Kings Article: 2021 LA Kings Draft Preview: A Look At Potential 1st Round Picks with Mark Yannetti

[FrozenRoyalty]

aIn an exclusive interview with LA Kings Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yannetti, we looked at a bunch of the top-ranked players who could be available when the Kings time on the draft (8th overall in the first round) comes up.

For Yannetti's thoughts on each of those players for the 2021 NHL Draft, check out...

2021 LA Kings Draft Preview: A Look At Potential First Round Picks with LA Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yannetti

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[Basilisk]

Mr. Tambourine Gann!!!

 

[tomd]

Pretty honest and sober assessment of the top prospects. Bottom line...This is not a good draft.

 

[Herby]

Just as I suspected, the Kings love Beniers. I truly think if the Kings had won the lottery this would have been the Kings pick. This is the type of player this scouting staff dreams about taking. Maybe in this draft its ok, but in most years I just want more out of a guy that Seattle is rumored to possibly be taking at #2. If Seattle takes Beniers then overachieves this season and misses out on getting a true 1C prospect it may hurt their building process.

I don't think the Luke to Quinn comparisons would be made if they weren't brothers. Luke is way bigger and stronger and shoots the puck better. Quinn is an elite skater with generational game sense which Luke doesn't have. Luke is a good player, more well rounded than Quinn but it's very unlikely he sniffs being the type of player Quinn is. I wouldn't hate the Kings taking him at 8, but he projects more as a Muzzin caliber player than a star like Quinn is.

But yeah, this doesn't seem like a very strong draft. I am thinking more and more that there is a strong possibility the Kings take Wallstedt. It fills an organizational need and with how poor the rest of the draft is it might be a good year to take a goalie high. Keep in mind that all of the 4 remaining goalies in the playoffs were all 1st round picks.

 

[AzKing]

Just as I suspected, the Kings love Beniers. I truly think if the Kings had won the lottery this would have been the Kings pick. This is the type of player this scouting staff dreams about taking. Maybe in this draft its ok, but in most years I just want more out of a guy that Seattle is rumored to possibly be taking at #2. If Seattle takes Beniers then overachieves this season and misses out on getting a true 1C prospect it may hurt their building process.

I don't think the Luke to Quinn comparisons would be made if they weren't brothers. Luke is way bigger and stronger and shoots the puck better. Quinn is an elite skater with generational game sense which Luke doesn't have. Luke is a good player, more well rounded than Quinn but it's very unlikely he sniffs being the type of player Quinn is. I wouldn't hate the Kings taking him at 8, but he projects more as a Muzzin caliber player than a star like Quinn is.

But yeah, this doesn't seem like a very strong draft. I am thinking more and more that there is a strong possibility the Kings take Wallstedt. It fills an organizational need and with how poor the rest of the draft is it might be a good year to take a goalie high. Keep in mind that all of the 4 remaining goalies in the playoffs were all 1st round picks.

Berniers is safe. He is a McDonald's vanilla soft serve cone. He won't hurt you and is leader material. High floor/lower ceiling. Maybe they want him because he is a Turcotte clone who is healthy and they are going to trade Turcotte.

The Kings love him because the Kings are risk averse and unimaginative. They always pick the safe guy rather than gamble.

That said, Berniers is a very good prospect and he will win you games. I am more in the Johnson/Guenther camp but I will not complain one bit if Berniers drops to us.

 

[Schrute farms]

I'm 99.999% sure the Kings would have taken Powers at #1 OA if they won the Lottery. But i do agree that they really like Berniers and would have loved him at #2.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Thank you, Gann!
Great job, getting Yannetti’s views.
I wish he did cover Lucius and Wallstedt. Did you make the list of
Players, or did Mark?

Interesting about Coronato. Maybe he could be a sleeper at 8.
Whether or not, he ‘should go 11-15’....there are no guarantees with
Any of these prospects. It’s true few 18 year olds are ever attaining
40+ goals in the USHL...then Mark adding he really has no negatives.

I wonder if they will try to trade up...or trade down..or trade the pick
For a player as part of a package. This year could be any 3 of those,
More than normal.

Can you get his take on Tkachyov? Have seen little to nothing
From the staff on him. Would love Yannetti’s views.

 

[Lt Dan]

Is there a reason why Chaz Lucius Jackson was not mentioned in the article?

 

[Herby]

Thank you, Gann!
Great job, getting Yannetti’s views.
I wish he did cover Lucius and Wallstedt. Did you make the list of
Players, or did Mark?

Interesting about Coronato. Maybe he could be a sleeper at 8.
Whether or not, he ‘should go 11-15’....there are no guarantees with
Any of these prospects. It’s true few 18 year olds are ever attaining
40+ goals in the USHL...then Mark adding he really has no negatives.

I wonder if they will try to trade up...or trade down..or trade the pick
For a player as part of a package. This year could be any 3 of those,
More than normal.

Can you get his take on Tkachyov? Have seen little to nothing
From the staff on him. Would love Yannetti’s views.

Coronato is one of the most underrated prospects in the draft, IMO. He rarely gets talked about much on HF. When I went and saw a few Steele games in 19-20 to see Power and Brisson play he stood out as a 17 year old. This year he completely exploded in what was an insanely good USHL due to Covid KO'ing some of the other leagues. He is all over the place in the ranking services but he is the type of player that the Kings system is lacking (shocking I know). Maybe with the uncertainty of this draft it could be the type of aggressive pick they should make. An Ivy kid too, so you know he has a lot between the ears.

 

[FrozenRoyalty]

Just as I suspected, the Kings love Beniers. I truly think if the Kings had won the lottery this would have been the Kings pick. This is the type of player this scouting staff dreams about taking. Maybe in this draft its ok, but in most years I just want more out of a guy that Seattle is rumored to possibly be taking at #2. If Seattle takes Beniers then overachieves this season and misses out on getting a true 1C prospect it may hurt their building process.

I don't think the Luke to Quinn comparisons would be made if they weren't brothers. Luke is way bigger and stronger and shoots the puck better. Quinn is an elite skater with generational game sense which Luke doesn't have. Luke is a good player, more well rounded than Quinn but it's very unlikely he sniffs being the type of player Quinn is. I wouldn't hate the Kings taking him at 8, but he projects more as a Muzzin caliber player than a star like Quinn is.

But yeah, this doesn't seem like a very strong draft. I am thinking more and more that there is a strong possibility the Kings take Wallstedt. It fills an organizational need and with how poor the rest of the draft is it might be a good year to take a goalie high. Keep in mind that all of the 4 remaining goalies in the playoffs were all 1st round picks.

Don't forget that he didn't share what the Kings think of any particular prospect. That said, a lot of NHL scout like Beniers.

 

[FrozenRoyalty]

Coronato is one of the most underrated prospects in the draft, IMO. He rarely gets talked about much on HF. When I went and saw a few Steele games in 19-20 to see Power and Brisson play he stood out as a 17 year old. This year he completely exploded in what was an insanely good USHL due to Covid KO'ing some of the other leagues. He is all over the place in the ranking services but he is the type of player that the Kings system is lacking (shocking I know). Maybe with the uncertainty of this draft it could be the type of aggressive pick they should make. An Ivy kid too, so you know he has a lot between the ears.

As stated in the article, it was CSB's rankings...

 

[Crown Royal]

The Kings love him because the Kings are risk averse and unimaginative. They always pick the safe guy rather than gamble.

I'm gonna call BS here. I only need to point to Gabe Villardi and the risk of tossing away the 11OA pick in 2017. You think he was the safe pick?

 

[King'sPawn]

I'm gonna call BS here. I only need to point to Gabe Villardi and the risk of tossing away the 11OA pick in 2017. You think he was the safe pick?

Not to mention taking Byfield over Stutzle

 

[tomd]

I'm gonna call BS here. I only need to point to Gabe Villardi and the risk of tossing away the 11OA pick in 2017. You think he was the safe pick?

Vilardi was the very definition of safe pick in 2017. That's not a criticism...just reality.

 

[KopitarFAN]

Others have mentioned it, but the way he talked about Coronato has to make you go "hmmmm" he's either bluffing or that's a guy they really like, and if there was ever a year to take a big swing, it's this one.

 

[King'sPawn]

Great work as always, Gann!

 

[Mats26]

Berniers is safe. He is a McDonald's vanilla soft serve cone. He won't hurt you and is leader material. High floor/lower ceiling. Maybe they want him because he is a Turcotte clone who is healthy and they are going to trade Turcotte.

The Kings love him because the Kings are risk averse and unimaginative. They always pick the safe guy rather than gamble.

That said, Berniers is a very good prospect and he will win you games. I am more in the Johnson/Guenther camp but I will not complain one bit if Berniers drops to us.

Turcotte wasn't their first choice though at #5, they wanted Byram at #5, so it would shock me to move up to select a similar player in Berniers. Yannetti is setting up smoke screens here, he wants a big D man, it's pretty obvious with the way he down played Hughes compete level at the end there....Hughes is exactly the type of player we need to move forward and be a contender in 3-4 years.

I do agree that we'll probably be selecting another vanilla player, so Johnson might not be the pick. But now I worry we'll go with Raty, a sure fire 3C . Darkhorse is still Lambos for me.

 

[bland]

Berniers is safe. He is a McDonald's vanilla soft serve cone. He won't hurt you and is leader material. High floor/lower ceiling. Maybe they want him because he is a Turcotte clone who is healthy and they are going to trade Turcotte.

The Kings love him because the Kings are risk averse and unimaginative. They always pick the safe guy rather than gamble.

That said, Berniers is a very good prospect and he will win you games. I am more in the Johnson/Guenther camp but I will not complain one bit if Berniers drops to us.

Maybe you should review the picks the Kings have made over the past few drafts, there have been more skill reaches than safe picks. Far, far more.

If anything they need to make safer choices this time around, because this asset list has a serious lack of players who can win battles along the walls and in front of either net.

 

[AzKing]

Vilardi was the very definition of safe pick in 2017. That's not a criticism...just reality.

Exactly, it was a no brainer when he dropped to that pick.

 

[Steve Zissou]

“I would say that the perception of this draft is that it’s a lower quality one than most of the earlier drafts. I do think the top ten or 15, or maybe a top seven—each team will have their own thoughts about where the talent gap falls. Once you get past where that line is, I think the [talent level] drops.”

 

[King'sPawn]

“I would say that the perception of this draft is that it’s a lower quality one than most of the earlier drafts. I do think the top ten or 15, or maybe a top seven—each team will have their own thoughts about where the talent gap falls. Once you get past where that line is, I think the [talent level] drops.”

There's good reason - leaving open room to trade down. If he were to say "there's a top 8" he's essentially committing to the Kings staying.

 

[Docgonzo]

So he basically wants Powers, Beniers or Eklund lol.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Coronato is one of the most underrated prospects in the draft, IMO. He rarely gets talked about much on HF. When I went and saw a few Steele games in 19-20 to see Power and Brisson play he stood out as a 17 year old. This year he completely exploded in what was an insanely good USHL due to Covid KO'ing some of the other leagues. He is all over the place in the ranking services but he is the type of player that the Kings system is lacking (shocking I know). Maybe with the uncertainty of this draft it could be the type of aggressive pick they should make. An Ivy kid too, so you know he has a lot between the ears.

Matt Coronato as the Kings 2nd round pick 39th overall would be good!

 

[Herby]

Matt Coronato as the Kings 2nd round pick 39th overall would be good!

Not going to happen, he was to good this season to fall that far. Not saying he will go #8, but he has a better chance of going 8 than 39.

 

[Steve Zissou]

There's good reason - leaving open room to trade down. If he were to say "there's a top 8" he's essentially committing to the Kings staying.

Yannetti is no fool. He'll pretend to show you his cards...