After the draft, Michael Futa, the Kings’ co-director of amateur scouting, gave his impressions of what happened and his thoughts on the Kings’ five picks…
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Question: Could you talk about your impressions of the draft?
FUTA: “You have to put it all together, and we’re ecstatic. I know how much Dean talks about getting players in certain layers. We had the defenseman we took yesterday [Derek Forbort] far ahead of where we picked him. He had kind of given us the go-ahead, in the past couple years when we’ve been re-stocking shelves, when you’re looking for players who you hope can step in a little quicker. This year, there was not as much of an urgency. We were able to take a guy who might spend four years in school, or take a European that we’re not so worried about whether Max Kitsyn is there tomorrow. The time is now for us to be able to make moves like that.
“Tyler Toffoli, you’ll have to wait to see how things play out with the kid. The knock on this kid was that he hadn’t really started to take his conditioning as seriously as he could. I think if you go back at look at his minor-midget days, when I was in the Ontario Hockey League, I think he had 120 points, 75 goals, along those lines, as a kid who was just kind of scratching the service in regards to the importance of conditioning. Now when you talk about the development team that we have, and the program that Dean has put together, this kid is tailor-made to come in. I think he scored 37 goals last year. He played on Team Canada’s under-18 team. He has been invited to Team Canada’s national junior team program. My scout from Owen Sound is his head coach, the same guy who was the guy on Wayne Simmonds. There’s always that tributary that leads back to the right river. He coaches him in Ottawa, and he said this kid is just scratching the surface, when you start to look at the intangibles and the work ethic. I’m assuming that’s why he dropped to where we got him. We were thrilled to get the guy. His hockey sense is off the charts. He’s an exceptional goal scorer, great nose for the net, and he’s just a young kid who is still just getting it, as far as the conditioning.”
Question: Is there a risk with Kitsyn (not leaving the KHL)?
FUTA: “I don’t think there’s much of a risk. This kid has made a commitment, similar to our Loktionov situation. He has made a commitment where he wants to come over and play major-junior hockey. He has a contract right now. He’s working through it. I think there’s a good chance, and if he starts the season in the KHL, we’re not worried about it. There’s a good chance that he will, at some point, end up playing major junior, whether it’s this year or next year. We’re not going to put any pressure on him. He’s a young kid. As long as he’s getting regular ice time, playing against men, we know his goal is the same as these other young kids, like Voynov and Loktionov, to be playing over here. So we’re not worried about the risk of whether he will be here. We’re worried about getting him in the best development situation.”
Question: Is there less pressure, drafting for after an 100-point season compared to an 80-point season?
FUTA: “There’s never any less pressure when you’re working for Dean Lombardi. (laughs) You can remove all point totals and just rephrase your question. The same amount of hours went in, whether we had a five-foot walk to the podium or when you’re backing up to 19th. To have a boss like that, who never lets you have your guard down, for Mark and myself, the work ethic that is expected is off the charts. In Ontario, we’d be getting out of the office in time for Letterman. Here, I don’t even know what time we got out. We’re still looking at kids we have bunched in areas where we’re at, to see if we’re going to move up or down. We put the same amount of energy into them as we did Drew Doughty. That being said, Drew wasn’t available in this year’s draft, but it’s such an imperfect science. You try to put in what you know about their families, what you learn about the practice habits and what you learn from their coaches, and it’s the same thing.
“I think we’re very fortunate, with our staff. We have Brent (McEwen), who was a general manager in the Western League. We have Tony (Gasparini), whose father and himself are so dialed into the USHL. Myself, in the USHL. Denis Fugere had that kind of job in the Quebec League. You’ve got Todd Woodcroft, who was an assistant general manger in the KHL, and you’ve got Mark Yannetti, who is Mr. Everything. It’s not tooting anybody’s horn. I just think we’re very fortunate to have people who can get a lot of extra work done. It may not always work out, but it’s never going to be for a lack of getting resources and meeting the right people to find out what makes these kids tick.”
Question: In terms of quantity, this is probably your smallest group…
FUTA: “Dean is always saying, `You guys get so many swings, eventually you’re going to get a player right.’ (laughs) But it’s the reality of it. That’s his m.o., to give you a lot of opportunities. I think you kind of saw us cut back on the 19-year-olds, as opposed to now, where we would take a shot at a 19-year-old that we were real comfortable with, as opposed to the option of 29 other teams beating you to training camp. Now there’s a confidence that you can move picks back, and your reserve list is stronger and you can be more selective in what positions you need to hit. That being said, we invited two kids immediately after (the draft) to training camp. We’re still waiting to see if they’re coming. We invited two kids to our development camp that we had rated as fifth- or sixth-round prospects. So everybody’s list is different, but along those lines, I think we’re even more comfortable with leaving with that amount of players, knowing that we’ve still got a couple extra swings coming at different moments. So we’re very excited about it, and again, Dean has made it quite clear, in a year when people are kind of moving money for cap space and stuff like that, that we’ve got to be prepared. There’s going to be years when we don’t have a ton of picks, and we just have to be prepared. We just have to do the same due diligence that we would if we had 14. His m.o. is, `Get two players.’ If he gives us two picks, the margin for error is really low.”
Question: How does Jordan Weal compare to Toffoli?
FUTA: “A little smaller. I think he ended up third or fourth in the Western Hockey League in scoring. I would say that he’s maybe a little further ahead of Brandon Kozun at this time, just from an age standpoint. Kozun is a little older, but a similar player. Dynamic, offensive kid, a little smaller, plays hard, very strong. He’s an offensive dynamo. He kind of meets the criteria, if you’re going to take a smaller player — he’s not a really small player — but when you’re going to take a smaller player, they have to do some special things, as do Kozun and Loktionov. This kid fits the bill here.”
Rich, there was a story that Brian Burke was offered a 1st for Luke Schenn. Can you find out if it was Lombardi who offered it?
Since Brayden is Kings property and they drafted a L. Schenn-ish player, it got me wondering if it was Lombardi who offered the 1st.
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Futa compares the scouting to that done for Simmonds. Well, look how that turned out. He was drafted two years ago and he could barely hang on to a first line spot on a 100+point team.
CSS is still asking, how do you spell that last name.
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Godzilla Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
@jet,
Simmers (Simmonds) is the real deal. Right, he played on the first line for a limited time but did you also notice Murray comfortably plugging him into any one of the lines.
The kid is a monster on the boards and in the corners. There’s more to a hockey player than just stats and goals (although his numbers are nothing to laugh at being a 2nd/3rd yr player).
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During the later rounds of the Draft, the group I was in started specifically watching groups of playres/parents just to catch that “moment” where they realized they were getting picked. It was really great to see the joy in everyone’s face – Mom crying, etc.
What we weren’t really prepared for was what happened after pick 210 when some of the players didn’t get picked at all. Those kids were devastated, and some got really emotional (sometimes it’s easy to forget how young these kids are).
One kid in particular was really having a hard time with it, and was being consoled by his family when someone approached him with a jersey and talked to him for awhile. They shook hands, and eventually the kid seemed to be a little calmed down. We didn’t quite understand what we had just watched at the time; but now I wonder whether he was being offered a tryout to some team’s training/development camp.
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Rich:
The Kings talked about the Draft being the “Super Bowl” for the scouts. Well if that was there “Super Bowl” performance we have a long way to go….Fowler was out there a “Long” time we couldn’t come up with a offer to move up to get him? What we gave up to Florida to move up (4) spots I would of thought we could of done the same with another player or 3rd or 4th choice thrown in. We gave away all those choices later. And trading your 3rd rounder to Toronto for nothing extra? Was DL trying to kiss and make up with Brian Burke? Is it a DL requirement to draft one player 5’10″ or less every draft? Weal, Azvedo, Roe, Kozun, Moller, etc… All are great Junior players but really except for Moller the other guys are 5′ 8″ and Weal is barley 5′ 7″… Are we going for the “Smurf Line” of the NY Rangers of the 80′s? This are “Project” picks and I can live with that.. They may turn out well but we always seem to over pay to move up a few spots and never seem to get equal value back… If you look at the drafts the last three years and see how many choice we had, the players we gave up to aquire those choices, and you have to look at the trades and than the trades on draft day I think you will see things a little differently… I am just asking Rich…
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jet Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
@Mark1967, At first I thought you were joking around as I did above, but in case you were serious, let me help you.
We are now at a point where we have 50 or close to 50 contracts out. Therefore, this year we moved from a get as many picks and see if some of them will rise from the crowd. DLs mindset this year went to more of pick the guys that have the highest upside. For, TT, Gravel, Weal and Kits all have something special about them but need more teaching. None of these players have a chance to make the Kings in the next two years, but each could bring something special to the team 5 years from now. DL has made sure the Kings have one of the best prospect training grounds in hockey. Therefore, the odds are great that we will not only pull two players from this draft, but that they will be impact players. So, we drafted high risk/high reward (Project) guys this year since they will have extra time to develop. If Kitsyn comes over and gets on a playoff team in the OHL, then DL should do 5-7 for theft. He is one of the top few LWs in the draft.
DL traded the 79th pick this year for what is likely to be the 61st pick next year. The Leafs should finish ahead of the Oilers again. There is a big difference between 79 and 61 in what is still available skill wise. Burke was in a bad situation due to the fact he had so few picks.
The real question is what TT is willing to give Wednesday. I would give him Gordie Woodrck’s old number so that it is very clear to him what is expected from a King.
Finally, as to value, CS had our picks valued at 9, 16, 30 and 70 in NA, and #6 for Kitsyn on the International side. We started the draft with picks 19, 49, 59, 79,++++. If you compare these to the above Central Scouting rankings you should be able to see the value.
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luc20rules Reply:
June 28th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
@jet, Well put I was about to respond, but Jet you covered everything. If Quisp is not available its nice to know you, variable, and others are in the bullpen.
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LOL!
Off the charts!,.
DL rubs off on his scouts,.!
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There is a ‘winners and losers’ article on one of Rich’s favorite sites (puck daddy) and he considered the Kings losers. He felt that Derek Forbort isn’t a bad pick, but that A) the Kings aren’t really advanced enough yet to take on ‘projects’ and B) given the massive occasion of having the draft in LA that it was just ‘not enough’ or something to that affect.
Obviously watching on TV it was clear that there was a real letdown after moving up four spots to get a guy that while he Was on the CSS charts, he wasn’t on the radar of many Kings fans at all…. not even the very knowledgeable ones who frequent this site.
Personally I was really surprised too… that being said I certainly wasn’t expecting a forward who would be able to slot in this year, or even next year for that matter considering where we were drafting.
Thoughts anyone?
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DLB Reply:
June 28th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
“There is a ‘winners and losers’ article on one of Rich’s favorite sites (puck daddy) and he considered the Kings losers.”
1) That was Ryan Lambert, not Greg Wyshynski; and 2) it proves he knows little about the Kings’ organization. We are one of the deepest teams in the league in terms of players in development. We can afford to invest in long term projects right now; and really, what player was a ‘short-term’ project at that point in the draft?
It will be difficult to count winners and losers until a few years from now, anyway, but that part of his article made me laugh out loud.
“he wasn’t on the radar of many Kings fans at all”
1) No one expected him to be available. 2) There was a lot of focus on forwards, but he was clearly the best player available in the Kings’ scouts’ minds.
I’d say: relax. There is no way that I, as a mere fan, can judge talent the way these guys who spend all year evaluating this can do, and hardly anyone was in agreement. Obviously Lambert isn’t a scout, either. But in this, he’s displayed a rather shallow knowledge of this team.
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