Los Angeles Kings: Top 10 prospects entering 2018

9. Bulat Shafigullin, LW [18] (3-82, 2018)

Stats (Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, KHL): 17 gp, 0 g, 2 a, 2 p (1 pgp, 0 g, 0 a, 0 p); 22 gp, 20 g, 16 a, 36 p (9 pgp, 4 g, 11 a, 15 p). Reaktor Nizhnekamsk, MHL

Bulat Shafigullin was very low on the consensus draft board but was taken much higher than that. He’ll serve as an example of whether draft analysts know more than scouts, and while he was impressive in the MHL this past season, his KHL numbers across the board, including his possession numbers and production numbers, both were lacking. At the professional level, considering the damage he did in the developmental league, that’s a bad thing.

He could be a replacement to somebody like Dustin Brown or Ilya Kovalchuk down the road

Still, more than a point per game in the MHL doesn’t lie, and some of the best players in the last few drafts have done worse at that level than Shafigullin. However, his skating and defensive game need work, and while he’s a natural sniper and can make plays, those skills didn’t translate to one of the best leagues in the world. Shafigullin will need to be more impressive in the KHL next season before making a successful transition to the AHL to become a member of the Los Angeles Kings, and those are big questions.

But with his MHL numbers, Shafigullin could do it. The Kings also need more depth on the wings, as well as younger players for the future, and if Shafigullin could make that transition, that would mean a bigger role with the Kings. He could be a replacement to somebody like Dustin Brown or Ilya Kovalchuk down the road, someone to pair with a playmaking center to finish plays.