These LA Kings’ prospects represented in NCAA preseason poll

With three prospects in the top 20 of the College Hockey preseason poll and three more just outside, this is a big deal for the LA Kings organization.

Originally set to drop the puck in early October, NCAA pushed the start date back for all schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Most schools will begin play on November 6 or shortly thereafter. On Monday, Division I collegiate hockey released its preseason Top-20 poll, and to no one’s surprise, the University of North Dakota received 28 first-place votes. For the LA Kings, they have several draft picks playing collegiate hockey.

2019 fifth overall pick Alex Turcotte most recently played a year at the University of Wisconsin in what was expected to be a talented Badgers club. Instead, Wisconsin scuffled to a 7-15-2 record, with Turcotte underwhelming to the tune of 9 goals and 17 assists in 29 games. He also sustained a knee injury that limited his production, but he’s expected to begin the year in the AHL for the Ontario Reign.

What LA Kings players are on ranked teams?

Andre Lee – UMass-Lowell #11

Like many European players who make a late transition to the North American rink, Andre Lee could end being a late-round gem at the NHL level. The 19-year-old forward hails from Karlstad, Sweden, and played for Sioux Falls of the USHL in his draft year, scoring 20 goals with 15 assists in 61 games.

UMass-Lowell made the switch to Division I in 1983, and they have consistently made NCAA Tournament appearances over the last decade. In his freshman year, Lee tallied 8 goals with 12 assists in 33 games.

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Ben Meehan – UMass-Lowell #11

Meehan will join Lee on the River Hawks roster in the upcoming season. Similar to Lee, he spent his draft year in the USHL, but Meehan played for Cedar Rapids. There, he tallied 8 goals with 10 assists along the blue line. He’ll look to top Chase Blackmun’s leading point total in the 2019-2020 season for defensemen, scoring 5 goals with 12 assists.

Brock Faber – Minnesota #14

Brock Faber is going to be a very complete defenseman for the LA Kings in two-to-three years. The 45th overall pick in this year’s draft will continue his development at the University of Minnesota after spending the previous two seasons under new Ontario Reign head coach John Wroblewski for the USNTDP. Faber de-committed from Notre Dame to play for the hometown Golden Gophers. The Maple Grove, Minnesota native scored 3 goals with 9 assists in 46 games for the US U18 team and 1 goal with 8 assists in 19 games in USHL play. Now he’ll join a very talented Gophers team under head coach Bob Motzko.

Important to note

While his team didn’t crack the Top-20 in the preseason poll, Alex Laferriere’s Harvard Crimson received 22 votes for consideration. The Kings’ third-round pick in 2020 led all scorers for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL with 45 points (19G, 26A) last season. While he waits for the Harvard season to resume, he returned to Des Moines and tallied an assist in the team’s first preseason game. The Buccaneers will officially open their season on November 5.

2019 sixth-round pick Braden Doyle’s Boston University received 89 votes. And Dávid Hrenák’s St. Cloud State received 64 votes. Hrenák was taken in the fifth round of the 2018 draft.