LA Kings Prospects Rank High in The Athletic's Top 50 Prospects

LA Kings prospects continue to be highly thought of around the league as
The Athletic's latest prospect breakdown
includes four Kings in the top 20 ranked players.
Scott Wheeler's top 50, post-2020 draft edition is lead by the Kings latest addition, No. 2 draft pick Quinton Byfield. Byfield, who is slotted in at No. 2 on the list, trails only to the man selected before him in the draft, Alexis Lafreniere of the New York Rangers.
"On talent, upside and the sum of his raw tools, there may be no prospect here who has the ability to take their game as far as Byfield potentially can," Wheeler wrote.

Kings 2019 first-round selection Alex Turcotte came in at No. 15 on Wheeler's list, though would have been higher if "injury, illness and a team that underperformed this time" hadn't impacted his ranking.
While the center didn't have the year he had hoped at Wisconsin, his upside and talent still showed this past year as he tallied 26 points (9-17=26) in 29 games.
"I still see a player who has the tools to become a dominant, playmaking second-line centre who can be relied upon in all three zones, run a power play from the flank and create for his linemates," Wheeler wrote.
Tweet from @Kingsgifs: Alex Turcotte's assist in Eisb��ren Berlin's 1-0 win from Sunday #LAKings pic.twitter.com/VYdLV8cxJt
Arthur Kaliyev slots in two sports later at No. 17 as Wheeler raves about Kaliyev's offensive upside. The 2019, 33rd-overall draft pick continued his onslaught of point production last season, putting up 98 points (44-54=98) for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL.
"Maybe the best one-shot player outside of the NHL, Kaliyev can score from anywhere in the offensive zone with about three or four different shot types, including a one-timer (which has become a bit of a lost art with a lot of top prospects)," Wheeler wrote. "He's the closest prospect we've had to Patrik Laine since, well, Patrik Laine."
Kaliyev will enter training camp either to eventually find himself on the roster with the Kings or will go back to Hamilton for the year due to the agreement with the Canadian Hockey League's.

2017 first-round selection Gabriel Vilardi rounds out the top 20 on Wheeler's list as the center showed off his NHL potential at the conclusion of last year. Vilardi, who played 10 games for the Kings scored three goals and assisted on four.
Vilardi, who notably scored on his first shift and shot, less that ten seconds into his career, showed why he was draft 11th overall just four years ago. Vilardi also finished the season with a 53.3% faceoff percentage.
"If you've been a loyal reader of my draft coverage since Vilardi's 2017 class, or of our Kings coverage, you probably know by now that Vilardi has long been one of my favourite prospects," Wheeler wrote. "He's just different... Vilardi has always shown, when healthy, that he's a star prospect. He just does it a little differently."

You can read Wheeler's full breakdown of the Top 50 NHL prospects
here
.