The best LA Kings draft classes of this century
With the 2021 NHL Entry Draft coming up, let’s look back at the best LA Kings drafts since 2000.
The NHL draft – a time of hope for both young players and the teams that draft them. For most players, this is the first step toward what they hope will fulfill the dream of playing in the National Hockey League. For the teams, they hope the players they draft now will eventually deliver hockeys most cherished prize, the Stanley Cup.
This year’s NHL draft will take place on July 23rd and July 24th. The event will be held virtually, with the order to be determined by first the Draft Lottery to be held on June 2nd, and the rest after the playoffs.
Preparation for each year’s draft begins as soon as the previous draft ends. Hundreds, if not thousands of players are evaluated by each team’s scouting department, trying to find the best fits for their team or a “diamond in the rough.”
Put together some strong drafts, and a team’s future looks very bright. Conversely, string together some poor drafts, and a franchise could easily find themselves behind the eight ball.
The LA Kings have experienced both the highs of great drafts and the lows of terrible ones in the twenty-first century. Fortunately, the team’s recent drafts have been applauded by most analysts and have led to the Kings have one of the best prospect pools in the NHL.
The main criteria used for this list were that the player had to be drafted by the Kings and made a significant contribution to the team.
For example, Erik Cernak was drafted by the LA Kings in the second round of the 2015 draft but was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning before becoming a regular with the Kings, therefore lowering the impact of the Kings 2015 draft class.
With that said, what were the best draft years for the LA Kings in the twenty-first century?
The 2017 draft
I’ll tell everyone right now. This is the latest draft year you will see on this list. While the 2019 and 2020 draft years have the potential to be the best drafts in LA Kings history, only one member of those draft classes (Tobias Bjornfot) is currently playing regularly in the NHL.
This will change starting next season, but to be considered a successful draft, legitimate NHL players must come from it, and as of right now, we don’t have a sample size big enough to see how the 2019 and 2020 classes will turn out.
This brings us to the LA Kings 2017 draft class. This class has produced three full-time NHL players so far – centers Gabe Vilardi and Jaret Anderson-Dolan and defenseman Mikey Anderson. Drafted in the first, second, and fourth rounds, respectively, the top half of this draft class looks like it will make a significant impact.
Vilardi is considered to be the “blue chip” prospect for this Los Angeles draft class. Originally thought to be a potential top-five pick, Vilardi fell to the Kings at #11 because of injury concerns. Those concerns would turn out to be well-founded, as Vilardi would spend the next year and a half rehabbing a back injury that would keep him off of the ice.
Now fully healthy, Vilardi became a full-time member of the LA Kings this season. He struggled for stretches, but he also showed the potential he has, especially when it comes to his passing ability. He will undoubtedly have competition for ice time next season, but don’t sleep on Gabe Vilardi.
In the very next round, the Kings selected Jaret Anderson-Dolan out of Spokane of the Western Hockey League. Known for his strong 200-foot game and exceptional leadership ability, Anderon-Dolan, or JAD as he also known as, was originally projected by some to be a second-line center at the NHL level.
It appears now that he will settle in as a third or perhaps fourth-line center, but a great recent comparison for JAD would be Jarret Stoll – and if the LA Kings have another Jarret Stoll on their hands, nothing but good things can happen.
Like Anderson-Dolan, defenseman Mikey Anderson is also known for his strong leadership skills. Taken in the fourth round by the Kings, Anderson had a standout college hockey career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
After his college days were over, Anderson played one season with the Ontario Reign before making his full-time debut with the LA Kings this season. Spending most of his time as Drew Doughty‘s regular defense partner, he exceeded expectations.
Mikey Anderson is not a flashy offensive defenseman, but he has the poise and defensive awareness of a seasoned veteran, which will serve the Kings well into the future.
The 2008 draft
The 2008 draft would be instrumental in setting the LA Kings on the path to becoming two-time Stanley Cup Champions. It is sandwiched between two other very important drafts – as 2007 produced Wayne Simmonds, Alec Martinez, and Dwight King (along with his smile), while 2009 gave the Kings Brayden Schenn, Kyle Clifford, and Jordan Nolan.
Simmonds and Schenn would not make a big on-ice impact in Los Angeles, but they were packaged in a trade for Mike Richards – whom, as Kings fans know, had a huge impact on the team.
What sets the 2008 draft apart from the 2007 and 2009 drafts, however, is the LA Kings selected the greatest defenseman in franchise history with the number two overall pick in Drew Doughty. Having just completed his thirteenth NHL season, Doughty made the Kings roster as a rookie and has been a major part of the team ever since.
The London, Ontario native was a key cog of the Stanley Cup championship teams, has won two Olympic Gold Medals, is a four-time NHL All-Star, and won the Norris Trophy in 2016 as the NHL’s best defenseman.
Now 31 years old, Drew Doughty is one of the faces of the LA Kings franchise. With six seasons remaining on his contract, Doughty should remain a fixture on the team for the foreseeable future.
In the second round of the 2008 draft, the Kings would select another defenseman. This time it was Russian-born Viacheslav “Slava” Voynov. Unlike Doughty, Voynov did not jump right to the NHL after being drafted. Instead, he played for the Kings AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, for three full seasons before being called up to Los Angeles early in the 2011-12 season.
Once in LA, he stayed and became a solid addition to the Kings defense corps. Voynov was a member of both Stanley Cup-winning teams.
Shortly into the 2014-15 season, Voynov committed a reprehensible act of domestic violence against his wife, which would cost him his career in the NHL. He returned to Russia and left a gaping hole in the Kings defense, which the team would have a tough time filling.
A third pick from their 2008 draft class would also play for the LA Kings. Forward Andrei Loktionov was selected in the fifth round, and while certainly not as high profile as Doughty or even Voynov, Loktionov did play parts of three seasons for the Kings.
His peak was the 2011-12 season when he played 39 regular-season games and two playoff games as a member of the 2012 championship team. He was traded to the New Jersey Devils the following season.
The 2005 draft
The 2003 draft brought the LA Kings Dustin Brown, and the 2008 draft brought them Drew Doughty, but it was the 2005 draft that completed the foundation of the teams that would win the first Stanley Cups in the team’s history.
Current Kings captain Anze Kopitar was selected by the team with the number eleven pick in the first round. The thirty-three-year-old native of Slovenia has become one of the greatest centers in LA Kings history – right up there with Marcel Dionne and Wayne Gretzky. Consider Kopitar’s list of career achievements:
- Two-time Stanley Cup Champion.
- Two-time Selke Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defensive forward.
- Winner of the 2016 Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play.
- Five-time NHL All-Star.
- He finished third in the voting for the 2018 Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP.
Kopitar has three seasons remaining on his contract, so he will be around to usher in the next wave of Kings prospects. If they turn out anything like him, the franchise will set down the middle for a long time.
Every championship team needs great goaltending. In the third round of the 2005 draft, the LA Kings picked the man who would provide that for them when they selected Jonathan Quick. Considered to be one of the best American-born goaltenders of all time, Quick backstopped the Kings to both of their Stanley Cup wins and was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP in 2012.
Although known more for his playoff heroics than his regular season play, Quick has still won the William Jennings Trophy, given to the goaltender who has given up the fewest goals in the regular season on two occasions. His 54 shutouts place him fourth among all active goaltenders in that category, and his 336 wins are sixth among all active goalies. The only goaltender in LA Kings history to have the kind of impact Quick has had is the great Rogie Vachon.
Please note, this list of drafts is not ranked. We’ll let you, the reader, decide that. Let us know what you think!