NHL draft: Kings select forward Liam Greentree with 1st-round pick

The Kings used the 26th overall pick in the NHL draft to select Liam Greentree, the Windsor Spitfires captain who posted 90 points in 64 games last year.

They had traded back from No. 21 overall before the first round started earlier Friday and still landed a solid value in Greentree, while adding a second-round and seventh-round selection in the swap with the Montreal Canadiens.

A power forward who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs more than 210 pounds, Greentree brings a balanced skill profile to augment his substantial physical tools. He can play through contact, carve out space and then distribute the puck to linemates buzzing around him or finish what they create with his solid shot and hands in tight.

Overwhelmingly, the concern for Greentree, and what likely contributed to him falling below most projections to No. 26, has been his skating.

That was the case for another 90-point scorer in his draft year, 2023 pick Koehn Ziemmer, whose skating and conditioning concerns didn’t deter the Kings from investing a third-round pick in him, and 2021 lottery pick Brandt Clarke, whose unorthodox stance hasn’t held back his development.

The Kings have had some success working through skating issues with players like Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson in the past.

Greentree boasts passing and shooting skills, and also the elusiveness, vision, imagination and hockey sense to maximize them.

Not only did he have leadership responsibilities last season, but he also played in all situations and was counted on to spearhead practically every facet of Windsor’s game, ultimately leading the team in scoring by a 24-point margin. That meant he was a play-driver and one could also extrapolate that with more support around him, his numbers might have been even more alluring.

More to come on this story.