Another Angle on the Stamkos Draft ??

[236nOT]

Alot of this discussion depends on two things:

1) Will the Kings pick first?

2) How much value will the first overall pick have?


Since the first question is pretty much impossible to answer let's move on to the second one. How much value does the first pick have?

Stamkos is unquestionably the top pick in the draft. As the consensus top pick he has a ton of value. He has a lot of value not only in the market but he has a ton of value over the second overall pick. He's a center which means he'll play right away, he's Canadian meaning teams can market him because he speaks English and he's coming off several years of recent history without any first overall busts (Crosby, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin).

His value is huge and... Dean Lombardi is a trader. Lombardi is managing a team with plenty of forward depth including a young superstar center. I'm guessing that if the Kings land the first overall pick they will trade it for an enormous package of young talent. A team that would trade for Stamkos would be one that has recently missed the playoffs, has excess defensemen, good depth but no superstar prospects and probably owns a high draft pick themselves.

If I were the Kings I would be looking at a package that included: a young NHL defenseman, a young defensive forward and a high pick. To me, the ideal package would be something like Mike Komisarek, Kyle Chipchura and Montreal's first this year. I'm not sure of the value, but something along those lines.

[notapalindrome1]

IF we happen to land the 1st pick...I think it would certainly be in our best interest to pick up Stamkos (again, BEST possible talent should be taken).

HOWEVER, I would not be opposed to us trading Stamkos immediately for a young stay at home D man (and of course a pick or two).

On a similiar note...
How would LGK feel about trading down if we land the #1 pick? That way we can pick up a defenseman in this draft and perhaps some prospects or a NHL Dman. I am of the persuasion that we are STACKED up front and just simply do not need Stamkos.

[brasspucks]

You take Stamkos and here's why. On balance, D prospects take much longer to develop whereas Stamkos could probably center a scoring line immediately or, worst case, 2009-2010.

For those who argue that we have too much talent up front, I would point out that BOTH Cammy and Frolov will likely not be with the Kings 2 years from now--when Stamkos would be entering his prime. If he's not traded before the end of next season, you know Cammalleri is gone as an FA. Meanwhile, Frolov's contract only runs one more year beyond that and he's likely to command 5-6MM/year. Will we really be able to keep him if we have Kopitar at 6+, JMFJ at 5-6, Brown at 3, O'Sullivan at 4+, Bernier possibly nearing RFA?

In the salary cap era I just don't see how we have the luxury to wait around for D prospects, which might not be ready to contribute in the NHL for another 3-4 years, only to see them enter FA shortly thereafter.

We already have, hopefully, our cornerstone Dman in Johnson and should focus on trying to package Cammalleri + picks for that '82-'85-born NHL-ready D that Lombardi covets. My dream scenario once again would be to come away from the draft with Stamkos + Suter/Edler-type young D for Cammy + picks.

The one defenseman I would really like to see the Kings pursue in the draft is Schenn (trade D pick plus young prospect like Lewis to move up and grab him @ 8th overall) for reasons that I'll elaborate in the separate thread after speaking with Hickey at the Thunderbirds game earlier tonight. ;-)