Kings must learn from previous development mistakes and successes

Player development is a complicated thing. There is no right answer, but there are ways to maximize your young talent and ways to minimize it. H

There are always risks involved, but the high-risk, high-reward option is one that the Los Angeles Kings front office has only recently been willing to engage with.

The low-risk, low-reward option is to place your prospects in the bottom six and let them play a role that redefines and narrows down their skill set. A first-round draft pick is rarely chosen to become the best third- and fourth-line wing or center in the league. Even players who become like that, see Trevor Lewis, aren’t drafted with that in mind.

Top candidates must be players in the top six. It’s that simple. The Kings have made a lot of mistakes under Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille, and one of them has been playing their best players in the bottom six.

Rasmus Kupari was and is a talented and fast forward with size. He was a first-round draft pick and was buried in the Kings’ bottom six. He gained confidence over time and ended up as a penalty killer as he tried to learn the center role at the NHL level.

The young Finn showed flashes of brilliance, but there were also lapses where he seemed to be skating faster than his ability to process the game. The first round draft pick was cut short during the playoffs, providing the Kings with the lack of depth they desired to advance past the first round. The newfound Jet failed to break through the first round with his new team.

Then there is Arthur Kaliyev. Kaliyev has become the best scoring talent the organization has drafted since Tyler Toffoli, except there has been exceptionally more hype about his goal-scoring ability. Kaliyev dominated the OHL in his draft and D+1 seasons. He was also fortunate to have the opportunity to play in the underage AHL due to the COVID-19 play gap.

He scored in his NHL debut and looked to be the future leading scorer of the future. But as he spent most of his time in the bottom six, especially on the fourth line, he got stuck. Kaliyev currently has 35 goals in 188 games. Seventeen of those goals came on the power play.

Kaliyev never achieved full-time top-six status. His shooting and talent kept him as a constant figure only on the power play unit, until last season, when the relationship between player and team reached a boiling point.

His ability to put the puck in the back of the net was never in question. It was his defensive warts. They knew that in recruiting him they took a risk and forced him into a role that highlighted those warts and made little use of his strengths.

Kaliyev started the season last year with Phillip Danualt and Trevor Moore and has produced exceptionally well to start the year (2-3-5 +4 in 7 GP). He was usurped and is now in no man’s land with the organization.

There is no guarantee that players like Kupari or Kaliyev would have performed differently if they had been given more opportunities in the top six.

However, the plan shouldn’t be to turn the best players into bottom six grinders. You have to let these players take on these roles, and not make that your ceiling.

Adrian Kempe’s example:

Adrian Kempe is a great example of both sides of development.

He was the highest draft pick in the post-cup-winning era under Lombardi (2014). He spent the first few years of his career playing in the bottom six, at center and on the wing. In his first year on the front line, he scored 35 goals. The following season, 41 goals. The most recent season? He led the team in points with 75, his most complete season.

If the Kings want to attribute this to “slow marination,” I don’t buy it. Marinating can actually over-saturate the meat.

Kempe himself spoke about how important the opportunity to get consistent minutes in the top six was to his breakout.

You see the same with someone like Quinton Byfield. Did his season and move into the bottom six really lead to his breakout campaign last season? Or was he finally getting the use his talent demanded?

The old ways of doing things for this franchise have reached a breaking point as prospect depth has plummeted back to post-Lombardi lows.

Alex Turcotte and Akil Thomas are still young players who are walking a fine line towards their careers as front nine and six forwards. They cannot play roles less than those they were designed for, designed to get the most out of. To a lesser extent, the concern should even be with a player like Liam Greentree, who has just been called up. Joining an organization that has completely locked out its youth is a troubling prospect for a potential youngster.

Stick to what works. Develop in the top six or return in the bottom six.