Yup, it's hard, but some teams are better than others at it. Look at Chicago or Boston or LA or Ottawa or Detroit. It's not "a total crapshoot" like a roll of the dice or something, it's just very hard to do it well, but some teams manage to do it right over and over. What are they doing that is making their drafting successful?
I just skimmed through the the posts in this thread after this one, so maybe this has been answered, but I'll comment on just LA, since you brought him up.
And I'll only comment on the players drafted in 2007 and later, since that was the first draft by the current Kings director of amatuer scouting, Mike Futa.
In general, there's been one prinicipal I've seen from the Kings over that time. Draft for character and don't reach but also be ready to go after a guy most wouldn't. Hickey was the lone example of a reach, and I think the Kings learned from that pick not to reach.
But even Hickey was a character guy. Captain with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Character has been a key focus of the Kings. So has been picking safe players, so the Kings don't really take a flyer on anyone until the very latest rounds. Hence why in the 2007 draft they came away with Hickey, Simmonds, Martinez and Dwight King, all regular NHLers last season. They also got Oscar Mollar, who played almost 90 games in the NHl before heading back to Europe.
In 2008, it could be argued they had their worst draft. Yes, they got Doughty, but they could have taken any of the big three D-men (Doughty, Pietrangelo and Bogosian) and still done well. They wasted a pick (two actually since they gave up two firsts to trade up to get Colton Teubert), but then made up for it by getting Voynov in round two and later on added Loktionov. So that's three players that are NHL regulars. Again, character. Doughty will one day be the Kings captain if Brown ever hangs them up, and both Voynov and Lokitionov made it well known to DL and crew they were willing to ride it out in the minors in an effort to make their NHL dreams come true (and did they ever).
2009, already they have produced Brayden Schenn, Kyle Clifford and Jordan Nolan. Again, real character guys, grinding, physical players. They also have some good prospects from the draft coming up in the system, like linden Vey who many are expecting to be a contender to take over for Jarrett Stoll maybe as soon as next year. Brandon Kozun and Nicolas Deslauriers are also still coming up from that draft as well, so they might make it too (though in Kozun's case, it'll likely have to be elsewhere as we just don't have room). The hallmark of all three is their dedication. Kozun sort of changed who he is to make it work, getting away from being a almost purely offensive guy and working for three years in manchester on being a two-way guy who can forecheck really well. I didn't even think he'd have a chance at the NHL, but he's really changed his game in the right ways.
In 2010, we only had five picks, but I expect all five to make the NHL, which is a huge steal if it happens. Toffoli would likely be up on most teams, and guys like Forbort and Gravel are just a few years away from regular NHL duty. Forbort has looked, based solely on what I have read this year, surprisingly good in manchester, much better than I expected. And Kitsyn, well if ever there was a poster boy for a european willing to sacrifice to get to the NHL, he's it. He was basically buried in Russia, yet he's now over here, gutting it out in the minors.
The Kings don't take flyers on guys, they seek out character first and go for the guy with dedication. That's why I'm really excited about Valantin Zykov. For the Kings to trade up, and give up the picks they did give up, to get him in 2013, they must really like him and feel he's a steal. He dropped, likely due to the Russian factor, and DL and crew have shown they do their homework on those guys. they've drafted four Russians before, and all have played pro in the Kings system (Prokhorkin had to go back to Russia, but was in manchester prior to that).
Sometimes if you swing for the fences it works out (ala Philly and Forsberg) but most often it doesn't. Such as Hickey. now I think Hickey will still have a long and solid NHL career, but not that of one who was drafted 4th overall. Since then, the Kings have been very methodical in their drafting, not going off the board very much until the 2nd round, when they reached for guys like Simmonds and Clifford, only to see gold appear.
One other thing is that lately, the Kings seem more willing to draft guys who have been passed over in previous drafts than other teams. They have draft 18 players who have been passed over in at least one draft since 2007, an average of about 2.5 per draft. I haven't compared that to any other team, but it seems extremely high. I guess it gives the Kings a chance to really assess the players potential a bit better, since they are more mature and further along in their development. If they like the guy, they don't let the stigma of being passed over a draft disuade them in drafting the guy. They even took Tanner Pearson in the first round despite this fact.
the Kings are lacking a bit in elite talent in their prospect ranks, mostly because of the desire to draft character over pure skill, but it also gives them a steady pipeline of 2nd-4th line players and #3-6 type defensemen, so they will likely never run out of depth if they continue to hit as well and often as they do on their draft picks. It also gives them a lot of chips to use in a trade to fill the talent void if they need to.