Sutter plays crucial role in Kings' developmental model
/The Los Angeles Times explains the success of Kings vice president of hockey operations and player personnel Michael Futa, who was recently appointed to that position and signed long term to fend off other NHL clubs from poaching him. Futa was originally named the Kings' director of amateur scouting in 2007.
Sunday's column has a focus on Tyler Toffoli and branches out from there.
On Monday, The Times has an overflow article where Futa explains the crucial transitional phase in a player’s development model.
“If Tyler Toffoli doesn’t win Darryl Sutter over on how he’s going to hang in on the walls and get pucks out on the walls, he’s never going to get a chance to play for the Kings to show what he can do offensively,” Futa said. “That’s the kind of accountability that Darryl demands, and the
development team demands. They don’t let kids take shortcuts.
“Then they get themselves in a situation on a big stage like this, their natural coolness, they don’t look overwhelmed when you go into San Jose for a Game 7 because they’re confident, they’ve won their coaches’ trust, they’ve won their teammates’ trust and all their natural instincts kick in because they’ve put the work in.”
Futa also noted, “You try and put a product on that you know Darryl and the big boys are going to take and mold into the final steps of being a pro. It’s a good synergy and it’s thrilling for us to literally see that many guys make it.”
The bottom line, one that we’ve heard repeated year after year of late, is that drafting and developing is where it’s at in the NHL.
“The teams that are left—look at Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane--their own guys that have come up. Look at Boston. The teams that have won recently are all building from within,” Futa said. “And then you can manage your cap and bring in some stars and character guys from organizations, but you build it all from within with the draft.
“So it’s pretty gratifying that way. That’s the way it was set out to be done here. And I think they’ve done an excellent job of managing their cap and knowing what you can do and balancing it out. Sometimes you lose guys, and it’s tough to do. But you’ve got to manage it.”