Prospect Info: Kings Prospects in CHL/College/Europe Part 3

[Kurrilino]

Rumor has it, Turcotte showed great leadership and decided to help Tyler pack his bags and then carry all his baggage through all the security checkpoints.

“Captaincy is earned by how we conduct ourselves every day” was overheard by reporters in Berlin.

Legend: Italics are the Funny Font and editorial content for levity.

According to the german article, Madden left for his hand treatment and Turcotte was recalled by the LA Kings

 

[ru4reals]

Rumor has it, Turcotte showed great leadership and decided to help Tyler pack his bags and then carry all his baggage through all the security checkpoints.

“Captaincy is earned by how we conduct ourselves every day” was overheard by reporters in Berlin.

Legend: Italics are the Funny Font and editorial content for levity.

Sheesh that was short-lived. Came here to see how the kids are doing and then this. Oh wells.

 

[VILARGOD]

OT winner for Kasper

 

[VILARGOD]

Lias Andersson goal yesterday

 

[RaymondReddington]

Kings, Ducks or Sharks: Who has the best prospects in three years?
The Athletic
Los Angeles Kings

Forwards
Samuel Fagemo-Gabriel Vilardi-Rasmus Kupari
Alex Turcotte-Quinton Byfield-Arthur Kaliyev
Carl Grundstrom-Blake Lizotte-Tyler Madden
Jaret Anderson-Dolan-Lias Andersson-Akil Thomas
Others: Aidan Dudas, Johan Sodergran and Bulat Shafigullin
2020 draftees: Kasper Simontaival, Alex Laferriere, Martin Chromiak and Aatu Jamsen
Defense
Tobias Bjornfot-Mikey Anderson
Kale Clague-Helge Grans
Kim Nousiainen–Brock Faber
Others: Jordan Spence, Cole Hults and Jacob Moverare, Markus Phillips.
2020 draftee: Ben Meehan
Goal
Matt Villalta
Jacob Ingham
Others: Dávid Hrenák and Lukas Parik
2020 draftee: Juho Markkanen

Dillman: The fanciful thought did cross my mind – how about two Kings’ 23-and-under teams? Team Robitaille and Team Blake?
The sheer number of prospects in the pool wouldn’t make it overly difficult.
Perhaps a project for another day.
For the purpose of this exercise, the most difficult task was how to deploy the numerous centers in the Kings’ pipeline of prospects. This team is so deep down the middle – starting with Vilardi (first round, No. 11/2017) and Byfield (No. 2 overall, 2020) – it led to some tinkering.
The likes of Kupari, Turcotte, Madden and Anderson-Dolan might end up on the wing, anyway. It will all work itself out eventually.
Plus, it’s a far easier switch to go from center to wing than from wing to center.
Take Madden, for example. Putting him on the wing would allow him to open up more offensively and he appears to have better energy on the forecheck in that position. Granted, his wall play will have to improve but his high hockey IQ suggests that shouldn’t be a lingering problem.
Andersson, acquired from the New York Rangers earlier this month, also could be moved out of the middle, but he is staying at center because of his puck distribution ability and how well he competes at both ends.
As for the defense, Mikey Anderson has added value by virtue of his ability to play both sides. In college (University of Minnesota-Duluth), Anderson played on the right side because the Bulldogs didn’t have a lot of right-shot D.
Nousiainen, a fourth-round draft choice (No. 119) in 2019, is a power-play specialist. The two youngsters the Kings drafted earlier this month, Grans and Faber, have differing strengths. Grans, who was taken in the second round (No. 35) is playing for Malmo in the SHL and is the youngest player among its regulars. He is offensive-minded and will need to work on cleaning up his defensive game. Faber was also selected in the second round, 10 spots after Grans, and is starting his freshman season at the University of Minnesota. He has strong defensive principles and will have a good opportunity to round out the offensive side of the game with the Gophers.
It would be interesting if his D partner ended up being Ryan Johnson (first round 2019/Buffalo), the son of Kings development staffer Craig Johnson, or Jackson LaCombe (second round 2019/Anaheim). Keep eye on Faber when it comes to Team USA’s selections for the upcoming World Junior Championships.
The outlook is not as clear cut when it comes to the goaltenders. Organizationally, it looks wide open after NHLers Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen. After that, the rest of the 23-and-under prospects have similar skill sets.
Following the trade of Jack Campbell to the Toronto Maple Leafs – which triggered Petersen’s move up from the AHL to the Kings in February – the workload fell squarely on the shoulders of Villalta with the Ontario Reign. Ingham has been in Germany training with Eisbären Berlin. Hrenák, taken in the fifth round (No. 144) in 2018, is well regarded internally and thought to be in the mix.
Parik (third round, No. 87/2019) has a larger than life personality and is scheduled to return to Spokane once the WHL season eventually starts. Parik, of course, drew a ton of attention when he scored a goal for the Chiefs right before the pause. Parik’s feat led some to quip that the Kings prospects are so good that even their goalies were scoring.

Wheeler: The fact that the Kings’ roster doesn’t include players like Aidan Dudas, Bulat Shafigullin, Kasper Simontaival, Martin Chromiak, Jordan Spence and Cole Hults, among others, almost makes this entire exercise a little unfair for the Sharks and the Ducks. It’s reminiscent of the conversation we have ahead of every best-on-best international tournament with Team Canada (be it the Olympics or the World Cup) where it’s: “Why is their B Team as good as my A Team?”
On star power alone, the Kings have a stronger U23 core than the Ducks and the Sharks (especially the Sharks). But it’s an even wider gap on both of their rivals on depth, where the Kings lap the field. The Kings have Tyler Madden, who’d be a lock for either of the Sharks or Ducks’ top-six, on their ‘third line’ here. I’m not convinced there’s a single Sharks forward prospect I’d rank ahead of Madden and he might not even be in the Kings’ top-five if I ranked theirs today.
Before I pump the Kings’ tires too much though, it’s also worth saying this: as great as their prospect pool is (the best in the league right now if you’re asking me), they don’t have a defense prospect with the talent level of a Jamie Drysdale or a Ryan Merkley, nor a goalie prospect with the upside of Lukas Dostal.
That feels like nitpicking though.

 

[ru4reals]

Kings, Ducks or Sharks: Who has the best prospects in three years?
The Athletic
Los Angeles Kings

Forwards
Samuel Fagemo-Gabriel Vilardi-Rasmus Kupari
Alex Turcotte-Quinton Byfield-Arthur Kaliyev
Carl Grundstrom-Blake Lizotte-Tyler Madden
Jaret Anderson-Dolan-Lias Andersson-Akil Thomas
Others: Aidan Dudas, Johan Sodergran and Bulat Shafigullin
2020 draftees: Kasper Simontaival, Alex Laferriere, Martin Chromiak and Aatu Jamsen
Defense
Tobias Bjornfot-Mikey Anderson
Kale Clague-Helge Grans
Kim Nousiainen–Brock Faber
Others: Jordan Spence, Cole Hults and Jacob Moverare, Markus Phillips.
2020 draftee: Ben Meehan
Goal
Matt Villalta
Jacob Ingham
Others: Dávid Hrenák and Lukas Parik
2020 draftee: Juho Markkanen

Dillman: The fanciful thought did cross my mind – how about two Kings’ 23-and-under teams? Team Robitaille and Team Blake?
The sheer number of prospects in the pool wouldn’t make it overly difficult.
Perhaps a project for another day.
For the purpose of this exercise, the most difficult task was how to deploy the numerous centers in the Kings’ pipeline of prospects. This team is so deep down the middle – starting with Vilardi (first round, No. 11/2017) and Byfield (No. 2 overall, 2020) – it led to some tinkering.
The likes of Kupari, Turcotte, Madden and Anderson-Dolan might end up on the wing, anyway. It will all work itself out eventually.
Plus, it’s a far easier switch to go from center to wing than from wing to center.
Take Madden, for example. Putting him on the wing would allow him to open up more offensively and he appears to have better energy on the forecheck in that position. Granted, his wall play will have to improve but his high hockey IQ suggests that shouldn’t be a lingering problem.
Andersson, acquired from the New York Rangers earlier this month, also could be moved out of the middle, but he is staying at center because of his puck distribution ability and how well he competes at both ends.
As for the defense, Mikey Anderson has added value by virtue of his ability to play both sides. In college (University of Minnesota-Duluth), Anderson played on the right side because the Bulldogs didn’t have a lot of right-shot D.
Nousiainen, a fourth-round draft choice (No. 119) in 2019, is a power-play specialist. The two youngsters the Kings drafted earlier this month, Grans and Faber, have differing strengths. Grans, who was taken in the second round (No. 35) is playing for Malmo in the SHL and is the youngest player among its regulars. He is offensive-minded and will need to work on cleaning up his defensive game. Faber was also selected in the second round, 10 spots after Grans, and is starting his freshman season at the University of Minnesota. He has strong defensive principles and will have a good opportunity to round out the offensive side of the game with the Gophers.
It would be interesting if his D partner ended up being Ryan Johnson (first round 2019/Buffalo), the son of Kings development staffer Craig Johnson, or Jackson LaCombe (second round 2019/Anaheim). Keep eye on Faber when it comes to Team USA’s selections for the upcoming World Junior Championships.
The outlook is not as clear cut when it comes to the goaltenders. Organizationally, it looks wide open after NHLers Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen. After that, the rest of the 23-and-under prospects have similar skill sets.
Following the trade of Jack Campbell to the Toronto Maple Leafs – which triggered Petersen’s move up from the AHL to the Kings in February – the workload fell squarely on the shoulders of Villalta with the Ontario Reign. Ingham has been in Germany training with Eisbären Berlin. Hrenák, taken in the fifth round (No. 144) in 2018, is well regarded internally and thought to be in the mix.
Parik (third round, No. 87/2019) has a larger than life personality and is scheduled to return to Spokane once the WHL season eventually starts. Parik, of course, drew a ton of attention when he scored a goal for the Chiefs right before the pause. Parik’s feat led some to quip that the Kings prospects are so good that even their goalies were scoring.

Wheeler: The fact that the Kings’ roster doesn’t include players like Aidan Dudas, Bulat Shafigullin, Kasper Simontaival, Martin Chromiak, Jordan Spence and Cole Hults, among others, almost makes this entire exercise a little unfair for the Sharks and the Ducks. It’s reminiscent of the conversation we have ahead of every best-on-best international tournament with Team Canada (be it the Olympics or the World Cup) where it’s: “Why is their B Team as good as my A Team?”
On star power alone, the Kings have a stronger U23 core than the Ducks and the Sharks (especially the Sharks). But it’s an even wider gap on both of their rivals on depth, where the Kings lap the field. The Kings have Tyler Madden, who’d be a lock for either of the Sharks or Ducks’ top-six, on their ‘third line’ here. I’m not convinced there’s a single Sharks forward prospect I’d rank ahead of Madden and he might not even be in the Kings’ top-five if I ranked theirs today.
Before I pump the Kings’ tires too much though, it’s also worth saying this: as great as their prospect pool is (the best in the league right now if you’re asking me), they don’t have a defense prospect with the talent level of a Jamie Drysdale or a Ryan Merkley, nor a goalie prospect with the upside of Lukas Dostal.
That feels like nitpicking though.

It's great that our prospects are getting some good hype and notoriety, and rightfully so. Some of our top end kids especially with the addition of Byfield really makes our farm system one of the best indeed. And I don't think the Kings have ever had this much young promising players in their system like they do today. However, personally I'm going to hold off on the best in the league title until I see these kids actually make it to the big club and start playing for us on a regular basis. I'll be happy if our top 5 prospects make an impact in some way or another, anyone else will a bonus.

 

[henkkj]

Update for some of the Kings prospects playing in Finland:

Kasper Simontaival - plays for a very strong and deep team Tappara so he has only gotten around 9 mins a game in Liiga and has one assist in four games played. Has also played 3 games in Mestis (AHL of Finland) and has scored 2 goals and 2 assists. He's got talent to play bigger minutes and role in Liiga but probably won't get a legit chance to do so this year unless he gets loaned to a weaker team.

Kim Nousiainen - Before the season started I personally expected him to develop into one of the better d-men in Liiga. So far looks like he has a good chance to do exactly that - he's very impressive to start the year. 5 games played, 3g 1a and a +6 rating. Has played around 16,5 minutes on average and I'm expecting his TOI to go up as the season goes on (hopefully it does). He is small but very skilled and a good skater. If all goes well he could play a big role for Reign next season. Looking like an excellent 4th round pick so far.

Jacob Moverare - I have no idea what has happend with this guy. I thought that he would be a surefire top tier d-man in Liiga after a great year in SHL but has underperformed badly so far. 7 games played, only one assist and a -4 rating. Has played almost 21mins a night on average and has gotten most PP time for his team. He also got kicked out of his debut game for kneeing. His team is at the bottom of the league and is overall underperforming just like Moverare is. To make his loan stint even worse, he has been out of the lineup last two games for disciplinary reasons. His fellow Swedish d-man Bernhardt was also out for same reasons but has returned to the lineup today, unlike Moverare. I have no idea what they have done but wouldn't be suprised to see his loan deal cancelled soon if things won't change.

Recently drafted players Markkanen and Jämsen have not played in Liiga this year so I can't comment too much on them. Jämsen has been playing in juniors and his numbers are great but it's a pretty weak league so he is expected to produce. Markkanen has played mostly in Mestis and his numbers look alright.

 

[Johnny97]

Lukas Parik made the Czech men's team for the Karjala Cup

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I see Bartosak on there as well, wonder how he's doing these days

 

[King'sPawn]

I see Bartosak on there as well, wonder how he's doing these days

Beats me.

Too soon?

 

[Token]

OHL is strictly ballroom for 20/21 season.

No bodychecking will be allowed in upcoming OHL season - Sportsnet.ca

 

[RaymondReddington]

OHL is strictly ballroom for 20/21 season.

No bodychecking will be allowed in upcoming OHL season - Sportsnet.ca

Great training for those future NHLers.....sheesh

 

[Token]

 

[Master Yoda]

Might as well just play 4 on 4 or 3 on 3 for 60 minutes.

 

[BigKing]

OHL is strictly ballroom for 20/21 season.

No bodychecking will be allowed in upcoming OHL season - Sportsnet.ca

I feel that the fact that development for prospects could be severely stunted this year has been glossed over. All of the talk about so-and-so getting AHL and this guy getting this ignores the fact that it will most-assuredly be fewer games than normal with the possibility of cancellations. Now you've got the OHL guys playing in an adult rec league.

It's a disaster for Byfield and Kaliyev to play in the OHL this season. They can't play in the AHL though so what happens? Can they go play overseas? Has that ship sailed already?

 

[Schrute farms]

I remember someone recently mentioning OHL playing without contact and i just glossed over that comment thinking the person obviously was trying to make a funny comment in today's CV environment. Nope...me the stupid one. Honestly i'm not sure what's the point. I'm not sure i want guys playing under that set of rules and learning bad habits. Bring them in house for internal scrimmages instead or send overseas.

 

[redcard]

I just can't see how banning checking is going to have any effect on virus transmission. Whoever made this decision must not realize how much non-hitting contact there is in the sport.

 

[Master Yoda]

I think OHL guys are Byfield, Kaliyev, and Chromiak. Not sure if I missed someone, but I'd rather have Byfield and Kaliyev stay in the NHL, practice with the team, play the odd game a week and maybe get a conditioning stint in the AHL, and wait for the OHL season to end.
Maybe Chromiak can go back to Slovakia and play but I'm not sure.

 

[KingLB]

I think OHL guys are Byfield, Kaliyev, and Chromiak. Not sure if I missed someone, but I'd rather have Byfield and Kaliyev stay in the NHL, practice with the team, play the odd game a week and maybe get a conditioning stint in the AHL, and wait for the OHL season to end.
Maybe Chromiak can go back to Slovakia and play but I'm not sure.

So I mentioned this in September on this board and was mostly crickets. And still believe its the case, if not more so now.

The Kings need to send as many prospects as possible to Europe this year. Why not send everyone that is less than a 50% chance of making the team to Sweden/Finland (and 21 and under) How much more development would they get? Not only that, but if they end there season on time (Aprilish?), they likely can still come play in North America which is just going to be getting started in Jan/Feb?

 

[ru4reals]

Jordan Spence with a huge game, hat trick and the game winner. Along with a massive hit. Got this from the main board. The Q league apparently don't give a nut about playing flag Hockey which is awesome. Here are highlights from the Q website. I know it's the Q, no one plays D, but hoping this kid develops into something. Perhaps 17 might be a little low for our prospects ranking.

Big win for Moncton ! Wildcats 7 Titan 6 – LHJMQ

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Jordan Spence with a huge game, hat trick and the game winner. Along with a massive hit. Got this from the main board. The Q league apparently don't give a nut about playing flag Hockey which is awesome. Here are highlights from the Q website. I know it's the Q, no one plays D, but hoping this kid develops into something. Perhaps 17 might be a little low for our prospects ranking.

Big win for Moncton ! Wildcats 7 Titan 6 – LHJMQ

Why did he get a penalty? Looked like a clean hit to me.

 

[Master Yoda]

So I mentioned this in September on this board and was mostly crickets. And still believe its the case, if not more so now.

The Kings need to send as many prospects as possible to Europe this year. Why not send everyone that is less than a 50% chance of making the team to Sweden/Finland (and 21 and under) How much more development would they get? Not only that, but if they end there season on time (Aprilish?), they likely can still come play in North America which is just going to be getting started in Jan/Feb?

I'm not sure if guys who have no ties to European teams can play this year with the seasons already underway.

 

[Reaper45]

Could hypothetically Byfield be traded to a team in the Q? I’m not sure it’s possible being different leagues and all but man the OHL is going to suck this season if they have one.

 

[Yog S'loth]

Why did he get a penalty? Looked like a clean hit to me.

Agreed, I don't get it

The guy had the puck, Spence drove through him clean with his shoulder, had his elbows tucked... what's the problem? Two minutes for the other guy skating with his head down?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

All I can think of is maybe the ref thought he picked the head with the way it snapped back, or maybe he didn't touch the puck at all so interference. But I don't see it. 2 minutes for beautiful impact.