2009 7th Round Pick Jordan Nolan

The Los Angeles Kings had two picks in the seventh round (thank you, Jason LaBarbera). With the first of the two, the Kings selected center Jordan Nolan of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (186th overall) of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). In 64 games with the Greyhounds, Nolan scored 16 goals and 27 assists for 43 points. He also had 158 penalty minutes (the guy likes to scrap; see videos below). Nolan’s a big boy as well weighing in at 216 pounds and standing 6’3″.

If the name sounds familiar, Jordan is the son of Ted Nolan, who coached the Buffalo Sabres and, most recently, the New York Islanders. So if you’re wondering where Nolan gets his fiery personality from, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.

In a recent altercation on March 7, Nolan took a game misconduct for starting a fight with R. J. Mahalak of the Plymouth Whalers. Said Commissioner David Branch to SooToday.com “the League is most concerned regarding the inappropriate and concerning actions of player Nolan and we must all work to eliminate these type of bullying tactics from our game. We are most fortunate that player Mahalak of the Plymouth Whalers was not more seriously injured.” Anybody else satisfied that LA Kings General Manager has addressed our lack of toughness this draft?

As a 20 year old with the Greyhounds, Nolan wasn’t sure he was going to be drafted at all. However, in a recent interview with The Sault Star, Greyhounds General Manager David Torrie had this to say about Jordan Nolan: “He’s an intriguing combination of size, skill and toughness.”

I really, really like this pick at 186th overall (I know, I’m a bit impartial). At worst, he plays another year of overage hockey in Sault Ste. Marie. At best he warms the bench in the AHL for Kevin Westgarth. His stats in the OHL indicate that he could be a late-bloomer. Don’t expect this guy to be the next Dustin Brown. Do expect this guy to provide toughness somewhere within the organization.

So, has Dean Lombardi satisfied the team’s need for toughness in this draft? Will Nolan ever find himself in a Kings uniform? Monarchs? Reign?

Resources:
HockeyFights.com
hockeyDB.com
Soo Today
The Sault Star

You can read about the Los Angeles Kings previous draft picks right here on KingsCast. So far, we’ve profiled forward Kyle Clifford, defenseman Nicolas Deslauriers, goaltender Jean-Francois Berube, forward Linden Vey, defenseman David Kolomatis, forward Michael Pelech and forward Brandon Kozun.

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