The Kings have signed prospect defenseman Kirill Kirsanov to a two-year, entry-level contract, the team announced in a news release Sunday.
Kirsanov, 22, was a third-round selection in the 2021 draft (No. 84 overall). He was one of just four picks for the Kings from that class, and now all four have signed their entry-level deals.
First-rounder Brandt Clarke, also a defenseman, played all of last season with the parent club, where he was eventually joined by center Samuel Helenius. Forward Francesco Pinelli plied his trade for the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League level, where Kirsanov will likely skate next season as well.
Kirsanov was billed as a more mature prospect both physically and mentally by Mark Yannetti when he was drafted. The Kings’ scouting guru suggested that Kirsanov could potentially have challenged for a roster spot on the Kings that very same campaign if he were to have been able to come to North America.
Kirsanov was also ranked considerably higher than 84th on some prominent draft boards. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman slotted him 16th, just behind emergent Calgary Flames sniper Matt Coronato.
After four more seasons playing professionally in Russia, Kirsanov should be even more prepared to make the leap to North American pro competition.
Last year, he set a career high in games played in Russia’s top-flight league, the Kontinental Hockey League, with 34 regular-season games plus a pair of playoff matches.
He won championships at two lower levels in Russia as well, and he’s represented his nation internationally in both junior and senior World Championship tournaments.
At 6-feet-2 and 220 pounds, his strength, physicality and instincts in his own end have remained ahead of most of his peers.
The left-handed-shooting rearguard has been billed as having the sort of penetrative skating and one-on-one ability with the puck that the Kings’ defense corps largely lacks at the moment.
He did not show significant offensive production in Russia and projects to be a two-way defenseman in a similar mold to those of countryman Vladislav Gavrikov and the departed Matt Roy.