18. Los Angeles Kings – Score: 73.9

Top 15 Prospects

Rank	Player	Position	Score	Fantrax Roster %
1	Brandt Clarke	D	8.7	52%
2	Jordan Spence	D	6.7	22%
3	Alex Turcotte	C	6.3	21%
4	Alex Laferriere	LW	5.6	13%
5	Samuel Fagemo	LW/RW	5.6	9%
6	Koehn Ziemmer	RW	5.6	8%
7	Erik Portillo	G	5.3	13%
8	Francesco Pinelli	C	4.2	9%
9	Akil Thomas	C/RW	4.0	5%
10	Martin Chromiak	LW/RW	3.4	4%
11	Kasper Simontaival	RW	3.3	3%
12	Ryan Conmy	RW	3.0	1%
13	Aatu Jamsen	LW/RW	2.9	1%
14	Samuel Helenius	C	2.2	2%
15	Jack Hughes	C	2.0	8%

 

Individual Breakdown

As you can see, there is lots of hype in Clarke and for good reason as he is one of the best prospects outside the NHL. The reason he is not a full-time player, is that the Kings are deep on defense. Not to mention Spence, who arrived on the scene sooner, has the current Kings head coach’s trust. The reason Spence is 2 points lower than Clarke is being unranked by one DobberProspects writer.

Turcotte still has believers in the DobberProspects community, along with Fantrax GMs, but everyone would agree his time is running out to really establish himself thanks in large part to injuries. Fantasy league GMs seem the opening in the LA crease with Portillo as the only developing option for the franchise. That spot is coveted as the Kings are a team that will win game and not miss the playoffs a lot (even with as $8.5M cap hit for Dubois). There are quite a bit of high-upside skill in the Kings’ system, but a lot of players may never make the NHL level as they have low NHL certainty.

 

 

Team Breakdown

Los Angeles is a team that has drafted extremely well while being around the standing’s basement, and a lot of those players are arriving sooner than later. Combine that with some savvy NHL moves and the Kings will be a force for a long time. The issue for fantasy GMs down the line is “who gets the most ice time, and the most powerplay time”. This team may win a lot but with three to four lines that can all score, it may spread out scoring but will result in lower high point totals but also safe low point totals.

Fantasy GMs wish the Kings would allow more of the teams’ prospects to get a roster shot, but GM Rob Blake has also filled his NHL team with long contracts for veteran players that will make opportunities tough. Either way this team will be good for a long time.

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Pat Quinn