2009 7th Round Pick Nic Dowd

Well, our re-cap of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft has come to a close with our final pick in the 7th Round. The Los Angeles Kings selected Nic Dowd (198th overall) from the Wenatcheee Wild of the North American Hockey League. In 43 games played with the Wild, Dowd scored 16 goals and 33 assists for 49 points in the regular season. In 13 playoff games, Dowd scored an impressive 8 goals and 14 assists (and a plus-10 rating).

The 6’2″, 180 pound 19 year old Huntsville, AL native is the first player to ever be drafted from Huntsville as well as the first player to be drafted from the Wenatchee Wild. In an interview with Wenatchee Wild.com, Wild head coach Paul Baxter said “His selection is well-earned. LA’s Scouts had watched him play several times and were high on his NHL potential.” That just goes to show you: Los Angeles scouts are everywhere.

Dowd has committed himself to St. Cloud State University (WCHA) for the 2010-11 season and will play along side fellow Los Angeles Kings prospect Garrett Roe where he will be given ample time to mature. “His learning curve is very steep and his competitive vigor in all situations makes him a very attractive NHL prospect. He was a positive difference-maker in crucial game situations all season and during the playoffs”, said Baxter. “Nic has tremendous stick skills and vision, along with a very good skating stride that will get better as he physically matures.” Garrett Roe, also a 7th round draft pick by the LA Kings wasn’t the most highly-touted prospect of the bunch last year but managed to finish second in rookie scoring for the WCHA. There’s no doubt that Nic Dowd will benefit from the development program at St. Cloud State.

Matt Reitz from the popular blog View From My Seats got a chance to see Nic Dowd last weekend at the LA Kings Development Camp. “He couldn’t have blended in any more if he tried”, Reitz said. “I looked down at the roster a couple of times because I kept forgetting who he was. He wasn’t good and he wasn’t bad – he just blended. There were definitely guys that looked out of place. Thankfully he wasn’t one of them. I guess that’s a compliment, right?” Not exactly a shining endorsement of Dowd but somewhat expectant of a 7th rounder.

It will be interesting to watch the development of these players drafted in the lower rounds. Garrett Roe, also a 7th rounder, has been lighting up the WCHA. Obviously his Wenatchee Wild coach Paul Baxter thinks highly of him. Participation in these development camps will be highly beneficial to Nic Dowd. While we certainly can’t pencil Dowd into a Kings roster as of yet, there is little doubt that Dean Lombardi’s staff spoke endlessly about him. As we know by now, Lombardi will never waste a pick.

Random facts about Dowd: after hockey he would like to go to school for veterinary medicine and in the 1997-98 seasont he scored 103 goals and 68 assists for 171 points for his mite hockey team.

Resources:
View From My Seats – Follow Matt on Twitter
Wenatchee Wild.com

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, forward Brandon Kozun and forward Jordan Nolan.

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