Another year is set to begin, and thus my favorite thing to follow also begins; the progression of rookies and prospects.
Last season the Kings got some huge performances from AHL rookies like Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli, but they also got really unexpected seasons from players like Alex Roach and Colin Miller.
Hockey tends to be a sport where prospects progress rather slowly, but there are still a bunch of players right now who should be in line for what you could call a “Statement year”. I’ll try and squeeze as many as I can in, but here are in my opinion at least the players with the most to prove ahead of them.
Tyler Toffoli
When you did what Tyler did in the playoffs last season and and the end of last year you’re going to have to have a big follow up year. At times he was the best King forward on the ice during games in both post and regular season, not to mention he was a point per game player and all-star in the AHL. The thing I noticed most about Toffoli is how, even though we’ve heard all about his tremendous offensive skills, he scored in various ways. Like by forcing turnovers on the forecheck
Off the rush (Note the slick little move to give himself space at the blue line for the outlet.)
or even a greasy goal here or there in front of the net
Toffoli had by all accounts a tremendous introduction into the NHL with his performances down the stretch. Now it’s going to be massive for him to follow up with the same performances and then some. Theoretically Toffoli should be penciled in in the Kings top-6 with the departure of Penner, although he had some really good chemistry with Trevor Lewis and showed he can score even in a third line role. Safe to say it's a big season for Toffoli coming up. His jump to the NHL has somewhat been solidified, but he has to show he's an everyday player who can roll with the ebs and flows of the game.
Linden Vey
Vey is going to be going on his third season in the AHL and he has yet to get a sniff of the NHL. Now might be his time though. It’s not make or break yet obviously, he’s still very young at 22 and has a lot of hockey left to play. However, after seeing him pot 67 points in 74 AHL games last year you’d have to believe his time is coming. The Kings’ fourth line struggled mightily last year and Colin Fraser saw himself as a healthy scratch on at least a dozen occasions during the year. That spot is one that Vey is gunning for. He’s made huge strides in his first two seasons, now the third is where he’ll have to make a leap.
Colin Miller & Alex Roach
Why together? Well these two had almost identical things happen to them last year in the CHL. Roach, a defenseman for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL, and Miller, a defenseman for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound of the OHL, both destroyed last season. And rather unexpectedly I might add.
Roach, 20, was a free agent signee in 2011 and figured to be a hard hitting defenseman with a tough of offensive upside. However in 2012-13 he nearly tripled his point production from 19 points in 2011-12 to 49. He also saw his plus-minus rating shoot from a plus-eight to a plus-42. Ridiculous right? Well, he was an overage, and he was on a Calgary team that was one of the top teams in the WHL.
Miller, also 20, doubled up his points from 2011-12 when he had 28 and put 55 in 2012-13. The 2012 fifth-round pick captained an average Greyhounds team as well.
Both of these young men are now slated to play in Manchester and both have a very big question to answer: Was last year a fluke?
Brandon Kozun
You have to root for Kozun. The undersized forward who stands at a whopping 5-foot-8 has year after year put together really solid and productive years with the Monarchs. In three seasons in the AHL he's averaged 50 points a season and last year he made a huge turnaround by finishing as a plus-rated player. He's put on muscle and shown on numerous ocassions that he's not afraid to play against big players or muck it up on the halfwall. I love this video from MonarchsTV from the beginning of last season because you can see what kind of player he is. He does a little bit of everything.
It's starting to get to that tipping point for Kozun. He's 23 and going on his fourth AHL season. Is he going to be a Brad Marchand, where the size doesn't matter? Or will he be a Keith Aucoin where it always holds him back from taking the next step?
Martin Jones
So Bernier is gone. What about Martin Jones? Oh right, Ben Scrivens. It has to be a little frustrating in the mind of Jones to see an opportunity developing and then have it change in front of you like that. That’s the NHL though. Jones has to stay focused, which has been something that haunts him in the AHL. He’s a tremendous goalie when he is on his game and his season numbers speak to that. He’s had three seasons in a row where he’s hovered above or right below the .920 save percentage mark. He’s also taken a decent amount of the workload averaging 46 starts a season over the last three years despite being just 23. His month to month statistics is where it really get baffling. In late November and December he had a run of 9 straight starts where he couldn’t buy a win and his save percentage was around .875 during that stretch. He finished the final two months with a 13-6-1 record and a save percentage around .930. His hot and cold periods make him questionable as a backup because you just don’t know who you’re getting. Scrivens is signed for one year, and if Jones can go this season without any major hiccups the job of backing up Quick will likely be his.
Nic Dowd & Kevin Gravel
Both are returning to St. Cloud State where last season they were integral pieces in an unprecedented run that saw the underdog Huskies enter the Frozen Four. Gravel in particular has come a long way in his development and has done it generally as a hard-nosed shut down defenseman which the Kings need. Both are ready to make the jump talent wise and this final year could be a big personal step for both players as they finish off strong NCAA careers. Here is an interview Kings Vision did with Gravel at the Kings most recent development camp
For now really, that’s the biggest ones I can think of. I will cover more statement years from players on the NHL squad in the next blog. Who do you think has the most to prove this year in the Kings’ pipeline? Is it Andreoff? Jones? Kitsyn with his anticipated return from Russia? Maybe it’s new draft pick Valentin Zykov who has to show other scouts why it was a mistake to let him slide so far. Does Tanner Pearson have a lot to prove already?
The fun begins in just about a month when preseason starts to take shape. It’s getting close people!
Follow me on Twitter @SirJDL. It's the best Jerry, the best. 
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