LOS ANGELES – So, you are the Los Angeles Kings with a host of issues and two NHL Entry Draft picks and the second one is at 22.
With 71 points on the season, only the Ottawa Senators kept the Kings from being dead last in the league’s regular season standings.
For the 2018-19 season, the Kings surrendered 3.16 goals per game, (22nd), scored 2.43 goals per game (30th), and featured a power play “clicking” at 15.8% (27th), and a penalty kill at 76.5% (29th).
You can see why we were aghast at 31 wins this past season.
The Kings need a lot of everything.
The PHN mock draft has LA selecting Bowen Byram at the fifth spot in the draft. The defenseman is a good pick in a center-heavy draft. The Kings need defense and offense and the thought is the Kings can take a d-man at five and find a center at 22.
Still on our Mock Draft board is Raphael Lavoie of the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Lavoie is a centerman and right wing and through 62 games in Halifax he picked up 32 goals and 73 points and added 31 PIMs and was a +36 on the season.
Lavoie stands 6’4″ and weighs in at 198 pounds. In the 2018 NHL Entry Draft season, he was one month shy of being eligible, this past season was his third in the QMJHL.
Lavoie is a strong skater and has good puck control and combining those talents with his size and strength would seemingly make him an ideal acquisition in the Western Conference.
The rub seems to be his east-west movement and his decision-making with the puck.
He is a strong north-south skater but has limited creativity in making the defense bend to his will.
All that said, the post season in the QMJHL and the Memorial Cup tournament may be where scouts and teams find the gem they are looking for and this is why we have the forward heading to LA.
In the post season, Lavoie scored 20 goals and 32 points in 23 games and reportedly, single handedly carried the Mooseheads to the Memorial Cup Final.
Lavoie has the size, skating skills and strength that the Kings can use now. He is the oldest of the current prospects and his experience should play well in the Staples Center.
Given a chance to develop his shortcomings, Lavoie should be an excellent addition to the LA roster and give them an asset on the right wing.
“With the 22nd pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the Los Angeles Kings select, Raphael Lavoie, of the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.