First, I just want to say a BIG THANKS to @theTonyFerrari of DobberProspects.com and @ByronMBader of HockeyProspecting.com for helping out with my rankings. They both do great work for their respective websites, and every hockey fan should look into their awesome content.
Bright Future
I’m sure you have all heard this before, but the future of the LA Kings franchise looks REALLY good.
Rob Blake and the rest of the Kings’ scouting department have drafted extremely well and have, what it seems like, all the pieces to build a consistent cup-contender in the near future. The consensus around the hockey community is that the Kings have one of the best, if not the best group of upcoming young talent in the NHL.
The Rankings
Any player with at least 10GP in the NHL has been left off this list. For example, players like Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Tobias Bjornfot, Mikey Anderson, and Gabe Vilardi, while all still considered rookies, have been moved to ‘graduated’ status in my rankings.
HockeyProspecting.com
For these rankings, we were fortunate enough to get help from Byron Bader over at HockeyProspecting.com. His visual player comparison cards are a great way to illustrate a prospect’s development trajectory compared to other current or former NHL players.
DobberProspects.com
Tony Ferrari, the Head of Scouting at DobberProspects.com, also helped out with some great insights into some of the players. Here’s his take on a prospect for LA, Kasper Simontaival, who just missed the cut for my top ten.
"“The LA Kings took a swing on Simontaival at the top of the third round, banking on the young Finn’s raw talent and scoring ability. He is on the smaller side but he’s put up big numbers at the junior level and looked comfortable in the Mestis this season when he was there. He needs to fill out and get stronger but the talent is obvious. It may be a longer development path but Simonatival has the luxury of a loaded Kings system that can give him that time.”"
Here are the top five Los Angeles Kings’ prospects.