After trading the third round pick they acquired in the Jordan Spence trade, the Los Angeles Kings would keep their original third round pick at 88th overall and select Kristian Epperson. He is a player who showed significant improvements this past season and is one of the best re-entry prospects in this year's class.
Epperson is a left wing forward who is 6'0" and 185 pounds and shoots left-handed. He played last year with the Saginaw Spirit and in 58 games had 27 goals, 53 assists, while averaging over a point per game and a +/- of +45. He will be moving on to the NCAA this upcoming season and playing for the University of Denver, where he will play alongside fellow LA Kings prospect James Reeder.
He was recently a topic of discussion on the Daily Faceoff when Steven Ellis was asked if there were any notable re-entry players in this year's class. He specifically mentioned Epperson and had this to say about the player:
"You look at those numbers, 80 points for a guy that didn’t look like a point producer at any level, heading into this. And that also just really shows you how hard it could be being a depth guy on the NTDP Team, where there’s all this great talent. He got shuffled out, he ended up becoming a fourth liner and eventually fell down to the U17 team, which is a difficult situation. When that happens, when you’ve been playing with these guys for two years, you kind of get demoted. So, he goes to Saginaw and makes the most of his opportunities. He’s a great playmaker and really good on the power play. I could see him being a second-round pick."
The fact that Epperson was viewed as a potential second-round pick makes this a great value selection for the Los Angeles Kings. He is a player who has faced some adversity but has bounced back in a big way and delivered an excellent performance in the OHL with the Saginaw Spirit.
LA Kings continue to build out their draft class with the selection of defenseman Henry Brzustewicz in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft with the 31st overall pick then Vojtech Cihar in the second round to begin Day 2.