Kings pick IceDog in second round
Projected first-rounder Akil Thomas drops to 51st overall in defence-heavy draft
The Los Angeles Kings selected Niagara IceDogs centre Akil Thomas in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft Saturday in Dallas.
Thomas, who entered the draft 15th among North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting final rankings, was picked 51st overall in a draft in that was top heavy with defencemen. Fourteen defenceman were picked in the first round and another nine in the second round before Thomas heard his name called from the podium at American Airlines Center, home of the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
He was the second centre selected in as many rounds by the Kings, who made 6-foot-1, 189pound Rasmus Kupari from Finland their top pick in the draft.
Thomas, a 5-foot-11, 177-pound right-hand shot, had 22 goals 59 assists for 81 points seeing action in all of the IceDogs 68 regularseason games in his second year playing for Niagara in the Ontario Hockey League. The son of career minor league professional player Kahlil Thomas added five goals and six assists in 10 games in the playoffs.
Though was his goal output in his sophomore season was only more than he tallied as a rookie, recorded a 33-point improvement after collecting 27 assists and finishing the 2016-17 season with 48 points in 61 games.
Los Angeles made him the highest IceDog selected in the NHL Entry Draft since forward Brandon Perlini picked in the first round, 12th overall, by the Arizona Coyotes in 2014.
The Niagara franchise’s highest-ever pick was defenceman Alex Pietrangelo, the St. Louis Blues’ opening-round selection with the fourth overall pick in 2008.
Thomas, a native of Brandon, Fla., near Tampa, was selected by the IceDogs in the first round of the 2016 OHL draft with the 12th overall pick.
He is the third IceDog in a row to be drafted by a Western Conference team. In the 2017 draft, forward Kirill Maksimov went to the Edmonton Oilers, fifth round, 146th overall; and centre Ben Jones went to the Vegas Golden Knights, seventh round, 189th.
Both have since signed entrylevel contracts with the NHL teams that selected them.
Forward Andrew Bruder, ranked 114th; and defenceman Justin MacPherson, 171st, also made the list of must-see prospects heading into this year’s draft.
Defenceman Mac Hollowell from Niagara Falls and centre Brandon Saigeon from Grimsby are the Niagara natives whose names were called on Saturday’s final day of the two-day, sevenround draft.
Hollowell, a 5-foot-9, 170pound, right-hand shot, was taken in the fourth round by the Toronto Maple Leafs with the 118th pick overall. Hollowell had 12 goals and 44 assists for 56 points in 63 games in his fourth season patrolling the blue-line for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
He entered the draft 118th among North American skaters in the final rankings, up from 133 in the mid-term rankings.
Saigeon, 6-foot-2, 194 pounds, left-hand shot; was selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the fifth round, 140th overall. After scoring 35 goals and adding 70 assists in his fourth OHL season, the one-time St. Catharines Falcon won a league championship with the Hamilton Bulldogs making it all the way to the Memorial Cup semifinals in Regina before being eliminated.
Saigeon dropped to 147 from 143 in NHL Central Scouting’s pre-draft rankings.
Messages left by The Standard with Thomas were not returned at press time.