LA Kings: Mid-season organization’s prospect rankings 10-6

Akil Thomas – 21 y/o – RW – 2018 Round 2 #51 overall

AHL – Ontario Reign – 16GP-3G-3A-6P

If there’s been one positive from the rough start the Ontario Reign have endured opening the 2021 season, it’s the consistently strong play from Akil Thomas.

Think of Akil Thomas as hockey’s equivalent of a five-tool baseball player. He does it all. He’s got a good offensive game, not afraid to get into the corners or establish a front-net presence. Defensively he holds his man well and is not afraid to sell out his body to block a shot.

Thomas has good skating ability, not overly fast but agile on his skates. And he’s a competitor who steps up in the big moments. Nothing bigger in his early career than scoring the gold medal-winning goal for Team Canada in the 2020 WJC final against Russia.

HockeyProspecting.com Player Comparison

One of the skills Akil possesses is his versatility. A trait that will be much needed for the center/winger. With the number of center prospects in the Kings system, and with Kopitar and the now-graduated prospect Gabe Vilardi established on the NHL roster, upcoming centers might have to move to the wing. Something that isn’t foreign to Thomas as he can play center, wing, or even defense as he did in juniors when his team was short men.

It’ll be interesting to see the timeline till Akil’s NHL debut, as his name sometimes gets lost among the big three that have become Byfield, Turcotte, and Kaliyev. With fans clamoring for the debuts of other prospects, the hype around Thomas is getting lost, and that’s unfair.

Thomas has all the makings to become a solid all-around NHL player. While he may not have the star potential some other prospects do, Thomas has the makings of becoming a fan-favorite in Los Angeles for a long time.

Stay tuned for the second half of these rankings, where we identify the top five players in the LA Kings prospect pool.