LA Kings May Have a Diamond in the Rough in Prospect Andre Lee

(Photo credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images)

It wasn’t too long ago when sizable forwards were an integral ingredient for the Los Angeles Kings’ recipe of championship success. Yet, while the club has branched out in recent years, sizable forwards continue to have importance for the Kings. This is the case for prospect Andre Lee, who stands at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds.

Drafted in the seventh round (188th overall) by the Kings in 2019, some may look at how late Lee was selected and diminish his chances of making it to the NHL. However, the Kings have had quite a few of their seventh-rounders crack their roster, including Nic Dowd, current defenseman Matt Roy and another sizable forward integral in the team’s aforementioned championship success in Jordan Nolan. Another seventh-rounder of the Kings, Dominik Kubalik, is even making a name for himself in the NHL, albeit with the Chicago Blackhawks. Nevertheless, there’s no indication that Andre Lee is deterred by his draft ranking. Frankly, the 19-year-old is too busy focusing on his own game to worry about much else.

I recently spoke with Andy Jones, an assistant coach for Lee’s current team, the Umass-Lowell River Hawks, in addition to the youngster’s former assistant, Brett Skinner of the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. I also spoke with Kings development coach Craig Johnson on how he likes Lee so far and what to expect moving forward.

A Stampede Standout

Even before he was drafted by the Kings, Andre Lee had already made a promising transition to the North American game.

Nearly 7,000 miles from his hometown of Karlstad, Sweden, Lee certainly didn’t show any signs of homesickness on this side of the Atlantic. In his lone season in the USHL, Lee made the most of his opportunities, impressing his assistant coach along the way.

“Andre got off to a good start with us right away and proved himself to be a really good player in the league, with an ability to put the puck in the net,” Skinner observed. “He was also counted on for the majority of the season to take on the other teams’ top lines and was put in many defensive situations.”

In 61 games for the Sioux Falls Stampede, Lee’s 2018-19 campaign saw him score 20 goals and add 15 assists.

“He quickly became a player that we trusted at the end of the game while also having his ability to possess pucks and score was a tremendous asset for us in our ability to be successful as a team,” Skinner continued.

Lee would only get stronger in the playoffs.

His efforts, which included 11 points in 12 games, would help lead the Stampede to the top of the USHL mountain, winning the Clark Cup championship in a three-game sweep over the Chicago Steel.

According to Skinner, though, it was the quality of Lee’s goals — six to be precise — that stood out most during the postseason.

“I think not only the amount of points but the type of goals he scored and when was more impressive,” said Skinner. “He had some dominant plays with the puck, using his size and skill to beat defenders in big moments of games. His ability to find that next level in big games, while continuing to play that consistent 200-foot-game for us was extremely impressive.”

Collegiate Conversion

After a highly-successful year in Sioux Falls, Andre Lee made the transition to the collegiate ranks in 2019.

As difficult a transition as it is for a freshman, though, Lee had an auspicious start to his career at Umass-Lowell. Before the season was cut short due to COVID-19, Lee was shining for the River Hawks.

In 33 games in 2019-20, Lee scored eight goals and 12 assists. Lee’s point production level, though, wasn’t as impressive as becoming more aggressive deep in the offensive zone.

“Andre had a solid freshman year for us,” emphasize Umass-Lowell assistant coach Andy Jones. “One thing Andre’s always had is a mindset to attack the net directly and he’s had that for as long as I’ve watched him play.”

As for where he’s improved in his game over the past year, the River Hawks assistant stressed Lee’s work in the attacking zone.

“Where he improved in his first year is that he’s begun to understand a little better in the offensive zone how to protect the puck,” Jones said. “He became a little stronger physically, so he was able to use his strength and the lower-half of his body to his advantage to keep possession of the puck and protect the puck more. I think that helped his half-ice game.

“He gradually improved in using his size to his advantage. Not many of us are that polished, so we don’t really know what it feels like to be 19 years old and that tall and skinny when that’s the case.”

#RiverHawks incoming freshman forward Andre Lee selected by the @LAKings in Rd. 7 (Pick 188) in the 2019 #NHLDraft #UnitedInBlue #HockeyEast pic.twitter.com/W0kfhNxV0V

— UMass Lowell Hockey (@RiverHawkHockey) June 22, 2019

A Smooth Development

In Los Angeles, the excitement is just as palpable for Andre Lee, particularly from Kings’ development coach Craig Johnson.

In his 10 seasons in the NHL, Johnson spent seven-and-a-half of those with the Kings. So, while a few things may have changed since he suited up for them, the native of St. Paul, Minn., has nonetheless worked for the Kings enough in recent years to know just what the franchise is looking for in their stars of tomorrow. Yet, while the club’s emphasis on size may have been more popular in an earlier era, it nonetheless remains an important asset for the Kings’ on-ice success in spite of less emphasis.

“Andre is a player who is young and definitely on the upward trend in his development,” Johnson began. “He’s getting stronger and he’s getting more powerful. He has taken big steps last year at Lowell. I think [Umass-Lowell head] Coach Norm [Bazin] did a really good job with him last year in his development.”

While he would certainly fit in with his size, that’s not all that Lee brings to the table.

“I’d have to say he’s a better player when he loses a little bit of the finesse and starts moving his feet more,” Johnson observed. “When he uses his size and speed, he moves pretty well and he’s very good around the net. His shot and his release are good. He has good range because of his size and has good touch around the net.

“Defensively, I think Andre became a little more responsible and I think he came to appreciate more of an adherence to defensive principles and concepts that can lead to added offense.”

Along the Boards

One particular area where Andy Jones has noticed vast improvements in Lee’s game is his game along the boards — or wall play.

“Andre improved his knowledge and understood more the importance of wall play,” the Umass-Lowell coach noted. “There’s a lot of wall play in the offensive zone and Andre is getting better at that and will continue to get better but for a winger, wall play comes into play a lot — breaking the puck out, advancing the puck to the next station. Andre worked a lot on that, got better at it and by the end of the year, he was showing up in some of our video sessions for really good plays along the wall to help his team.”

While he has also seen improvement in this area of Lee’s game, Craig Johnson knows there remains room for improvement.

“Some of the areas that he has to continue to get better at are just his wall play, to make sure his checks are met, moving his head more and to understand what’s coming, to see if someone is pinching or not and being able to make a play off the wall,” the Kings developed coach revealed. “But, we’re really happy with his year last year. We felt that he took big strides in a tough league.”

Off-Ice Assets Go a Long Way

As impressed as he is with Andre Lee’s on-ice development thus far, Craig Johnson can’t help but marvel at how the youngster fares off the ice, including how motivated he is as a student.

“His attitude with me has always been great,” Johnson stressed. “I’ve actually known him for multiple years, even before the draft. I’ve known his parents. So, he’s always been a very respectful kid. He applies what is taught, he wants to get better. He has, from the first time I ever saw him skate, made tremendous strides as a player and I think it’s because of his mindset. He wants to improve and wants to improve at the highest level and he works hard to do that.”

For Andy Jones, he was quick to point out one quality in particular that makes Lee such a great teammate at Umass-Lowell.

“He has a great smile,” Jones noted. “His smile is infectious. He lights up a room, he’s fun to be around and he’s really good socially in that way.”

Of course, there’s more to Lee’s personality.

“As I got to know Andre a little bit, it became clear to me that he was eager to learn, he was eager to improve,” Jones continued. “In our sport, I think those are some of the most important traits to getting better. Obviously, Andre is talented and athletic but there are lots of those types of people. But, one of the reasons I would bet on Andre is that he wants to be a player.

“In a team sport, it’s important to be well-liked and to be a good teammate and not to sound corny but Andre’s well-liked. He’s a good team guy and he cares about others. So, I think those are really great strengths of Andre’s.”

What to Look Forward to

He may not be vying for a roster spot with the Kings just yet but Andre Lee is nevertheless a solid prospect to watch out for in the next few years.

“The biggest thing on Andre’s side is just time,” Jones said. “He needs to train hard and he has certainly proven to do that. Time is his biggest asset because as his lower body fills out and he gets stronger, he’s going to be tough to handle and starting to become tough to handle as it is.”

As great as an asset as he’s become offensively, though, there are improvements in Lee’s defensive game that need some attention.

“Andre needs to improve on his defensive awareness a little bit,” Jones noted. “He needs to improve on his overall strength and he needs to improve on a lot of tiny areas a young prospect needs to improve on. But the biggest thing Andre needs is time because as his body catches up to his height, that’s when you’re really going to start to see the player that we saw going into this year with his effectiveness become more effective on a more regular, consistent basis and we’re excited for that.”

From Craig Johnson’s vantage point, there’s another area in Lee’s game that, while certainly impressive so far, could continue to see more results.

“As any young player, you have to continue to learn to make high-percentage plays,” the former NHLer noted. “What I mean by high-percentage plays is that if he has a one-on-three, maybe he puts it behind the D and goes in on the forecheck instead of trying to go to the middle. After watching him last year, I was impressed when he moved his feet. He’s got that range, he was good on the forecheck, he moves really well from the outside and he learns to get pucks to the net and take pucks from the outside to the middle.”

Adds Brett Skinner.

“He, like many other young players, needs to work on consistency and continuing to use his size and strength to his advantage,” the Sioux Fall Stampede coach noted. “As well as continuing to work on his physical strength, I think his game will be able to continue to grow. His combination of size and skill is something you don’t see often, and the more time that passes and allows him to mature physically he will only continue to get better.”

Andre Lee gets it started. pic.twitter.com/H7jYTuFmPx

— Sioux Falls Stampede (@sfstampede) January 19, 2019

For someone who only turns 20 this coming weekend, there is plenty to be excited for when it comes to Andre Lee. His towering 6-foot-4 frame alone is enough to salivate at — I hope you’re not actually drooling; that’s kind of weird — but with some work on his play along the boards and his defensive game, it is fascinating to see where Andre Lee takes his game halfway through next season, much less when his time at Umass-Lowell comes to an end.

If you couple Lee’s already-impressive foot-speed with his intimidating size, the Swedish youngster has enough to strike fear in his opponents just skating down the wing. He is also resilient, to boot, so a player never willing to give up only adds to their already-admirable DNA.

Prior to being drafted in 2019, Andre Lee was listed as a ‘C’ prospect, meaning that he was projected to be selected anywhere from the fourth to sixth round. In fairness, though, that was over a year ago and Andre Lee has taken tremendous strides since then. This has been thanks, in large part, to the guidance of hockey journeyman Brett Skinner and now Andy Jones and NHL veteran Craig Johnson. All three have had solid collegiate careers at some of the best hockey schools in the country: Denver (Skinner), Minnesota (Johnson) and, as a coach, Clarkson (Jones). Skinner has had great success with Lee as will Johnson but Jones will continue to play a significant role in helping Lee maximize his time at Umass-Lowell, pushing him to be the best he can be while enjoying his time as a River Hawk.

For those who miss of the Los Angeles Kings’ showcase of size in the early part of the 2010’s, there is even more incentive to be enamored with prospect Andre Lee.

“He’s working really hard this summer — he’s back in Sweden — and he’s a player that we look to make even more strides this coming year,” Johnson concluded.

He may not be ready to suit up with the big club just yet but give him some time and you will see just what makes Andre Lee worth waiting for.

 

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2 Comments

1. 

   MICHAEL

   August 3, 2020 at 7:14 am

   When was the article written? Don’t see a date. Reading on my phone. Great write-up will look out for this guy.
   • 

     Ryan Cowley

     August 4, 2020 at 7:22 am

     Hi Mike,
     Thanks for writing.
     This was from July 22, so pretty recent.
     While the date does show on web, it doesn’t show anywhere if you’re reading from a mobile device.
     Thank you for bringing this to our attention and let me look into this.
     As for Lee, he’s very promising. From what I’ve heard and watched from him, it’s hard to believe he’s a seventh-rounder. Of course, so was Luc Robitaille (yes, fewer teams/picks back then but nonetheless) 🙂