The Kings, in the unaccustomed position of choosing early in the NHL draft after a few years of success and other years of trading away their first-round selection, chose Windsor center Gabe Vilardi as the 11th pick in the annual draft, held Friday in Chicago.
Vilardi, who stands 6-foot-3, scored 29 goals and 61 points in 49 games last season for Windsor, which won the Memorial Cup. He had been the fourth-ranked North American skater but was available when it came time for the offense-starved Kings to make their pick, apparently because of questions about his skating.