Kings, Ducks choose goaltenders in second round of NHL draft

The Kings and Ducks filled out their prospect lists Saturday in the final six rounds of the NHL entry draft, with each choosing a goaltender named Gibson in the second round.

The Kings, who had traded their first-round pick, took goalie Christopher Gibson of Finland and Chicoutimi of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with the 49th overall selection. The Ducks, who traded the 22nd pick for the 30th and 39th picks, chose John Gibson from the U.S. under-18 team 39th.

Michael Futa, the Kings’ co-director of amateur scouting, said Christopher Gibson was the top-rated goalie on their list.

“There’s some depth with the two guys in Los Angeles and we’ve got some young ones coming but this was a guy we had rated as a starting, elite goaltender,” Futa said by phone from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. “He’s going to push the guys on the totem pole.”

Futa compared 6-foot-1, 205-pound center Andy Andreoff, chosen 80th, to rugged Kings winger Kyle Clifford. “He had 15 fights last year. He’s a top penalty killer. He has good size,” Futa said. “He had 33 goals so there’s a backup game along with his toughness.”

Nicholas Shore (No. 82), projected as a third-line center, plans to stay at the University of Denver. Winger Michael Mersch (110) of the University of Wisconsin “has a heavy presence but needs to work on his skating,” Futa said. He called left wing Joel Lowry (140), son of former NHL player Dave Lowry, and left wing Michael Schumacher (200) late bloomers. “Considering we didn’t have a first I think we really did well,” Futa said.

The Ducks took Swedish winger Rickard Rakell in the first round after trading down. Martin Madden, their director of amateur scouting, said the move resulted in “a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride” that ended happily with John Gibson.

“He was amongst the group of four or five that we had rated at a similar level as far as pro potential and impact on an NHL team is concerned,” Madden said.

He said Swedish center William Karlsson (53) was “a little under the radar as far as public perception. Not the case amongst the scouting community.” He described center Joseph Cramarossa (65) as “a hard-nosed, Ducks third-line-type player” who can play wing or center and has good hands.

Three Southern California players were drafted. Dynamic forward Rocco Grimaldi of Rossmoor went 33rd to Florida, left wing Matt Nieto of Long Beach went 47th to San Jose and right wing Shane McColgan of Manhattan Beach went 134th to the New York Rangers.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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