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As the Kings golf during what would be their post-season run, the Manchester Monarchs are through to the Eastern Conference Finals in the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs.
Next year the team will be moved to Ontario, California, and plenty of you are going to get a more up close and personal knowledge of who is who. Also, the Kings may have a few roster spots open for some of their up and coming youngsters.
Here is a quick rundown of who is who with the major prospects who are close to ready for pro and NHL action. Also we will mention what to expect, and where they fit in down the line.
Jordan Weal
He has been the consummate professional in Manchester for a few seasons now. The little 5'9" forward has been one of the team's leading scorers the past two years, and has slowly etched his way into the Kings plans.
Drafted 70th overall in the 2010 3rd round, Weal has played center most of his career. That includes a career in which he has broken the 100 points mark with the Regina Pats of the WHL twice. He can score. He primarily is a pass first player though and has tremendous vision and a solid work ethic. Despite his size he is not afraid to play a tougher game.
The Kings have been reluctant to call him up to this point due to the logjam at center, but recently Weal has moved to wing. This is a switch most likely brought on by powers above him. This means that the Kings are at least thinking about Weal in a more long term sense. He will have much more opportunity at wing than at center on the L.A. Roster.
Expect him to push for a spot out of camp and potentially be a bottom six player come October.
Valentin Zykov
Do not forget about young Zykov. The Russian is likely finished up with his QMJHL career, and all things considered it was a pretty good one. Zykov scored at a 1.14 point per game pace in his Q career with Baie-Comeau and Gatineau. He had 84 goals and 100 assists in 162 Q games. The former second round pick just turned 20 year's old, and although he has eligibility to go back down to his Q team as an overager, he will in all likelihood be in Ontario next season.
He is high skill, no doubt. He can score, he can dish, and he has excellent on-ice vision and puck handling skills. He also has good size and a willingness to back check and clean up his own end. He has made definite strides in his defensive game over the course of his development, and it will only get better.
Zykov's long term outlook is definitely in the Kings top 6. He is too skilled to play anywhere else and flourish. While next year will be a big stepping stone for him as he enters into pro hockey potentially, look for him to be an impact player with the Kings in a season or two. He is probably the most well-rounded offensive gifted prospect the Kings currently have.
Colin Miller
The number one player I am asked about, more than Forbort, more than Weal, more than Kempe and Zykov, is Colin Miller.
Miller lept onto everyone's radar this season with his outstanding production from the blueline and his All-star game performance. He blasted an AHL record 105.5 MPH slapshot and followed it up with winning the fastest skater competition to boot.
Yea, I shoot pucks kind of hard
The Kings have always known about the former Soo Greyhound captain's offensive arsenal. However, the fifth round tag mostly came due to his defensive game. The 22-year old was a bit of a mixed bag, and the Kings have really had their hands full trying to get Miller to adjust his game and think properly about what he can and cannot get away with at the pro level. He has made very good strides but is still likely a year or half a year away from being on the NHL roster. With time though, he looks like a nice addition to the Kings puck moving department.
Adrian Kempe
The Swedish winger reeks Kings hockey. He is big, strong, tough, already great defensively, and has a touch and go offensive game. That being said, at 18-years old and already looking at the AHL he is well ahead of the game.
Kempe was drafted in the 2014 first round at 29th overall, and has been playing in the top tier of Swedish hockey with MODO for two years. Sweden is not just a development league, it is a true professional hockey league. These are grown men playing for all the same reasons the NHL players play for. The winger was the youngest player on MODO's team this year and last year as he turned 18 in September. That's right, Kempe was playing with grown men at age 17 in his first professional season.
As far as a player goes, Kempe is a mule. He is big and bullish and plays a power forward's game. Think Dwight King with better offensive upside. You have to imagine that is exactly what the Kings are looking for from him. If they could get Kempe to slot into a top six role in his career alongside wingers like Toffoli, Zykov, and Pearson...I dunno, that is a pretty young and good looking group of top six wingers.
The reality is that Kempe's offensive game is still a bit of a mystery. He has not scored at great regularity at the SHL, nor did he at the Elit18s (Swedish Juniors). He has had tremendous international showings, but whether the offensive comes around or not remains to be seen. Nice thing here is that if the Swede cannot find the offensive touch he still plays a strong enough game to more than likely be a top 9 compliment at a minimum for L.A.
Derek Forbort
Bit of trivia here for you: Who is the only player from the 2010 NHL Entry Draft first round to still not play an NHL game? You guessed it! Derek Forbort! *Price is Right Theme plays*
Okay, but that sounds way worse than it actually is. Why? Because Derek Forbort, although taking the longer route of development, has turned into quite a hockey player. It is fitting since slow and steady has been the former UND defenseman's game since his draft date.
While criticism has been levied against him for being a slow developer, he has been one of, if not Manchester's best defensemen for the better part of two years. All signs point to the 6'4" blue liner being ready to get a shot next year as the seventh defenseman. It could not come at a better time. As the Kings enter a money squeeze, they have also lost the services of Robyn Regehr, and have a questionable Matt Greene starting to entering his post-prime playing years. Forbort also chipped in 15 points from the backend this season in Manchester, so he is not ALL defense. However, that is definitely where they are going to get the most use out of the former 15th overall pick.
Michael Mersch
Mersch flew under the radar this season in all honesty. It helps that he came on extremely strong at the end of the AHL season.
How strong? Well in the first 43 games of his AHL rookie season (He played 76) the former Wisconsin Badger had just 16 points and 7 goals. He finished the season with 45 points and 22 goals. Do a little math here...that is 29 points and 15 goals in his final 33 games of the year. Not to mention he has 13 points in 10 playoff games currently.
Talk about flipping the switch.
That is generally how the AHL goes though. We saw the same thing from Nick Shore and we are seeing it from Nic Dowd and Michael Mersch currently.
If you watched any bit of NCAA hockey last season, you saw that the 22-year old was absolutely lethal with the puck in front of the net. He plays big, but he has great offensive instincts and definitely drives the net. It took him a while to develop that confidence and willingness at the pro level, but he has definitely got it going now.
Like Miller, Mersch is probably a candidate to go another year or half year in the AHL. There is limited space currently, although you could argue if he continues his upward trend he could supplant someone on the bottom six. Likely we will see Mersch in a year's time in a top-9 role. The Kings bring players along slowly, and Mersch still has just one year of pro hockey under his belt.
There are plenty of other really good junior performers for the Kings and more outlying prospects in the AHL and beyond. Michael Amadio was superb this season. Alex Lintuniemi looks like a real deal defenseman. Paul LaDue has made tremendous strides in his NCAA career. How could we forget the nice goaltending duo of Bartosak and Berube? The Kings, although their pipeline lacks a real blue chip feel to it, has plenty of very useful and talented players.
If there is any bit of a mini-rebuild in the next few years, the Kings will certainly have the young pieces to sustain a competitive team. Just looking at a theoretical Top-9 that includes these young players is uplifting:
Gaborik - Kopitar - Zykov Pearson - Carter - Toffoli Mersch - Weal/Shore - Kempe/Brown
Nice right? There is also PLENTY of fluidity within the roster. Carter can play center and wing. Weal could play center and wing. All three of Zykov, Kempe, and Mersch can play either wing. That is a lot of variability, a lot of size, and a lot of skill.
Be excited for that next wave Kings fans.
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