ANDREI LOKTIONOV
This season: 19 games, 4 goals, 3 assists, 2 penalty minutes, 14:46 average ice time.
The good: Loktionov performed well enough in training camp, and showed enough much-needed offensive flair, that the Kings kept him around at the start of the season and gave him a handful of games. Loktionov showed potential at center, both at even strength and on the power play, and showed the ability to creative offensive for himself with bursts to the net. Loktionov also looked comfortable in a defensive role at center and did not look out of place.
The bad: Even after three seasons in North America, Loktionov still needs to get stronger. He’s in danger of falling into the same category as Oscar Moller, that of a center with a lot of heart and some offensive skill, but not enough bulk to stand up to the pounding of the NHL game. The Kings hoped Loktionov could adapt to the wing, but he seemed apprehensive about the move to start with and looked much more comfortable when moved back to center.
Going forward: Loktionov has suffered major shoulder injuries in each of his past two seasons. He doesn’t turn 21 until this month, so there’s no reason for alarm, but at some point, Loktionov is going to have to prove that he can hold up under the physical demands of the NHL game. In the best-case scenario, Loktionov could be slotted into a second-line center spot. The potential skill is there, but will Loktionov be able to rise to that level eventually?
Come on Lokti, beef it up over the summer so you have another shot at it.
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Brownkingsfan Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 9:52 am
@KFII, Work out with Clifford! Showing promise!
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Darrell Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:38 am
@Brownkingsfan, He could always take PEDs, the NHL doesn’t care about those…
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dahack11 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
@KFII, THis says it all in my book:
“Loktionov is going to have to prove that he can hold up under the physical demands of the NHL game.”
He’s very small & has already had the 2 major shoulder injuries. I’m NOT depending on him (nor holding a spot open for him) until he proves himself physically capable,
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how can you give him a B he played played 19 games and had 4 goals.
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7holesniper Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:36 am
@Alan, ..his first goal in the NHL was a bank shot off the goalie from the corner. B for potential alone.
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Datacloud Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:42 am
@Alan, That would put him on pace for 16-17 goals over a full season. Not bad for a rookie playing somewhat limited minutes. You could even speculate that he’d score 20 with a decent PP. I think he definitely has the potential to be a 20+ goal scorer in the NHL, and his playmaking isn’t bad either. Remember too, that many of those games he was on the LW, and the team overall was in a scoring slump.
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39scars Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:45 am
@Alan, 5 goals for an “a”?
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Sean Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
@Alan,
His production was much better once he was moved to his natural position, center.
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tremendous upside for Lokti….his great attitude and zeal for hockey will only take him so far…he has got to either prove he take the rigors of the NHL with the frame he has now or beef-up and hope for the best
really enjoyed watching him play this season…he’s got that x-factor thing going with his vision and playmaking ability
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We seem to have a habit of drafting talented, small, forwards. I hope we can find a couple bigger kids like we did with Kopi.
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he needs to work on those shoulders!!! Anyone remember those old Beatles cartoons? He took his haircut straight out of one of those! It’s cool with me.
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He has the height and frame to be an NHL player, but just needs to fill out. What concerns me is shoulder issues are tricky. some people are just born with bad shoulders that make them more prone to injury. Not saying thats the case here for sure because IDK the exact problem he had (dislocation/seperation/RTC tears?). Maybe just bad luck? Obviously the kid can play! I like his potential and remain cautiously optimistic.
We need players like him to step up and contribute because I dont see any other immediate options to fill our desperate need for offensive skill upgrades. again this begs the question of talent vs system. Is it both? more one than the other? I have a feeling its a combination of both. aside from Kopi and Willie, we dont have the ‘it’ in our offensive side of the game. Lets hope this kid can bring ‘it’ as well!
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tornado12 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 9:33 am
@tornado12, can I retract the height comment? I thought he was around 6 feet tall (he is listed at 5’10″). But I stand by my other comments
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Token Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:36 am
@tornado12, I have been told by medical pros that athletes often have much stronger shoulders after surgery. They go in and fix some congenital weakness out of it.
May or may not be the case here, but the young man went under the knife for each shoulder now, so one can only hope that he is done with that.
I said this at the start of the season: Kid reminds me of a Datsyuk Jr.
Hope he gets prudent development with the Kings.
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Toughness will come with age for Lokti. He doesn’t need that much more bulk to reach NHL durability with his style of play.
Lokti is probably the best thing to happen to this team. He has already shown late in the season that we can have a non grinding, muscle-n-beef, smash you first type of center on the second line and still be effective within the system.
I would personally have him work on his face-off mojo more than the muscle.
Lokti may be the guy that opens the door for some of our smaller statured prospects.
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jet Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 9:43 am
@Token, hey, where’s the picture
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tornado12 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:09 am
@Token, where did you get the pic BTW and who is that? IDK why, but it fits perfectly with your handle? can we get the story behind the story?
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Token Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:27 am
@tornado12, You talking about the little icon on my posts?
That’s my mug. Me. I see that thing every morning in the mirror.
I changed up a bit this season and now sport a big curl up mustache and a goat beard, conquistador style.
If you ever go to the third floor smoking lounge between periods you can find me there heckling opposing teams fans. At 6’5″ I’m pretty hard to miss.
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tornado12 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:04 am
@Token, Love it! I wanna see the conquistador/wyatt earp MO. at 6’5″, maybe you can teach Lokti some size-lol. I would call the current pic the ‘Amish look’!
BobKnob Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:03 am
@Token,
“I would personally have him work on his face-off mojo more than the muscle.”
These aren’t mutually exclusive goals, and he really needs to get stronger.
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Token Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:47 am
@BobKnob, You are probably correct there, Sir. If you ever run into Stoll at the Toyota center … Scary upper body. I’d want him for sure on my apocalypse survival team.
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The real problem is he a big enough player to play center in the Kings system. Maybe Poni could cover on the defensive side, but the coordination would have to be perfect. I think he will have to go to wing, to make it as a King.
B
a buddy’d son is playing tackle for a football powerhouse and he walks around carry two 100# dumbbells to prevent more shoulder pops. It is working, his shoulders are much stronger.
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Stuart Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 9:54 am
@jet, each of those dumbells probably weigh more then Lokti saoking wet with all his gear on…
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Justin williams V. 2.0?
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Dominick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:05 am
@zjames,
Size wise -2.0.
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Darrell Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:42 am
@zjames, JW/2
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The biggest thing Lokti had going against him with the Kings was the same thing guys like..Schenn, Richardson, Lewis, Boyle, and Harrold had going against them..TM playing them out of position ! You could see how much better Lokti played at his natural position, CENTER! When he was called up later in the season. Hopefully TM will stop trying to be a mad scientist and let players play the position they were drafted at !
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Dan H. Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:21 am
@puck73,
Preach is brother. When a guy plays one position his whole life it’s not easy to just switch gears. We’re not in beer league hockey. There’s a system and from watching Penner struggle it’s not as easy as we think it is watching it.
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Dominick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:28 am
@puck73,
Too bad Lokti got his first taste as a LW. Bud Holloway has better size and plays that position already. Total misuse of assets. Maybe they wanted talent, but an under achieving Poni at LW would have made more sense than a prospect who’s never played LW ever.
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puck73 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 10:33 am
@Dominick, At 23, I think Bud Holloway might be ready to take his shot at the big time….stay tuned.
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Crown Royal Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:08 am
@Dominick,
This is a copy of the video clip I mentioned last week. It’s my son, Alex, who is a professinal Bandy player in Europe. It was shot last week in Minnesota by AOL who also interviewed him. That interview hasn’t been posted yet with the video.
Alex grew up playing hockey in Sweden, where he worked with Sweden’s top hockey skating coach, Ola Olsson. (Alex played Junior A) but injures cut short his long term hockey plans. He switched to Bandy which is similar to hockey in some ways but with differences. There are pro leagues in Europe and the sport is particularly popular in Russia in Sweden. The tempo in the Russian Elite Series is usually a little faster than the NHL because of the larger rink size.
Alex studied skating with the Russian Olympic Speed Skating Coach every day for three months in Moscow. His skating technique is pretty much perfect for hockey. This is not a skating video but it provides a glimse of what the proper hockey skating technique should look like.
Hope you enjoy it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM8usfXxdak
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SLIM Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
@Crown Royal,
I see you are proud of your son
and you should be..
I’ve never seen bandy before…Interesting
Beautiful skater. Thanks for this…
Dominick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
@Crown Royal,
Excellent video. Interesting how the swing is so different from a regular hockey stick. Less emphasis on the back swing and almost a base ball like follow through up ward. Stick handling is less dependant of the second hand on the stick, almost like a guide more than anything else. No curve to the stick that I could see. Probably easy to control with your body turned left or right, or left handed/right handed shooting.
Your sons form is really good. Clean tight turns, and nice long trides, low center. Should add, if possible, him starting off the line, and excellerating to top speed. Your absolutely right, his skating is well developed, and perfect for hockey.
I like the bouncing the ball as he skates part. I couldn’t do that on my best day.
Played with a ball as a kid in the street, but the sticks were still hockey sticks, and we played in our tenni’s. Bandy seems almost like lacross on skates. Great stuff, now I’m excited to check out Pro Bandy.
The Duck fan with the F strikes again.
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I’m surprised people are so hard on Lokti. At 21 years old, he made a real difference when he came up and was playing at his natural position. I thought he did about as much as we could expect from such a young and inexperienced guy. He definitely needs to bulk up, but that comes with age. When I was 21, I could have worked out 10 hours a day and still looked pretty wiry. Solid B+/A- from me.
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I gave him a B+ only because A- isn’t available. He looked great, seriously, it made no sense to send him down when they did, and even Terry Murray would’ve called him up later had he not been injured. Looking forward to seeing him as a regular center
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Tuff one to grade, didnt do much on the wing, looked alot better at center. Its hard enough to adjust to the nhl from the ahl, specially when ur asked to play a different position. These kids need to be brought up when they can help us win, not to just fill a hole in the line up. Specially when that hole is a different position. Gave a C+. He has skill, needs to bulk up. I think the biggest question is will his skill be used in the right way? Smaller forwards wont have success digging out pucks along the boards.
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Lokti is my favorite prospect. Huge offensive potential, he’s got that 10 foot speed that helps him hop on loose pucks and open up ice for himself. Watching him play he was never a defensive liability in my eyes. The problem though, the kings are a defensive checking team and Loktionov is that sort of water-bug type player. He’s not going to be great alone the boards, he doesnt have the size, but he has great vision, a little bit of speed and some skill waiting to burst out. Again I have to bring up the Danny Briere/Tyler Ennis comparison. Terry Murray might not like that he isnt super involved defensively, but you have to balance your defense with some good offense. Briere is a 5’10″ center in the league and i think Lokti will be too, he just needs to adjust his game so it suits his advantages and not his physicality. Solid B for effort and potential.
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B for his effort, F for his haircut.
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SLIM Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
@Katy Perry,
I 1/2 agree..
B for his aforementioned “X” Factor…
Was exciting to watch at center….
His Speed and hands and watching him
back-down defenders gave me hope…..
Haircut is an “A” …..way ahead of the curve..
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Dominick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
@Katy Perry,
Ha! He just needs some spiker hair products, and his grade should improve.
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Really have to question his durability – I certainly wouldn’t count on him for much at this point in his career. He does not end our search for a 2nd line center.
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number 6 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 11:47 am
@rick,
If his durability is an issue then DL has to take some of the heat for that. I know how he feels about not having a huge pref for smaller players, but IF he’s gonna draft them then he’d do well (if and when possible) to get a better feel as to their durability. Look at Brad Marchard of the Bruins who the guys on Versus were raving about. Also Tyler Ennis. You can see that they are of a sturdier nature. Also Danny Briere. Even Nathan Gerbe of Buffalo (rookie?) who had 16 goals in only 64 games.
If you’re gonna just grab small players w talent and hope that one of them sticks, I don’t think that is thorough enough. Obviously….. I’ll say it again, obviously it’s not an exact science drafting anyone unless it’s a small group of players for the most part who arrive at the top of the first round. But you can pretty well observe how a player like Oscar Moller is built well before he’s drafted.
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PP Anybody? Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 1:16 am
@number 6, There’s a reason why all other teams passed on Aszevedo, Kozun, and Weal. Although all three were impressive scorers in junior, they were all very small, and teams obviously didn’t think their success would translate to the NHL level. Small players really have it all that much harder at making, and staying in the NHL. With guys 6 inches taller, and 50 lbs. heavier, it’s not surprising to see a little guy get his shoulder knocked right out of it’s socket. I guess you can say that DL took a chance that maybe at least one would turn out to be the next St. Louis, but it’s a long shot. Personally, with Moller and Loktionov on board, I wasn’t too excited with those other pics. Oh well, wait and see I guess.
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Solid B. If he can stay healthy, his potential is off the charts…he has mad skills and good speed.
I agree with Rich. He is in danger of falling into the Moller category if he doesn’t starting putting on a little more beef.
He could be used as trade bait, but the shoulder issues need to become a distant memory. I would like to see this guy play a full season at center before we even think about trading him.
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I gave him a C+
One thing and one thing only in my mind.
He has to stay healthy…If not, his career will be a short one in the NHL.
When healthy, he showed he can be a good 2nd line Center.
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There should be an “Incomplete” option, for guys like Loki and King.
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Dominick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
@Daniel, and Harrold.
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I thought Lokti played very well during his time up with the Kings given he was playing out of position. He looked even better in the couple of games that he played at center.
I think DL really only made one clear mistake this year and that was sending Loktionov down instead of exposing Harrold to waivers. At the time the team was sorely lacking offense and DL decided to send down Lokti because he had options vs. exposing a player like Harrold to waivers. The Kings continued to struggle for offense, Lokti got hurt in Manchester and eventually Kopitar went down to injury.
I hope Loktionov beefs up a little bit and gets healthy over the summer as I think he could be the team’s #2 center as early as this fall. The Kings desperately need more offensive skill and this kid has it.
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I gave him a B which is probably a little generous, but I felt it was a bit unfair to grade him on his performace at wing when he is a natural center. He is obviously much more comfortable at center. The big question on him is durability.
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Only a B? Thank god Dean Lombardi shares my view that he is much higher than that
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little lokti kid has some skill..give him a couple years and its on..no more hobbit on skates
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C+. Not sure I’m sold on Lokti. Seems to play even smaller than he is. Shies away from contact, and appears to get injured easily. Has talent, but I don’t see a lot of fight in him. TM’s system is totally wrong for him, and will probably stunt his development as an offensive player, which is all he will be effective as. Needs to center some highly skilled wingers, which we currently don’t have, so I don’t see much developing out of him in the next season or two. Might be a good player to add in a trade for someone of immediate value for us, because he does have potential, just don’t think he works with the way our current team is structured.
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