While most mock drafts have Thomas pegged as a late first-rounder, Grant McKagg believes Los Angeles will pluck the 6'1" center. He spoke glowingly of the London Knights star recently:
A lot of parallels can be drawn between former London Knights center Bo Horvat and 2017 draft eligible center Robert Thomas...
Scouts are already more comfortable with Thomas’ overall skill package as there are no question marks with his skating. Horvat on the other hand wasn’t thought to be overly agile or quick at the time...
Thomas may not possess Horvat’s goal-scoring prowess -- certainly he’s not as hungry to score and more inclined to set up plays -- where he does draw comparison though is in his ability to win the absolute trust of his coach Dale Hunter to be played in every and all important situations at such a young age. Power plays, penalty kills, 4-on-4, up a goal, down a goal, key faceoffs...he has surpassed Cliff Pu as London’s most effective pivot and now centering London’s top line...
Jeff Marek has also made the Horvat comparison.
However, an NHL scout who I spoke with was more cautious. He thinks Horvat is a very, very ambitious comp and sees Thomas as more of a late-first, early-second selection. "He's a good player, but he's a third-line player."
Brock Otten from the always-excellent OHL Prospects adds that Thomas has to focus on his shot to maximize his potential:
He's deceptively quick and extremely effective off the rush, where his elusiveness is combined with his vision and creativity...
Just makes great decisions with the puck in the offensive end...
I think Thomas will always be a playmaker, first and foremost, but he needs to keep teams honest by improving his shot and by being more aggressive in using it. Teams overplay him for the pass and he won't take that next step as OHL scoring leader and offensive dynamo until his shot improves and his confidence in using it improves.
Check out Otten's more extensive Thomas scouting report here.
Thomas's all-situations acumen does sound very much like a Kings-like player, however, at least the old regime's. The Hockey News puts a fine point on it:
"Most young kids embrace offense first and respect structure," said a scout. "This kid embraces structure, then worries about offense."
(The Hockey News excerpt from May 29, 2017 Draft Preview issue, available now.)
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Thomas doesn't score much in this tape, but there are a lot of examples of his heady play:
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Check out my draft previews for possible Kings' first-round picks -- I'll have about 15 individual profiles up by June 23rd:
Relieving LA's first-ever Finals appearance in 1993, it was fun to see how the post-game Three Stars were doled out over that run. Not shockingly, Wayne Gretzky, who rang up 40 points in just 24 games, led the Kings in this category. However, second place was perhaps surprisingly close to The Great One:
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