Unless you’re involved in the Stanely Cup Final, hockey news can be a little slow during late May and heading into early June. With one exception, of course – the status of several NHL prospects.
2021 NHL Draft Class
In many cases, teams only retain their rights to drafted players for two years (there are exceptions to that for some college and European players, see here for the full set of rules). In the case of the Kings, they selected four players at the 2021 NHL Draft: Brandt Clarke, Francesco Pinelli, and Samuel Helenius have all been signed to NHL Entry Level Contracts. Thus, LA retains their rights. The lone exception from their four selections is defenseman Kirill Kirsanov. However, since he was drafted out of Russia, the Kings still have a few more years to sign him and get him over to North America.
His situation is interesting one to watch too. Back in November, the 20-year-old signed a three-year contract extension with St. Petersburg SKA of the KHL. Then, things changed about a month ago when Kirsanov was dealt to Vityaz. He essentially moved from a 105-point team (and a perennial contender) to a team who finished this past season with 76 points. Standing 6-foot tall and weighing 198 pounds, the left shot defender will be looking to get back on track next season after suiting up for just 9 KHL games in 2022-23. He’ll be coming off knee surgery several months ago and reports are he’ll be ready to go for training camp with his new KHL club.
From everything we’ve ever heard, the Kings are still very much interested in signing Kirsanov at some point down the road. They’ve continued to scout him and follow his developing situation in Russia.
2019 NHL Draft Class
While 2021 was a ‘quality’ Draft for the Kings, 2019 was more of a ‘quantity’ year. They selected nine players total – including Alex Turcotte, Toby Bjornfot, Arthur Kaliyev, Sammy Fagemo, and Jordan Spence. The rights window for seven of the nine expired previously, with all seven players signing Entry Level Contracts. There were two exceptions – Lukas Parik and Braden Doyle. The latter has had a rather interesting college path, where he started at Boston University, only to later transfer to Northeastern. He’s expected to remain in the NCAA for a few more seasons; and the Kings will retain his rights over that time period.
Which leaves Parik. Once ranked among the top of the Kings goaltending prospects, the 22-year-old netminder has been on a whirlwind tour of North America since being selected by the Kings. He played for WHL Spokane in 2019-20, then USHL Dubuque in 2020-21. LA signed him to an AHL contract for the following season, where he split time between ECHL Rapid City and AHL Ontario. In five appearances with the Reign he picked up a 3-0-1 record. However, he was not offered a contract last summer and was allowed to find an opportunity with another team (even though the Kings owned his rights for one more year). Parik eventually signed with the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, and they assigned him to ECHL Utah. The writing was on the wall last summer. Yet, it became official on June 1, 2023 – the Kings didn’t sign him by the four-year deadline; thus they relinquished his rights. He’s now an Unrestricted Free Agent.
European Prospects
Nothing has really been normal in the hockey world the past few years, due to the pandemic, including the NHL Draft and the subsequent Development Camps that take place around the league soon thereafter. Fortunately, things started to settle down last summer. Aatu Jamsen was the first LA prospect to come over from Europe in quite some time to participate in Dev Camp. He also returned in September to take part in the annual NHL Rookie Faceoff tournament.
With the NHL Draft coming up in just a few weeks, the Kings are putting the final touches on preparations for this year’s Development Camp. With the Draft scheduled for June 28-29, we’re hearing Dev Camp is likely to start around July 5 at the team’s training facility in El Segundo. Once again, Jamsen is expected to come to SoCal for the festivities. From what we’re hearing, his coach is also coming. Tommi Niemela was the head coach for Finland’s U18 team in 2018 when they won the gold medal. For the past three seasons, he’s been leading the Pelicans (Liiga) – including taking them to the league finals this past season.
From the Not So Good Dept…
LA Kings prospect Aatu Jamsen will be sidelined for a while. Took a skate to his mouth in a LIIGA game, lost a few teeth, etc.
Some will recall, he came to LA for Dev Camp this summer & NHL Rookie Faceoff tournament. Was gearing up for a big season. pic.twitter.com/u5aJQH3MW7
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 10, 2022
Jamsen had his fair share of injuries this season, but continued to battle back time and time again. He was productive when healthy, including scoring and setting up teammates in the Liiga final. It was a breakout year for him in many ways, there was even a stretch of about 4-5 weeks where he was said to be the team’s best forward. He was even seeing top line minutes and being used on the top power play. Jamsen wrapped up his regular season campaign with 14 goals and 32 points in 43 games, then added 8 more points in 14 playoff games. He’s signed with the Pelicans for two more years. Although he could possibly sign with the Kings and come to North America next summer via a special clause available.
Otto Salin, one of LA’s 2022 Draft selections is also expected to attend Dev Camp in July. He’s coming off a loss in the Liiga bronze medal game (the two teams who don’t advance from the semifinals play a one-game bronze medal game). However, the real story is the fact that Salin is back playing again. He had a tough year, missing seven weeks with a broken hand. After skating in 27 regular season games for Helsinki, the 19-year-old defenseman was able to play in all eight playoff games. This will be his first Dev Camp with the Kings.
Goaltender Juho Markkanen is also expected to come back for his second Dev Camp. He attended last year, after originally being selected by the Kings in 2020. Recently, the 6-foot-1 netminder signed to return to Liiga next season. He tried his hand in Germany last season with the Berlin Polar Bears yet didn’t find it to be the best fit. Despite winning games, he didn’t get as much playing time as expected, largely due to that league’s rule surrounding how many import players can suit up at the same time. Going back to Liiga should see him have a more productive year.
Also selected as part of that same 2020 Draft class, forward Kasper Simontaival is expected to be in LA for Dev Camp next month. This will mark his first appearance in So Cal, although he’s been to North America for both the 2021 and 2022 World Junior Championships with Finland (notes on his performance can be found here). The slick offensive talent had 24 points (10G, 14A) in 49 games this season. He’s under contract with KalPa for one more season.
We’ll have more on LA’s plans for 2023 Dev Camp and the Draft posted soon.
What’s Next
When evaluating the Kings goaltending pipeline moving forward, don’t forget about Erik Portillo.
Details on LA Kings Acquiring Rights to Goalie Erik Portillo
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That’s a shame about Parik; I was getting pumped up to see him play. He seems to have had a successful cup of coffee with Ontario. What was the problem? Attitude and being amenable to coaching?
That would seem to leave Villalta, Ingham and Hreniak in the pipeline for a team looking for the answer in goal, both near-term and longer term. It’s disappointing that none of those three seem to part of the conversation right now.
Portillo.