History by 2018 draft position: LA Kings and league-wide

The NHL Draft is upon us! As of now, the LA Kings have seven selections at next week’s draft, which will be held in Dallas over June 22-23. Those selections are the 20th, 51st, 82nd, 113th, 144th, 165th and 175th picks, which will take place in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth rounds before the Kings’ two sixth round picks. The extra sixth round pick came by virtue of a swap with the New York Islanders in which Los Angeles traded their 2017th sixth rounder for a 2018th. The Kings’ seventh rounder, which would’ve been 206th overall, was sent to Tampa Bay one year ago for the rights to Boko Imama, who was then signed to an entry-level contract.

It means little for what they plan on doing this year, but it’s still interesting to look at Los Angeles’ history and the league’s history at each particular draft slot. (This is clearly my way of saying you should expect the Kings to get a player of Pavel Bure’s caliber with the 113th overall pick.)

(stick tap to hockey-reference.com’s draft tool; all stats and selections are from 1963-2018)

PICK #20
1972 – Don Kozak / 437 GP, 96-86=182
2000 – Alexander Frolov / 579 GP, 175 G, 175-222=397
Number of players selected 20th overall to play in the NHL: 44
Most GP by player selected 20th overall: Larry Robinson, 1,384
Most points by player selected 20th overall: Michel Goulet, 548-605=1,153
Notable players selected 20th overall: Robinson, Goulet, Martin Brodeur, Martin Rucinsky, Brent Burns, Travis Zajac, Brian Sutter

PICK # 51
1969 – Butch Goring / 1,107 GP, 375-513=888
2001 – Jaroslav Bednar / 102 GP, 10-25=35
2016 – Kale Clague / No NHL stats
Number of players selected 51st overall to play in the NHL: 27
Most GP by player selected 51st overall: Patrik Elias, 1,240
Most points by player selected 51st overall: Elias, 408-617=1,025
Notable players selected 51st overall: Elias, Goring, Patrick Roy, Brian Bradley, Derek Stepan, Calle Jarnkrok, Brian Dumoulin

PICK #82
1982 – Dave Ross / No NHL stats
2003 – Ryan Munce / No NHL stats
2007 – Bryan Cameron / No NHL stats
2011 – Nick Shore / 236 GP, 15-38=53
Number of players selected 82nd overall to play in the NHL: 15
Most GP by player selected 82nd overall: Brian Gionta, 1,026
Most points by player selected 82nd overall: Gionta, 291-304=595
Notable players selected 82nd overall: Gionta, Trent Klatt, Adam Henrique, Bill Houlder, Andy Rymsha

PICK #113
1979 – Jay MacFarlane / No NHL stats
Number of players selected 113rd overall to play in the NHL: 12
Most GP by player selected 113rd overall: Randy McKay, 932
Most points by player selected 113rd overall: Pavel Bure, 437-342=779
Notable players selected 113rd overall: McKay, Bure, Mike Eaves, Roman Turek

PICK #144
1981 – Peter Sawkins / No NHL stats
1989 – Ted Kramer / No NHL stats
2006 – Martin Nolet / No NHL stats
Number of players selected 144th overall to play in the NHL: 13
Most GP by player selected 144th overall: Matt Cooke, 1,046
Most points by player selected 144th overall: Cooke, 167-231=398
Notable players selected 144th overall: Cooke, Gary Howatt, Brent Sopel, Cody McCormick, Darcy Wakaluk

PICK #165
1981 – Dan Brennan / 8 GP, 0-1=1
1989 – Sean Whyte / 21 GP, 0-2=2
2000 – Nathan Marsters / No NHL stats
Number of players selected 165th overall to play in the NHL: 9
Most GP by player selected 165th overall: Byron Ritchie, 324
Most points by player selected 165th overall: Ritchie, 25-33=58
Notable players selected 165th overall: Michael Leighton

PICK #175
1988 – Jim Larkin / No NHL stats
1990 – Denis Leblanc / No NHL stats
Number of players selected 175th overall to play in the NHL: 13
Most GP by player selected 175th overall: Patrik Sundstrom, 679
Most points by player selected 175th overall: Sundstrom, 219-369=588
Notable players selected 175th overall: Sundstrom, Ryane Clowe, Matthew Benning

-Lead photo via Elsa/Getty Images