LOS ANGELES—The LA Kings have signed Jaret Anderson-Dolan, their second pick (41st overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft, to a three-year entry level deal.
The 18 year-old spent the past three seasons with the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. Last year, Anderson-Dolan appeared in 72 games with the Chiefs and had 39 goals and 37 assists, totaling 76 points. He also had a plus-4 rating and 22 penalty minutes.
Anderson-Dolan, a center, stands at 5 feet 11 inches, weighs 191 pounds and hails from Calgary, Alberta (anyone else wonder if he was a Flames fan growing up?). His WHL totals include 53 goals, 49 assists (for a total of 102 points), 43 penalty minutes, and a minus-4 rating in 142 regular-season games. He has skated in seven playoff games with Spokane (between 2014-2015 and 2015-2016) and has collected three points (one goal and two assists) and two penalty minutes.
Among team forwards, he ranked first in power play goals with 14 (tying for 12th in the league), second in goals, points and game-winning goals with six, and fourth in assists. This year, he was named the captain of Team Canada in the U-18 World Junior Hockey Championships.
In addition to Anderson-Dolan, Los Angeles also drafted forward Gabe Vilardi (11th overall), 18, goalie Matt Villalta (72nd overall), 18, defensemen Michael Anderson (103rd overall), 18, Markus Phillips (118th overall), 18, Cole Hults (134th overall), 19, and forward Drake Rymsha (138th overall), 18, this year. Vilardi is the only other player of these seven who is currently listed on the Kings’ training camp roster, though is currently absent due to a back injury, and Phillips has been returned to the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL.
With some young talent underway, let’s hope the Kings can bounce back from last season, where they failed to make the playoffs twice since winning the Cup in 2014, and got knocked out in the first round the one year that they did make it (2015-2016).
