NHL draft: Kings select forward Liam Greentree with 1st-round pick

The Kings used the 26th overall pick in the NHL draft to select Liam Greentree, the Windsor Spitfires captain who posted 90 points in 64 games last year.

They had traded back from No. 21 earlier Friday before the draft started at the Sphere in Las Vegas, and they still landed their man with Greentree, while adding a second-round and seventh-round selection in the swap with the Montreal Canadiens, which the Kings’ scouting staff considered a triumph.

“They felt we could move back, gain some value and still be able to be in the range to get the player that they wanted,” Kings general manager Rob Blake told reporters. “As it turned out, with Liam, that’s what they got.”

A power forward who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs more than 210 pounds, Greentree brings a balanced skill profile to augment his substantial physical tools. He can play through contact, carve out space and then distribute the puck to linemates buzzing around him or finish what they create with his solid shot and hands in tight.

Overwhelmingly, the concern for Greentree, and what likely contributed to him falling below most projections to No. 26, has been his skating.

“My skating is a big thing. That’s something that I’ve already started to work on and that I’m going to continue working on, for sure,” Greentree told reporters.

That was the case for another 90-point scorer in his draft year, 2023 pick Koehn Ziemmer, whose skating and conditioning concerns didn’t deter the Kings from investing a third-round pick in him, and 2021 lottery pick Brandt Clarke, whose unorthodox stance hasn’t held back his development.

The Kings have had some success working through skating issues with players like Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson in the past.

Greentree boasts passing and shooting skills, and also the elusiveness, vision, imagination and hockey sense to maximize them.

Not only did he have leadership responsibilities last season, but he also played in all situations and was counted on to spearhead practically every facet of Windsor’s game, ultimately leading the team in scoring by a 24-point margin. That meant he was a play-driver and that one could also extrapolate that with more support around him, his numbers might have been even more alluring.

“I’m a power forward who can drive the net and win battles. I think I have a little bit of finesse to my game as well,” Greentree told reporters. “I can stickhandle in tight areas and I have a really good shot that can be deployed.”

The draft concludes with the second through seventh rounds on Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. PT.

The draft featured the added spectacle of being held at the year-old Sphere, the globe-shaped venue that overlooks the Las Vegas strip and features video screens on the inside and outside of its structure.

The 32 teams were gathered at tables beneath the wrap-around screen covering almost three-quarters of the curved wall broadcasting scenes from the draft to the sold-out crowd of 14,220 in the multi-deck facility. The draft opened with the screen featuring pictures of more than 100 of the eligible prospects.

A small stage was erected in the middle of the floor, where NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was joined by teams to announce the selections.