Our Prospect Pool Is Overrated

[HeadInjury]

Maybe I'm reaching this conclusion because Ontario is 0-8-2 in its last 10 games and its a case of recency bias. And I suppose I could rationalize and just blame it on Sturm, but aside from young players already playing in the NHL (such as Byfield and Kaliyev) and our depth at RD (Clarke, Spence and Grans), there isn't much else to brag about. Our top players in Ontario (Tynan, Andersson and Madden) don't project to end up on the NHL roster. It's unfortunate what has happened to Turcotte and Akil Thomas injury-wise. You look at the rest of the Ontario roster and Fagemo and Bjornfot will get their shot at a depth role and there's hope for Chromiak fitting in somewhere down the road. Samuel Helenius is a project apparently, but 3 goals in 72 games in the AHL isn't exactly impressive.

Outside of Ontario, Pinelli and Portillo (if signed) show promise. Don't know if Kirill Kirsanov will ever come over.

Point is, while we've had a decent amount of success in incorporating some of our past prospects into the NHL roster, there isn't much else on the horizon, and definitely not much in terms of impact players beyond Clarke. Fortunately, we don't have many holes to fill and our eventual replacements for Doughty and Kopitar are accounted for already. Good thing Blake filled holes with trades and free agency, as otherwise we would not have anywhere near the outlook we have now.

 

[Statue4Deano]

I'm struggling to figure out what your argument is here. 16 of the top 20 scorers on the current Kings roster were drafted and/or developed by the Kings. I'm not sure what more you could ask for as a franchise than developing 80% of your NHL roster. The prospect to NHL pipeline is flowing at a rate better than it was during the Lombardi era. What more can we ask?

 

[jammer06]

I'm struggling to figure out what your argument is here. 16 of the top 20 scorers on the current Kings roster were drafted and/or developed by the Kings. I'm not sure what more you could ask for as a franchise than developing 80% of your NHL roster. The prospect to NHL pipeline is flowing at a rate better than it was during the Lombardi era. What more can we ask?

Pretty sure they asking for Stutzle

 

[HeadInjury]

I'm struggling to figure out what your argument is here. 16 of the top 20 scorers on the current Kings roster were drafted and/or developed by the Kings. I'm not sure what more you could ask for as a franchise than developing 80% of your NHL roster. The prospect to NHL pipeline is flowing at a rate better than it was during the Lombardi era. What more can we ask?

I'm not talking about past successes or the current NHL roster. I'm talking about the pipeline. My point is people talk about how we have one of the best prospect pools out there now and actually we have very little on the horizon. Nothing to brag about beyond Clarke. Our NHL roster may be deep but our prospect pool no longer is. It may not have an immediate impact on us given the depth of the current roster.

 

[Helvetica]

This is sort of what happens though. At a certain point, your prospects become players, or they... don't. The best prospects are either on the Kings now, or injured. Faber was traded. This is part of teh strategy. Draft deep in a short window so that you can develop the top guys and move them onto the team over a short wave of time. Remember, this team didnt go for a full rebuild. They went for more of a hybrid retool/rebuild. The prospect pool is thinner now by design.

As an aside, but sort of related, Tynan was brought in to lead Ontario. He was never really considered a prospect that was going to maybe make the jump. He's a career AHL guy, but a very strong character/mentor/leader. That's why the Kings got him.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Pretty sure they asking for Stutzle

2008 the Kings select Drew Doughty overall at #2 . The Ottawa Senators select Erik Karlsson at #15 . One defenseman scores at a rate that the league hasn't seen in multiple generations and is on the verge of his 3rd Norris trophy. The other defenseman only won a single Norris trophy. Never put up gaudy offensive stats but was a vital part of two Stanley Cup champs and could have another shot at a long playoff run this season.

Did the Kings take the wrong player in 2008 or did they take the player they correctly believed could win them a Stanley Cup?

 

[jammer06]

2008 the Kings select Drew Doughty overall at #2 . The Ottawa Senators select Erik Karlsson at #15 . One defenseman scores at a rate that the league hasn't seen in multiple generations and is on the verge of his 3rd Norris trophy. The other defenseman only won a single Norris trophy. Never put up gaudy offensive stats but was a vital part of two Stanley Cup champs and could have another shot at a long playoff run this season.

Did the Kings take the wrong player in 2008 or did they take the player they correctly believed could win them a Stanley Cup?

What an effin bust, cant believe they keep putting him on the top pair....

 

[Nyssa42]

Blake is very good at keeping the prospect pool stocked. And Kings fans are very good at hyping up prospects - anyone remember our "savior", Daniel Brickley??? (2018) (he currently plays in the 2nd tier Swedish league)

 

[F**e_Off]

So what kind of a HeadInjury are we talking about here?

 

[rajuabju]

I dont watch the Reign on any regular basis, mostly just catching highlights, but I mean, we've graduated a number of players this year. And Spence is up with LA for now. And some injuries for the Reign. And the fact that we have not exactly the worlds best Goaltending down there... So the struggles are not unexpected at all.

As far as disappointments.. Sturm is one. I was really hopeful on him when he was named HC. Doesnt seem like the right fit now though. Also Lias Andersson... I had hopes he'd fill a role for us as a 2nd/3rd line tweener, seems less and less likely (or needed). He's putting up points but I dont see him really dislodging anyone ahead of him/on the roster.

 

[dannybuoy1]

Our best prospects besides Clark are with the club or juniors. You are not going to be scoring as many goals and points when players are sent up and down or are healthy scratches with the club.

Spence was having a killer season down there and was in the top 10 in defenseman scoring. Chromiak is too in his first full year. In any given year, most of your prospects will not make the NHL and considering our needs, we are looking pretty good. Look at the roster now. The only person we will need to really replace is Kopi. And that is a few years away. We will have cap space and will be fine. Phanuef is off the books. We pay Richards less and less. Kopi will not make 10 million with the Kings again should they resign him.

Plenty of room for growth with who is on the roster now and can sign free agents and make trades.

 

[Sultanic]

Hmm...

Anderson, Durzi, Byfield, Vilardi, Kaliyev, and Kupari are all recent graduates.

Spence and Clarke SHOULD be in the NHL but are on the slow boil due to those ahead of them.

Chromiak, Grans, Laferriere and Fagemo all look to be given a good shot over the next couple of years.

Turcotte is in limbo due to a lengthy series of injuries. Bjornfot looked solid in his first year, and while caught up on the numbers of blueliners this year has apparently fallen a bit in favor and was earmarked as part of the Chychrun deal for most of the season.

Faber, who could quite possibly be the best of the whole bunch was dealt, as were two consecutive first rounders.

That's an envious amount of prospects and prospect movement for any franchise.

 

[kkimo]

Hmm...

Anderson, Durzi, Byfield, Vilardi, Kaliyev, and Kupari are all recent graduates.

Spence and Clarke SHOULD be in the NHL but are on the slow boil due to those ahead of them.

Chromiak, Grans, Laferriere and Fagemo all look to be given a good shot over the next couple of years.

Turcotte is in limbo due to a lengthy series of injuries. Bjornfot looked solid in his first year, and while caught up on the numbers of blueliners this year has apparently fallen a bit in favor and was earmarked as part of the Chychrun deal for most of the season.

Faber, who could quite possibly be the best of the whole bunch was dealt, as were two consecutive first rounders.

That's an envious amount of prospects and prospect movement for any franchise.

I agree with this.

As to Tynan, he is a career AHLer who has performed admirably as the captain in Ontario, leading his teammate by example of good solid play. He reminds me of Crash Davis. But as one MLB coach said when that movie came out, show me a switch hitting, power hitting catcher who calls a great game and runs a bull pen that well, he'd be on my roster tomorrow.

 

[Kurisu]

Even if the premise had merit, this seems like a July thread, not a in-the-hunt-for-the-Pacific-Division-lead thread. Odd.

 

[Clif]

A lot of good that Schnarr trade did down there. I want my money back.

 

[HeadInjury]

Even if the premise had merit, this seems like a July thread, not a in-the-hunt-for-the-Pacific-Division-lead thread. Odd.

Feel free to further comment in July then.

We have 4 days between games. A little slow over here so I posted about my observations.

Turcotte did return to play last night so that is a positive.

 

[jammer06]

Feel free to further comment in July then.

We have 4 days between games. A little slow over here so I posted about my observations.

Turcotte did return to play last night so that is a positive.

How did he look? Didnt realize he was back

 

[HeadInjury]

How did he look? Didnt realize he was back

He had an assist. I saw a comment somewhere online from someone who watched the game and said he looked good. The team won for only the second time in the last 13 games.

Edit: Cal Petersen had a shutout. However, he seems to be performing worse than Villalta:

Villalta: 11-7-1, GAA 2.55, SV% 0.914

Petersen: 14-15-6, GAA 2.90, SV% 0.905

 

[Bollocks]

As others have said...80% of that coveted prospect pool is now in the NHL. Which means our prospect pool WASN'T overrated.

Our *prospect* pool is now depleted quite a bit, but there are still some bright options that have yet to be seasoned. Of course no high end ones. That's something Blake will need to fix with time via retooling...I'd be all for him to stockpile a few 2nd/3rd rounders this season for players that simply can't make the jump in the foreseeable future...

 

[Ice24]

I can understand three days off between games but four, and then playing in minus freezing temps.