Kings Select forward Koehn Ziemmer (Round 3, Pick 78)

The LA Kings have made their second selection of the 2023 NHL Draft, choosing forward Koehn Ziemmer from the Prince George Cougars of the WHL with the 78th overall pick!

The Vitals
Position: Right Wing
Shoots: Right
DOB: Dec 8, 2004
Height: 6-0
Weight: 210
Hometown: Mayerthorpe, AB
NHL Central Scouting Final Ranking: 25 (NA Skaters)
TSN/Craig Button’s Final Ranking: 32
The Athletic/Scott Wheeler’s Final Ranking: 31
The Hockey News: 55
Stats (Prince George): 68 GP, 41G, 48A, 89PTS, 43PIM, 0 +/-

What The Experts Said

Corey Pronman, The Athletic
Ziemmer is a highly-skilled and creative forward who has played center and wing but is likely a winger as a pro. Ziemmer has high-end hands and beats a lot of defenders one-on-one. He has the brain to run a power play and makes tough plays consistently at even strength. Ziemmer has the offensive touch, it’s all about whether his style of play will work in the NHL given his skating stride. His skating is quite upright and rigid, somewhat like Jason Robertson’s, and creates concerns on his pro projection. Ziemmer has some physicality in his game and can play around the net, but I wouldn’t call him a high-energy type.

Scott Wheeler, The Athletic
Ziemmer is a December 2004 who was selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2019 Bantam Draft (a year ahead of when most of the plethora of other top WHL names on this list were selected). Last year, he led Prince George in goals (30) and finished second in points (57, one back of Heidt). This year, he finished in the WHL’s top 10 in goals (41) and points (89), though he has regressed a little after a hot start. He’s a strong, physically mature winger who likes to shoot the puck and shoots it hard, but also regularly beats defenders and goalies one-on-one with a slick set of hands across his body so that they can’t plan for the shot. He has scored some highlight-reel goals in the WHL but he also excels at finding pockets of space off of coverage and remaining involved on offence and defence. And while he’s probably not going to be a star at the next level, and his skating needs some work, I like Ziemmer as a potential middle-six winger who can contribute offensively in a variety of ways, works hard, can play a heavy game on pucks or operate in and out of give-and-gos. He may be an early Day 2 guy when it’s all said and done but I’m a believer in him as a first-rounder.

Chris Peters, FloHockey
With 41 goals and 89 points in 68 games, Ziemmer showed off a vast offensive toolkit. The hockey sense and skill are high-end traits. Guys that think the game and have the offensive creativity like Ziemmer does give themselves a chance, but you’ve got to be able to play at a higher pace as you move up the ranks.

Quick Take – Ziemmer seems to have a nice scoring touch, falling just short of the 90-point mark this season with Prince George. Most reviews have him as a mature player physically who possesses high-end skill and contributes on the power play. Expect him to continue to develop in the junior ranks and be a highlight producer for the Cougars on their roster next season.

Zimmer Quotes
On how it feels to be the newest member of the LA Kings
It’s pretty exciting, I mean you go through the draft, hear all of the names called and you’re just waiting for yours to be called. It’s a pretty surreal feeling hearing your name called.

On what are the LA Kings getting as a player in Koehn Zimmer
I like to score goals, I’ve been able to score goals my whole life but I’m a power forward. I like to lay the body, I like to play physical and I’m not afraid to fight either.

On what he knows about Los Angeles coming in as a draft pick
It’s pretty new to me. I’ve been to LA once when I was about 11 years old, so I kind of toured the area a little bit. I know it’s really nice there and I’m excited to get down there.

On pre-draft meetings he had with the Kings
The meetings went really well with LA. I’ve talked to them a lot throughout the year and it was one of the top places I wanted to go, to be honest with you. I’m just really excited now and ready to get going.

On looking forward to playing another season in Prince George
Yeah, we’ve got a big year this year. I think we were going to have a good team going into Prince George again and our goal is to win there. So, going into this year, I think we want to win games and have a good year for ourselves.