Just as a follow up to several people who responded to my "semi-blue chipper" statement:
Recently, the HFB Kings voted for the top 20 prospects, with a poll for each position... but the poll kept going to #38 (I think 38 is the last one):
#1 - Alex Turcotte, F, 59.1%
#2 - Gabriel Vilardi, F, 53.6% (tie-breaker)
#3 - Rasmus Kupari, F, 46.4% (tie-breaker)
#4 - Cal Petersen, G, 28.9%
#5 - Arthur Kaliyev, F, 33.3%
#6 - Jaret Anderson-Dolan, F, 44%
#7 - Mikey Anderson, D, 32.8%
#8 - Tobias Bjornfot, D, 35.3%
#9 - Carl Grundstrom, F, 50%
#10 - Kale Clague, D, 46.9%
#11 - Akil, Thomas, F, 43.3%
#12 - Samuel Fagemo, F, 54.4%
#13 - Sean Durzi, D, 55.6%
#14 - Nikolai Prokhorkin, F, 62.5%
#15 - Johan Sodergran, F, 29.5%
#16 - Markus Phillips, D, 24.5%
#17 - Matt Roy, D, 23.1%
#18 - Daniel Brickley, D, 36.6%
#19 - Kim Nousiainen, D, 31.4%
#20 - Jacob Moverare, D, 57.5% (Tiebreaker)
#21 - David Hrenak, G, 31.8%
#22 - Lukas Parik, G, 56.8% (Tiebreaker)
#23 - Aidan Dudas, F, 35.4%
#24 - Jordan Spence, D, 30.0%
#25 - Blake Lizotte, F, 59.3% (Tiebreaker)
#26 - Austin Strand, D, 46.4%
#27 - Cole Hults, D, 60.5%
#28 - Sheldon Rempal, F, 75.8%
#29 - Bulat Shafigullin, F, 34.6%
#30 - Matthew Villalta, G, 58.3% (Tiebreaker)
#31 - Mikey Eyssimont, F, 47.6%
#32 - Andre Lee, F, 58.6% (Tiebreaker)
#33 - Jacob Ingham, G, 63.6% (Tiebreaker)
#34 - Braden Doyle, D, 54.2% (Tiebreaker)
#35 - Alexander Dergachyev, F, 29.2%
#36 - Chaz Reddekopp, D, 47.8%
#37 - Drake Rymsha, F, 44.4%
#38 - Brad Morrison, F, 57.1%
Recently the #25 prospect Blake Lizotte graduated into the Kings bottom six with a statline of:
He's not ppg in the AHL, he's now considered an everyday player in the NHL, part of LA's bottom six and the "most popular player" by Kings boosters. He's a lil greasy dude.
And LA's #17 prospect, Matt Roy, a RHD has cemented himself as a full time NHLer on the 3rd pair, as the RHD. He was voted by the Kings as the "outstanding defenseman" and "unsung hero" by the players themselves.
| 70gp | 4g | 14a | 18 points | 16 + |
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Think about how bad the Kings were last season and this guy played 70 games with a +16...
So this kind of illustrates what I and maybe other HFB Kings fans are thinking in terms of depth. It's one thing to have a million prospects, doing well in the minors. But when the depth graduates into full-time NHLers capable of playing important roles, that's extremely important to our organization. Since the time of Dean Lombardi, we are not trying to fill the arena; we are trying to build a complete team capable of running for the Cup at least 4 years in a row. Solid depth in the NHL roster to complement your top stars leads to playoff wins.
It's not a surprise (to me) that adding Vilardi and Frk to that team with guys like Lizotte, Roy, Sean Walker and other youngsters plus our notable vets, the Kings ripped off 7 wins in a row. Thank goodness the season was suspended, we might have won ourselves to the 8th pick like Buffalo or maybe even a shot at "Team E" for the 1 OA.
But...we won't be in the running for the #1 prospect pool for long, after this draft, even picking #2 plus with three second rounders...Vilardi, Petersen, Roy, Lizotte, Prohorkin are all graduating for sure and likely another four or five will graduate into full time Kings NHLers. Several higher prospects like Anderson-Dolan, Bjorfot, Grundstrom and others have had successful "cup-of-tea" NHL call ups so this year they will get longer looks. Something like half the list will be different by the end of next season, if there is a season.
