Los Angeles Kings: Top 8 prospects worth getting excited about
The Los Angeles Kings have a very impressive prospect pool. Which of their prospects are worth getting the most excited about?
Continuing on with the top eight prospects series, todays article will go over one of the most stacked prospect pools in the entire NHL in the Los Angeles Kings. The 2010s were overall highly successful for the Kings organization, as they won two Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014, and were one of the top teams in league standings for a number of seasons.
Unfortunately, as it typically goes in professional sports, the top teams eventually see themselves fall down the standings. That is now the case for the Kings, as their top players have began to age.
As a result they have not won a playoff game since 2016, and have missed the playoffs entirely the past two seasons. However, general manager Rob Blake has done a terrific job in both acquiring and developing prospects. With the amount of talented prospects they have, the Kings look like they will soon become a top team once again.
As mentioned in all of the top 8 prospects articles, any player who has played more NHL games than games in any other league in a season, regardless of the season, will not be included on this list. With that being said, here are the top 8 prospects in the L.A. Kings organization.
8. Akil Thomas
The fact that Akil Thomas is ranked number eight on this list shows just how deep the Kings prospect pool is. In fact, there are many other players left off this list who some will argue should be here over Thomas.
Regardless, the 20-year-old forward who was taken in the 2nd round (51 overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft is an incredible talent, proven by his 84 points in just 47 OHL games this season mixed between the Niagara IceDogs and the Peterborough Petes.
Thomas became a household name early this year when he scored what ended up being the game winning goal in the gold medal team for Team Canada at the World Juniors against Team Russia.
Although it was just his second point of the tournament, he has proven how good he is offensively with 315 points in 241 career OHL games. He is likely still a year or two away from the NHL, but he will be exciting to watch next season as he is set to make his professional hockey debut.
7. Rasmus Kupari
At first glance, Rasmus Kupari’s six goals and eight points in 27 games seems quite disappointing for the 20th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. However, it is important to keep in mind that he was just 19-years-old for the entirety of the season. This is very young for the AHL, given that players who play junior hockey in North America are not able to play in the league until they are 20.
If you look back just one season prior, it is easy to see how talented Kupari is. In 43 games with Karpat of the SM-liiga, he posted a very impressive 12 goals and 33 points in 43 games. Considering that is a league which has many older and former NHL players, those totals are very promising.
Unfortunately for Kupari, his season was cut short after suffering a torn ACL in the first game of the 2020 World Juniors, but he was able to have surgery soon after and will be good to go for the 2020-21 season. Look for him to produce much more this upcoming season.