Catching Up with the GM

It’s been a few months since we’ve heard from Los Angeles Kings GM, Brandyn Errickson, but he held a pre-draft conference call and answered numerous questions from the LA media.

“First off, I’d like to thank the best fans in the EHE for their continued support of the Kings. Without them coming out to the games and other events none of this would be possible. We also want to extend a warm welcome to our new fans in San Diego where we will now play our minor league games as the San Diego Gulls. While this past season didn’t end with us raising the EHE cup, we still were very happy with the season as a whole. We reached 100 points for only the second time in the EHE, a 17-point increase over last season, and increased our wins by 6. Our moves over the past 12 months really made a difference on the ice as we increased our goals scored by almost 70 goals which got is well within the top 10 scoring teams in the league. Unfortunately, on the flip side of that we gave up over 30 more goals than last season so there’s definitely still work to do. Overall, we feel like we are in a good position for next year and years to come. I’ll now take any questions.” GM Errickson started off.

The first question from our own LA Times beat reporter, Geoff George, asked about any offseason plans to which Errickson replied, “While we had a good season last year, there’s obviously holes we need to fill especially with our goaltending. We have to find a legitimate number one goalie. Henrik had a decent season for us, but we felt like the offer we got for him was worth moving on. Kari came in and won some important games for us but we’d really like to upgrade in that area. We like Phil and think he might grow into a nice 1B type goalie, but if we want to compete next season and the seasons to come upgrading our goalie is paramount.”

The next question brought up today’s EHE entry draft and what strategy the Kings might use in picking players. “Yeah, I’m excited for my first entry draft in the EHE. From what I’ve heard it’s always a good time with most of the leagues GM’s together in one place at the same time. From the moment I took over leadership of the Kings, I knew drafting and player development was going to be a huge part of the job. We don’t have a ton of draft picks like some of the other teams so we really can’t miss with the picks we do have. With so few picks we can’t draft for needs, we’ll be looking at the best overall available at the time we pick. We’ve had our scouts in overdrive the past few months to make sure the guys we select are great fits for our organization.”

Of course, upcoming trades and free agency were brought up as well to which Errickson chuckled and then said, “Every time I’m asked this I can’t help but chuckle a bit. I’ve had a lot of trade talk since joining the league but I’ve only ever made, what, three trades? I don’t think I ever spoke about those trades after making them last season, but we’re really happy with the returns we got for multiple upcoming unrestricted free agents. Koekkoek is a former 1^st round talent and we believe he can be a top 4 defenseman in the not too distant future and getting a 2^nd round pick was the cherry on top. We believe we see more in Mathieu Joseph than most teams. He was originally thought to be more of an energy type player, but we really think he’s going to chip in offensively for us in the future. He’s only a year plus removed from playing for the Canadian under 20 team where he recorded 5 points in 7 games in limited minutes. We look forward to seeing what he does down in San Diego this season. As for upcoming trades and free agency, that’s hard to comment on right now.”

When pressed on specific names that have come up in the rumor mill like Viktor Arvidsson, Nick Leddy, etc. the GM said, “I’m not going to name names here. Any talks I’ve had with other teams have been purely exploratory and just to feel out the other GM’s. We like Viktor and Nick a lot, but if we can upgrade at any position we have to be open to moving guys we like.”

GM Errickson then thanked everyone for their questions and reminded the fans that their draft party is being held at the L.A. Live complex and that it was free and open to everyone.