LOS ANGELES — As it has been the last few seasons, the Los Angeles Kings do not have a first-round pick in the 2023 National Hockey League Draft, scheduled for Wednesdays, June 28 (first round), and Thursday, June 29 (round 2-7).
In an exclusive interview, Kings Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yannetti indicated, as most pundits have, that the 2023 draft is a deep one.
“There’s a couple of tiers in the beginning, and it’s a deep draft at the top of the draft,” he said. “I think it’s deeper than a lot of drafts, in terms of high-level talent.”
“High-level talent, in some years, can be three picks,” he added. “Sometimes it’s five or six. This year, I think it extends beyond that. Even after you get past the top talent, there’s another tier that extends further than many drafts that we’ve seen.”
But unless something very much unexpected happens, the Kings will be sitting on the sidelines during the first round, watching all that talent go to other teams.
“I’d certainly like to be picking towards the top ten this year, but we weren’t going to be picking there, anyway,” said Yannetti.
Without a first-round pick, it will be more difficult for the Kings to find prospects with real NHL potential. But whether they have a first-round pick or not, the need to find a couple of prospects that fit the bill doesn’t change.
“The process and procedure is the same,” Yannetti noted. “You’re just not picking in the first round, so some of the ‘sexy’ factor is out.”
“I enjoy the challenge of the draft,” Yannetti added. “I enjoy the ranking process, even after the first 15 or 20 players, so it’s not really different, per se, it’s just that we’re starting at 54.”
Not having high-round draft picks is likely to be the reality for the Kings for some time.
“We’re going to be picking later and later and later, and that’s a good thing,” Yannetti noted, “We’ve done the re-tool on the fly, having the 20th overall pick, the 11th overall pick. We’re going to need to find players [in the later rounds of the draft].”
“It’s not an accident that we found Wayne Simmonds in the late rounds, or Dwight King,” Yannetti added. “It’s no accident that we found Matt Roy and Mikey Anderson in the later rounds. In the next three years, we’re going to have to find 2-4 of those kinds of guys, and we’re not going to find them in the first round, because we’re not going to have those picks.”
Yannetti also indicated that he believes that the Kings amateur scouting staff is better prepared going into this year’s draft.
“I’ve enjoyed the meetings with our [amateur scouts],” he said. “We’ve made some additions in the last couple of years, we’ve learned and gone through some new ways of doing things together—new ways of rankings and some other proprietary things.”
“A lot of our prospects [such as Gabe Vilardi, Arthur Kaliyev, Quinton Byfield, and others] have ‘graduated,’ [from their prospect pool],” Yannetti said. “Our prospect pool has changed. We never did a rebuild [under general manager Rob Blake]. We did a re-tool.”
“It’s time to restock the shelves,” Yannetti added. “We’ve got to get a little creative, starting our draft at [the 54th overall pick]. But regardless of where we’re starting, we’ve got to find [at least] a couple of players [who will eventually make it to the NHL] in this draft. We’ve got to find guys in the later rounds.”
For those hoping that the Kings will trade up to acquire a first-round pick, as stated earlier, that isn’t likely this time around.
“We might have to get creative and trade up or back,” said Yannetti. “We’ve done that in the past. But it’s easier to move up in the second round than it is in the first, and it’s almost impossible to move into the first round from outside the first, so anyone who is hoping that we can do that, that’s not very realistic. We’d love to do it, but moving from 54 into the first round? The chances are infinitesimal. Moving from 54 to 47, maybe 45? That’s doable. But you need a trade partner, and you need the right player to fall to that spot in the draft.”
Yannetti lamented the trend among NHL teams of over-valuing first-round draft picks, and how that has made trading up, or into, the first round so difficult, and in many cases, virtually impossible.
“I think, at one time, NHL teams were way too casual about draft picks,” he observed. “Teams just traded draft picks—traded first round picks—traded everything, went for it every year. There was an apathy and a devaluation of draft picks, overall, especially first and second round picks. But now, there’s been an overvaluation. Everybody thinks they’re going to hit a home run with their first-round picks.”
“Also, the media attention during the first round [may be very seductive to some in the NHL],” he added. “People like to be the one on stage announcing their selection. There’s a lot of publicity.”
“Sometimes decisions are made purely on emotion. There’s an emotional quotient for what a first-round pick is compared to everything else.”
Yannetti indicated that the Kings may be looking to add picks to the five that they have in the 2023 draft.
“There’s also that chance that you’ll move back in the draft,” he said. “If this proves to be a deep draft, maybe at 54 there are five or six players who might not have been there in other drafts, so maybe you move back to acquire another pick and still get one of those five or six players. There’s some risk involved, but that might be a strategy to help accelerate our restocking of our prospect pool or replace the draft picks that have been traded.”
The bottom line for the Kings in the 2023 NHL Draft is that although it is highly unlikely that they will acquire a first-round pick, they have an outstanding track record in finding those diamonds in the rough—prospects selected in the later rounds who may not necessarily become NHL superstars, but do become impact players. If Yannetti and his amateur scouts can find at least a couple of prospects who fit that bill, this year’s draft will be a successful one for the Kings.
2023 NHL Draft logo is used with permission.
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