The

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

are a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

franchise based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). The franchise was founded in 1967. Since arriving in Los Angeles, the Kings have drafted 463 players. The 2020 draft was the 54th in which Los Angeles participated. The

NHL Entry Draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

is held each June, allowing teams to select players who have turned 18 years old by September 15 in the year the draft is held. The draft order is determined by the previous season's order of finish, with non-playoff teams drafting first, followed by the teams that made the playoffs, with the specific order determined by the number of points earned by each team. The NHL holds a weighted lottery for the 14 non-playoff teams, the winner of the lottery will pick first overall as of 2013. Prior to 2013, the winning team could only move up a maximum of four positions in the entry draft. The team with the fewest points has the best chance of winning the lottery, with each successive team given a lower chance of moving up in the draft. The Kings have won the lottery once in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

– the team moved up from the seventh pick overall to the third pick, which they used to select

Aki Berg Aki-Petteri Arvid Berg (; born July 28, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was drafted third overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He played both for the Kings and the Toronto Maple Leafs ov ...

. Between 1986 and 1994, the NHL also held a

Supplemental Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

for players in American colleges. Los Angeles' first draft pick was

Rick Pagnutti Rick Pagnutti (born November 14, 1946) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who was drafted first overall in the 1967 NHL Amateur Draft by the Los Angeles Kings but never played in the NHL. Pagnutti spent a ten-year career in the m ...

, taken first overall in the

1967 NHL Amateur Draft The 1967 NHL Amateur Draft was the fifth NHL Entry Draft. It was held June 7, 1967, the day after the 1967 expansion draft, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Selections by round Listed below are the selections in the 1967 NHL am ...

; this is also the highest pick that Los Angeles has ever drafted. Thirteen picks went on to play over 1,000 NHL games: Larry Murphy,

Luc Robitaille Luc Jean-Marie Robitaille (born February 17, 1966) is a Canadian–American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He currently serves as president of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). During his 19-season N ...

Darryl Sydor Darryl Marion Sydor (born May 13, 1972) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey defenceman. He won two Stanley Cups during his career: with the Dallas Stars in 1999, and with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. He also reached the Sta ...

Martin Gelinas Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austra ...

Rob Blake Robert Bowlby Blake (born December 10, 1969) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He is the current general manager of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted by the Kin ...

Garry Galley Garry Michael Galley (born April 16, 1963) is a Canadian broadcaster and former professional ice hockey player. Galley played in the National Hockey League from 1984 to 2001. Galley was a former co-host of the defunct "More On Sports" radio prog ...

Bernie Nicholls Bernard Irvine Nicholls (born June 24, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre, who played over 1000 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). His junior career was spent with the Kingston Canadians, where he established himsel ...

, Dave Taylor,

Butch Goring Robert Thomas "Butch" Goring (born October 22, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins. He is a four-time ...

Jay Wells Gordon Jay Wells (born May 18, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach and former player. He was nicknamed "The Hammer" for his tough, physical style of play. Playing career Jay Wells played his junior hockey with the Kingston ...

Olli Jokinen Olli Veli Pekka Jokinen (born December 5, 1978) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings third overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, with whom he made his NHL debut. He has also played for the Ne ...

Alexei Zhitnik Oleksiy Mykolaiovych "Alexei" Zhitnik ( uk, Олексій Миколайович Житник, russian: Алексей Николаевич Житник; born October 10, 1972) is a Ukrainian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Zhitnik has ...

, and

Kimmo Timonen Kimmo Samuel Timonen (born 18 March 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Chicago Blackhawks. Timonen had play ...

. Four of Los Angeles' draft picks, Billy Smith, Larry Murphy, Luc Robitaille, and Rob Blake, have been elected to the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

. Kings' 1984 draft pick

Tom Glavine Thomas Michael Glavine (born March 25, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, for the Atlanta Braves (1987–2002, 2008) and New York Mets (2003–2007). With 164 victories durin ...

was also drafted by

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB)'s

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, choosing a career in the MLB over the NHL.

Key

Draft picks

''Statistics are complete as of the

2021–22 NHL season The 2021–22 NHL season was the 105th season of operation (104th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Seattle Kraken. The league had an October-to-April regular season sche ...

and show each player's career regular season totals in the NHL. Wins, losses, ties, overtime losses and goals against average apply to goaltenders and are used only for players at that position. This list includes players drafted by the team in Los Angeles only.Los Angeles Kings Draft History
/ref>

References

* * * {{List of NHL draft picks draft picks

Key

Draft picks

See also

References