Prospect Info: 2021 Los Angeles Kings Prospect Rankings #18

[King'sPawn]

Rank. Name, Pos (%), change from last year
1. Quinton Byfield, F (98.6%), +0
2. Brandt Clarke, D (43.3%), NR
3. Alex Turcotte, F (69.9%), +0
4. Arthur Kaliyev, F (94.1%), +1
5. Brock Faber, D (44.6%), +9
6. Rasmus Kupari, F (67.1%), +3
7. Akil Thomas, F (35.4%), +4
8. Samuel Fagemo, F (47.5%), -2
9. Tyler Madden, F (65.9%), -1
10. Francesco Pinelli, F (34.2%), NR
11. Helge Grans, D (48.8%), -1
12. Kale Clague, D (29.0%), +0
13. Martin Chromiak, F (39.4%), +8
14. Kirill Kirsanov, D (34.3%), NR
15. Kim Nousiainen, D (20.6%), +0
16. Jordan Spence, D (31.3%), +1
17. Samuel Helenius, F (47.5%), NR

+ Aidan Dudas, F

Last year's rankings for comparisons (and what I'm referencing for "change of last year"): Prospect Info: - 2020 Los Angeles Kings Prospect Rankings #40

Here are the rules I'll be following:

- I won't vote unless it's a tie breaker. So there should never be an "overtime" or tie to keep this going.
- the crieteria for prospects is straightforward: they have to be eligible to win the calder, and the Kings must own the player's rights, whether it's through the draft or an SPC (so AHL-only contracts don't count, but a player like Tkachev counts, since he is Calder-eligible)
- feel free to make a nomination after voting. Again, in the event of a tie, I'll be the tie breaker.
- use whatever criteria you wish for the next best available. Raw skill? Upside? NHL readiness? Progress since drafted? Astrological Sign?

I'll always list the candidates in alphabetical order. By default, I'm setting the timer at 24 hours, as I hope to go through the entire list. If it seems like a landslide, I'll call it early.

List of eligible players to be nominated:
Brayden Burke, F
Alexander Dergachyev
Braden Doyle, D
Sean Durzi, D
David Hrenak, G
Juho Markkanen, G
Ben Meehan, D
Markus Phillips, D
Bulat Shafigullin, F
Johan Sodergran, F
Matthew Villalta, G

Click to read more...

 

[Reclamation Project]

Tkachev, crazy that .8 points in the KHL recently barely cracks the top 20.

 

[Statto]

I’m going Parik but Tkachev is also a strong candidate. Both are higher on my own list, but so was Helenius (10th) and I therefore had to vote for him first. The best bit is that since about #10 no answer to who is next is all that wrong, it’s a crap shoot.

 

[Jericho111091]

Add hrenak

 

[BigBrown]

Had a 19 year old put up the numbers Tkachev does in the KHL I would have been excited. He's 25 so that makes it less interesting, especially after Prokhorkin.

 

[BringTheReign]

Think a good number of prospects writers would have Simontaival around 12-14 on this list. Folks here are sleeping on him!

Add Hrenak.

 

[Master Yoda]

Add Durzi

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Tkachev again, add Hrenak

 

[Gjwrams]

Moverare. Add Hrenak

 

[Schrute farms]

The smart pick is Simontaival. I picked Vlad

 

[Rorschach]

I haven't been voting since I don't consider myself knowledgeable enough to know on a granular level the difference between prospect 8-ish to prospect 11-ish or whatever.

One thing I found interesting is how the voting for our two new top picks turned out...Clarke all the way at 2, leapfrogging guys like Turcotte (I'm guessing Bjornfot is considered graduated?). And Pinelli only coming in at 10, below Tyler Madden. The former seems higher and the latter seems a bit lower?

 

[King'sPawn]

.

One thing I found interesting is how the voting for our two new top picks turned out...Clarke all the way at 2, leapfrogging guys like Turcotte (I'm guessing Bjornfot is considered graduated?).

You are always welcome to vote. You can use any criteria you wish!

To answer this question: people have different criteria for "prospects". HF uses a 65-NHL game cutoff for skaters, which would add Vilardi, Bjornfot, Anderson, and JAD. However, I don't agree with that.

Some could use waiver eligibility, since by then teams decide "are we going to keep him on the roster or risk losing him for nothing?" I also find this disagreeable, as a prospect can be a full-time NHLer for a couple years before losing prospect status.

Some go by straight age, such as under 23. But was Doughty a prospect when the Kings won a cup in 2012?

Others use a "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck." Some will not vote for Tkachev as they don't consider him a prospect, but didn't want to use a nebulous criteria and spend more time debating what constitutes a prospect.

So that's why I went by Calder eligibility. If a player were to play in the NHL this season, would he be eligible for the Calder/rookie of the year? It doesn't artificially inflate the prospect pool and is objective. It creates enough flux in the list year by year.

So some may understandably not consider the players you mention as graduated. You can still consider them a prospect if you wish. They just don't qualify for the sake of these polls.

 

[Rorschach]

You are always welcome to vote. You can use any criteria you wish!

To answer this question: people have different criteria for "prospects". HF uses a 65-NHL game cutoff for skaters, which would add Vilardi, Bjornfot, Anderson, and JAD. However, I don't agree with that.

Some could use waiver eligibility, since by then teams decide "are we going to keep him on the roster or risk losing him for nothing?" I also find this disagreeable, as a prospect can be a full-time NHLer for a couple years before losing prospect status.

Some go by straight age, such as under 23. But was Doughty a prospect when the Kings won a cup in 2012?

Others use a "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck." Some will not vote for Tkachev as they don't consider him a prospect, but didn't want to use a nebulous criteria and spend more time debating what constitutes a prospect.

So that's why I went by Calder eligibility. If a player were to play in the NHL this season, would he be eligible for the Calder/rookie of the year? It doesn't artificially inflate the prospect pool and is objective. It creates enough flux in the list year by year.

So some may understandably not consider the players you mention as graduated. You can still consider them a prospect if you wish. They just don't qualify for the sake of these polls.

No problem, my main thing is how the voting went...Clarke so high, Pinelli so low, in comparison to how I think the rest of the NHL-fandom would rank them.

 

[Master Yoda]

No problem, my main thing is how the voting went...Clarke so high, Pinelli so low, in comparison to how I think the rest of the NHL-fandom would rank them.

Clarke is pretty much in the 2nd~4th tier. So Pinelli is arguably only behind Faber, Kupari, Thomas, Fagemo, Madden, all of whom were late 1st~2nd round picks except for Madden who was early 3rd.
All of these guys has been on expected development paths at a minimum, and all these guys in a redraft would probably be drafted in the 1st round.
So it's not that outrageous to have this ranking gap between Clarke and Pinelli.

 

[Rorschach]

Clarke is pretty much in the 2nd~4th tier. So Pinelli is arguably only behind Faber, Kupari, Thomas, Fagemo, Madden, all of whom were late 1st~2nd round picks except for Madden who was early 3rd.
All of these guys has been on expected development paths at a minimum, and all these guys in a redraft would probably be drafted in the 1st round.
So it's not that outrageous to have this ranking gap between Clarke and Pinelli.

I'm not exactly "outraged"...I just thought it was interesting. Last year our fans had Vilardi ranked above Turcotte while the rest of the NHL-fandom had Turcotte above Vilardi.

 

[lumbergh]

Vladimir Tkachev/Tkachyov is a complete wild card. I mean, maybe he has the skill to make the roster in the top nine, maybe he doesn't make the cut. But he's shifty as a ghost, drifting around defenders with not just hands, but change of pace. He has the kind of slick moves that have been missing on the Kings for years. Dare I say it, reminds me of Ziggy Palffy?

Mayor did a nice write up on him, but there's a Twitter post with a video highlight of a goal by Tkachev that's worth watching. Note the defenseman he abuses in the video.

Kings Sign Vladimir Tkachyov – Is He the Next Big Thing out of Russia?

I get the argument that he's not a "prospect" anymore, but he's on the list, and as such, has a much better chance of making it onto an NHL roster than most of the guys picked from 11-17.

He might be fun to watch for a season, if he makes it. More highlights:

 

[respD]

Add Durzi.

 

[King'sPawn]

No problem, my main thing is how the voting went...Clarke so high, Pinelli so low, in comparison to how I think the rest of the NHL-fandom would rank them.

That's fair. It's one of the "problems" with the list, in the sense that someone may not be ranked as high as they should, suggesting they're underrated.

And let's be honest, I doubt anyone's personal list mirrors this one.

I've been describing these polls as "what player best fits the most criteria?" Because especially now, people likely choose one aspect (be it NHL readiness, upside, etc).

People have discussed different components. For Clarke, people mentioned how he fits a role the Kings need. With Pinelli, there are several Centers ahead of him, and he shifted to left wing, he'd have a better chance.

 

[Lt Dan]

Parik

Add Chet