The LA Kings had a bushelfull of picks heading into the draft last night and they managed to hang on and use every pick. Heading into the draft, most critics felt that the Kings had huge holes in their goaltender pipeline, rightfully so as there was no goalie prospects in site. LA decided to address this need quickly. They planned to take a goalie at 18 OV and they did end up taking Leland Irving from the Everett Silvertips. Leland was one of the best goalies in the WHL last season and posted impressive numbers for the Tips. At 30th OV, the team did not expect to take a goaltender but felt Plymouth Whalers Goalie Michal Neuvirth was too goo to pass up. Neuvirth lead his team to the Memorial cup last season and posted impressive numbers along the way.
With the goaltending issues out of the way, the Kings scouting staff decided to focus on increasing the forward depth of the franchise. LA had 7 picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds and used all but one on forwards. Andreas Nodl, Cody Burki and Ben Maxwell were selected 32nd, 35th and 36th overall and they all have an eye for the net. Nodl had an impressive rookie campaign for St. Cloud State and Burki and Maxwell had continued success in the WHL.
During the last 2 rounds of the draft, LA decided to take a chance on some recent college free agents that had recently signed around the NHL. Included in those was Hobey Baker award winner Ryan Duncan as well as players like Joe Piskula, who saw 7 games with LA last year, and Teddy Purcell. Also, LA took a chance on a recent Czech league import to Colorado. Czech league leading scorer Jaroslav Hlinka was selected. The 31 year old should get a chance to put up some offensive numbers on a solid offensive team.
