DEFENSEMEN
Angus Booth – Playing his junior hockey in the Quebec league for the past four years is likely one of the reasons so few people have heard about Booth. Outside of eastern Canada, more buzz seems to be generated in the OHL and WHL. Since turning pro last summer, Ontario Reign Head Coach Sturm has subtly been praising his 6-foot-1 defender every chance he can – starting at Development Camp back in July, continuing through training camp, and extending right into the regular season. Booth has suited up in every Reign game this season; not always common for a first-year player, especially on defense. It speaks to the trust Sturm has in him already. Ontario’s bench boss and Kings development coach Sean O'Donnell have drawn comparisons between Booth and Mikey Anderson. Thus far, he’s showing the smarts to make it as an NHL player.
Jakob Dvorak – Perhaps no other prospect mentioned here has put on as many jerseys over the past 18 months. Dvorak played pro hockey in his native Czechia, spent time in the WHL, suited up for the Ontario Reign and earlier this week joined his home country for the upcoming World Juniors. Standing 6-foot-5, the Kings used their top pick in 2023 (54th overall) to select Dvorak. He’s one of a handful of left-shot rearguards vying to soar up the depth chart for a possible call-up to the NHL someday. After seeing action on Ontario’s second or third pair most nights this season, and playing 14 of the team’s 20 games, Dvorak is expected to be rewarded with significant ice time for Czechia at the WJC. He’s more of a shutdown defender, so don’t expect a lot of points. As with almost any player this tall, his development will take time and there’s no need to rush things.
Kirill Kirsanov – Even the most ardent Kings fan likely knows very little about Kirsanov, yet that should begin to change soon. At the 2021 NHL Draft, the Kings selected only four players, with Mark Yannetti (Director of Amateur Scouting) saying the team went for ‘quality over quantity’ that year. Along with Kirsanov, LA took Brandt Clarke, Francesco Pinelli and Samuel Helenius in 2021 – just to give you a small flavor of the company he was in. Now 22 years old, the 6-foot-2 left shot was in LA for Development Camp this past summer but was limited to off-ice activity only following knee surgery the month prior. One key thing to know is that legendary Russian hockey icon Igor Larionov has become Kirsanov’s mentor (and was even in LA with him over the summer). He’s helping guide the young blueliner on and off the ice as he grows professionally.
Otto Salin – It wasn’t that long ago when the Kings had an abundance of right shot defensemen in the pipeline. Now, the coin has flipped, and many of their high-end hopefuls are left-shot rearguards. Consider Salin one back the other way. He’s currently playing in his third pro season in Finland’s SM-liiga, one of Europe’s top leagues. This year, Salin has seen a noticeable uptick in his offense thanks to an increase in ice time for TPS Turku. His production ranks in the top 5 for his team in both goals and points (and he’s already passed his career highs in both categories). Along with more ice time, Salin’s shot has seen improvement this year.
Jack Sparkes – If you’ve spent any time at Development Camp the past few summers, you almost surely said, ‘who is that guy?’ at some point. Sparkes can’t be missed on or off the ice. He’s 6-foot-8 and 243 pounds. Despite being a late-round pick (round 6 in 2022), many scouts see the Ottawa native as having legitimate NHL potential because of three key traits: he’s huge, can skate, and is legit tough. It’s just going to take time for his competitiveness and mobility to all come together. After bouncing around quite a bit the past few seasons, Sparkes has now found a home at Clarkson university. He’s in a good spot for his development and is getting the most ice time of his young career (15+ minutes per night, as a second-pairing defenseman, without any power play time). He could be somebody who plays all four years of his NCAA eligibility before turning pro. For now, put this name on the backburner. We’ll circle back on his development later in the season.
Jared Woolley – Yannetti and his staff typically have a field day in the latter two rounds, and Woolley looks to be the latest in a long line of those gems. After being a bit of a hidden secret in the OHL last season, only getting into about half the games for a deep London Knights club that went all the way to the Memorial Cup, the word is now out on the 6-foot-5 left shot; he’s really good. Among the top echelon of players at Development Camp in July – something that isn’t often said about 18-year-olds at their first NHL camp — Woolley has put his physical, heavy game on full display this season (including three fights thus far). He also has a strong defensive approach, which is one of the many reasons coaches love him. This season, reports say he’s trying to do more and more with the puck, yielding good but somewhat uneven results. Kings management are believed to have encouraged this type of growth this season, wanting to see him push the boundaries of what he may have thought he was capable of at this point. All in all, he looks like a pro player and is rocketing up the LA prospect rankings.
More on Woolley: Development isn't just about the player himself, it always includes the environment, as well. Woolley is in an ideal spot with the Knights, an organization known for developing so many NHL players. Dale Hunter and his staff have shown that they can be patient and put kids in positions to succeed, while surrounding them with phenomenal coaching. The collective group in London has a history of working closely with big, strong, raw kids and converting them into solid NHL defensemen. For his part, Woolley will need to continue developing his physical side of the game to keep opponents honest.
