As the 2024 NHL Entry Draft draws nearer, General Managers across the league are meeting with their scouting staffs to go over various scenarios, as well as reviewing their lists more intently than Santa Claus does in late December. Instead of checking off who’s naughty or nice, hockey executives are debating who’s wrong and right.
Los Angeles interviewed 55 players during the NHL Scouting Combine earlier this month, according to Mark Yannetti during his recent visit to Kings Of The Podcast.
For those unfamiliar, this unique annual event is organized by the league’s Central Scouting Services (CSS), giving top-ranked players an invitation to display physical capabilities, as well as have extended meetings with NHL member clubs all in a single location. Although most scouts and GMs would have already had multiple interactions with dozens of players throughout the year, the Combine gives them a final opportunity to tie up loose ends regarding some of the players their most interested in.
While we don’t have a full list of every prospect the Kings spoke to, there’s good reason to believe one of those players was Cole Beaudoin. We consider him to be among the small handful of names they’ll be targeting at pick No. 21, as explained why below.
Cole Beaudoin
Vitals
Date of Birth: April 24, 2006
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 201 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Center
2023-24 Season
Beaudoin spent the entire season playing for the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Barrie Colts. In 67 games, he had 62 points (28 G, 34 A).
Golden Boy
The Kanata, Ontario native bookended his draft year with two gold medals. For the Hlinka Gretzky tournament (August) and U-18 World Junior Championship (May), he won it all while representing Team Canada.
Kings Connection
Avid readers should recognize the Barrie team name, as top Kings prospect, Brandt Clarke, is an alum. Clarke is actually a former teammate, as they played together during the 2022-23 campaign. As a fun connection, the hard-working center assisted on two of Clarke’s goals towards the regular season’s tail end. In postseason play, both of Beaudoin’s assists also involved Clarke.
Combine the Tests
Beaudoin was an attendee at the Combine, and he stood out in several of the physical fitness tests with the following numbers:
Aerobic Fitness Test Duration: 13:45 (1st)
Aerobic Fitness (ml/kg/min): VO2 Max: 62.0 (6th)
Juhasz % Body Fat: 7.47 (t-11th)
Force Plate: Vertical Jump (inches): 20.75 (25th)
Force Plate: Squat Jump (inches): 16.51 (t-21st)
Force Plate: No Asm Jump (inches): 18.26 (24th)
Bench Press 50% Body Weight – Power (watts/kg): 8.71 (1st)
Left Hand Grip (lbs): 156 (t-7th)
Right Hand Grip (lbs): 158 (t-9th)
Consecutive Pull-Ups (max #): 13 (t-3rd)
Horizontal Jump (inches): 109.8 (18th)
Rankings by Independent Scouting Services
Ranked No 58 by Future Considerations. “Beaudoin is a gritty two-way forward who excels at utilizing his size and strength to wear down opponents and force mistakes. He is particularly effective in board battles and grinding down defenders below the hashes. His puck protection is notable, especially during scrums along the boards, where he leverages his physical frame to shield the puck. Despite his physical style, Beaudoin can sometimes take himself out of plays defensively by attempting ill-advised hits, but his aggressive checking creates turnovers and disrupts opposing plays. Offensively, Beaudoin has decent speed and mobility, although his lateral agility could improve.”
Ranked No 21 by Hockey Prospect. “We mentioned his physical game earlier. He’s a force on the forecheck and he loves to finish his hits. He’s powerful and a threat for opposing defensemen, making their lives tougher on the ice. He also uses his physicality and great frame to absorb others’ physicality. It’s one thing to dish out punishment, but he also can take it. He protects the puck very well and is always willing to take a hit to make a play. He’s a great team player with a “whatever it takes” mentality that we love.”
Ranked No. 29 by Elite Prospects. “He’s one of the strongest players in the draft class. Maybe the strongest of the prospects that will be drafted in the first couple of rounds. He eats up the boards, grinds them, spins off opponents, drags the puck out of traffic, and gets it to the middle of the ice. There’s not a battle that he can’t win, even when at a numbers disadvantage. And he drives the net, creating chaos there, tipping shots, and getting open for tap-ins.”
See For Yourself
Here is video of Cole Beaudoin playing against Team USA in the U-18 World Junior Championship Gold Medal game:
Final Comments
Without watching Beaudoin extensively, there are two vibes a reader may take away by just quickly looking at the numbers and reports: he projects more as a bottom-six player and he’s generally perceived as a “safe” player. With top-25 picks, taking a projected third-liner doesn’t sound very sexy on the surface, so some may initially have reservations about considering him as a first-round selection.
However, Beaudoin has virtually all the tools one could want out of a prospect – decent size at 6-foot-2 that he uses, enough skills to put up points on a respectable basis, and a solid work ethic which can be applied in any situation. There’s a significant number of professional players who don’t necessarily check all those boxes. While there’s no guarantee or a “sure thing,” the Kings would benefit from its need to restock its cupboard of NHL-quality prospects.
Watching Beaudoin instead of looking at the stat sheet is imperative. On top of having good reads offensively and defensively, he’s also a very emotionally intelligent player. In this, we mean that depending on the circumstances of the game, he knows how to ramp up the intensity appropriately. This isn’t to say the two-way center slacks off when things are “less intense”, more so that an observer can see him rise to the occasion. While not an apples-to-apples comparison, a famous former Kings player who exhibited this most was Justin Williams.
There’s little flash, but plenty of tenacity. As mentioned before, He has no shyness to engage in board battles. Beaudoin doesn’t get caught up in trying to do the “perfect” play, and thus there’s little puck overhandling. While not blessed with a cannon of a shot, Clarke’s former teammate still creates dangerous situations in the opposition’s zone. He doesn’t over-commit defensively by hanging down too low, yet positions himself to provide adequate support for his defending teammates to consider him an option on the breakout.
The Colts forward is far from perfect. The results in the NHL Combine suggests there’s room for improvement in lower-body strength, which of course translates into better skating output. Independent scouting services have already noted he has been working on this weakness, though, which also shows a cognizance and willingness to improve where needed.
Depth at center is always a necessity for any organization. Between the role he plays, safety, and familiarity with top prospect Brandt Clarke, Beaudoin undoubtedly checks a lot of boxes that the Kings and fans would love, provided expectations are tempered.
Chat with David: You can find him on Twitter @Davidenkness to talk more hockey.
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