Pearson, Futa talk about pick

Tanner Pearson and Mike Futa, and the Kings’ co-director of amateur scouting, talked tonight about the Kings’ selection of Pearson with the No. 30 overall pick…

Question: This is something you waited a long time for. How did it feel to hear your name called?

PEARSON: “I don’t think you can put any words to it. It’s something special. I think it’s still sinking in for me. I’m going to have a fun night and celebrate with my family.’’

Question: You knew at some point, either today or tomorrow, you would be picked. Did that ease the anxiety at all, or was it just as nerve-racking as the last two years?

PEARSON: “I think both. I think it’s nice to see that something is paying off, and to get credit for it, especially to join a great organization like L.A. Being the Stanley Cup champions, it’s going to be a hard club to make, but it’s going to be fun.’’

Question: Did you have a lot of contact with the Kings? I know Mike Futa knew you pretty well…

PEARSON: “I actually met Mike about two years ago. Our (Barrie) owner introduced me to him, and he may have persuaded me to go to the OHL instead of maybe going to university or something like that. So, there was always a joke that he might have had something to do with that. So, I talked to Mike this year, toward the end of the year when I was out with my broken ankle. He’s a great guy and it’s going to be fun.’’

Question: Your offensive numbers took a big jump this past season. What came together for you?

PEARSON: “I think my confidence in myself changed a lot, throughout last summer. I got a good summer of training. I did want to get noticed this year, and I got a good opportunity to play in a top-six role and I wasn’t going to let that opportunity slip away from me. So I knew I had to do everything to keep that spot.’’

Question: What’s the status of your broken leg? Where are you in terms of the recovery?

PEARSON: “The bone is all healed. There’s a little bit more strength to get back, but it’s almost 100 percent. I’m looking forward to skating in camp and getting to know L.A. pretty well.’’

And here are Futa’s thoughts…

Question: I understand you played a big part in determining where Tanner played…

FUTA: “Yeah. I had completely that when he was entering the (OHL), Barrie had brought me in to talk to him about the Ontario Hockey League. It’s a great family and he’s a special kid. He has a later birth date and he’s gone through the draft, but he’s got some real special, special attributes. He’s easily 6-(foot-)1 now, too. This is a bigger kid. He’s bigger than he’s listed.’’

Question: You hear the term “late bloomer’’ and it’s maybe a cliche, but is that sort of the case with him?

FUTA: “I guess the numbers started to come together for him, but from the first time I saw him, he had a ridiculous release with his shot. I think the light really went on, like we’ve talked about with Drew (Doughty) and some of these guys. They don’t really know what real work is, and from a fitness standpoint he had a lot of work to do. He got really serious about his fitness over the summer. At Christmas last year, when he left for the World Junior camp, he was leading the Ontario Hockey League in scoring. Then he made the team, and with the time lost, he kind of fell behind in the scoring race. He was asked to play a different role with the World Junior team, kind of a third-line checking role. He’s an excellent penalty killer. He plays well away from the puck. If the stars align — he ended up breaking his leg in the last regular-season game, and from all the medical reports from all the people we talked too, he has healed fine and that’s not an issue. He’s going to come back bigger and stronger from all of the training he’s going to have to do for rehab. There’s no issues there.

“There’s an upside that comes with his ability. The one thing I learned, through my few months there dealing with Darryl Sutter, is that if you’re going to play, you’ve got to be able to make plays. This kid makes plays. He can really pull the trigger. You’ve now got kids coming up through the system, like Tyler (Toffoli) and this kid, it’s just natural for them to put the puck in the net and make plays, which is good to have coming. You need that. We’ve got some good size coming up, and there’s a lot of depth in the back end, but now we’re adding some players who, it’s natural for them to put the puck in the net and make offensive plays. Clearly their attitude is that of a King. We’ve kind of defined what we want our attitude to be. He’s along the lines of — he’s good friends and ex-teammates with Kyle Clifford. There’s an understanding of what we’re all about. Accomplishing what we accomplished this past season, it’s special and we want to be in the hunt for that thing every year.’’

Question: Speaking of development, he could go to Manchester next year?

FUTA: “He’s eligible to play in Manchester next year. Assuming everything is OK with his healing — and, as I said, we sent everything to our doctors and he’s fine — he’s got to have a strong summer. I don’t have it in front of me as to whether he’s been cleared for everything in development camp, but if he has a good summer he’s going to challenge for a job in Manchester. If not, the option is open for him to play an over-age year. This isn’t a big concern about rushing people into our lineup right now. We can take our time. It could add another offensive weapon into the Manchester lineup, if he’s ready for that.’’

Question: What have the last couple months been like for you and Mark (Yannetti, co-director of amateur scouting)? With the playoff run, but trying to also focus on your job, it must have been exhilarating on one hand but also, I don’t even know what on the other hand…

FUTA: “I’ll tell you what it is. I would use the word that Jonathan Quick used in his speech, and then `amazing.’ As much as we’ve traveled all over the planet, Mark and I, going back and forth, taking commercial flights to be at all the games plus doing our list, our staff wouldn’t give up one second of this. It was the most exhilarating experience that any of us could have possibly dreamt about in our hockey lives. It makes every second of being on the road worth your while, when you get see Dean and Hex and you get to hold that Cup yourself, you can’t even… For the players, it’s great for them, but you see the players who, as a group, and that we’re responsible for putting there and you see the development and, you can’t even put it into words. Last night, we were meeting and all of a sudden the guy with the white gloves trots that friggin’ thing in again and it’s like, `Oh my God, here we go again. Here it comes again. Everybody put your pens down.’ It is unbelievable.’’

Question: Especially when you look onto the ice and see Doughty and Voynov and King and Lewis and Nolan…

FUTA: “Plus being responsible for Simmonds and Schenn, to get Richards, and getting Carter. That’s what makes it so special to be a part of. We know how proud we are to be Kings. It’s unbelievable. You feel the same as the players do, believe me. It’s different. Clearly it’s a different thing, but from our standpoint, Dean and Hex have made us know how important we are, in terms of providing those bullets that allow a team to do that. It’s a thrill. It’s an honor and a thrill and it’s humbling. I guarantee it can’t feel any different, for me or Mark hoisting the Stanley Cup, as it would be for a player, because you can’t possibly feel any better than that, I don’t think.’’