The Los Angeles Kings selected four players in the 2021 NHL Draft this past weekend.
The Kings entered the day with seven picks but decided to trade to get into better position on three separate occasions. Here’s a recap of the picks that came in and went out:
The Kings took the last of the top defensemen available with the eighth-overall pick. Clarke had 15 points in 26 games in Slovakia’s top professional league, a year after scoring 38 points in 57 OHL games as a rookie with the Barrie Colts. Clarke projects as a top-four defenseman and is likely to be a long-term member on the right side of the team’s defense group.
2nd Round, 43rd Overall: Francesco Pinelli (F)
Like Clarke, Pinelli also had to head overseas to play this year, as a result of the OHL season being cancelled. The center played 13 games in Slovenia, where he scored 11 points, and in the year prior, he had scored an impressive 18 goals and 41 points in 59 games as an OHL rookie. The recent sample size of his play is small, but he does have a high offensive upside.
2nd Round, 59th Overall: Samuel Helenius (F)
Helenius is a 6-foot-6 center who spent the year in Finland’s top professional league. He scored 7 goals and 14 points in 54 games and also played in the World Juniors this year, scoring two goals and four points in seven games.
3rd Round, 84th Overall: Kirill Kirsanov (D)
Kirsanov was ranked by many to go earlier than he did. The defender spent the majority of the season in the KHL, where he had three points in 29 games.
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