A Look Back at the Los Angeles Kings' 1989 Draft Class

 Since joining the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1967, the Los Angeles Kings have made the playoffs 31 times, won two Stanley Cups, and drafted great players like Butch Goring (1969), Bernie Nicholls (1980), Luc Robitiaille (1984), Rob Blake (1988), and Anze Kopitar (2005). Los Angeles has had many successful drafts throughout its history, but the 1989 NHL Draft was not one of them.

The Kings finished the 1988-89 regular season with 91 points and reached the playoffs before losing in the NHL Divisional Finals. Los Angeles had 12 picks in the 12-round draft the following offseason, but went without its first-round pick. The Western Conference franchise dealt its first-round picks in 1989, 1991, and 1993, along with Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, and $15 million in cash, to the Edmonton Oilers in return for Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley, and Mike Krushelnyski. Only three of Los Angeles' 12 picks in 1989 made the NHL, playing just 205 career games combined. Four of the players the Kings drafted in 1988 and 1990, by comparison, played at least 989 career NHL games.

With its first pick, 39th overall in the second round, the Kings selected defenseman Brent Thompson from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The most successful of Los Angeles' 12 picks in the draft, Thompson scored one goal and added 10 assists in 121 career regular season games. He also recorded 352 penalty minutes. Thompson played parts of three seasons with the Kings and later played for the Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes. He has been coaching since the 2003-04 season and is now head coach of the American Hockey League's (AHL) Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

The Kings selected defenseman Jim Maher from the University of Illinois-Chicago with its next pick, 81st overall in the fourth round. Neither Maher nor the team's next four picks (Eric Ricard, Tom Newman, Daniel Rydmark, and Ted Kramer) played in the NHL.

Sean Whyte, drafted by the Kings 165th overall in the eighth round of the draft, played a combined 21 games with Los Angeles in the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons. He later played in the AHL, International Hockey League (IHL), and Central Hockey League (CHL). Los Angeles then selected Jim Giacin (Culver Military Academy) and Martin Maskarinec (Sparta Praha) with its next two picks, but neither of these players made the NHL.

Jim Hiller, the only other player the Kings selected to play in the NHL, recorded 20 points in 63 games with the Kings, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers. He had 12 points in 40 games for the Kings as a rookie in 1992-93. Hillier has been coaching since 2002-03 and joined the Kings coaching staff as an assistant for the 2022-23 season after three seasons as an assistant with the Islanders.

Los Angeles also drafted Steve Jacques (Tri-City Americans) and Kevin Sneddon (Harvard University) in 1989. The Quebec Nordiques had the first overall pick in the draft and selected Swedish center Mats Sundin, who went on to record 1,349 points in 1,346 career regular season games. Four other players (Stu Barnes, Bill Guerin, Bobby Holik, and Mike Sillinger) drafted in the first round played at least 1,000 games in the NHL.