Pavel Malyugin 
The LA Kings made a few surprising picks at the 2022 NHL entry draft this year by drafting three different over-agers. Two of them came in from the USHL and committed to NCAA teams, and one came from the OHL.
Firstly, the Kings made an expected pick with Jack Hughes at 51 before trading away their third-round pick for a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick. Once it was their time to pick in the fourth round with pick number 103.
At pick 103, the LA Kings made a surprise pick by bringing in Kenny Connors of the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL. As a DY+1, Connors is committed to the University of Massachusetts in 2022-23. Putting up 56 points and 25 goals in 61 USHL games this year, Connors went totally undrafted in 2021 which was supposed to be his draft year.
In his original draft year, Connors had only 18 points and a mere 3 goals in 50 games with the same team in the same league. His improvement was greatly noticed by the LA Kings and their scouting staff, and that’s why they likely chose him. Connors found his missing scoring touch and he was already taking his talents to Umass.
Although the Glen Mills, Pennsylvania native had been noticed by the LA Kings, he wasn’t even ranked by NHL central scouting. Out of the hundreds of players that NHL central scouting had ranked, Connors’ name was not on it. Most of the scouts throughout the hockey world didn’t have him ranked, either. It was clear that not many people weren’t as high on him, and that it was likely he would go another year without getting drafted.
That would be the case until the LA Kings stepped in and chose him in the fourth round. The big question is: were there any other teams that would take him? And if so, would it be later? Or just as early?
That’s something we won’t be able to find out, but it’s fun to speculate. It’s clear that the LA Kings saw something in the player that a majority of us couldn’t, and who knows, maybe they expect him to exceed expectations in the NCAA this fall.
It’s no secret that the LA Kings already have a stacked prospect pool so it makes me wonder how comfortable they were with picking whoever they want. It’s a fair assessment to say that they went way off the board with this pick, but for as much as we know, Connors could be on his way to prove everyone wrong.
Then the Kings were on the clock again with their 169th overall pick. This time, they made another shocker pick with Jared Wright. No relation to Shane, by the way.
I was probably as shocked when the pick was made as many people were. I had no clue why an over-ager who just played his first season in the USHL would get picked. Then I looked at his basic stats, and I was even more dumbfounded. Having only 34 points in 59 games, I was lost.
Just like Connors, Wright was unranked by NHL central scouting and by everyone else. Nobody expected this kid to get drafted, and here he was picked at 169. I’ll have to admit, I never did any scouting on Wright because I never truly expected him to get drafted. But when I went to take a look at how he was as a player on the analytical scale, I was blown away.
Feast your eyes on Jared Wright, Kings fans! I know, I was left speechless too.
Analytically elite in transition, in the offensive zone, and defensively, it had my jaw on the floor. Not in a million years did I think that Jared Wright would be a pick in the draft, but the fact that he turns out to be an analytical darling made me reconsider everything.
Despite not being much of a shooter, Wright’s passing, exits, entries, defense, and most notably expected primary assist per 60 were out of this world. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a random player have such tremendous analytics.
It really makes you wonder if Blake and the scouting crew made this selection purely because of analytics. If that’s the case, then it’s pretty cool to see how GMs like Rob Blake are willing to give legitimate chances to players who’ve been doing the little things right.
Committed to Colgate University in 2023-24, it’ll be a lot of fun to keep track of how Wright progresses. Do the analytics tell the truth and Wright shocks the world by turning those stats into reality? That’s something that we should all keep a close eye on. If the Kings hit big here, it’ll prove the progressiveness and the superiority of hockey analytics.
Here’s to hoping that the metrics don’t lie!
Finally, the LA Kings made the very confusing and questionable decision to trade away their 2023 7th round pick for Boston’s 7th round pick this year. That isn’t the weird part, though. The crazy part is that the Kings selected Kaleb Lawrence of the Owen Sound Attack at 215.
Seventh-round picks rarely turn out so there wasn’t as much of a risk picking Lawrence at this point. But it was a bit strange how the Kings decided to take an over-ager who appeared in only 2 OHL games this year.
Unfortunately for Lawrence, he suffered an awful injury that kept him out of the majority of the 2021-22 OHL season. We never got to see the full potential and the complete understanding of the 6’7, 229 pound forward.
The height and weight undeniably played into the choice. Rob Blake mentioned how he wanted the Kings to be a bigger team and a harder team to play against, and taking a 6’7 player who weighed almost 230 pounds felt inevitable.
But the weird thing is that the Kings made that risky choice of drafting a 19-year-old who we didn’t get to see much of. There isn’t a lot to work off of because Lawrence only played a mere two games and didn’t play in 2021-22 at all because of Covid-19. The only OHL stats that we have that have a larger quantity of proof is his OHL rookie stats.
Lawrence’s first OHL season was in 2019-20 and he had appeared in 39 OHL and had 8 points. Those are some very basic rookie stats for a mid-round pick. But here’s the discussion: what if it wasn’t for the pandemic? What if Lawrence stayed healthy this year?
How much would further the Ottawa, Ontario native be in his development? It’s such an interesting case with Kaleb Lawrence and it really makes you wonder what the Kings saw in him.
Neutral Zone Scouting had this to say about Lawrence:
“A behemoth at 6-6 and 200 pounds and moves pretty well considering his size and build. We would not qualify him as a speedster but he is able to stay in the play utilizing those long strides to catch up. He could not be covered by just one defender, it was a necessity to cover him with two people because he could bowl his way through single defenders with a low shoulder. That strength will mean that teams will always have a place for him.”
Connecting the dots, there must be something special with Kaleb. Taking a player with only 41 career OHL games who’s about to go into his final year of OHL hockey must mean that he’s got something hidden up his sleeve.
The best part about this pick is that this will be a ton of fun to keep track of. The Kings can’t lose in this situation. Worst case scenario for the Kings is that Lawrence doesn’t turn into the player the Kings hoped he would be and they’ll go from there. Possibly even part ways. But there’s no loss because roughly 95 percent of seventh-round picks never play more than 100 career NHL games.
But if Kaleb Lawrence does become what the Kings hope he does, they’ve just discovered a superhuman-sized forward with aggressiveness in the late seventh round. It’s a risk worth taking, and if it works out, Blake looks like a genius.
Supposedly Kaleb Lawrence does turn into a player who goes over a point per game in the OHL and becomes a great draft pick. Not only do the Kings get a relatively free player, but it’ll also be so much fun watching the 19-year-old get traction around the hockey world wondering how he fell to the seventh round. It isn’t a win-win situation, but it isn’t a win-loss situation either.
Even though these picks don’t make the most sense and seem like they are reaches in the big picture, a deeper dive will tell us that these picks might be risks but they’ve got the chance of becoming big rewards.