LA Kings Make Three Selections on Day 2 of the NHL Draft

The LA Kings made four total selections in the 2021 NHL Draft, including three picks on Day Two after selecting defenseman Brandt Clarke eighth overall yesterday during the first round.

LA traded back into the second round by sending picks 72 and 109 to the Carolina Hurricanes to select forward Samuel Helenius at 59th overall. The 6-6, 200-pound forward appeared in his first season in Liiga, the top league in Finland, where he posted 14 points (7-7=14) in 54 games during the 2020-21 season.
He appeared with Jokerit U20 (U20 SM-Liiga) in the 2019-20 season, registering 24 points (13-11=24) and a plus-14 rating in 51 games. The Jarvenpaa, Finland native represented his home country at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, posting four points (2-2=4) and a plus-2 rating in seven games to help Finland win the bronze medal.

The Kings traded up for a third time by sending the 89th and 168th selections to the Calgary Flames in order to pick defenseman Kirill Kirsanov with the 84th overall selection. Kirsanov, 18, made his KHL debut this past season with SKA St. Petersburg, posting three points (0-3=3) in 29 games and adding one assist in six postseason games.
The native or Tver, Russia has appeared in international competition on multiple occasions. Most recently, he appeared in seven games for Russia at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship where he tallied two points (1-1=2) and a plus-1 rating as Russia fell to Finland in the bronze-medal game.

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