Prospect Info: Kings 7th Round Pick #191 - Dominik Kubalik

[johnjm22]

I still think the Kings will try and sign him even if they no longer hold his rights. His skill set is exactly what we need.

If he wants to come over he'll probably sign with a team that can pretty much guarantee him a spot. I don't know if the Kings can do that, but the fact that we had 23 year old undrafted Alex Iafallo playing on the top line shows how desperate we are for wingers.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Kubalik is one of top scorers for Cze in the Worlds right now....and his 48 pts this year are more impressive, when you see the #2 scorer on his team had 28 !!!

Elite Prospects - HC Plzen

 

[Herby]

The previous management and scouting team had how many years to sign and bring this guy over, and now there is going to be demand for him. He will probably score 15-20 goals on someones "bottom six" next year while we are trotting out Clifford, Thompson and Mitchell.

He probably didn't play a "heavy" enough game.

 

[Fishhead]

The previous management and scouting team had how many years to sign and bring this guy over, and now there is going to be demand for him. He will probably score 15-20 goals on someones "bottom six" next year while we are trotting out Clifford, Thompson and Mitchell.

He probably didn't play a "heavy" enough game.

You are assuming he wanted to come over in the first place. Why would he come over to toil in the AHL with no shot at the main roster when he could play somewhere more comfortable? He was drafted smack dab in the middle of the Kings window, it's not like roster spots were available.

He's probably worth a look, but 15-20 goals? There's no telling how his game will translate. It's not like he's tearing up the KHL, he's in a league where he is matching numbers with a 41 year old Jaro Bednar and a 37 year old Branko Radivojevic.

 

[Herby]

You are assuming he wanted to come over in the first place. Why would he come over to toil in the AHL with no shot at the main roster when he could play somewhere more comfortable? He was drafted smack dab in the middle of the Kings window, it's not like roster spots were available.

He's probably worth a look, but 15-20 goals? There's no telling how his game will translate. It's not like he's tearing up the KHL, he's in a league where he is matching numbers with a 41 year old Jaro Bednar and a 37 year old Branko Radivojevic.

Look, I'm not one of those people obsessed with this guy but he just had a pretty nice tournament playing against a lot of NHL'ers and if the report is right and there will be plenty of NHL teams interested then the Kings messed up not getting him over here. And who knows, maybe he didn't want to come over, but the fact that he came over as a kid tells you that he had interest in playing professionally in North America.

20 goals was not a guarantee or even a prediction, was more a sarcastic attempt at taking a shot at the way the Kings have built their roster the last few years, which has been awful compared to other teams. The worst thing that could have happened is he completely flopped and went back to Europe, the upside is maybe he gets you 12-15 goals while adding some skill to the bottom half of the roster. Just don't get why we can give contracts to people like Crescenzi, Auger, Wagner, Watson and Imama but not this guy.

 

[BigKing]

Herby-

I wouldn't include Wagner in that list since he was the fastest skater in the WHL (CHL maybe?) and his speed translated to Ontario last season.

He might not have great hands, but that speed with his size and willingness to get his nose dirty is contract-worthy.

 

[johnjm22]

Coming out of the 2013 draft Kubalik didn't really do anything to justify a contract. He didn't do well in Junior or the Czech league initially. By the time he finally turned it around he was already under a professional contract so he couldn't be signed.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Look, I'm not one of those people obsessed with this guy but he just had a pretty nice tournament playing against a lot of NHL'ers and if the report is right and there will be plenty of NHL teams interested then the Kings messed up not getting him over here. And who knows, maybe he didn't want to come over, but the fact that he came over as a kid tells you that he had interest in playing professionally in North America.

20 goals was not a guarantee or even a prediction, was more a sarcastic attempt at taking a shot at the way the Kings have built their roster the last few years, which has been awful compared to other teams. The worst thing that could have happened is he completely flopped and went back to Europe, the upside is maybe he gets you 12-15 goals while adding some skill to the bottom half of the roster. Just don't get why we can give contracts to people like Crescenzi, Auger, Wagner, Watson and Imama but not this guy.

Maybe he doesn't want an AHL deal, which would jive with where and how he has played since leaving NA.

But lol at the thought that bottom sixers regularly score 20 goals, I don't know how many times you have to see the stats to understand, Herby. I know you're smarter than that and being deliberately obtuse but using a possibly-late-bloomer 7th-rounder who hasn't sniffed NA since he was a teen to make this point is an Olympic record long jump.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Who says that Kubalik could not skate with Kopitar or Carter? Scoring over a point per game in the Cze league and now #12 in scoring at the World's dictates he's
not a bottom 6 player. if he was signed and could not cut it, he possibly could add speed and skill on the 3rd line. The Kings need better production all around.

 

[Sol]

Closet Clifford suck off thread.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Who says that Kubalik could not skate with Kopitar or Carter? Scoring over a point per game in the Cze league and now #12 in scoring at the World's dictates he's
not a bottom 6 player. if he was signed and could not cut it, he possibly could add speed and skill on the 3rd line. The Kings need better production all around.

Then why don't we just go sign Ramon Untersander, Enzo Corvi, Michal Kristof, or, if it needs to be an NHLer, Andrighetto?

 

[damacles1156]

Then why don't we just go sign Ramon Untersander, Enzo Corvi, Michal Kristof, or, if it needs to be an NHLer, Andrighetto?

Or Justin Azevedo for that matter, he continues to be damn near a PPG player in the KHL. Didn't Bud Holloway win a scoring title in Europe ?

Are we going back to the notion that anyone can play in the NHL ? the Dime a dozen comments ?

The vast majority of draft picks outside the 1st/2nd rounds never set foot on NHL ice.

 

[johnjm22]

Are we going back to the notion that anyone can play in the NHL ? the Dime a dozen comments ?

Straw man argument. No one said this.

Then why don't we just go sign Ramon Untersander, Enzo Corvi, Michal Kristof, or, if it needs to be an NHLer, Andrighetto?

Would you be upset if any of those guys got PTO's like Chris Lee did? (Not saying I'm advocating for it.)

I also think those players aren't that comparable to Kubalik becuase he's younger and the Czech league he played in is better than the Swiss and Slovak leagues of those other guys.

I think out of the top 20 scorers in the tournoment only 3 of them aren't NHL players. Kubalik is one of them.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Would you be upset if any of those guys got PTO's like Chris Lee did? (Not saying I'm advocating for it.)

I also think those players aren't that comparable to Kubalik becuase he's younger and the Czech league he played in is better than the Swiss and Slovak leagues of those other guys.

I think out of the top 20 scorers in the tournoment only 3 of them aren't NHL players. Kubalik is one of them.

Not in the slightest. That would be great. And I'd love Kubalik to come over. But if he doesn't, bemoaning that the Kings passed on a surefire 15-20 goal scorer because they don't know what they're doing is not only one of the biggest leaps I've seen on this board, it's in direct contradiction with those same posters criticisms that the Kings suck at drafting. Like, which is it, do we suck at drafting, or did we draft Pavel Datsyuk 2.0? make up your minds.

 

[Albi]

Straw man argument. No one said this.


Would you be upset if any of those guys got PTO's like Chris Lee did? (Not saying I'm advocating for it.)

I also think those players aren't that comparable to Kubalik becuase he's younger and the Czech league he played in is better than the Swiss and Slovak leagues of those other guys.

I think out of the top 20 scorers in the tournoment only 3 of them aren't NHL players. Kubalik is one of them.

He played mostly in the Swiss League this season, and I’m a die hard fan of HC Ambri Piotta. First of all, the Swiss League is the second best championship in europe after the KHL, even better than the Swedish one.

Anyway, as I previously posted, he did a great job playing for our team, and I do believe he has the tools to become a regular NHLer, BUT first he must prove he belongs. When he joined our team in December, he was scoring at a terrific pace in the Czech championship. He does have a great shot, but he’a also an elite passer and makes his linemates better. He’s got wheels and he was our best PKer, however I think he’s not physical enough to play a bottom six role in the NHL. The point is, is he talented enough to play a top6 role in the best league in the world? I think the Kings will bring him to camp to evaluate him.

Here you can watch his goals:

 

[Albi]

Sorry, I missed that he’ll be an UFA.
I still think we should sign him, but I fear he’ll get a contract from another team

 

[johnjm22]

He played mostly in the Swiss League this season, and I’m a die hard fan of HC Ambri Piotta. First of all, the Swiss League is the second best championship in europe after the KHL, even better than the Swedish one.

Anyway, as I previously posted, he did a great job playing for our team, and I do believe he has the tools to become a regular NHLer, BUT first he must prove he belongs. When he joined our team in December, he was scoring at a terrific pace in the Czech championship. He does have a great shot, but he’a also an elite passer and makes his linemates better. He’s got wheels and he was our best PKer, however I think he’s not physical enough to play a bottom six role in the NHL. The point is, is he talented enough to play a top6 role in the best league in the world? I think the Kings will bring him to camp to evaluate him.

Here you can watch his goals:

Thanks. I appreciate the post. I know he played for Ambri Piotta this year. Watching him play I noticed that he has some blue collar work ethic in his game and can be quite industrious. You need that to play in the NHL.

I disagree about Swiss League. I think most consider SHL to be the best league outside the NHL and KHL. After that it's debatale, but I'd place SM-liiga and Extraliga above it too.

 

[KingsCup1214]

Haven't seen it posted yet, according to Capfriendly, it does appear like the Kings still own Kubalik's rights
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kubalik is a very interesting case study.<br><br>- drafted in 2013 out of the OHL giving LA 2 yrs<br>- played 1 yr in the OHL<br>- left OHL for Europe after 1 yr in Junior extending the window to 4 yrs<br>- prior to 4 yr window expiring, went to NLA allowing LA to flag him as a defected player</p>&mdash; CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) <a href="">May 17, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You&#39;re right, however per my understanding he agreed to join the NLA prior to the June 1 window expiring which allowed LA to file a grievance and flag him as defected. Ambrì-Piotta then loaned him back to the Czech league, and then he returned mid way through the 2017-18 season.</p>&mdash; CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) <a href="">May 17, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[johnjm22]

So does he have a contract in place for 18/19 with another team already?

I've read conflicting reports. Elite Prospects shows him being under contract with HC Ambrì-Piotta until 19/20.

 

[johnjm22]

So if all this is correct, he's free to sign with L.A., and L.A. is the only team he can sign with in the NHL.

 

[Reaper45]

So if all this is correct, he's free to sign with L.A., and L.A. is the only team he can sign with in the NHL.

For how long?

 

[Basilisk]

Just sign him, goddammitt!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[johnjm22]

He still has to choose to sign here. Who knows if he wants to.

One of the stated reasons he didn't sign last off season was because it would have made him ineligible for the Olympics.

 

[Sol]

So much talk about a player who has shown zero interest in the NHL. Absolutely amazing.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

I disagree about Swiss League. I think most consider SHL to be the best league outside the NHL and KHL. After that it's debatale, but I'd place SM-liiga and Extraliga above it too.

Extraliga above the Swiss league ?

The current succes of Swiss players and Switzerland at the WC, should tell you something. That league has improved drastically over the years. Its just that people are not familiar with it.

Top 5, no doubt.

So much talk about a player who has shown zero interest in the NHL. Absolutely amazing.

Soon, you will be shocked even more.