LA Kings: Three prospects who could have impact at NHL in 2020-2021
By Ryan Sikes
Arthur Kaliyev
Drafted with the 33rd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Kaliyev was one of the more underrated talents in the draft. He could have gone in the first round but fell into the LA Kings waiting arms in the second round. In his draft year, the 18-year-old tallied 51 goals with 51 assists for 102 points in 67 games for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL.
He finished second in the league with 20 power play goals that season and followed that up with 16 PPG in ten fewer games.
He nearly matched his 2018-2019 point total and tallied four goals with two assists for the USA U20 team in the World Juniors. He’s an absolute sniper from the point and can set up goals, too, as demonstrated by his lofty assist totals.
Kaliyev signed his three-year entry-level contract in June, and I suspect that he’ll make a difficult decision for the Kings to send him to Ontario with a strong training camp. That being said, should he start to rack up the point totals as he did in the OHL, look for a 19-year-old Kaliyev to make his NHL debut not too long into the season.