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Looking Back At The First Round Of The 2005 NHL Entry Draft

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On this date 17 years ago, the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa. It was the league’s first major event since the lockout that cost them the entire 2004-05 season ended just over a week prior, and considering the draft’s top prize, there was added intrigue.

With the lack of regular-season standings to determine the draft order, the league implemented a snake draft system to make things more equitable for teams in later rounds that didn’t fare so well in the draft lottery. One team that did fare well that night, though, was the Pittsburgh Penguins, who cemented a 15-plus year run of success by drafting future captain Sidney Crosby with the first overall pick.

Five players selected that night went on to appear in at least 1,000 NHL games, including Crosby. One was 2022 Stanley Cup Champion Jack Johnson, taken third overall by the Carolina Hurricanes. Johnson never played a single game for Carolina, though, as he was traded the following offseason to the Los Angeles Kings along with defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky in exchange for defenseman Tim Gleason and center Eric Belanger.

Johnson wasn’t the only player from the first round to play meaningful games for the Kings, though. The team selected two-time Stanley Cup champion and future captain Anze Kopitar with the 11th overall selection. Another thousand-gamer was selected directly after him when the New York Rangers picked defenseman Marc Staal 12th overall, while Johnson’s teammate on the 2022 Avalanche, forward Andrew Cogliano, was selected 25th by the Edmonton Oilers.

One name from that night who could still join the 1,000-game club was St. Louis Blues selection and current Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie. Taken 24th overall, he only needs 100 more appearances to hit the mark.

Future Stanley Cup-winning skaters weren’t the only future legends drafted that night, though. Two of the greatest goalies in recent memory were drafted that night, with the Montreal Canadiens selecting Carey Price with the fifth overall pick and the Toronto Maple Leafs selecting Tuukka Rask with the 21st overall pick, of course prior to trading him to the Boston Bruins the following season.

Just three players selected that night, all taken within four picks of each other, would never make an NHL appearance. Slovak forward Marek Zagrapan, drafted 13th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, played just three years in the organization with two different AHL affiliates, scoring 20 goals there just once. At 35 years old, Zagrapan is still active, playing the 2022-23 season in the French Ligue Magnus.

Directly after him, the Washington Capitals took Canadian defenseman Sasha Pokulok with the 14th overall pick. The first overage player taken in the draft, he’s arguably the biggest bust of the night. He never spent a full season in the AHL, bouncing up and down between there and the ECHL for four seasons after turning pro in 2006. He failed to make a notable impact in Europe, too, only lasting one season in the DEL (2010-11) before floating around various lower-level leagues in Eastern Europe and Quebec.

Lastly, there’s Canadian winger Alex Bourret, taken by the Atlanta Thrashers at 16th overall. A short but strong power winger, Bourret had a very successful junior career in the QMJHL that just didn’t translate. His North American career fizzled out quickly after a strong start in the AHL, but after being traded twice (first to the Rangers, then to the Coyotes), he had just 14 points in 48 AHL games during his final season there in 2008-09.

Los Angeles Kings To Retire Dustin Brown’s Number

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The Los Angeles Kings are poised to add a seventh member to their list of retired numbers. On February 11, 2023, the team will retire winger Dustin Brown’s no. 23, unveiling a statue of him as well prior to a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, per the team.

He’ll be the team’s third winger to have his number retired, joining Dave Taylor (18) and Luc Robitaille (20). Defenseman Rob Blake (4), center Marcel Dionne (16), goalie Rogie Vachon (30), and Wayne Gretzky’s no. 99, which the team had a separate ceremony for in addition to its league-wide retirement.

Brown announced his retirement late in the 2021-22 season, saying he’d retire after the culmination of the Kings’ playoff run, which ended in seven games against the Edmonton Oilers in the First Round. He finished his career as the team’s all-time leader in games played with 1,296, although Anze Kopitar is set to surpass that mark shortly as well. Captaining the team to two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014, he’s remembered as one of, if not the best, power forwards the team’s had in their history.

While his production dipped mid-career, Brown never gave up on playing meaningful minutes, and his work ethic led to a late-career resurgence that included 61-point and 51-point seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Brown will be just the third individual to have a statue in his honor in LA, joining Robitaille and Gretzky.

Kings Re-Sign Gabriel Vilardi And Jaret Anderson-Dolan

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The Kings have agreed to terms with a pair of their remaining restricted free agents as the team announced that they’ve signed forwards Gabriel Vilardi and Jaret Anderson-Dolan to one-year contracts.  Vilardi receives a one-year, one-way deal worth $825K while Anderson-Dolan receives a two-way pact that’s worth $750K at the NHL level.

Vilardi was a first-round pick of Los Angeles back in 2017 (11th overall) but dealt with back trouble soon after.  The 22-year-old actually played less with the Kings last season (25 games) than he did in the pandemic-shortened campaign (54 contests) with the team being a little deeper up front plus their desire to give him big minutes in the minors.  In his NHL appearances, Vilardi picked five goals and two assists while averaging 13:31 per night but was much more productive with AHL Ontario, notching 15 goals and 23 helpers in just 39 contests.  In his career, he has played in a total of 89 NHL contests, collecting 18 goals and 19 assists.

While Vilardi was owed a qualifying offer of just over $874K, that only had to be a two-way offer.  By taking a little less than that, he was able to secure that as his guaranteed salary no matter where he plays (although he’s now waiver-eligible so it’s unlikely that he’d made it back to the Reign) while giving Los Angeles a bit of cap flexibility.

As for Anderson-Dolan, the 22-year-old is also coming off his entry-level deal.  The 2017 second-rounder (41st overall) also saw less NHL action than in the pandemic-shortened season, going from 34 NHL appearances in 2020-21 to just seven in 2021-22 (where he was held off the scoresheet).  He played quite well in the minors though, finishing third on the Reign in scoring with 24 goals and 23 assists in 54 games.

Anderson-Dolan also took less than his NHL qualifying offer which will result in him receiving a higher AHL salary than he would have received had he taken his qualifier.  However, he’s also waiver-eligible next season and as a young center with 50 career NHL games under his belt, putting him on waivers to try to send him back to Ontario would be a little risky.  Instead, he would be a candidate to break camp as an extra which wouldn’t be great for his development but would ensure he’d remain with the organization.

The Kings still have some work to do on the RFA front with defensemen Michael Anderson and Sean Durzi in need of new contracts.  With limited cap space, they will likely need to pursue short-term agreements with both players in the coming days.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was the first to report that both players had re-signed.

Los Angeles Kings Add Jim Hiller To Coaching Staff

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The Los Angeles Kings have a new member of their coaching staff: Jim Hiller. The Kings announced that Hiller would be joining coach Todd McLellan’s staff and added that he would “primarily work with forwards” as well as “focus on the powerplay.” Hiller replaces former assistant Marco Sturm, who is now the coach of the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

Hiller, 53, was let go by the New York Islanders earlier in the offseason, as part of the team’s transition to a largely new coaching staff led by Lane Lambert. Hiller’s strong body of work for the Islanders landed him “on the radar” of multiple teams with head coaching vacancies, including the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, according to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes.

Prior to Hiller’s three-year tenure with the Islanders, he was an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and also spent 2014-15 as an assistant on Mike Babcock’s Detroit Red Wings staff. Hiller also has head coaching experience, as the head coach of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans and Chilliwack Bruins, who were later relocated to Victoria.

This is a bit of a return for Hiller, as he was drafted by the Kings as a player in 1989 and made his NHL debut with the team, playing 40 games for them in 1992-93 before being traded to Detroit.

Hiller will have his work cut out for him, as the Kings’ power play converted just 16.1% of its opportunities last season, a rate that ranked 27th in the NHL and worst among all playoff teams. The Kings have worked hard this summer to solve the issues on their power play, as seen by their trade for Kevin Fiala last month, and it appears that the addition of Hiller is part of that solution as well.

Andrej Sekera Retires From NHL

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After 16 seasons, one of the best Slovak defensemen to ever lace them up is calling it a career. Andrej Sekera told a Slovak-language newspaper today that he’s stepping back from the NHL.

A 2004 third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, Sekera carved out a quite long, underrated NHL career with the Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Dallas Stars, where he spent the last three years and 135 games of his career.

His peak season, interestingly enough, came during his only full season with Carolina, notching 11 goals and 44 points in 74 games while averaging a career-high 23:41 per game.

Sekera was one of the more overlooked pieces that helped the Edmonton Oilers return to relevancy with Connor McDavid at the helm. He was the team’s most important defensive player in the 2016-17 season that saw them make the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, but a torn ACL during the second round in 2017 really hurt his career. He never played more than 57 games in a season after that and never averaged higher than 18 minutes per game after consistently averaging 20 or more for a number of seasons prior.

Sekera retired third all-time in games played amongst Slovak defensemen, trailing the obvious (Zdeno Chara) and Lubomir Visnovsky.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Pheonix Copley, Tobie Paquette-Bisson

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The Los Angeles Kings have signed a pair of minor-league deals today, signing goalie Pheonix Copley to a one-year, one-way deal worth $825,000 and defenseman Tobie Paquette-Bisson to a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000.

Copley, 30, was once considered a potential NHL up-and-coming netminder, when he played 27 games with the Washington Capitals in 2018-19. He’s barely been back since, though, and has just 31 appearances to his name. His deal with the Kings is almost certainly as a minor league option, where he has much more experience.

Paquette-Bisson is signing his first NHL contract after spending the last few seasons in the minor leagues. It is a heck of a success story for an undrafted, defenseman that played two full years in the ECHL.

Because he is now 25, he is not restricted by the entry-level system, which means he can get a bit more money. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that he will earn $175K in the AHL and holds a $200K minor league guarantee.

Brendan Lemieux Re-Signs With Los Angeles Kings

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Despite not receiving a qualifying offer, Brendan Lemieux is staying in Los Angeles. The bottom-six forward has signed a one-year contract worth $1.35MM for the 2022-23 season, a slight discount over what his QO would have guaranteed.

Lemieux, 26, came to Los Angeles via a 2021 trade from the New York Rangers. Lemieux is a bit of a player, not for his on-ice talent but for his on-ice behavior. In terms of talent level, there isn’t much up for debate. Lemieux is your prototypical “pest” player. Physical, high-energy, and never quiet would all be ways to describe Lemieux’s game. His no-holds-barred game can endear himself to fans just as much as it can frustrate them.

A $1.3MM price tag certainly isn’t unreasonable for a player like Lemieux. There are NHL teams who value the sort of role he plays, and the Kings are one of them. This is an important season in Los Angeles, with the team making aggressive additions in order to secure a return to the playoffs.

Even with his disciplinary issues in mind, this signing illustrates that Lemieux’s hard game is valuable to the group Los Angeles is building and he should be fully capable of continuing his level of play for them for another year.

Los Angeles Kings Extend Alex Edler

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The Los Angeles Kings are bringing back a valuable veteran defenseman. Alexander Edler has signed a one-year, league-minimum $750,000 extension to stay in Southern California, per the team. The 35+ contract also has the potential to earn Edler an additional $750,000 in games played bonuses. Per PuckPedia, the contract also includes a no-movement clause.

Edler, 36, spent his first NHL season outside of the Vancouver Canucks organization in 2021-22. His first season went well with the Kings in a reduced role, helping guide a youthful defense to strong play en route to the team’s first playoff appearance since 2018. He finished the season with three goals, 16 assists, 19 points, and a +18 rating in just 41 games due to injury. He did average just 18:28 per game, his first time averaging under 20 minutes per game as a full-time NHL player.

Another season for Edler puts him within striking distance of the 1,000 games played mark. Currently sitting at 966, the Swedish defenseman will need to suit up at least 34 times for the Kings in the regular season to hit the milestone. It’s a signifier of how impressive Edler’s career has been, and while it may be nearing its end, he’s a stellar model of leadership and consistency for the younger Kings to emulate.

With that quickly-improving young defense, though, the news likely means the Kings won’t be active on the free-agent defense market. With Michael Anderson, Sean Durzi, and Tobias Bjornfot earning NHL spots moving forward (just to name a few), and Sean Walker returning from a season-long injury absence, there aren’t any more spots available barring a trade.

The surging Kings are also beginning to push against the salary cap. With just over $3.5MM in projected space left according to CapFriendly, and Anderson and Durzi needing new contracts, don’t expect the team to make many more waves after Edler’s extension.

Kings Could Re-Sign Brendan Lemieux After Non-Tender

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  • Although he was non-tendered by the Los Angeles Kings, forward Brendan Lemieux may still re-sign with the team after all is said and done, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston, with contract talks still ongoing. This news isn’t too shocking, as the gritty winger has played well for the Kings since being acquired from the New York Rangers during the 2020-21 season, but coming with a qualifying offer of $1.65MM, Los Angeles may have opted to try and re-sign Lemieux at a lower rate, not taking the chance of him accepting a salary they may view as too high.

Craig Johnson Hired By Anaheim Ducks

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The Anaheim Ducks announced that they have hired former NHLer and recent member of the Los Angeles Kings organization Craig Johnson as an assistant coach on Dallas Eakins’ staff. Though Johnson doesn’t bring with him any previous NHL coaching experience, he does bring a wealth of hockey knowledge and experience between his 10 year playing career, coaching experience at various other levels, as well as other roles in scouting and directing. Johnson has spent the previous four seasons in the Kings organization, serving as a development coach, a professional scout, and an assistant coach on the staff of the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ AHL affiliate.

One of the more intriguing aspects of this hire is Johnson’s ties to the southern California hockey scene. Johnson came to the Kings in February of 1996 as part of the deal that sent Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues. The forward would spend eight seasons in a Kings uniform before spending part of the 2003-04 seasons with the Ducks. Shortly after retiring from his playing career, Johnson became the head coach of Santa Margarita Catholic High School’s hockey team, which plays in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League (ADHSHL), leading the team to three national titles during his tenure before joining the Kings organization. Craig’s son Ryan Johnson was a first round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2019, becoming the second first-round pick in that draft to come out of the ADHSHL, along with the Philadelphia Flyers’ Cam York.

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