Yesterday, the Kings added Dave Lowry as an assistant coach.
Jon Rosen outlined Lowry's impressive resume:
Lowry, 52, served as the head coach of the WHL’s Victoria Royals for the last five seasons – in addition to his position as head coach of Canada’s 2016 World Junior Championship team – after spending three seasons as a Calgary Flames assistant and a season as the head coach of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. In his playing career, Lowry appeared in 1,084 games with Vancouver, St. Louis, Florida, San Jose and Calgary. (LA Kings Insider)
With the Flames, Lowry ran the power play for Brent Sutter from 2009-12. The results were middling -- Calgary ranked 17th in the league with a 17.4 % success rate in that period of time. That doesn't tell the whole story, of course, as the Flames weren't the most explosive squad either. They were 22nd in the NHL in Goals Per Game from 2009-12.
Presumably, Lowry is taking the reins of the power play from Davis Payne. This hiring also dovetails with rumors that Ulf Samuelsson was approached about the other assistant coaching role under John Stevens. Recently, Samuelsson headed the New York Rangers' penalty kill. Helene Elliott, however, shot down this Lowry-Samuelsson couple yesterday:
Ulf Samuelsson, a former NHL player and minor league coach, previously interviewed for an assistant coaching job with the Kings but it’s believed he is not a candidate for the other opening. (LA Times)
Anyway, I'll dig more into Lowry's coaching past later. But this is funny: In 2010, Lowry and Jarome Iginla butted heads over the "star winger’s man-advantage tendencies."
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Martin Necas is an unusual prospect. Sean Shapiro explains:
Having talked to a couple European-based scouts, it’s fair argument that Martin Necas could be the best prospect out of the Czech Extraliga in almost a decade. (Wrong Side of the Red Line)
(For more about Necas and other Draft prospects, check out Sean's excellent Wrong Side of the Red Line...and please donate!)
That said, the Czech Extraliga hasn't exactly been a raging fountain of youth for the NHL. Since 2006, only Michael Frolik, Jiri Tlusty, and Tomas Hertl have been selected in the first round from that league.
Regardless, Dennis Schellenberg of McKeen's Hockey is bullish about the 6'0" center:
Lightning-quick and has a good nose for the net. He can finish off plays as well as set up scoring chances. Necas is an energy player who always plays an active game and tries to keep something going offensively...
He can also contribute defensively and backchecks...
He sometimes tries to do too much and needs go calm his game a bit...
He sometimes focuses too much on the puck and loses his guy in the back of plays...
He keeps his feet moving all the time. It has been said that he is a great skater but the way he keeps going and never quits on plays is really impressive...
[My NHL comp is] Jeff Skinner...
The Hockey News was equally enthusiastic about his skating:
"His skating is as good as anybody's," said another scout.
(The Hockey News excerpt from May 29, 2017 Draft Preview issue, available now.)
Shapiro adds, "Necas is also very good on faceoffs. He could play wing or center in the NHL."
One NHL scout who I spoke with was more guarded in his praise, calling Necas "a little perimeter." "I like Lias Andersson better than Necas actually."
To the Czech's credit, he has been playing up for most of the season -- as a 17-year-old in a men's league and underaged at the World Juniors. In both instances, he showed well. This is all the more impressive considered that he's listed at just 167 pounds.
Necas is a high-ceiling prospect, who might be gone well before Rob Blake steps to the podium. But he might also drop -- in part, because of his distant, less-than-popular league, organizations have seen less of him than the other top prospects.
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Necas's Czech Extraliga highlights:
Necas's World Junior highlights:
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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:
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