is having issues with a control freak in charge of the government health ministry. There are a lot of reasons, but something that was brought up today on another board makes a lot of sense. If Byfield's ELC slides in his 18 year old season since he plays elsewhere, when his ELC runs out in the 23-24 season, he'll be an RFA when Kopitar's huge CAP hit comes off when he is 36 years old. So if Byfield does knock it out of the park by the time he is 21, Kings will sign him long-term to a larger deal (that's been the trend with younger star players vs the bridge contract). It just makes sense economically and personnel management wise.

 

[AzKing]

It's really been nice to see how many A grades the Kings have received from media sources. I have seen some A+ grades as well. I know that it's just a small sample because they have to develop but nobody is going to turn down these types of accolades.

 

[Sparky206]

Not concerned with the Faber pick, they would have had excellent scouting on him after hiring Wroblewski.

No doubt that they had targeted D with the 51 pick and had Faber and Kleven on the same tier. Once Kleven went and Faber was the only one left on that tier Yanetti moved up, exactly how he said he operates in interviews pre draft.

Also like the Swedish picks, they'd have invaluable insights into them from Bjornfoot & Fagemo. Its one thing to watch these guys play but to be able to get info on what they are like to play with and how they operate from teammates is invaluable

 

[Sparky206]

,

 

[SFKingshomer]

Not concerned with the Faber pick, they would have had excellent scouting on him after hiring Wroblewski.

No doubt that they had targeted D with the 51 pick and had Faber and Kleven on the same tier. Once Kleven went and Faber was the only one left on that tier Yanetti moved up, exactly how he said he operates in interviews pre draft.

Also like the Swedish picks, they'd have invaluable insights into them from Bjornfoot & Fagemo. Its one thing to watch these guys play but to be able to get info on what they are like to play with and how they operate from teammates is invaluable

They probably talked to Kempe about Lias Anderson as well.

 

[King'sPawn]

I really love this draft.

The Kings have a healthy mix of "Swing for the fences" as well as "safe" picks. There's a common theme where speed, skill, and intangibles is important, but it wasn't a driving force where it was the only reason a player was picked.

They also leveraged a late second-round pick to pick up a recent first round pick and to further bridge the age gap.

No question for me, A.

 

[Sparky206]

They probably talked to Kempe about Lias Anderson as well.

I think the biggest thing in getting Lias is that this time hes coming to a team with a big group of guys from home. The Swedes all hang together and it should go a long way to helping his personal issues with being away from home when hes got a large support group of guys in the same boat as him.

 

[LAKings88]

The Kings believe they had an ‘exceptional’ draft. Three reasons why they might be right

 

[Rorschach]

I dunno about letter grade but my neck still sore from double double-taking from Kings taking Alexis Lafreniere in the 3rd round and Aatu Raty in the 7th round. Errrr...