Kings roll the dice on blueliner Hickey

Four or five years from now, hockey fans will learn if the Los Angeles Kings made the right decision in selecting defenseman Thomas Hickey ahead of Karl Alzner in the first round of the National Hockey League draft Friday.

Despite reports the 6-foot-2, 206 pound Alzner was ranked the best defenseman by the NHL scouting service, the Kings, picking fourth overall, opted for the 5-10, 182-pound Hickey, who was listed as the 26th best North American skater. Alzner was chosen fifth overall by the Washington Capitals.

"We felt Hickey had assets that few players have at his position,'' said Ron Hextall, assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Kings. "He's a very good puck moving defenseman who improved tremendously from the first half to the second half of last season.''

Hickey played for the Seattle Thunderbirds last season, scoring nine goals with 41 assists in 68 Western Hockey Games. Alzner also competed in the WHL, scoring eight goals with 39 assists in 63 games with the Calgary Hitmen.

"On our board these two players were really close,'' said Hextall. "Alzner is very dependable, a player who doesn't make many mistakes. We understand where Alzner was rated, but we went with the best player available on our board and we felt Hickey had more upside. We'll just see how this plays out a few years down the road.''

Hextall said the Kings were looking to trade down with their No. 4 pick because they were confident Hickey was still going to be available.

"We just couldn't find a team that would trade with us and, as the old saying goes, when you can't trade, take the best player you wanted originally, which we did. We're definitely happy with the pick.''

Yesterday the Kings selected nine players in the final day of the draft. In all the Kings ended up with six forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender.

"Our philosophy was to take the best player available and we ended up with many who were on our top 20 list,'' said Hextall. "Many, if not all, are still three or four years away from getting a chance to play in the NHL. But we're excited about how it went. We managed to select some very good skilled goal scorers and, we based some of our decisions on their character. We're very high on character.''

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Center Oscar Moller was the first player selected yesterday, 52nd overall in the second round.

The 18-year-old Moller is also a product of the WHL, scoring 69 points in 68 regular season games with Chilliwack. He is a 5-foot-11, 179-pound native of Stockholm, Sweden, ranked fifth among WHL rookies.

Another second round pick (61st overall) was 18-year-old right wing Wayne Simmonds who had 49 points in 66 games with Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League.

"Simmonds (6-foot-1, 162-pounds) needs to fill out, but he's a raw kid with a huge upside,'' said Hextall. "He has a nice blend of size and strength with great hands.''

In the third-round, the Kings selected center/right wing Bryan Cameron with the 82nd overall choice.

"He has got good instincts, a good scoring touch,'' said Hextall of Cameron, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound native of Brampton, Ontario. The 18-year-old ranked third on his team with 33 goals and scored 58 points in 60 regular season games with Belleville (OHL) last season.

"Cameron does a good job of getting open in front of the net,'' said Hextall, who explained why the Kings traded their sixth-round choice (154th overall) and their fourth-round choice in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft to Washington for the rights to defenseman Alec Martinez with the fourth-round choice (95th overall) yesterday.

"We had discussions on Martinez last year and we felt it was worth a shot to get him this year,'' said Hextall. "He's got very good hockey sense and is a very smart puck moving defenseman.''

The 19-year-old Martinez played for Miami University of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, scoring 24 points in 42 games.

The Kings also selected forward Dwight King in the fourth round (109th overall), while the fifth round yielded goalie Linden Rowat (124th overall) and center Joshua Turnbull (137th overall).

The final two selections for the Kings, both seventh rounders, were defenseman Josh Kidd (184th overall) and winger Matt Fillier (188th).