Kings' second pick
The Kings' first second-round pick (52nd overall) was center/left wing Oscar Moller out of Chilliwack of the WHL. He's 5-10, 185 pounds. Central Scouting had him ranked 20th among North American skaters...six spots ahead of Thomas Hickey. Moller is a native of Sweden and here's what Central Scouting had to say: ``A playmaking forward with a good work ethic... is a two-way player that competes every shift... has good skating ability and vision... anticipates the play well and handles the puck with ease... needs to improve his ability to fight through checks and play in traffic.'' Moller had 32 goals and 37 assists in 68 games in the WHL last season.
Some more scouts' quotes, from McKeen's Draft Guide:
``He's an undersized, highly skilled prospect who plays a strong all-around game.''
``He's good behind the puck, he's good with the puck, he's solid defensively. He's got a great shot, probably his best attribute.''
``He's not very big. Sometimes he doesn't come out with maximum energy level.''
``He is oozing with character and leadership qualities. He lacks speed; otherwise he's a top-end pick.''
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Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
Moller was ranked #25 overall by ISS and was even picked #20 in their mock draft. ISS compared his style of play to Daniel Alfredsson.
Kings are definately low in Right Wings so this seems like a great pick up.
I was thinking we'd have to trade up to get Moller....I am really happy he dropped to us.