Kings pick 2nd in the 08 Draft

[Danny Darko]

To be honest it took me a while to post anything about our pick since I was so pissed initially. Steven Stamkos is obviously a lot to lose out on.

Looking a little deeper into our situation, though-

This could end up bringing in a stud defender and we are a team in need of D. Jack Johnson is going to be very good and we have some offensive minded defenseman, but we need a shut down guy. It's rumored that Dean has already made his mind up on Drew Doughty, though the top D Men are:
Zach Bogosian, Drew Doughty or Alex Pietrangelo


There is a good article on what I'm talking about here:


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/teams/kings/

I'll explore each of the mentioned Defenseman individually in the next few posts.

I'd love to know what you guys think about the prospects and discuss any that you think are also worthy

[spicoli76]

Zach Bogosian:



article link

Zach Bogosian loves a challenge.

That may explain why he seems to be getting better on a daily basis despite having a very bright spotlight shining on him as one of the top prospects for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

The second-year defenseman with the Peterborough Petes was rated third among Ontario Hockey League prospects in the NHL Central Scouting preliminary draft rankings released two weeks ago. He has jumped from early predictions and finds himself behind Steven Stamkos of the Sarnia Sting and Drew Doughty of the Guelph Storm, who many believe will be the top two picks in the draft in June.

[Danny Darko]

Drew Doughty:



Scouting Report link

An offensively skilled young rear-guard with great instincts for creating scoring chances and break-outs. Has excellent speed and can bring you out of your seat with his end-to-end rushing ability, when successful. The truth is they are rarely successful and can leave him far out of position, relying on team-mates to cover up for him. Is an excellent passer and has a wickedly hard shot.

Can play very well defensively when necessary, as evidenced by his play at the World Juniors for Canada, where he was the top defenceman in the tournament. Doughty has very quick feet, coming from his background of playing soccer and it shows when contesting the puck with his skates.

Was expecting him to challenge the 90-point barrier this year and lead all OHL defencemen in scoring, which he hasn�t, averaging slightly better than a point-a-game. He is a deadly power-play player from the point. He may be a little tired, although is not admitting to it, given his participation in the Canada-Russia series, World Juniors, CHL prospects game, OHL All-Star game and playing better than 30 minutes a night with Guelph.

Submitted by: HockeyProspect.com

[spicoli76]

Alex Pietrangelo:



Scouting Report

For now, Alex Pietrangelo is honored just to have the attention.

The standout defenseman from the Ontario Hockey League

[Danny Darko]

So how do I compare the three players?

Alex Pietrangelo:

He's the biggest of the three and scouts are in love with his potential. His highlight video showed me a few things that I just don't like though-

a-he's not as athletic as his billing and I think he's rated so high because he's tall. I was a 6'5" player and I think I could skate circles around him.

b-He also looks placid and without any fire or killer instinct

I'm wary of the hype factor on him.


Zach Bogosian:

This is the competitor of the bunch. I think he's a good combination of size and grit. He's not a flashy scorer, but he has a shutdown mentality and he's mean. I really think he could change the defensive culture of our entire team.

He doesn't look like a star offensive guy, but we have 4 20pt scorers and I'm not sure we need that. I wouldn't be upset if we got him


Drew Doughty:

This is probably our pick. I'm a little concerned that he's a center playing D, but his offensive skills are undeniable. His shot is amazing. He's like a cross between Ray Bourque's accuracy and Al MacInnis's shot power.

Here's the other thing- His alltime favorite team is the Kings and he isn't shy about saying that is who he wants to pick him. Here's the video of that:

5:45 mark of video

Drew march 28th 2008

[Danny Darko]

Also... I'd trade Cammy and a pick for 3 if possible and look at two of these guys

[spicoli76]

Great summary, Corvus! I'm hoping for Doughty, but you can't count out Bogosian. Los Angeles has a HUGE ethnic Armenian population base, and the Kings PR department would score big with many Angelinos for drafting him. I'm thinking that DL will take 2 defensemen with both of his 1st round picks, and I would really like to see him score Shenn to part up with Thomas Hickey down the road on the blueline. Hickey & Schenn were lights out while skating on the same defensive pairing for Canada at the most recent World Junior Championships!

[spicoli76]

Also, I like to send out a big Congrats to Dustin Brown and Patty O'Sully for making the Team USA roster at the upcoming World Championships in Hallifax & Quebec City. Those two made gigantic strides towards becoming excellent NHL players this past season. Their making the Team USA roster is well deserved!!

[Danny Darko]

We have young talent that is for sure. More to come in this draft.

Tell me more about Luke Schenn. Would he be around by our second 1st?

[Danny Darko]

Zach Bogosian... I'm starting think is the man we need. He's got the tude, the skating, and the shutdown in him without being a sad sap on O

[Danny Darko]

Shenn's stock is rising... would we pick him 2nd? Maybe with Drew being an odd fit for a team needing gritty D