Los Angeles Kings

Who Should Vegas Pick?; Breaking Down Casey Mittelstadt & Eeli Tolvanen
June 18, 2017, 4:20 PM ET [16 Comments]
Sheng Peng
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There weren't any surprises from the Kings when the NHL released Available/Protected lists today. Here's what LA is offering to expansion:

Available
Andy Andreoff (F)
Justin Auger (F)
Dustin Brown (F)
Kyle Clifford (F)
Andrew Crescenzi (F)
Nic Dowd (F)
Marian Gaborik (F)
Jarome Iginla (F)
Trevor Lewis (F)
Michael Mersch (F)
Jordan Nolan (F)
Teddy Purcell (F)
Devin Setoguchi (F)
Nick Shore (F)
Matt Greene (D)
Vincent Loverde (D)
Brayden McNabb (D)
Cameron Schilling (D)
Rob Scuderi (D)
Zach Trotman (D)
Jack Campbell (G)
Jeff Zatkoff (G)

Protected
Jeff Carter (F)
Anze Kopitar (F)
Tanner Pearson (F)
Tyler Toffoli (F)
Drew Doughty (D)
Derek Forbort (D)
Alec Martinez (D)
Jake Muzzin (D)
Jonathan Quick (G)

Also, there doesn't appear to be any Rob Blake side deals with George McPhee on the horizon:




An interesting question that a reader posed after a previous post was should the front office consider packaging their first-round pick with Dustin Brown or Marian Gaborik to induce the Golden Knights to select one or both. That's not likely to happen, but it's something to think about if you believe that the Kings can be legitimate Cup contenders next year -- obviously, it's difficult to truly upgrade a roster which missed the most recent postseason with Brown/Gaborik combining for a 10.75 million cap hit.

Most pundits have Vegas plucking Brayden McNabb from the Los Angeles roster, but Trevor Lewis or Nic Dowd should also be appealing. Lewis is a solid leader and decent Trade Deadline bait, while Dowd has legitimate offensive upside. It's worth noting that Golden Knights scout Vaclav Nedomansky has been a regular at Ontario Reign games over the last couple seasons, so Vegas will be very familiar with guys like Dowd or Michael Mersch.

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A few days ago, Matt Greene was reported as being on the way to a buy-out. There wasn't much hoopla over the likely departure of the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup winner, partly because we went through this last year, when LA was trying to make space to retain Milan Lucic. But this time, the buy-out should be consummated, so it's worth saying goodbye and best of luck once again to the well-liked assistant captain:













Greene's buy-out will cost $833,333 each year against the cap over the next two seasons. The cap going up to $75 million next year will help!

If Lewis goes to Vegas, LA will be down to eight players who won both 2012 and 2014 Cups: Anze Kopitar, Brown, Jeff Carter, Kyle Clifford, Jordan Nolan, Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, and Jonathan Quick.

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The USHL featured a pair of flashy forward prospects this past year who will go in the first round -- one who probably won't fall to Los Angeles, the other who I think they pass on.

There was a lot of hubbub when Casey Mittelstadt failed to complete a pull-up during the Draft Combine. I asked him about this:

HockeyBuzz: Casey, there was some talk about your bench press/pull-up results. Why wasn't that emphasized in your training before?

Casey Mittelstadt: I don't know. I guess I try to work on being a hockey player. I don't really try to work on going to do my bench press and pull-ups. I want to be a hockey player and that's what I train to be.

Reporter: Is there anything on the ice that resembles those exercises?

CM: Obviously, it's good to be stronger. It's something else I could get stronger with and work on a little bit. But I don't think being able to do a pull-up is going to make me be able to handle the puck better, be a better shooter, something like that. I don't really buy too much into that.

HB: Do you look to Sam Bennett, who also didn't have the best combine results, but was still drafted fourth by Calgary in 2014, as a possible model for your game?

CM: To be honest, no, not really. I mean, we had similar results in the bench press, but I don't know, I don't really try to model my game after one guy. I just try to be myself.


It was a poised answer from the 18-year-old and not totally inaccurate. Personally, I don't believe these Combine results are of any concern with him or indicate a poor work ethic. Strength is relatively easy to improve. So let's focus on other facets of the American's game.

Scott Wheeler of SB Nation points out that Mittelstadt owns "elite" puck protection skills -- so imagine the 6'1" centerman with more muscle:

The first thing you notice while watching Mittelstadt, besides that he’s always the best player on the ice so he’s hard to miss, are his elite puck protection skills and the plays he makes while being aggressively checked. Mittelstadt has an uncanny ability to use his size and strength to protect the puck off the cycle while still converting on tough-to-make passes to the slot.


He also knows what he's doing with the puck -- he owns a quick wrister, but prefers to be a playmaker, where "he made his teammates better in the USHL and in high school games," according to Sean Shapiro.

Shapiro also lauded the youngster's two-way potential:

Typically in the right position and uses his stick effectively to break up plays. He could be more physical in the defensive zone and there are times that he’s been caught cheating up the ice, but those are flaws that could be hammered out by coaches at the University of Minnesota next season.(Wrong Side of the Red Line)


(For more about Mittelstadt and other Draft prospects, check out Sean's excellent Wrong Side of the Red Line...and please donate!)

A scout who spoke to The Hockey News, however, isn't too fond of his skating:

"His skating is OK -- not very fluid -- but he's faster with the puck than without it."


(The Hockey News excerpt from May 29, 2017 Draft Preview issue, available now.)

However, Wheeler disagreed, "He’s also an exceptional skater and uses footwork to beat defenders wide or on cuts through the middle of the ice — he crosses over quickly and aggressively to dash across the offensive zone."

Another NHL scout who I spoke with concurred, saying of Mittelstadt, "Skates incredibly."

He also emphasized, of the USHL rookie who led the league with 1.25 Points Per Game, "This is what Mittelstadt is already doing WITHOUT good physical shape."

For Kings fans, it's nice to hope that Mittelstadt's tough Combine results will help him fall to #11 -- but it's not likely.

Eeli Tolvanen is another high-octane forward prospect, but his flaws probably won't be as overlooked as much as Mittelstadt's will be. Let's start with the good.

Tolvanen is probably second to only Owen Tippett as the Draft's purest goal scorer. Toni Rajamäki of HockeyProspect.com offered:

His wrister is tough and accurate and he's pure sniper. He's an outstanding player in the o-zone and he's a really big weapon on powerplay because of his shot...

I'd compare him to Vlad Tarasenko...


The Hockey News talked to somebody who was equally enthused:

"He's the most dynamic player I've seen in the USHL in 10 years," said one scout. "Unbelievable speed, brilliant shot. He reminds me of Marian Gaborik."


Shapiro focused on the Finn's "NHL-caliber release":

Tolvanen has the best shot in the USHL and one of the best releases in the entire draft. Whether it’s his wrist shot coming off the rush or getting setup for a slap shot on the power play, Tolvanen has a chance to score every time he touches the puck. (Wrong Side of the Red Line)


Tolvanen led the USHL with 246 shots, 41 more than the runner-up.

Anyway, Tarasenko and Gaborik are very impressive comps. So why do people seem to be down on the Tolvanen?

Rajimaki pointed out, "He's a pretty good skater but he really could be faster. We have to remember that his technique is good so there's lot of room to improve."

There's also some concern that Tolvanen's 5'10" frame won't be able to take an NHL-level pounding. Of course, he's just 18.

One NHL scout who I spoke with, however, really detailed the Finn's flaws:

He plays kind of lazy in his own zone and off the puck...

He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would change a game if the game wasn't playing to him...

He's so perimeter...


This scout actually compared Tolvanen to a latter-day Gaborik. Another comp he agreed with was Nikolay Goldobin.

He labeled Tolvanen, "Boom or bust."

On the other hand, Rajimaki countered, "He could be a major steal."

So like Michael Rasmussen, Tolvanen appears to be a polarizing prospect. Unlike Rasmussen, I think most agree that Tolvanen has clear top-six talent -- but there's a real question of want.

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