Los Angeles Kings | CollegeHockeyPlayers

11Dec

Brandon Kozun(15) Manchester Monarchs

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Los Angeles Kings‘ 6th round pick in the 2009 draft (#179 overall), right wing Brandon Kozun(15) signed a qualifying offer to stay put in the prospect system for another year.

The small 5’8″ 162 lbs., smart playing-making forward has skated in 246 AHL games with affiliate Manchester Monarchs scoring a handy 75 goals and 95 assists with a +19 rating.

In four seasons of junior hockey in the WHL with Calgary Hitmen he absolutely tore up the score sheet with over 100 points in each of his last two years putting him at a 1.24 points-per-game and won the league title in 2010. His plus/minus was completely through the roof at a +103.

He also finished that campaign, both regular season and playoffs as the league’s assist and point leader and added CHL Top Scorer Award to the mix.

The 23-year has yet to realize his first NHL action and his smaller size may affect that possibility on a team that has a history of recalling bigger players.

See related: 3/5-11

03Dec

Jean-Francois Berube(35) Manchester Monarchs

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Los Angeles Kings‘ 4th round pick in the 2009 draft (#95 overall) goaltender Jean-Francois Berube(35) finally moved up the hockey ladder to start the last season of his 3-year entry level deal in the AHL with Manchester Monarchs.

In his first two campaigns he tended net almost exclusively with then ECHL affiliate Ontario Reign.

In 61 games he posted a 32-19-4-2 record with a 2.55 GAA and .908 SV% but really broke through in the Kelly Cup Playoffs where in 10 games he went 6-2-2 and finished with a 2.07 GAA and .914 SV%.

The Kings‘ farm team did have the off season opening for the 6’1″ slim 170 lbs. net minder to step right in and take the back-up job between the pipes; and with that achieved it’s highly doubtful anyone expected him to be pressed into action as the number 1 guy for an extended period.

But that has happened after the farm club’s starting goalie was summoned when Jonathan Quick went down with a long-term injury.

The 23-year old is out of the gate strong with a 6-3-1 record, a solid 2.28 GAA and shutdown .920 SV% very assuredly keeping the Monarchs in their commanding first place Eastern Conference lead.

If he keeps up his stellar play it will be interesting to see if the backstop is qualified with an extension or moved in a trade.

29Nov

Jeff Schultz(55) Manchester Monarchs

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Former Washington Capitals‘ 1st round pick in the 2004 draft, 8th year defenseman Jeff Schultz(55) is back in the AHL for the first time in half a dozen seasons.

For the last 7 seasons he skated all but one appearance in the NHL for 399 games scoring 11 goals and 64 assists with a mammoth +78 rating.

In 2009/2010 he was a league best +50 plus/minus.

The big big 6’6″ 225 lbs. blue liner was signed to a 4-year extension early into his restricted free agency status but was unable to sustain the numbers.

The Capitals decided to cut ties and elected to exercise their option to buy out the final season of his contract.

Soon afterwards, Los Angeles Kings stepped him offering him a one-way deal at just over the league minimum.

The 27-year old was a late cut, reassigned to minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs, where in 21 games he has a goal and an assist and is a +1.

Chances are good that he’ll live to skate his 400th game in the show but what happens next season is a total crap shot.

16Nov

David Steckel(39) Norfolk Admirals

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10th year center, former Los Angeles Kings‘ 1st round pick in the 2001 draft (#30 overall) center David Steckel(39) had to hang around for a little while before he found himself a deal for the 2013/2014 season.

He was invited to join Minnesota Wild training camp and eventually signed a pto to continue with their minor league affiliate Iowa Wild but was released after only 4 appearances.

Rumor has it he was fishing for a one-year, NHL deal and there was little room there for him to sign.

So, onto the next and he takes up Norfolk Admirals but inks an spc with the promise of signing with the parent club and team he last skated with, Anaheim Ducks.

He’s played 419 NHL games scoring 33 goals and 46 assists and lead the league in best faceoff percentage in 2010/2011, his last of 6 seasons with Washington Capitals.

The mammoth 6’6″ 215 lbs. forward is killer on the dot and it could be his ticket back to the show.

He scored a handsome two-way deal, was put on waivers and sent back to the AHL.

The 31-year old is a veteran of 219 games in the league with 56 goals, 60 assists and a pretty hefty +37 rating.

His last appearance in the A was Hershey Bears‘ deep playoff run in 2007.

It would be little surprise to see him leave for the KHL to finish out his pro career.

11Nov

Randy Jones(12) Portland Pirates

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Undrafted, 11th year defenseman Randy Jones(12) signed a pto to join Portland Pirates.

So far he’s played in three contests recording no points and has a -2 rating.

He has skated 174 AHL games with 15 goals and 51 assists and made 18 appearances late last season with Oklahoma City Barons in a similar situation and added another 17 playoff match ups with the team.

A former Calder Cup Champion with Philadelphia Phantoms in his second pro season while under contract with parent club Philadelphia Flyers, he played with them for 6 seasons before moving onto a few one-year deals.

The 6’2″ 210 lbs. blue liner is a veteran of 365 NHL games with 105 points to his credit.

At 32-years old it’s a bit of a wonder if he’ll be able to secure a spc or will be heading elsewhere.

02Nov

Nick Shore(37) Manchester Monarchs

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Los Angeles Kings‘ 3rd round pick in the 2011 draft (#82 overall) center Nick Shore(37) starts his pro career with minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs.

He decided to forgo his final year at University Of Denver, where he struck for 35 goals and 59 assists in 115 games before leaving to pursue his dream.

The 6′ 195 lbs. forward is signed to a three-year entry level deal that already has one year on the books and runs through the 2014/2015 season.

In 11 AHL games, he’s not exactly out of the gates quickly with just a pair of strikes and a helper and a +4 rating but he’s on an exceptionally good team that should improve those numbers maybe in a hurry.

At just 21-years old there’s still plenty of time to develop, although he’s in a prospect system with a lot of talent in its’ depth chart.

His slightly larger older brother is Drew Shore.

24Oct

Derek Forbort(3) Manchester Monarchs

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Los Angeles Kings‘ 1st round pick in the 2010 draft (#15 overall) defenseman Derek Forbort(3) decided to ditch his fourth and final year of college hockey at University Of North Dakota and start his pro career, inking a 3-year entry level deal.

He signed an ato and skated in 6 regular season and 4 playoff games with minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs, where he put up one assist.

After attending both prospect and official training camps with the parent club, the big 6’4″ 218 lbs. rejoins the Monarchs to begin his rookie season and in 8 AHL games already has his first goal and another helper with a +4 rating.

He was never quite known as a scorer, putting the puck in the net on a regular basis but has been effective with the outlet pass to get the play moving up ice for scoring chances and is known mostly for his shutdown defensive abilities.

The 21-year old also won back-to-back NCAA Championships, so knows what it takes to win, which was probably a factor in his top selection spot.

07Oct

Scott Sabourin (25)

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Sizable, undrafted rookie right wing Scott Sabourin(25) signs a 3-year entry level deal with Los Angeles Kings after a very impressive training camp.

He somewhat oddly signed a two-year deal with their minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs after completing three years in the OHL with Oshawa Generals last season.

He joined the team for 5 AHL regular season and all three playoff games to start his pro career.

At 6’3″ 208 lbs. he’s built like a true power forward and never shies away from getting right into the middle of the action.

He was never the biggest goal scorer in junior hockey, doing ok enough to contribute on the score sheet with decent frequency but with an average of over 100 penalty minutes he’ll definitely be keeping opponents honest out there.

At only 21-years old, he could easily find that scoring touch and add a whole other level to his game but the parent club likes their players with size, so he could easily fit right in as a fourth line energy guy and find a foothold in the NHL.

23Sep

Marc-Andre Cliche(22) Colorado Avalanche

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Colorado Avalanche claimed 7th year center Marc-Andre Cliche(22) off waivers from Los Angeles Kings.

He’s on the 2nd year of his current contract which pays him a one-way salary regardless of getting reassigned to a minor league affiliate.

The seemingly under-sized 6′ 205 lbs. forward was Manchester Monarchs‘ captain for the last three seasons and has skated in 341 AHL games with the team scoring 68 goals and 83 assists. He also owns a highly accountable +19 rating.

In his last two years of junior hockey with Lewiston Maineiacs, he was also team captain leading them to the 2007 QMJHL Championship.

He’s only been recalled for a single NHL game but could find his way to becoming a regular in the parent club’s lineup like former teammate Richard Clune did once Nashville Predators pulled him out from the Kings‘ prospect system.

The 26-year old former New York Rangers‘ 2nd round pick in the 2005 draft (#56 overall) will definitely be looking to getting into his new training camp and prove he’s ready to become a full-time member in the big league. His tenacious, never-say-quit playing style and endless ability to stick up for teammates will definitely help his case.

See related: 10/11-11

31Jul

Nikolai Prokhorkin(17) CSKA Moskva

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Los Angeles Kings‘ 4th round pick in the 2012 draft (#121 overall), Russian left wing Nikolai Prokhorkin(17) bounced around a lot and never really playing any amount of games last season (rookie?) but will pretty much stay put in the KHL to skate with CSKA Moskva for a fourth straight campaign.

He’s still only 19 years old and has skated in 35 games since 2010 – 2011 scoring 3 goals and 2 assists. He legitimately took that up to the next level with 3 goals and an assist in 9 playoff games.

The 6’2″ 183 lbs. forward also played in 8 AHL games with Manchester Monarchs at the start of 2012/2013 but only managed one assist.

It was said that he signed a three-year entry level deal but there’s no confirmation of that on the parent club’s Capgeek and ultimately was revealed he was actually still under contract in his home country.

There was also a thought that he would go play for Barrie Colts in the OHL but that idea was squashed as his abilities were already well above playing junior hockey level. He was originally a 1st round pick by London Knights but had his rights traded.

Regardless, they should continue to keep an eye on his while they still can.