The Los Angeles Kings have only picked first once in their franchise history, and that was all the way back in 1967, the first year they were in the NHL. However, there was another time in franchise history when they would have had a chance to pick first if not for league rules around the lottery.
In 1995, the NHL put in place a lottery for the non-playoff teams to determine the draft order. Whichever team finished with the worst record had the best odds and those odds diminished based on how they finished in the standings.
Entering that lottery, the LA Kings had the seventh-worst record in the NHL while the Ottawa Senators had the worst and the best odds to win the first overall pick. They would end up selecting first overall but only due to a rule put in place by the league.
In fact, it would be the Kings who would have won the first overall pick but at the time, teams could only move up a maximum of four spots from their original position. That meant the highest the Kings would pick is third overall.
Who would have the LA Kings picked if they had the first overall pick?
That year, the first three picks would be defenseman with Bryan Berard going first overall, Wade Redden going second, and the Kings selecting Aki Berg third overall. All three players had solid NHL careers as all three played at least 600 games in the NHL while Redden was probably the most productive with 457 points.
Berg would be the first to make his NHL debut as he did in 1995-96 and played in 51 games for the Kings. However, it would be Berard who would win the Calder Memorial Trophy one season later when he made his NHL debut in 1996-97.
It is also worth noting that neither Berard or Redden would play for the team that drafted them, as they would be traded in January 1996, with Berard going to the Islanders and Redden going to the Senators.
If the Kings were to have the first overall pick, Berard probably would have still been the pick as he was viewed as the top prospect that year. However, the best player from this class was without question Jarome Iginla, who was selected 11th overall by the Dallas Stars. He would finish his career with six All-Star nominations and 1,300 points.