Ben Shelley: Who could the Kings select with the eighth-overall pick?

They should grab Wallstedt. Give him a few years while the team is built up and hes your guy.,

Hard no on Wallstedt.

Of the guys you mentioned, Edvinsson is arguably BPA and fills a need. No brainer.

Note: I've seen several mocks where Clarke falls to 8. His skating style is apparently a question mark. Who knows?

Personally I think the top 10 of this draft is pretty interchangeable so while I’m not necessarily saying disregard BPA if there was a draft to address organizational need this is it.

From an outsider’s perspective I think LA should be selecting the best LD available. Doughty, Roy, and walker are locked up for the foreseeable future on the right side and outside of bjornfoot I’m not sold on any of LA’s other prospects I know of having the potential to become a guaranteed top 4 LD.

After that I look at the left shot wingers eklund and Johnson. Kopitar still has term, Byfield will play center, the 3rd spot is a toss up between turcotte and vilardi. With most of LA’s top prospects being right shot centres it would be fair to assume they will slide over to the right side. So with a log jam there it would make sense to address the other side of the ice

With either Turcotte or Byfield having to slide over to LW, the Kings are pretty set at that position.

For Example:
Turcotte/Byfield
Kempe
Iaffallo
L. Andersson
Lemieux
Grundstrom

Sure -- not incredibly exciting, but not terrible LW depth.

The Kings could use another solid prospect on the RW, as right now we are looking at Arvidsson and Kupari who have a shot at making the top 9 a year from now. There's other prospects there (Fagemo, Thomas, Frk?) -- but nothing I'd hang my hat on.

Either way -- it feels like the best pick in this years draft is a D-Man. If Clarke is available, great -- you can think of him as Doughty's successor or an upgrade over Roy/Walker. If Edvinsson is available, great -- take him. The left side of our D is thin.

If Clarke and Edvinsson are both gone -- then go with Guenther and get some goal scoring help on the right side. I can't imagine all three of those players are gone by the Kings pick.


Clarke. Edvinsson. Guenther.

In that order.

They should grab Wallstedt. Give him a few years while the team is built up and hes your guy.,
- hockeyaddict89

It's hard to take a goalie with a top 10 pick -- especially now when there are so many goalies floating around on the open market... it's a relatively cheap position to fill.

I'll also say, that a lot of cup winners over the last 10-15 years have won with a goalie they drafted, which is interesting. So maybe there is an argument to go after Wallstedt -- I'm just not prepared to make it.

Not discounting Wallstedt -- just not sure it's the best use off the pick -- especially if the Kings plan to go with Peterson long term (who doesn't have a contract after this year).

Cheers.

Personally I think the top 10 of this draft is pretty interchangeable so while I’m not necessarily saying disregard BPA if there was a draft to address organizational need this is it.

From an outsider’s perspective I think LA should be selecting the best LD available. Doughty, Roy, and walker are locked up for the foreseeable future on the right side and outside of bjornfoot I’m not sold on any of LA’s other prospects I know of having the potential to become a guaranteed top 4 LD.

After that I look at the left shot wingers eklund and Johnson. Kopitar still has term, Byfield will play center, the 3rd spot is a toss up between turcotte and vilardi. With most of LA’s top prospects being right shot centres it would be fair to assume they will slide over to the right side. So with a log jam there it would make sense to address the other side of the ice
- RedC21

Agree with so much of this. The top 4-10 of the draft is like throwing dice against a wall. I agree the LD is a need -- but I also don't think we are winning a cup in 5 years with Doughty - Roy - Walker on the Right side of our D. Also, we won't be able to extend Roy and Walker four years from now when their contracts are up -- so who is the replacement? You could say either Grans (35th overall) or Faber (45th overall) and I would say -- "Point Well Made." That may be true.

Our LW need (Eklund & Johnson) doesn't make any sense to me -- as our center prospects are LW not RW -- like you suggest. (Turcotte / Byfield).

In two years the team will look like:
Turcotte - Kopitar - ?
........... - Byfield - ?
........... - Vilardi - ?

You are really trying to build a forward group around that.

And just to throw out what the Kings forward lineup might look like next year -- because that's obviously a fun thing to do.....

Kempe -- Kopitar -- Arvidsson (Swedish connection)
Iafallo -- Byfield -- Brown (Byfield learns to be a center)
L. Andersson -- Vilardi -- Athanasiou
Lemieux -- JAD -- Moore
Lizotte / Wagner

Everyone else gets another year in Ontario.

Agree with so much of this. The top 4-10 of the draft is like throwing dice against a wall. I agree the LD is a need -- but I also don't think we are winning a cup in 5 years with Doughty - Roy - Walker on the Right side of our D. Also, we won't be able to extend Roy and Walker four years from now when their contracts are up -- so who is the replacement? You could say either Grans (35th overall) or Faber (45th overall) and I would say -- "Point Well Made." That may be true.

Our LW need (Eklund & Johnson) doesn't make any sense to me -- as our center prospects are LW not RW -- like you suggest. (Turcotte / Byfield).

In two years the team will look like:
Turcotte - Kopitar - ?
........... - Byfield - ?
........... - Vilardi - ?

You are really trying to build a forward group around that.
- Cabbages and Kings

I was more so thinking of Thomas and kupari as the RC’s who I believe are going to be really good players. On the left side kailyev is a boom or bust type and I don’t think fagemo has the potential of the other two. Also I wonder if vilardi’s style of play would be easier to transfer over to the wing than turcotte’s.

Realistically if LA selects a forward they will be adding to a loaded group of prospects so it doesn’t really matter who they select, I just don’t think LW has the quality of the other two positions.

I hope you're feeling is right about Thomas and/or Kupari -- if even one of those turns out to be a top six winger, the Kings would be in pretty good shape. Agree on Kal -- hope he's a boom.

Seems like a good draft to take a Dman at #8, but either way, I think the Kings are getting a strong prospect.

Unless they trade it -- of course.

I would put Kaliyev in Browns spot, at least to start the season. Slide Lias down to the fourth line, and put AA and Brownie on Vilardi’s wings. Meaning Lemieux would sit with Lizzie and wags would be in the AHL where he belongs so he can potentially work on his break away scoring.

If we pick up another winger then I think Lemieux goes to the AHL as well. But, if I’m Blake, I’m looking to pick up a D-man first. Maybe Sergachev from the Bolts? Or just maybe sending an offer sheet Makars way just to see what happens. Either way, good takes Mr. Cabbage.