Los Angeles Kings Prospects

By Guest Writer
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Updated: September 28, 2015

After a very dramatic and drawn out summer, the Los Angeles Kings have had to think on who they are going to want to play their third and fourth line centers after the loss of Jarret Stoll and Mike Richards. Both were lost on drug related issues and had been terminated from the Los Angeles Kings roster. But with those two being gone, Dean Lombardi has been on the search for those third and fourth line centers and has gone to his AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign (previously the Manchester Monarchs). There are three players that I feel are under the top consideration; Those three are Jordan Weal, Nick Shore, and Andy Andreoff.

When you look at Jordan Weal, you can’t think of much more than he’s going to be big in the next few years. The great thing about him is that he has been more than productive in the preseason racking up 2 goals and 4 points in just two games. Jordan Weal at 23 years old has time for lots of growth and development in the NHL. Being a big part of the Manchester Monarchs Calder Cup win, he has lots of potential and talent that the Los Angeles Kings could really use. In the 2014-2015 season, Jordan Weal had a total of 20 goals, 69 points, and a +11 rating in 73 games. Seeing as how productive he was on the Monarchs shows he’s a force to be reckoned with. On September 21, Weal made his preseason debut in Bakersfield and scored a goal and tallied an assist. His assist was a clean-cut pass, setting up Tyler Toffoli‘s second hat trick even though it is an unofficial hat trick because overtime was not needed. Weal’s pass from the far right-wing had just passed Anders Lindback on his right side where Toffoli was ready to put it away. Weal had also scored early in the first period of that same game on the power play, which is something the Los Angeles Kings can improve on. Being 13th in power play goals last season and 11th in power plays overall, getting two power play goals in two games shows great signs with these prospects.

We also have to look at Nick Shore, who has had very similar experiences in the first two games pulling up 2 goals and 3 just one point behind Jordan Weal. Nick Shore has had experience in the NHL prior to the 2015-2016 season with the Los Angeles Kings, but was not nearly as productive in the AHL which was expected. Shore in the AHL, had 20 goals, 42 points, and a +23 rating in 38 games played. In the NHL, he scored 1 goal and a total of 7 points in 34 games played with the Los Angeles Kings, which was quite a big difference but it’s a big difference in the skill level of people he played. Even though Shore did not score in the second preseason game, he was able to have a 2 point night against the Arizona Coyotes on September 21. His first goal came on the power play followed by a second power play goal by non-other than Jordan Weal. As I said prior, the Los Angeles Kings power play has been good, but not great, and can be improved on. Weal and Shore have already put up power play goals and can very well put up more. These two have lots of room to grow but have plenty of talent to be used now.

Another center that the Los Angeles Kings have been looking at is 24-year-old Andy Andreoff. Andy Andreoff has not been as productive as a scorer as Jordan Weal or Nick Shore have been, but that is not the role Andreoff usually rolls with. Andreoff, to me, has seemed to be more in an enforcer type roll. Within his first few games in the NHL, Andreoff had a scrap with Tyler Myers (Tyler was still in Buffalo at this time) on October 23, 2014. Andreoff had tallied up 5 goals and 10 points with a +8 rating in 7 games in the AHL, while in 18 games of the NHL, he had tallied up 2 goals and 3 points with a +1 rating in 18 games with the Los Angeles Kings. Now for as little experience he has in the NHL, these numbers are not horrible when you compare then to previous 4th liner Mike Richards who tallied 5 goals and 16 points with a -10 rating in 53 games of the NHL. Andreoff being the feisty little kid that he is, would give an extra force of strength on the Los Angeles Kings, being an alternative enforcer to Kyle Clifford.

All three of these players are under recent contract signings that are not very long, with the cheapest being Shore for $600k, Weal at $632.5k, and Andreoff at $1.175 million. Shore and Andreoff have two years on their contracts, Weal has one year on his. I honestly think the Los Angeles Kings should stick with Weal and Shore as starters, and keep Andreoff as a healthy scratch for now. Weal and Shore have been very productive for the time that they have played, and been able to prove that they deserve spots as 3rd and 4th liners. Andreoff is a stellar player, but I personally feel like he needs work. Another option with Andreoff, since we do have Jordan Nolan who plays a similar style of play as Andreoff, is to trade him. He has the more expensive contract of the three prospects, and could help the Los Angeles Kings free up room on the salary cap to get Anze Kopitar the contract that he deserves. I can very well see it that Jordan Weal gets the 3rd line and Nick Shore takes the 4th. Only time will tell but after the Frozen Fury in Las Vegas, but we should have a clearer picture of who will be taking those positions come the regular season.

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