When the Kings drafted Liam Greentree 26th overall this past summer, the consensus report was that the Kings got a big forward that plays with elite skill.
Now 117 days removed from the 2024 NHL Draft, Greentree has lived up to the early expectations by playing his style of game and doing so effectively.
Standing 6–3, weighing in at 216 pounds, Greentree seemingly fits the mold that organization is searching for. At least that’s what Head Coach of the Ontario Reign Marco Sturm believes. Sturm, who spent roughly a week around Greentree during the Rookie Faceoff Showcase complimented Greentree’s style of play, saying “this kid [Greentree] plays the right way. He has that something, he wants the puck.”
Greentree provided glimpses of elite talent during the Rookie Faceoff tournament showing off his combination of playmaking skills, dangerous shots and ability to disrupt play in all three zones. The question and topic moving forward is can he do that against the best players in world on a nightly basis. A topic of conversation revolving around Greentree has been how he handled the sped-up pace of play. Compared to playing in the OHL where Greentree has more say on how the game unfolds, as he moves up in levels, the pace will only quicken.
Following the Rookie Showcase, Greentree remained in El Segundo with a handful of other Kings prospects from recent drafts and was a full participant in the Kings training camp, which included appearing in the first preseason game of the 2024-25 schedule. Exposed to and on the ice with the top players in the Kings organization, Greentree continued to be present reasons for excitement and promise when tested in an NHL-esque environment. But more on that later.
Shortly after Greentree’s first exposure to NHL preseason hockey, the Kings assigned the 18-year-old back to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. Since returning, he has flourished.
The now two-year captain of the storied Windsor franchise is 10 games into the new season and leads the OHL in both points and assists (7-18-25). Furthermore, despite missing the Spitfires first game of the season because he was busy at Kings training camp, Greentree holds a six-helper lead over second place in assists. After the Kings drafted Greentree in the final days of June, the Oshawa native was able to spend a large chunk of the next three months in El Segundo under the organization’s roof, skating, training and most importantly, learning. Exposed to the Kings culture and way, Greentree was a participant in the post-draft summer development camp, the rookie tournament showcase and the beginning of training camp.
“I think something that I noticed and really caught my attention was how everyone plays the right way,” he said. “When I was in LA, you realize how everyone knows their role and does their thing and their job. “For me, that was huge to see because it encourages me to be myself and play my game and no one else’s. Seeing that and getting to play with some big names was really cool and helped me learn a lot. It kind of helped me know what I need to do for this year in Windsor.”
Taking his experiences and lessons from his time in LA, Greentree currently has the Spitfires out to OHL’s best record with an 9-1-1 start. Greg Walters, former professional hockey player of 12 years and an OHL head coach of seven seasons, is in his first season as the bench boss of the Spitfires. Walters, who has coached in the OHL dating back to 2002, was all compliments on Greentree in their early partnership when talking about his first impressions on the big forward.
“Obviously [Greentree] had 90 points last year and 23 [points] as an underage player the year before – the offensive ability is there,” he said. “We wanted to work on the little details once we got to coaching him. The little details of being very reliable in all aspects and situations of the game and he wants to be that guy too. He wants to be held accountable defensively and he wants to get better. I’m talking about his stick positioning, to getting above the puck making sure that we’re not giving up odd man rushes. Like I’ve said, he’s bought in 100%, so him doing that and being our best player, everyone else has followed. He’s done an unbelievable job of leading this young team.”
To best depict the huge step forward and impact that Greentree has had on his team early this season, all you have to do is look at last year’s standing versus where they are now. Even with a 90-point season at the age of 17 last year, the Spitfires had the second-worst record in the OHL, mustering up just 18 wins in 68 games. This year, Greentree has been able to unlock not only another level to his game, but also the team’s game too.
“He’s been great. Obviously I wasn’t here last year, but the team had gone through some difficult times,” Walters explained. “I felt that getting the team on board with our breakouts, our defensive zone, our tracking among other things would be the keys to having a successful season. Liam’s been tremendous with all of those. He’s our captain and he’s 100% bought into what we’re trying to do here. He’s been leading by example every day.”
Completely reciprocated, Greentree’s working relationship with Walters has them both on the same page seemingly getting the most out of each other.
It’s early days, but so far, the relationship has been quite solid.
“Coach Walters has been great so far, I really like him, he’s done a lot for us as a team and for me individually,” Greentree said. “I would say for me, he really grinds me on my little details and that’s something that I’ve always needing to get better at. To have someone who is really hard on me about the little details is really good and if I’m playing the right game in the defensive zone, my offensive game is going to come. So far it has.”
Los Angeles Kings pick Liam Greentree has been on absolute heater and now he's the OHL player of the week with 11 points in three games for Windsor.
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) October 21, 2024
With Walters’ coaching career going back 20+ years in the OHL, he’s had the fortune of working with some outstanding young Canadian players that have gone on to have great NHL careers. Most notably, Walters was an assistant coach for the Sarnia Sting from 2002-2010, a time in which a player by the name of Steven Stamkos came through that organization for two seasons (2006-07, 2007-08). Stamkos was of course the first overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft and was unstoppable with the Sting, notching 197 points (100-97-197) in 122 games. Walters, who had first had experience with Stamkos witnessed the growth, talent, and dedication to the game that the future Hall of Famer had as sees a handful of similarities between Stamkos and Greentree.
“I think they’re different players for sure, but off the ice they’re very much alike, very driven, very motivated, their work ethic is extremely high and either one of them won’t stop at anything to try to get to the next level,” Walters explained. “Liam still at 18 being named captain is special for a storied franchise like Windsor. Being named captain at 17 years old just speaks volumes of him and Stamkos was that same type of player. They both have great shots. Stamkos scored a lot more up off of his one timer and Liam’s moving all around on our power play, whether it be a strong side or trying to work with him on his one timer as well right now. Stamkos had that one spot perfected on the power play and Liam’s working really working hard at that being productive in spot as well.”
With high praises from Walters, Greentree has been the centerpiece of the Spitfires turnaround this season.
As the leader of the Spitfires on and off the ice, Greentree has been challenged by Walters to have more than just a good season, but to also leave a legacy in Windsor whenever his time at the Spitfires may conclude.
“I’ve talked to talk to Liam about him leaving a legacy here in Windsor and he’s done everything and more to do that on the on the ice so far,” Walters said. “Off the ice, he’s a wonderful kid and he works extremely hard in the gym. He’s a student of the game, he’s in our office every day asking for clips on how to get better, so, he’s a student of the game and the team follows him. He’s tremendously gifted, he’s a big man, he’s got a great shot, he gets to the dirty areas and he scores. He scores in all aspects of the game; off the rush, he scores gold-mouth goals, power play goals, etc…… we trust him. We trust him in all aspects and he’s obviously producing in every way.”
When asked about leaving a legacy in Windsor, Greentree maturely responded with putting the team first, something he’s done his whole career.
“If I could help get this team another Memorial Cup championship, that would be huge,” he said. “That’s kind of the legacy I want to leave, is that even though we went through a tough year last year, as long as you stick with it and do the right things, things will work out. That’s how I want to be known whenever I do leave Windsor.”
With three three-point outings, six multi-point performances and a point in all 10 games this season, Greentree is on pace for over 150 points this season. To put that in perspective, the last time an OHL player reached even 120 points in a season was in 2019-20, when Marco Rossi totaled exactly 120 points and only six players have notched 120+ points in the past 10 years (Alex DeBrincat 2016-17, 127 points, Kevin Lebanc, 2015-16, 127 points, Dylan Strome 2014-15, 129 points, Mitch Marner, 2014-15, 126 points, Connor McDavid 2014-15, 120 points).
When asked about his goals for the season, Greentree did touch on his individual goals, but was quick to focus on the larger picture beyond just himself.
“For me personally, 50 goals would be nice and obviously to get over 100 points, but the biggest goal for me is trying to lead this team to a championship,” the captain said. “I think we have the team to go far and we have a great coaching staff. I’m super excited to see what the rest of the year has to offer. I would really love to go win the league and then hopefully the Memorial Cup. It’s pretty early in the year, so you never know what’s going to happen. But for me, it’s just about getting this team a championship.”
The right approach, coming off an incredibly strong start.
Photo by Gary A. Vasquez/NHLI via Getty Images
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