LA Kings' 2007 Draft Picks

My boyfriend and I went to San Diego this weekend and I fully expected to miss every single minute of the 2007 Draft. We arrived in SD around 3:30ish, checked into the hotel, roamed around the Seaport Village, ate a late lunch, and went back to the room. I mentioned that the Draft was on VS to which my boyfriend said, yeah right, the hotel is going to have VS. I didn’t lose hope because back in April when I was Pomona, I was able to watch playoff games on VS in my hotel room. Sure enough, the hotel had VS and right when we turned on the TV it was the Kings’ turn to pick with the fourth selection. I saw that Patrick Kane was already selected and I figured we would go with a defenseman. When we picked Thomas Hickey, I said, “Who?” The defenseman that I though the Kings were going to pick, Karl Alzner, was selected fifth. I watched the rest of the first round, but before I get into what I thought of the first day of the 2007 draft, let’s look at all of the players picked by the LA Kings.

1. Thomas Hickey (R1)
2. Oscar Moller (R2)
3. Wayne Simmonds (R2)
4. Bryan Cameron (R3)
5. Alec Martinez (R4)
6. Dwight King (R4)
7. Linden Rowat (R5)
8. Joshua Turnbull (R5)
9. Josh Kidd (R7)
10. Matt Fillier (R7)

Thomas Hickey is a smaller defenseman at only 5’11” and 182 lbs. The LA Times article discussed reasons for why the Kings selected Hicks, a player that was ranked 26th by Central Scouting. DL admitted that “there’s more risk” in taking Hicks and that “Alzner was a ‘very safe pick’”. The scouts are impressed with the way Hickey can skate and while DL thought about making a trade to move down, in hopes that Hickey would still be available later in the draft, he said he ”was getting antsy.” Only time will tell whether or not Hickey was the better pick.

Haha, take a look at Oscar Moller’s photo. The kid looks high as a kite! Oscar is another smallish player, playing center at 5’11” and 179 lbs. He’s from Sweden but played in the WHL last season, notching 69 points in 68 games, which gives me hope that he won't fly back to Europe to never be heard from again. According to the Central Scouting Report, Moller has a good work ethic and anticipates the play but needs to improve his physical game.

Wayne Simmonds was the third selection by the Kings. He’s a RW that played in the OHL with the Owen Sound Attack. He had a respectable season with 49 points and 112 PIM in 66 games.

Bryan Cameron played in the OHL with the Belleville Bulls the past two seasons. He significantly improved his points production in the second season. According to the Central Scouting Report, he’s good in front of the next but needs to work on his two-way play.

Alec Martinez is a defenseman who currently plays with Miami University in Ohio. Take a look at his college bio, he’s kinda cute, good smile.

Dwight King is a 6’3” C/LW currently playing with the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Last season he had 44 points in 62 games. He might be a ringer considering he looks like he’s 27.

The first goalie picked by the LA Kings was Linden Rowat. And so far, he’s the cutest little King draft pick ever! Just look at those sad puppy-dog eyes…aww.

Joshua Turnbull is two steps away from creepy! He’s just missing the jar of hair grease and a black mock-turtleneck. Anyway, this kid is an American born center who played with the Waterloo Black Hawks in the USHL. His points total was decent, 54 points in 60 games and a +18.

Josh Kidd is only 17 but is already 6’5” and 220 lbs. He’s apparently a stay-at-home defenseman and has good mobility considering his size.

Matt Fillier looks like he’s about to choke a bitch. He did have 118 PIM during the past season so apparently you can judge a book by its cover. He did put up adequate numbers (36 points in 63 games) but he was a mind blowing -38 for the season. Do we have a Raitis Ivanans-in-training??

Overall, I’m not sure what I think about this draft from the Kings’ standpoint. I think that Hickey could turn out well for the team but then again, he could be a flop. I’m most interested in the development of Oscar Moller. He could turn out to be like Michael Cammalleri and that would be fantastic for the organization. As DL said, it’s now up to the organization to develop the draft picks into NHL quality players and not rush them into the league.

As for the First Round itself, I think Pierre McGuire had his entire head up Alexei Cherepanov’s ass. He wouldn’t shut up about the kid! I loved how the other analysts kept making fun of McGuire about his undying love for Cherepanov. The kid was obviously not from North America based on his $5 blunt haircut, black on black outfit, complete with a skin-tight short-sleeved, black shirt that was revealed when he took off his jacket in order to pull on the Rangers’ sweater. I wasn’t too surprised that Angelo Esposito wasn’t taken sooner. I don’t think that a team should pick a player based on his connections. One analyst did mention that Esposito is known for not using his linemates enough and almost every clip in his scoring highlight reel showed him skating up the ice, deking around the other team and scoring. So yes, the highlights did show him ignoring his teammates. However, Pittsburgh could be very dangerous in years to come.

With all that said, is the season here yet?