The Los Angeles Kings used their second 6th round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (179th overall) to select the smallish Los Angeles native Brandon Kozun from the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen. In 72 games played with the Calgary Hitmen last season, Kozun (right-wing) put up an impressive 40 goals and 68 assists for 108 points.

Kozun, 19, was a leader in the scoring race in the WHL all year. He was named Boston Pizza’s Player of the Week on December 29, 2008 as well as the HUSKY WHL Player of the Month for December. Kozun led all WHL players in scoring in the month of December. According to OurSportsCentral: “Kozun’s consistent play helped the Calgary Hitmen post an outstanding 10-1-0-1 record through the month of December, which included nine straight wins to wrap up the month, and maintain their first place standing in the WHL Central Division, Eastern Conference and entire League.” Not bad for a smaller guy, eh?

Looking at the observations on Kozun around the intra-webs, they all seem to be positive. While 5’8″ and 162 pounds is very small, we shouldn’t count Kozun out quite yet. Patrick Kane is 5’9″ and 160 pounds and has a Calder Trophy and an impressive playoff resume for the Chicago Blackhawks. Between his fast skating, soft hands and never say die attitude, Kozun could be a dark horse to making the LA Kings roster down the road. Reports from this week’s development camp have also been positive regarding Brandon Kozun. Let’s see how hard he works between now and the start of training camp.

Resources:
Western Hockey League (WHL)
OurSportsCentral

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 and forward Michael Pelech.

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Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty and HockeyTalk.biz continues his coverage of the Los Angeles Kings development camp held this weekend. Check out what he had to say about prospects Thomas Hickey and Colten Teubert.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Last summer, Los Angeles Kings defenseman prospect Thomas Hickey was in Southern California for the team’s annual development camp for their young prospects. But for him, the camp was filled with off-ice training and exercises and a lot of watching from the bench.

Indeed, Hickey ended up spending last year’s development camp off the ice and on crutches due to off-season surgery to repair a torn ankle ligament. But one year later, he was on the ice at the Kings’ 2009 development camp and was a standout among the defensemen.

“It’s a big relief,” said Hickey, who was selected by the Kings in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2007 National Hockey League Entry Draft. “It was tough sitting on the sidelines last year. I still learned a lot because there’s a lot of stuff that goes on off the ice but this year [I’m] getting so much more out of it.”

“Being able to compete is the [most fun] because everyone’s been practicing all summer,” added Hickey. “I haven’t played since the season so I’m really enjoying myself.”

2008-09 was quite the whirlwind season for Hickey, who completed his final season as captain of the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League. He was also the captain of the gold-medal winning Canadian team at the IIHF World Junior (under-20) Championships and he played a short stint with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (Kings’ primary minor league affiliate) at the end of the season…

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With the 6th round pick (156th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Los Angeles Kings selected center Michael Pelech from Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Originally drafted in the 1st round by the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, Pelech was traded to Mississauga in 2006. This 6’2″, 212 pound center scored 19 goals and 46 assists for 65 points in 68 games for the Majors this season. He also managed to accumulate 121 penalty minutes.

Born on October 6, 1989, Pelech is able to play in Manchester this season where his toughness and playmaking abilities should help the young Monarchs squad. He’s also excellent in the faceoff circle. In 11 playoff games with the Majors, Pelech scored 4 goals and 9 assists for 13 points.

Similarly to 5th round draft choice David Kolomatis, this pick is for Manchester. Plain and simple. While there’s always surprises out there, Michael Pelech will bolster the toughness in Manchester and will be steady on the third or fourth line. Last year, Monarchs GM Ron Hextall had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to fill his roster. Now that Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi’s draft choices are reaching AHL eligibility, we’ll soon see the Monarchs roster mature. Picking up Michael Pelech will help Manchester now.

What do you think of the pick? Is there anyone out there with a good knowledge of potential 2009 picks that think we should have drafted in the 6th round?

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, and defenseman David Kolomatis.

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Gann Matsuda of Frozen Royalty has been busy this weekend covering the Los Angeles Kings rookie development camp. Here’s his recent interview with Kings blue-chip goaltending prospect Jonathan Bernier.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — About this time last year, highly-touted Los Angeles Kings goaltending prospect Jonathan Bernier showed up at the Kings annual development camp for their young prospects with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

During last year’s development camp, I asked Bernier how he would feel if the Kings decided to send him to the minors even if he performed well at their 2008 training camp.

“I’ll be mad, really mad,” said the very confident, if not brash, young goaltending prospect.

As it turned out, Bernier suffered an injury during training camp and did not get a chance to be mad, at least, not for that reason. But in any case, it was a rather ominous sign of things to come from Bernier, who had an up-and-down 2008-09 season because he was disappointed about not being able to crack the Kings roster out of training camp and later in the season, he was upset about netminder Jonathan Quick getting called up from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League [the Kings’ primary minor league affiliate] instead of him.

Somewhat reminiscent of a temper tantrum, isn’t it? Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi indicated that Bernier’s attitude was poor, especially for a young player who has the National Hockey League in his sights.

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In the 5th round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Los Angeles Kings drafted defenseman David Kolomatis with the 126th overall pick. Last season, Kolomatis played for the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League. In 63 games for Owen Sound, Kolomatis scored 18 goals and 28 assists for 46 points. In the playoffs, he scored 2 goals and 2 assists for, you guessed it, 4 points. Kolomatis also appeared on Team USA’s U-18 squad in 2005-2006. The LA Kings are familiar with Kolomatis in that Director of Amateur Scouting Mike Futa signed him when he was General Manager of Owen Sound.

After reaching the playoffs in his final season with the Owen Sound Attack, Kolomatis signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Providence Bruins of the AHL. In four games with the Bruins he had 0 points and in the playoffs registered an assist.

The drafting of David Kolomatis means defensive depth for a very young Manchester Monarchs team. As an overager, Kolomatis no longer has any junior eligibility. Known for his smooth skating and ability to put up a little offense, Kolomatis will probably be that sixth defenseman for the Monarchs who does everything right but just doesn’t have the upside. That’s okay, we need guys like this in our minor league system. This was a good pickup that serves a very specific purpose. You can’t always draft a Henrik Zetterberg in the 5th round.

The information about the lower draft picks is getting thin, Kings fans. I’ll profile the last two in the coming days. Depending on how much information I get, I may just combine the profiles.

However, don’t forget that you can read about the higher draftees right here at KingsCast. We’ve already profiled Kyle Clifford, Nicolas Deslauriers, Jean-Francois Berbue and Linden Vey.

The Los Angeles Kings used their other 4th round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (96th overall) to select right wing Linden Vey of the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). In 71 games played for Medicine Hat, Vey scored 24 goals and 48 assists for 72 points. In 11 postseason games, Vey scored 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points. Drafted by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft in the 2nd round (42nd overall), Vey is small-ish at 5’11″, 179 pounds. He also played for Team Canada in the 2008 Under-17 World Championships, where he received a bronze medal.

This coming year, Vey should play on the top line in Medicine Hat which will allow him to develop his offensive skills even more. Vey has strong leadership skills and is good at protecting the puck. He’s not much of a threat physicially but the Kings will stress that during his development journey. According to his coach, Willie Desjardins, Linden is “a smart player, strong with the puck” and “good down low”.

I like this pick a lot. Vey is a creative passer and can put the puck in the back of the net. From the video footage I saw of Vey he also seems to have a good head on his shoulders. We’ll certainly have to keep an eye on Linden Vey at this weekend’s development camp.

According to NHL.com’s Draft Prospect Profiles, Linden’s favorite song “Gotta Be Somebody” by Nickelback (very troubling in that Nickelback is a terrible band). If he wasn’t a hockey player, he’d like to be a professional golfer because of the “easy lifestyle”.

You can read about the LA Kings’ other draft selections in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft here on the site. Kyle Clifford, Nicolas Deslauriers and Jean-Francois Berube have already been profiled.

Resources:
NHL.com
Medicine Hat News

The Los Angeles Kings added to their strong stable of young netminders by trading up in the draft (with the Atlanta Thrashers to 95th overall) to select Jean-Francois Berube from the Montreal Juniors of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in the fourth round.

At 6’1″, 198 pounds, Jean-Francois Berube is a butterfly goaltender who was a walk-on to the Montreal Juniors this season. In 20 games with the Juniors he posted a record of 6-9 with a 2.89 GAA and a .900 save percentage. He spent the majority of the season backing up St. Louis Blues prospect Jake Allen. Berube credits Allen with helping him along this season. “I’m very aggressive in net and I never give up”, said Berube in an interview with Daryl Evans at Kings Vision. Kyle Woodlief Red Line Report thought highly enough of Berube to say he was the best goaltender in this year’s crop (albeit a weaker crop).

In a recent interview with the Montreal Gazette, Berube stated “It’s an unbelievable feeling to be wearing a Los Angeles Kings uniform. I wore the exact same sweater when I was younger, so I’m very proud to have this sweater on my back today.” Berube was the first Quebec-born player selected in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Berube joins the company of Jonathan Bernier, Jonathan Quick, Jeff Zatkoff and Martin Jones as future LA Kings players between the pipes. Now that Dean Lomardi has replenished the prospect pool, we don’t have to think about rushing these guys. Personally, I like the pick of J-F Berube. It’s always good to have another goaltender in the system. Berube’s size, strength and aggressiveness will certainly be beneficial for Los Angeles down the road. Denis Fougere, the Kings’ QMJHL area scout, was also very high on Nicolas Deslauriers who we selected in the third round. It’s nice to see the scouts staying active around the globe.

You can read more about your 2009 LA Kings draftees in our continuing series. Kyle Clifford and Nicolas Deslauriers have already been profiled by the fine folks at KingsCast. Stay tuned for more!

Resources:
Kyle Woodlief at USA Today
Montreal Gazette
Hockey’s Future

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Now that the free agent period has died down, we can get back to getting to know your newest Los Angeles Kings draftees. Last time we profiled second round pick Kyle Clifford. This time it’s our third round pick, defenseman Nicolas Deslauriers.

The Kings selected 6 foot, 198 pound defenseman Nicolas Deslauriers in the third round (84th overall) from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Known primarily as an offensive-minded defenseman, Deslauriers scored 11 goals, 19 assists for 30 points for his Rouyn-Noranda team. His plus-3 rating was second-best on his Huskie team.

According to Hockey’s Future staff, who always has great analysis on prospects you’ve never heard of:

“An absolute wizard on the ice, Deslauriers is a pleasure to watch, thanks to his remarkable skating ability. As an offensive defenseman, Deslauriers has the ability to pick up a loose puck in his own zone and lead the counter-attack in the matter of just a handful of strides. Though he sometimes gets carried away with his desire to rush up the ice and be a key part of the offensive attack, Deslauriers’ ability to out skate the opposition and handle the puck with the best of them means he will continue to be an intriguing prospect.”

Mark Haidar, Altantic Canada Scout for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies said to me today in an interview “His best asset is his skating ability. He is extremely agile and his movement is effortless. He loves to carry the puck, sometimes too much though. He can sometimes be caught trying to pull a fancy spin-o-rama with the puck when he should, in all likelyhood, make the simple play.” Though Deslauriers is known for his offense, Haidar remarked “He isnt a powerplay quarterback in the purest sense. He is great at carrying the puck in but once he’s in the zone he doesn’t show a lot of creativity. He has a good shot but his playmaking abilities from the point are only average.” Though there is some development that needs to be done on Deslauriers, Haidar said “he’s great value for a third round choice.”

This was a solid pickup by Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi in the third round. Deslauriers’ final draft ranking was 59, so he fell a bit. Lombardi managed to scoop this offensive-defenseman up. Given our growing arsenal of defenseman, Deslauriers will come through Los Angeles’ system the right way – slowly. Lombardi has managed to draft a solid puck-moving defenseman with great skating skills. Deslauriers can play both as a defenseman and as a forward. His 80 penalty minutes last season shows that he’s not afraid to mix it up a bit. In my opinion, this was a solid draft choice. If you’re heading out to the LA Kings development camp this weekend, and you get a chance to see Deslauriers, leave your impressions in the comments section below.

Resources:
Hockey’s Future
LAKings.com
HockeyDB.com

Read Gann Matsuda’s take on the Ryan Smyth trade posted on Frozen Royalty

EL SEGUNDO, CA — After sitting at the station, watching the unrestricted free agent train pass him by on July 1 and then signing veteran free agent defenseman Rob Scuderi on July 2, which did nothing to fill the gaping hole the Kings had on left wing, Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi earned at least a bit of redemption on July 3 when he acquired left wing Ryan Smyth from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defensemen Kyle Quincey and Tom Preissing and a fifth round pick in the 2010 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

The trade is contingent upon the results of physical examinations of the players involved in the deal.

Last season, Smyth scored 26 goals and added 33 assists for 59 points in 77 games. He led the Avalanche in assists and was second on the team in goals. He was also tied for the team lead in power play goals (10) and game-winning goals (3). He also led the team withi 257 shots.

In fourteen NHL seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders and the Avalanche, Smyth has scored 310 goals and has added 350 assists for 660 points with 733 penalty minutes in 920 regular season games. In 81 playoff games, the 6-1, 190-pound native of Banff, Alberta has scored 25 goals and has contributed 27 assists for 52 points with 82 penalty minutes.

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