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.

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).

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.

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.

CSS is still asking, how do you spell that last name.

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.