LA Kings: Three late-round gems to target in 2020 NHL Draft

The LA Kings have done well drafting from top to bottom recently, and they can find several late-round gems in this draft class.

One of the best moves that LA Kings 2019 seventh-round draft pick Andre Lee made was transitioning his game to North America. The Karlstad, Sweden native is a big-bodied forward who put up 20 goals with 16 assists for 36 points in 22 games for Färjestad BK J18 of the J18 Elit.

In the United States Hockey League, Lee tallied 20 goals with 15 assists in 61 games for the Sioux Falls Stampede in his draft year. He shined in the playoffs, tallying 11 points in 12 games and chipped in nearly a power play goal per game. That effort was good enough to get him drafted.

At UMass-Lowell, Lee started his collegiate career off with a bang, scoring three goals in his first four games. He finished third on the team in scoring with eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in a 33-game sample size.

Lee has a long road ahead, but guys like Matt Roy, who was LA’s seventh-round pick in 2015, have paved the way for other late-round picks. Roy figures to be a mainstay on the Kings blue line for the foreseeable future. With a combined 12.4 goals-above-replacement, he finished as the 13th most valuable defensemen in the NHL last year, per Evolving Hockey.

Looking ahead to the 2020 NHL Draft, the Kings should target these three players in the later rounds.

Alec Bélanger, D

Alec Bélanger is a big, 6-foot-0, 183-pound defender with a left-handed shot from Quebec. The 18-year-old was the 44th overall pick in the 2018 OHL Draft by the Ottawa 67’s. After tallying four goals with two assists for six points in 14 games for the Ottawa Jr. Senators of the CCHL, Belanger finished out the year in the OHL, tallying three goals with five assists in 27 games.

He spent the entire 2019-2020 campaign with Ottawa, lighting the lamp ten times with 22 assists for 32 points in a 61-game sample size. He was hidden on a team that headlined Marco Rossi and Jack Quinn, but Belanger tallied two goals and four assists on the man advantage.

The Ottawa blueliner plays confidently and carries the puck well through the neutral zone. He loves to join the rush and attack the net. Good vision is displayed in his passing abilities through the offensive zone. He is a solid two-way defenseman but is not overly physical. Rather, he uses instincts and the position of his body to disrupt the offensive rush.

Belanger had a strong game against Akil Thomas’ IceDogs back in December, tallying a goal and two assists in what ended up being a lopsided affair for Ottawa.

Cameron Berg, C/LW

Had Cameron Berg been given a change of scenery and put into the right system last year, he’d probably be a second or third-round pick. The 18-year-old spent the last year and a half with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, where he scored a combined five goals with nine assists in 65 games.

He’s committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha Division I hockey program, and they should be pleased with what they saw once Berg was traded. In December, Berg was part of a three-player roster makeover for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

In his first two games, Berg scored four goals with two assists on his way to an 18-goal and 12-assist tenure for Muskegon in only 32 games. He put up nearly a point-per-game, and many thanks can be passed out to his head coach.

“We play a completely different style than Omaha, which fits Cameron better,” Muskegon head coach Mike Hamilton said via LocalSportsJournal. “We didn’t realize when we looked at his film that he has a lot of speed. We knew that he was strong, and he was not afraid to go to the net. He also has good vision and hands.”

Had he not been traded midseason, Berg may never have untapped his potential. Projected as a sixth-round pick, he’s a project at the moment with the capacity of being a capable NHL forward.