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Draft Notes: Ottawa, Buffalo, New Jersey, Backup Plan

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Last night’s NHL Draft Lottery did little for most of the seven teams that did not qualify for the postseason. A to-be-determined playoff team won the No. 1 pick, the Los Angeles Kings were the lone true beneficiary among the seven, moving up to No. 2, and the Ottawa Senators hold the No. 3 pick. This may seem like a win for Ottawa, but the team actually held the second and third picks prior to the lottery, giving them the best odds to win the first overall pick and a chance at having two top-three picks. Instead, they ended up with No. 3 and No. 5. The Senators will be just the fifth team in NHL history to hold two top-five picks, but it is still seen as a poor result by many fans. However, for those wondering if the team would react to their lottery results by moving one of their two picks, that is not in the plans. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch relays from Sens GM Pierre Dorion that he may listen to offers for the selections but is “99.9% sure” that he will keep the picks. Ottawa may not be able to land prize prospect Alexis Lafreniere, nor can they select both Quinton Byfield and Tim Stutzle, the two forwards competing to go No. 2, but they are guaranteed one of those two and will still land another elite player in a deep draft class.

  • The Buffalo Sabres had the least lottery odds of the seven non-playoff teams and ended up sliding from No. 7 to No. 8 with a playoff team winning the first overall pick. In a deep draft class, the Sabres will still get a great player with the eighth pick and The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski details their potential options. The one that sticks out most is OHL star center Marco Rossi, who has an interesting tie to the team. While Buffalo recently moved on from a large number of their hockey operations staff and their minor league coaches, among others, head coach Ralph Kreuger is still at the helm and will likely have a say in draft decisions given that the hockey operations staff will largely be made up of new names by the time draft day occurs. If Kreuger does get to weigh in, Rossi could be his preferred target if available. Kreuger coached the Swiss national team for more than a decade until 2010, but Lysowski notes that he still maintains contact with the programs from which Rossi came. Additionally, Kreuger coached Rossi’s father, Michael Rossi, in Austria in the early 90’s. The slick, play-making forward may not make it to Buffalo at No. 8, but if he does he would very likely be the pick.
  • The New Jersey Devils landed pick No. 7 last night, but also own the first-round picks of the Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks. Conditions limit either of those picks from belonging to New Jersey if they were to become No. 1 overall, so they will both be later on in the first round. As a result, they could become expendable if the right deal was on the table. Interim GM Tom Fitzgerald stated on a conference call following the lottery that he would consider trading one of the picks if the opportunity arose. New Jersey is already considered a wild card in this draft given their depth in talented forwards and a draft class defined by depth in this area, so the team might be targeting top defenseman Jamie Drysdale or top goalie Yaroslav Askarov at No. 7 and then one first-round forward might be enough if they can improve the NHL roster by moving the other pick.
  • What happens to the Phase 2 Draft Lottery if the league does not resume play? TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that it would be the same as if all of the lower seeds in the knockout round were to lose. The even-odds (12.5% apiece) lottery would still place among the teams that finished 8-15 in inverse points percentage this season: Montreal, Chicago, Arizona, Minnesota, Winnipeg, New York Rangers, Florida, and Columbus.

Nikolai Prokhorkin In Talks With KHL Metallurg

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Nikolai Prokhorkin’s long-awaited debut in North America didn’t bring the results he or the Kings were hoping for.  As a result, it appears that he may be heading back home.  After SKA St. Petersburg announced that they’ve moved Prokhorkin’s KHL rights to Metallurg Magnitogorsk, John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor notes (Twitter link) that the winger is in talks on a two-year deal with his new KHL squad.

The 26-year-old played in 43 games with Los Angeles this season but was mired in a bottom-six role for most of the year.  As a result, he wound up with just four goals and ten assists on the season while averaging 12:06 per night.  That’s a significant dip offensively after being a point per game player with St. Petersburg the year before.  He also picked up a pair of assists in four games with AHL Ontario, their minor league affiliate.

Prokhorkin is eligible for restricted free agency this offseason but will not have salary arbitration eligibility.  A deal in Russia would take him past the NHL UFA age of 27 which means that the Kings would no longer hold his rights when that contract expires.

Today’s activity from SKA is notable as they picked up the rights to Avalanche winger Vladislav Kamenev and Predators center Yakov Trenin as part of that swap.  Both players will likely be part of their teams’ expanded rosters for the postseason which could delay any talks about luring them back overseas but this will be something to keep an eye on in the weeks ahead.

Snapshots: Carter, Sorokin, Hoefenmayer

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The Los Angeles Kings won’t be taking part in the 24-team playoffs this summer, so it’s time to get healthy and prepare for 2020-21. With that in mind, the team announced that Jeff Carter underwent surgery on June 4 to repair a core muscle injury. Carter is expected to be fully recovered for the next season.

Carter could very well be 36 when the next season starts and the front-loaded nature of his contract means he won’t be making very much (relatively speaking) when he does get back on the ice. With two years left on his deal but only $4MM in salary, he would be a potential option to trade out of Los Angeles in order to free up some playing time for some of their young talent. Carter does not have a no-trade clause in his deal, though there have been rumors in the past that he may decide to simply retire if sent to a destination he did not approve of.

  • Reports surfaced recently that New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin had restarted preliminary talks with his KHL team on a potential new contract, though absolutely nothing was decided at that point. Today, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Sorokin has changed his North American representation, hiring Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey as his new agent. Interestingly enough, Kirill Kaprizov, another high-profile KHL prospect (and teammate of Sorokin with CSKA Moscow) hoping to come to North America, recently parted ways with Milstein.
  • Noel Hoefenmayer has added another trophy to his cabinet after being named the CHL Defenseman of the Year today. The Arizona Coyotes draft pick led all OHL defensemen in scoring with 82 points in 56 games for the Ottawa 67’s. Unfortunately, Hoefenmayer never signed with the Coyotes and instead had to settle for an AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies a few months ago.

Snapshots: Williams, Drysdale, Nesterov

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The Carolina Hurricanes are scheduled to play the New York Rangers in a qualifying round if the NHL resumes this summer, meaning they could potentially only have a handful of games remaining in the 2019-20 season. Does that mean that Justin Williams is closing in on retirement? Not so fast says Hurricanes GM Don Waddell, who told Sportsnet radio to not write off his team leader just yet.

Williams, 38, took the first part of this season off to spend with his family but returned to the Hurricanes lineup on January 19th. While he was held pointless in 12 of his first 15 games, Williams was actually on a five-game goal streak when the season was paused in mid-March. The 19-year veteran has 101 points in 155 career playoff games, winning the Stanley Cup three times.

  • If you want to know a little more about the top-rated defenseman in this year’s draft, Craig Button of TSN breaks down Jamie Drysdale’s potential. The smooth-skating Drysdale gets a 5/5 rating in both hockey sense and competitiveness from Button, with a comparison to Hall of Fame defender Sergei Zubov. Drysdale was ranked third among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting and is expected to be off the board in the first few picks.
  • Rick Dhaliwal of TSN is hearing that Nikita Nesterov may actually leave CSKA Moscow after all, despite reports earlier in the year that he was planning on signing a long-term deal with the KHL organization. Back in March, Nesterov reportedly turned down a hefty offer from the Los Angeles Kings, the same team Dhaliwal has heard linked to the free agent defender now. In the three seasons since he left the NHL, Nesterov has recorded 60 points in 136 games for CSKA.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Arthur Kaliyev, Jordan Spence

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The Los Angeles Kings have inked a pair of top prospects, signing Arthur Kaliyev and Jordan Spence to three-year entry-level contracts. Both players are expected to return to the CHL next season.

Kaliyev, 18, was selected 33rd overall by the Kings last year after falling out of the first round. The young forward is one of the most lethal goal-scorers in all of junior hockey, lighting the lamp 126 times over his 192 regular season games for the Hamilton Bulldogs. After scoring 102 points in his draft year, the 6’2″ winger came back with an even better point rate in the shortened 2019-20, recording 98 in just 57 games.

While there is still work to do on several parts of his game, Kaliyev represents a potential top-six option for the Kings that could be lethal on an NHL powerplay. Should he fail to make the Los Angeles roster in 2020-21, he will not be eligible to play in the AHL and would have to return to Hamilton.

Spence meanwhile wasn’t drafted quite as high, picked 95th overall by the Kings last year, but is still making quite an impact. The 19-year old was named QMJHL defenseman of the year after recording 52 points in 60 games for the Moncton Wildcats. Actually born in Australia, Spence is quickly rising up prospect rankings despite being a mid-round pick and could legitimately challenge for an NHL roster spot in the next few years.

Like Kaliyev, Spence will not be eligible for AHL play next season and will likely return to help the Wildcats once again. Both contracts are eligible to slide forward if the players are sent back to junior.

Kings Will Not Renew Contract Of AHL Coach Mike Stothers

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The Los Angeles Kings announced that they will not renew the contract of their AHL head coach, Mike Stothers, who has coached the Ontario Reign/Manchester Monarchs for the past six years. His contract was set to expire on June 15.

“We appreciate everything Mike has contributed to the organization” said Rob Blake, Vice President and General Manager of the LA Kings. “He has played an important role in helping develop our players and we want to thank him for his years of service and guiding us to a Calder Cup Championship in 2015.”

The 58-year-old coach had a 220-137-35-13 record with Ontario and Manchester, including four playoff appearances and a Calder Cup Championship. Stothers first season in the L.A. system was as head coach of the Manchester Monarchs during the 2014-15 season, where he won the Calder Cup, taking his team to a 50-17-9 record in his rookie coaching season. Stothers won the Pieri Memorial Award for top AHL coach that season.

He then led his team to the Western Conference finals the following year before two straight first-round exits in the playoffs. The team didn’t make the playoffs in 2018-19 with a 25-33-10 record, but had a more positive 29-22-6 record this year before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The position should be a highly coveted one with the Kings in a full rebuild with a boatload of prospects entering the system over the past few years. L.A. is considered to have one of the best farm systems in the league. The team has had several high-quality prospects with the team last season, including Rasmus Kupari, Gabriel Vilardi, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Tobias Bjornfot. More are expected on the way next season.

Stretch Run Storylines: Los Angeles Kings

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As things stand, the NHL is planning to have games resume at some point over the coming weeks.  Assuming the regular season continues and play doesn’t jump immediately to the postseason, there will be plenty of things to watch for over the stretch run.  Over the weeks ahead, PHR will examine the top stretch run storylines for each team.  We continue our look at the Pacific Division with Los Angeles.

It is not the best of times in Los Angeles right now.  Last season, both John Stevens and Willie Desjardins weren’t able to lead the team to the postseason.  They brought in Todd McLellan for this season but he hasn’t fared any better aside from the Kings going from last in the division to second last before the stoppage in the schedule.  If there is a stretch run, the focus will be on next season which is where our storylines look.

Left Defense Battle

To say that the Kings have a weakness on the left side of their back end would be putting it lightly.  Any remaining games are going to be chances for veterans like Ben Hutton and Joakim Ryan to make their final push for a contract for next season.  It’s possible that one of them returns but with GM Rob Blake indicating earlier this month that they’re expecting to add on that side before the start of next season, both getting brought back seems less likely.

On top of that, Mikey Anderson will probably be given a chance to stake his case for a full-time spot in 2020-21 as well.  He didn’t look out of place in a six-game stint after the trade deadline that saw him log at least 18 minutes a game in each of those.  Any remaining regular season action would be beneficial from a development perspective at the very least and if he shows that he may be ready for a regular role, it would give Blake a little bit more flexibility heading into the offseason.

Vilardi Showcase

It has been a rough couple of seasons when it comes to center Gabriel Vilardi as back injuries have lingered.  He was able to see some regular action with AHL Ontario this season and fared pretty well with 25 points in 32 games in what was basically his first real tour through the minors as a 20-year-old.

The Kings took notice and brought him up just before the trade deadline and he responded with a goal and an assist in his NHL debut.  Just before the break, he had points in three straight games and sits at seven points in ten contests despite not even averaging 13 minutes per game.

That caution was understandable as this was basically his first extended action in the better part of two years; it made sense to ease him in instead of giving him a big role right away.  But with this extended pause, the time may be right to ramp up his minutes if regular season play resumes.  Yes, the games will largely be meaningless but Vilardi is one of their top prospects and any opportunity to give him NHL minutes is useful.  Seeing him healthy and rested is something they’ve yet to be able to do.  This will be their chance.

Petersen’s Potential

The trade of Jack Campbell to Toronto just before the trade deadline paved the way for Calvin Petersen to be promoted to the full-time backup role.  He played well following the recall, posting a 2.64 GAA and a .922 SV% in eight games.  Those numbers were nearly identical to what he put up in an 11-game stint last season (2.61 GAA, .924 SV%).  However, they’re also a lot better than what he accomplished with AHL Ontario over that same stretch so there are certainly question marks about his ability to contribute at the NHL level.

With Jonathan Quick’s play tailing off over the last couple of years, there are viable questions about how much longer he’ll able to hold down the number one job.  At the very least, they need to explore moving closer to a time-sharing situation and the Kings did take a step in that direction this season.  If regular season play returns, this would be a good opportunity to give Petersen some more game action.  Can he play at the level that he has in his brief NHL action or will his performance revert closer to his AHL numbers?  While a few largely meaningless games wouldn’t entirely answer that question, this would be a good time to test him.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Los Angeles Kings Parting Ways With Mike Futa

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Despite having a draft coming at some point in the next few months, the Los Angeles Kings are parting ways with assistant GM Mike Futa, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Futa has been rumored as a candidate for GM positions in the past, and will now be allowed to speak with other teams about a new position (as long as they receive official permission from the Kings, according to Friedman).

It’s been more than a decade since Futa joined the Kings, taking the position of co-director of amateur scouting back in 2007 following his run as GM of the Owen Sound Attack. He was promoted to vice president of hockey operations in 2014, before being named AGM in 2017. A well-respected scout, Kings GM Rob Blake explained exactly why he was promoting Futa at the time:

Mike has made tremendous contributions to our hockey club over the years and he will be one of several people we are going to internally lean on. He and his department have enjoyed success here both with the NHL Draft and the Ontario Hockey League in particular, and we look forward to additional success in the immediate future.

Notably, the Kings leaned on that knowledge of the OHL just a few months later when they selected Gabriel Vilardi with the 11th overall pick. Akil Thomas and Arthur Kaliev, both picked in the second round the following seasons, are two other OHL players that look to have promising futures.

While no scout ever hits on all of his picks, the collection of prospects Futa has built over the last few years is almost unrivaled. In fact, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription required) ranked the Kings as the top prospect pool in the entire NHL just a few months ago, indicating that they were the “clear-cut” choice at No. 1. Futa can’t be credited for all of it, as Mark Yannetti is actually the team’s director of amateur scouting, but he was definitely involved.

There will surely be teams interested in bringing Futa aboard, but the timing of such a hire will be interesting. It may be possible that he has to wait until after this scouting season is over, though it is unclear when exactly that will be.

Kings Notes: Seeking Defense, Kaliyev, Carter

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Earlier this week, Kings GM Rob Blake held a conference call with reporters, including Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider and provided a few tidbits of note.  For starters, he strongly suggested that they will be targeting some help for the left side of their defense corps when transactions can resume:

I think that would be one area of need that we would look at, whether it’s the free agent market or the acquisition market, and most likely on the left side.

That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.  As things stand, their left-side defensive depth under contract for next season effectively begins and ends with Kurtis MacDermid.  Ben Hutton and Joakim Ryan are slated to become unrestricted free agents this offseason while veteran Derek Forbort was dealt at the trade deadline.  While it’s possible that Hutton or Ryan could return, it’s still an area that will need to be addressed.

More news and notes from Blake’s discussion:

  • The team has started contract talks with prospect Arthur Kaliyev. The winger was dominant with OHL Hamilton for the second straight season, picking up 44 goals and 54 assists in just 57 games to sit fifth in league scoring before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season.  As he’s 18 and was drafted out of junior, he’s ineligible to play in the AHL next year which limits his options to playing with Los Angeles or rejoining the Bulldogs.
  • Blake mentioned that if regular season play resumes, center Jeff Carter would not be ready to return. Previously diagnosed with a lower-body issue, the GM clarified that it’s more of a core injury that will likely hold him out for a couple more months at least.  His output dipped to just 27 points in 60 games this season; the 35-year-old has two more years left on his deal with a cap hit of just over $5.27MM.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Jacob Ingham To Entry-Level Deal

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The Los Angeles Kings announced they have signed goaltender Jacob Ingham to a three-year, entry-level contract. The 19-year-old was a sixth-round pick in 2018, but after a dominant season in the OHL, earned himself a professional contract.

Ingham has always had the potential and the size (6-foot-4) to become a top goaltender. He also tested strong in athleticism and strength, making him the perfect developmental goalie the team could wait for when they drafted him.

However, he struggled in both his draft year and his plus-one year with the Mississauga Steelheads in the OHL with save percentages of .880 and .890. However, a trade to the Kitchener Rangers last summer changed everything this season. He led the league in wins with 33 in 46 appearances, while posting a 2.96 GAA and a .917 save percentage to dominate the league.

The Kings have three other goaltenders under contract after this season, including NHL goalies Jonathan Quick and Calvin Petersen as well as AHL goalie Matt Villalta. Minor league goalies Cole Kehler (restricted) and Kevin Poulin (unrestricted) will both free agents this offseason, which is likely to at least open one spot for Ingham.

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