The Los Angeles Kings selected forward Rasmus Kupari with the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft.
The annual draft continues on June 23 from Dallas’ American Airlines Center with rounds two through seven.
“Blakey [Rob Blake] has really stuck to our guns with regards to what we saw last year with [Gabe] Vilardi dropping and the year he has had,” Kings Assistant General Manager Mike Futa said. “We just have to keep adding to our shelves and know we have some good young players coming up. This guy brings an element of speed, his skating is very comparable to the way [Adrian] Kempe skates.”Kupari is a 5-11, 163-pound prospect from Kotka, Finland.
The 18-year-old Fin (born March 15, 2000).
Kupari appeared in 39 regular season games with Karpat in the Finnish Professional League (Liiga). He tallied 14 points (6-8=14), 12 penalty minutes and a plus-4 rating.
It was his first season with Karpat, having played for their U20 team for part of this season and last season, totaling 21 points (7-14=21), 18 penalty minutes and a plus-9 rating in 33 games over the last two years.
Rounds two through seven of the draft will be held June 23, beginning at 8 a.m. (PT) with NHL Network providing live coverage to viewers throughout North America from the American Airlines Center.
It was his first season with Karpat, having played for their U20 team for part of this season and last season, totaling 21 points (7-14=21), 18 penalty minutes and a plus-9 rating in 33 games over the last two years.
Rounds two through seven of the draft will be held June 23, beginning at 8 a.m. (PT) with NHL Network providing live coverage to viewers throughout North America from the American Airlines Center.
Jon Rosen will continue with his on-site coverage of the draft throughout the day on LAKingsInsider.com and fans can also get updates throughout the day by following the Kings, Kings PR and Rosen on Twitter (see below).
@LAKings, @LAKingsPR, @lakingsinsider
@LAKings, @LAKingsPR, @lakingsinsider
