2009 NHL Entry Draft-KingsCast Hockey Podcast

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.

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

2009 6th Round Pick Brandon Kozun

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

2009 6th Round Pick Michael Pelech

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?

2009 5th Round Pick David Kolomatis

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.

2009 4th Round Pick 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

2009 4th Round Pick Jean-Francois Berube

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

2009 3rd Round Pick Nicolas Deslauriers

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

Ryan Smyth to Kings in trade with Avs for Preissing, Quincy & 5th Rnd Pick

‘Captain Canada’ is coming to Los Angeles. In need of a gritty, experienced, leader-y, decent and slightly aging Left Winger, the Los Angeles Kings have acquired the 6′1″ & 190 lbs. forward in exchange for Tommy P, Kyle Quincy (& his eyes) with a 5th round pick in the 2010 draft. The Avs dump Smyth’s $6,250,000 average a year salary, the Kings dump the inactive and disappointing Tom Preissing along with his $2,750,000 a year salary along with Quincy (an above average D-Man but odd man out) and throw in an uneventful 5th Round Pick.

Advantage, Kings. Since things didn’t quite work out with Hossa, Gaborik or Havlat, Deano went ambulance chasing with teams needing to shred payroll and scored with the Colorado Avalanche. The LA Kings get a strong, Deano-approved “Character Guy” and leader who’ll help groom the kids and someone who isn’t afraid to crash the net and get dirty in the corners. At first glance the salary seems high, but he’s worth it. Gotta spend money to make money. He is exactly what this team needs in this situation. Smyth is a big piece to the puzzle that is the LA Kings, he will help establish that ‘culture’ that’s been missing and he will help in recruiting hockey talent in the near future.

2009 2nd Round Pick Kyle Clifford

On the eve of free agency, and into a long summer, let’s take some time out to get to know the 2009 Los Angeles Kings draft picks. First up is Kyle Clifford. Drafted in the second round (35th overall) by the LA Kings, Clifford is a tough, 6′1″, 200 pound left wing playing for the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Clifford is a tough two-way forward who still shows up on the score sheet. In 60 games played for Barrie, Clifford at 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points. Clifford also represented Team Canada at the Under-18 World Championships (another thing Lombardi loves is international play). The standout stat for Clifford is the 133 penalty minutes (ranking 19th in the OHL) he chalked up.

Clifford is a great example of what Lombardi looks for in the draft: character, toughness and defensive responsibility. In this article, Jim Barber said of Clifford:

“…he wants to pattern himself after Ottawa Senators feisty forward Mike Fisher, who is a punishing hitter, tenacious forechecker, great on the penalty kill, but who also has solid offensive credentials.”

In a recent interview with LAKings.com, Clifford said he patterned his style of play to that of gritty winger Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins. The player that comes to mind when I see a bit more about Cliford is Wayne Simmonds. Clifford’s final final draft ranking was 182 (in all fairness others had him higher, even in the 1st round). However his toughness and character is a huge reason why Lombardi drafted him. Given the amount of time the Los Angeles Kings spend scouting their potential draft picks, it’s a safe bet that the pick of Kyle Clifford will pay off.

One glaring criticism of Clifford is his skating. According to International Scouting Services (ISS):

“Clifford is a straight ahead player with an edge. Skating is just OK – has heavy feet and needs to make sure he keeps his feet moving to get speed – skating has shown improvement over the season.”

The question for Kings fans would be: did we just draft yet another third liner? Given his statistics and scouting profile, it certainly appears so. While every Kings draftee will not end up playing for the team, there were quite a few other kids available who might have projected into our top six down the road. That said, drafting has been a strong suit for LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi. We might have a nice addition on our hands.

What do you think of the pick? Can Clifford be more than a third liner? Should we have picked Tomas Tartar who was still available?

Resources:
Hockey’s Future
HockeyFights.com

Chris on Team 990 Montreal

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