2020 Entry Draft Order for LA Kings discussion

[Raccoon Jesus]

I don't think you can justify passing on so much talent at #4 to draft Holtz, and the justification above is simply drafting for need rather than BPA, which sits with me much worse than the pick at all.

 

[KopitarFAN]

Kings don't need anymore Centres they have tonnes and some of them will have to play the wing(Thomas,Kupari,Madden...)I would like Holtz at number 4. If Byfield falls to them trade the pick(4th overall) for New Jersey's first(6th and 17th) and a 4thR(99th)for LA's(1st) some 2nds(35,48 and a third(77th)! Then LA can get the forward they want without reaching and the D-man they want that doesn't have to fitted into the line-up in a year or two(Drysdale)

Problem with all of those centers, none of them fit that #1 potential superstar profile. In an ideal world, I think Turcotte is 2C and Vilardi is playing a wing, that's what Byfield would allow them.

 

[apadilla]

I don't like Stuetzle mainly because he scored 7 goals in the German league and that doesn't make me sit easy...does he have the makings of a number 1 LWinger? I think not!Marco Sturm may have a say but I think Futa and Yannetti don't think he is, I believe. Rossi is OK...does he play Centre or the Wing...the Kings have a whole lot of Centres! I prefer RWinger Alexander Holtz. He's a great skater,scorer and playmaker!I'm liking that the Kings are drafting a tonne of Swedes and some Finns! It would make Juha Widing(RIP),Tomas Sandstrom and Jari Kurri proud!

When I was a kid and heard Kings broadcasts back in the day, I used to think the announcer was saying "Whitey Whitey" when he would really be saying "Juha Widing." RIP Juha. I'm good with Holtz at 5, but not at 1 or 4.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

I'm thinking the Kings will retain the the 4th and Holtz would be great!

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Use to stay up(from 8:30- 11:30pm) as a kid to hear the Kings broadcasts on radio in the early '70's when we had Juha Widing,Butch Goring,Rogie Vachon,Mike Murphy,Serge Bernier,Dan Maloney,Tom Williams,Bob Murdoch and many others! That was my team then as well as now. And those broadcast used to be so faint and then would be clear as day! Calgary from LA is a long ways away but I would be so happy when the Kings won and pissed when they lost and back then they a fairly decent team. I think the 1974-75 team had the most points in Los Angeles Kings history!

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Problem with all of those centers, none of them fit that #1 potential superstar profile. In an ideal world, I think Turcotte is 2C and Vilardi is playing a wing, that's what Byfield would allow them.

The Kings still have Kopi and he'll be here another 4 years for sure and is the number 1 Centre!

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

I don't think you can justify passing on so much talent at #4 to draft Holtz, and the justification above is simply drafting for need rather than BPA, which sits with me much worse than the pick at all.

Please don't say Stuetzle is better...and why would the Kings draft Drysdale? At the beginning of 2019-20 I thought Drysdale but I'm OK with the RD and depth we have to certain degree. I'd rather the Kings have a high flying offense than a good defense. Kings (weaknesses)need areas are number 1 RWinger,number 1 LWinger,then LD, Centre, and goaltender

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Drafting based on need, eh.

 

[Rorschach]

Problem with all of those centers, none of them fit that #1 potential superstar profile. In an ideal world, I think Turcotte is 2C and Vilardi is playing a wing, that's what Byfield would allow them.

Well put.

 

[Rorschach]

Drafting based on need, eh.

Ironically, since we’re rebuilding, BPA is what we need.

 

[Dan10900]

I'm thinking the Kings will retain the the 4th and Holtz would be great!

Holtz at 4... Oof, he's currently last among the "elite" players (10th) on my board, like he has a great shot, but he shoots a ton, like so many of his shots are just going to immediately be turnovers at the next level, his first thought seems to always be take the shot, which isn't always bad, but there are other plays to be made sometimes, and he can even get to a higher danger location himself sometimes, he also is definitely the worst of the elite guys defensively

 

[KopitarFAN]

The Kings still have Kopi and he'll be here another 4 years for sure and is the number 1 Centre!

I don't think it's realistic to expect any 34-36 year old (that's where he will be in a couple more seasons) to be a #1 center on a (hopefully) contending team, I don't care what his cap number is.

Ideally, by the last year of his deal he is a supercharged 3C.

EDIT: I guess ideally he has the career trajectory of Patrice Bergeron, 34 and still regarded as a top 20 player.

 

[Herby]

I don't think it's realistic to expect any 34-36 year old (that's where he will be in a couple more seasons) to be a #1 center on a (hopefully) contending team, I don't care what his cap number is.

Ideally, by the last year of his deal he is a supercharged 3C.

EDIT: I guess ideally he has the career trajectory of Patrice Bergeron, 34 and still regarded as a top 20 player.

Bergeron has two elite offensive skilled players on his wings. Take nothing away from Bergeron but not sure his offense is taking off playing with Brown and Iafallo.

If Kaliyev and this years 1st round pick turn into Pastranak and Marchand then Kopitar will probably be fine as the 1c. If the Kings need their #1 center to carry the line, then asking Kopi to do that in 3-4 years is a tall task.

 

[KopitarFAN]

Bergeron has two elite offensive skilled players on his wings. Take nothing away from Bergeron but not sure his offense is taking off playing with Brown and Iafallo.

If Kaliyev and this years 1st round pick turn into Pastranak and Marchand then Kopitar will probably be fine as the 1c. If the Kings need their #1 center to carry the line, then asking Kopi to do that in 3-4 years is a tall task.

That's fair, and goes to my original point, under the current circumstances, Kopitar playing at an elite level at 35 or 36 probably isn't reasonable.

 

[jfont]

Please don't say Stuetzle is better...and why would the Kings draft Drysdale? At the beginning of 2019-20 I thought Drysdale but I'm OK with the RD and depth we have to certain degree. I'd rather the Kings have a high flying offense than a good defense. Kings (weaknesses)need areas are number 1 RWinger,number 1 LWinger,then LD, Centre, and goaltender

disagree andys. you can never have too much good D...

 

[The Gabe Blade]

disagree andys. you can never have too much good D...

 

[Brodeur]

I've been all for Drysdale from the start of 2019-20 season. But after the season Doughty,Walker and Roy have made the need for another RD-man has dissipated(we have S Durzi and J Spence coming up also) and the focus for me has been a RWinger to replace Brown! And that player could very well be Alexander Holtz. This player can skate, score and is a great playmaker as well. Besides I think Ottawa takes Byfield and Drysdale after Lafreniere is gone providing the Sens don't win it!

I hope Durzi pans out for my nerdy fantasy league purposes, but I'm not sure you can count on him and Spence and definite NHLers. By the time Drysdale will be getting his feet wet as a pro, Walker/Roy might have already hit UFA and Doughty will be about to turn 33.

Picking for immediate need always makes me a little apprehensive. I'm reminded of Cam Fowler's unexpected drop in 2010. I know some of the teams who were picking in the top 10 completely focused on forwards for that draft.

5. Islanders - Wanted a long term winger for John Tavares (2009 pick), so they picked Nino Niederreiter. Plus they had used a 2009 1st rounder on LD Calvin de Haan.
6. Lightning - Wanted a long term winger for Steven Stamkos (2008), so they picked Brett Connolly. Plus they had used a 2009 1st rounder on LD Victor Hedman.
7. Hurricanes - Not a surprise they went with a forward (Jeff Skinner), Jim Rutherford hates using 1sts on defensemen
8. Thrashers - They had been missing a #1 center since Marc Savard left in 2006, so they took Alex Burmistrov. Perhaps they thought they were set on D with Bogosian (2008) and they acquired Dustin Byfuglien that day as well.
9. Wild - Granlund made sense for them, but they might have pigeonholed themselves into a forward after using their previous two first rounders on Nick Leddy (who had already been traded for Cam Barker) and Tyler Cuma.
10. Rangers - I remember being at the draft and applauding when they picked Dylan McIlrath. A few folks around me were confused why a guy in a Devils jersey was cheering the pick and happily said "They messed up!" They probably thought they didn't need Fowler after Michael Del Zotto had just put up 37 points as a rookie.

Holtz for the Kings is certainly plausible, but it's difficult to assume all of the current guys are going to pan out so that's why it may be shortsighted to rule out a certain position. Plus you never know what trades might present themselves down the line. It made no sense for St. Louis to draft David Rundblad in 2009 but a year later they were able to trade him for a pick to draft Vladimir Tarasenko. Another reason I'm glad that the Rangers passed on Fowler was that they fell short in their hunt for Rick Nash at the 2012 deadline. At the time, Columbus wanted Del Zotto in return and the Rangers wouldn't give him up. But in a world where they have Fowler they could have either substituted Fowler or felt enabled to move Del Zotto. Perhaps with Nash in 2012, the Rangers are able to get by the Devils and Kings?

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Bergeron has two elite offensive skilled players on his wings. Take nothing away from Bergeron but not sure his offense is taking off playing with Brown and Iafallo.

If Kaliyev and this years 1st round pick turn into Pastranak and Marchand then Kopitar will probably be fine as the 1c. If the Kings need their #1 center to carry the line, then asking Kopi to do that in 3-4 years is a tall task.

Don't count on Kaliyev...he has to hit the weights and drop some serious body fat. Besides that he shies away from playing defense! If he can't play top 6 what is he? I like that he can score but that's against Junior goaltenders not Pros. If someone can coax more of an effort defensively and get him to shed 15-20 lbs of blubber I'll root for him,otherwise don't get your hopes up too high

 

[KingsCrown]

I don't think you can justify passing on so much talent at #4 to draft Holtz, and the justification above is simply drafting for need rather than BPA, which sits with me much worse than the pick at all.

Agreed. BPA. From most rankings Raymond is rated higher that Holtz. Raymond has a better two-way game. If we drop to #7 then yes, Holtz is my guy. Just because we draft them doesn't mean we'll keep em.

 

[dman3474]

Don't count on Kaliyev...he has to hit the weights and drop some serious body fat. Besides that he shies away from playing defense! If he can't play top 6 what is he? I like that he can score but that's against Junior goaltenders not Pros. If someone can coax more of an effort defensively and get him to shed 15-20 lbs of blubber I'll root for him,otherwise don't get your hopes up too high

Doughty wasn't in great shape when he was drafted either.

Not all top 6 players have to be amazing at defense, Patrick Kane and Ovechkin come to mind

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Don't count on Kaliyev...he has to hit the weights and drop some serious body fat. Besides that he shies away from playing defense! If he can't play top 6 what is he? I like that he can score but that's against Junior goaltenders not Pros. If someone can coax more of an effort defensively and get him to shed 15-20 lbs of blubber I'll root for him,otherwise don't get your hopes up too high

This genius would've drafted Bogosian ahead of Doughty.

 

[Brodeur]

Final 2020 NHL draft rankings: these go to 120 - TheHockeyNews

In case you didn't claim your free copy of THN's Draft Preview, they more or less posted the same ranking on their site. I haven't been a fan of their rankings in recent years, but free is free.

 

[LAKings88]

Just don’t want to drop out of five. Kings will get a good player. Excited for hockey whenever it comes back.

 

[ricardfromage]

I take Rossi at 4 or 5. Future NHL star potential. I believe that we will yet again be forced to drop to 7thst pick and will end up taking either Raymond or someone else without 1fst line potential.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Under the league’s proposed draft lottery changes for this year, the Kings won’t drop further than 5, but it still sounds like everything relating to the lottery and the draft is TBD.