• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

MayorsManor.com

NHL blog, LA Kings hockey news and interviews from The Mayor

  • Radio Replay
  • Prospect Rankings
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / HockeyBlog / If the LA Kings Dip Into 2020 College Free Agent Market

If the LA Kings Dip Into 2020 College Free Agent Market

March 10, 2020 By John Hoven

While drafting and development remain core priorities of the LA Kings at the moment, adding top young talent via free agency will also come into play when the opportunity arrises. Over the past few seasons, GM Rob Blake and staff have used the college UFA route to add guys like Blake Lizote and Alex Iafallo into the mix. Sure, not all signings may bear fruit at the NHL level – see Daniel Brickley and Sheldon Rempal – yet, when looking at the big picture, such signings make sense, as they add potential depth to the organization.

With the college hockey regular season now over and attention turning to the various conference tournaments and next month’s NCAA Frozen Four, let’s take a quick lap around campuses across North America to look at a few free agents the Kings may be interested in this year.

One final note worth mentioning: The Kings are coming up against the NHL contract limit (especially when also considering other players that are expected to be signed soon, i.e. Alex Turcotte and Tyler Madden). Thus, we’re not expecting them to sign more than one college UFA this time around

COLLEGE UFA CANDIDATES (in alphabetical order)

Jack Ahcan – Defenseman, St. Cloud State

The Huskies captain, playing in his senior season. And let’s be honest, what’s a college list connected to the Kings without a St. Cloud player? They go together like peanut butter and jelly. Ahcan is a 22-year-old left-shot defenseman. Standing 5-foot-8, he represented Team USA at the 2017 World Junior Championship. He’s the brother of Roman Ahcan, a teammate of Alex Turcotte at Wisconsin. Scouts say Ahcan is very skilled, makes plays, and competes. However, there is concern he may get pushed around down low at the next level

Jordan Kawaguchi – Center, North Dakota

An alternate captain at UND, he’s a left-handed shooting center from British Columbia. Kawaguchi is also the cousin of Devin Setoguchi. This year, he’s seen a major uptick in his offense output, scoring as many points this season as his first two combined. We would say he has the longest shot of all players listed here of signing with the Kings this season. Kawaguchi is skilled, has great vision and is a good setup man. Concern is whether he can skate well enough at next level.

Alex Limoges – Center, Penn State

Current teammate of Kings prospect Cole Hults at Penn State. He was previously a teammate of Mikey Anderson on the Waterloo Blackhawks in the USHL during the 2016-17 season. We provided a detailed scouting report on Limoges here around this time last year. The Kings were interested in him then and there’s still some interest.

From last year’s article:

Center/Left Wing, 21 years old, listed at 6-foot-1 … Has nearly doubled his output from last season, moving from 21 points to 41 points – and actually doing it in three fewer games played … Grew up playing hockey in Texas and northern Virginia – including spending time on the U16 Washington Little Caps, where he played with Peter Bondra’s son Nicholas … His father grew up near Montreal and played professional hockey in Europe … Penn State coach on Limoges, “Very smart player who makes a lot of plays in traffic. He is a complete hockey player who is also good on face-offs.” … And one of his Nittany Lion teammates recently told us this, “Alex is a great teammate, works hard. One of the best puck protectors I’ve ever played with/against. He sees the game very well and has great hockey IQ. He really has a knack for always coming out with the puck. We joke around that he always has the puck on a string.”

Connor Mackey – Defenseman, Minnesota State Mankato

An Illinois native, he is in his junior year and may not turn pro for another year. His father, David Mackey, played on the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota North Stars, and St. Louis Blues. He recorded the most assists and points by a defenseman in the USHL in 2016-17. Then followed that up by being named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team. Mackey attended Development Camp with the Calgary Flames in 2017 and Buffalo Sabres in 2018. He was also a teammate of Kings prospect Daniel Brickley in 2017-18.

Marc Michaelis – Center / Left Wing, Minnesota State Mankato (pictured above)

From what we’ve gathered, Michaelis is the Kings No. 1 target. They were interested at this time last season before he decided to return for his senior season – and their interest remains high. He’s a left shot from Mannheim, Germany. In addition to serving as the team captain for the past several years, Michaelis has increased his goal and point production every season, even with missing a few weeks earlier this season with an injury. Now 23 years old, he previously represented Germany in the U-20 and U-18 World Juniors. Any thought of a pro contract will still be several weeks away, as the Mavericks are one of the top college team’s in the country and could be playing playoff hockey well into early April.

Colton Poolman – Defenseman, North Dakota University

Left-handed shot, from East Grand Forks, MN. He’s 6-foot-1 and the returning captain of at North Dakota. Notice a pattern here? Current Kings prospect Michael Eyssimont was his USHL teammate on the Fargo Force during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. He’s extremely competitive, a great leader, defends well, yet offense at next level isn’t going to be his forte. He projects as a more defensive guy. Although several Kings scouts have been into UND for games lately, we’d be a bit surprised if Poolman signs in LA.

Alec Rauhauser – Defenseman, Bowling Green University

Standing 6-foot-3 at 215 lbs, he’s the current captain at Bowling Green (Rob Blake’s alum). Rauhauser was named to the 2016-17 WCHA All-Rookie Team and the 2017-18 WCHA Defensive Player of the Year. He was also teammates with Sean Walker during his freshman season. His skating was noted as one of the concerns coming out of his time at Kings Development Camp in the summer of 2018. How much he has improved in that area over the past two years will play a part in any decision regarding offering him a contract.

RELATED CONTENT:

LA Kings 2020 Prospect Rankings – Players No. 11-15

Follow @mayorNHL

Instagram

Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com

Filed Under: HockeyBlog, Kings, NHL, Spotlight Story Tagged With: college, contract, free agent, hockey, Kings, Los Angeles, Mayor, Michaelis, NHL, Rauhauser

About John Hoven

John Hoven is a former member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and co-hosts Kings of the Podcast. He's also the founder and editor of MayorsManor.com, which has been named Best Sports Blog in Los Angeles and Hockey Blog of the Year. Click "ABOUT OUR TEAM" below for a full bio.

Primary Sidebar

Kings Of The Podcast

Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 132 – Mark Yannetti, 2022 NHL Draft Review

There’s no introduction or fancy setup needed on this one… Our guest is Mark Yannetti. Listen to this episode for free using the audio player below or check us out on all the major podcast platforms, including: Spotify, iHeart Radio, Apple Podcast, Tune In, Radio.com, and many more. Follow @mayorNHL Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping […]

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 133 – Jack Hughes; Vin Scully, True-False
  • Round 2: LA Kings Reverse Retro 2.0 Jersey Mock-Ups
  • Kings Opening Night Roster Coming Together; Updates on Durzi and Anderson Contracts
  • NHL RADIO REPLAY: Mayor’s Minutes – LA Kings Summer Report Card, Grading Rob Blake
  • Mike Donnelly on Standouts at LA Kings Dev Camp and Other Impressions
  • LA Kings 2022 Dev Camp Notebook: Day 3 Notes and Scrimmage Highlights
  • LA Kings 2022 Dev Camp Notebook: Day 2 Notes and Quotes
  • REPORT: LA Kings to Hire Jim Hiller as Assistant Coach
  • LA Kings 2022 Dev Camp Notebook: Day 1 Scrimmage, Quotes, and Observations
  • NHL Rookie Faceoff: Schedule Released for September Tournament; Three Kings Games

Tweets by mayorNHL

Footer

Archives

Tags

AHL Blackhawks Brown camp Carter Clifford coach comments Doughty draft Ducks history hockey interview Kings Kopitar lineup Lombardi Los Angeles Manchester Mayor MayorsManor Monarchs Murray NHL Ontario Penner Playoffs Prospect Quick quote Radio Reign Richards roster Sharks Stanley Cup Stoll Sutter Toffoli trade video WCB West Coast Bias Williams

MayorsManor

  • About Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Store

© 2022 MayorsManor.com