A look inside the pick, as the Kings take a “powerful skater” in Henry Brzustewicz during Round 1

Coming into day one of the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday, the LA Kings had a goal of trading down in the first round and accumulating additional draft capital. They achieved that in a move with the Pittsburgh Penguins that ultimately allowed them to select defender Henry Brzustewicz with the 31st overall selection and add a pick in the second round on Saturday.

It was a risk that resembled a decision they made a year ago, when they traded back by moving Pick 21 for Pick 26 and selections in the second and seventh rounds. In both scenarios, they were able to select a player they had their eyes on. Last year, it was Liam Greentree, and now with Brzustewicz, another player out of the OHL who has high upside.

The right-shot defender is someone the Kings saw a lot of while they continued to follow another defender, Jared Woolley, who was picked in the sixth round a year ago. Both blueliners play for the London Knights, a squad that won both the OHL and Memorial Cup Championships this spring.

Woolley, who is in LA for the Kings’ upcoming Development Camp next week, was sitting with his teammate when his name was called, and the two will now continue to be linked as they develop together in London.

“We’re best friends,” Brzustewicz said of himself and Woolley when speaking to the media moments after he was selected Friday night. “He was just sitting in the row in front of me, so sharing that moment together was really special.”

Brzustewicz indicated he had been in touch with the Kings and wasn’t surprised when they were the team that eventually called his name, even if he did have to wait over four hours to hear it, with the pick coming after 8 p.m.

“I had really good conversations with them, and the whole week here has been really great,” Brzustewicz said. “Seeing the city and how nice it is here, and then to be picked by them. It’s really special. Honestly, it was worth every second of the wait.”

The Kings were well aware of Brzustewicz and certainly watched him play during the 2023-24 campaign while they were scouting London. That year, the Washington, Michigan native’s first in the OHL, included 52 games played in the regular season where he posted six points (2-4=6) and a plus-7 rating before adding three points (2-1=3) in 16 playoff games.

But this year, Brzustewicz added much more on the offensive side of the puck, scoring 42 points on 10 goals and 32 assists in 67 regular season games along with a plus-24 rating before finishing the championship run with five points (1-4=5) and a plus-9 rating in 17 contests.

“When we watched Woolley, we were well aware of Henry and [scout] Brian [Denney] was aware of him even before that,” said Kings Director of Scouting Mark Yannetti. “The process with us would have been a loose identification as a draft minus one and then much more specific focus scouting this year. Brian and myself saw him an extensive amount of times, and then most of our other staff actually got to see him too, because of London’s central location and the fact that Jared is there.”

It became clear after hearing Yannetti speak at length about Brzustewicz’s attributes at the conclusion of the round, that he and his staff are excited about the type of skater they have added to their prospect pool, someone who has an all-around type of game who can contribute in many ways.

Brzustewicz played for the Shattuck St. Mary’s U-14 AAA team in Minnesota for two seasons from 2020-22 before joining the North Jersey Avalanche U-16 AAA club on the east coast in 2022-23. He’s someone who is used to playing away from home and has earned his minutes.

When he joined London, he spent time playing as a forward because there wasn’t room for him in the lineup on the back end.

“His growth has been significant,” Yannetti said. “London is known for slow cooking their guys. It’s their philosophy, it’s their method. They had a stacked team, so the young guys apprentice and Henry played a lot of forward when he was younger just to get reps.”

When asked about the area that’s seen the most growth, Yannetti first thought of his skating.

“He’s a powerful skater now, when you watch him move, that’s one of the things I notice about him,” said the scouting director. “It’s the power in his movements and in his base. I would say that would be, for me, the most significant improvement. But overall, it’s not easy to be a draft-eligible player on a team like London. They returned almost their whole team from a Memorial Cup run last year, and they won it this year, so to be a significant and a regular part of that, it showed a lot of growth.”

The ability to find a role while playing on a team with many highly skilled players like London is also something FloHockey’s Chris Peters noted in his review of Brzustewicz. He mentioned that ability is something that could also translate at the pro level, when it’s going to be even harder to earn playing time.

Then there’s also the fact that Brzustewicz now has high level championship experience at the young age of 18. Having that success can go a long way as he continues to develop. It’s another thing the Kings surely valued when they made their decision.

“We had a really good, really tight team,” Brzustewicz said when asked to describe what it was like to win a title. “The players were good, but most of all, we were tight. We were family. Doing that with all those boys was really special, and something I’ll never forget.”

His impact may not be felt in Southern California until a few years down the road, but the Kings are hoping he can bring those championship qualities to their group when the time comes.

Brzustewicz won’t have to go far for his first Development Camp, joining the roster for the event that will include on-ice sessions beginning Monday morning at Toyota Sports Performance Center. He’ll be a player to watch in addition to the other Kings prospects and invitees, as well as many of the players the Kings wind up selecting tomorrow.

“Being in LA now and being selected by them, it’s truly an honor,” said Brzustewicz. I’m super excited to spend more time here.”

LA has seven selections for Saturday’s Day 2, with one pick each in Rounds 2-6 and two in Round 7. Tomorrow’s coverage will begin bright and early tomorrow morning when Round 2 begins live at Peacock Theater!