How Much Patience For Thomas Hickey?

Patience is a virtue. How many times have we heard that from people who don’t want to give us what we want? When we were kids, it was when we wanted a new toy that we saw in the store. When we were teenagers, it was that new car we wanted before we got a job. When we were in college it was graduation and as adults, it’s that house that tells us we’ve made it.

In every situation, patience is the answer. Be patient and if you still want the toy, you can ask for it at Christmas. If you want the car bad enough, get a job and save your money so you can afford it. College takes time and effort and a new house takes a ton of money. Each and every one of the situations requires patience. It’s the end all, be all explanation that parents give to kids when they want something.

For that matter, it’s also the end all answer for teams that are rebuilding.

Kings fans were patient when their team sunk to the lowest depths after the lockout. They were patient when free agent after free agent chose other destinations. They were patient when their ownership said they were going to stay the course with their rebuild and they were patient when Ilya Kovalchuk turned into Alexei Ponikarovsky. No one needs to tell Kings fans about patience. At this point, they have that part mastered.

Do you know how hard it is to actually find Thomas Hickey in a Monarchs jersey?

Unlike the Kings organization over the years, the fans have learned patience. Over and over, the Kings would tell their fans, “Stick with us – we’re headed for good things.”  But while they asked for patience from fans, they were always trading draft picks and prospects for marginal players to help plug holes in attempt to sneak into the playoffs. Until recently, they were never fully dedicated to a rebuilding project.

Then there’s the flip side. You can have patience all you want—but at some point there needs to be action. If you wait too long, you will just be sitting there while the perfect opportunity passes you by.

The Thomas Hickey development process is a microcosm of the Kings development process. At what point is it time for the Kings to put trust into the player they selected 4th overall? When drafted at the top of the 2007 class, he wasn’t exactly greeted with overwhelming excitement. We’re talking about a guy who prompted fans to make shirts that said, “I went to a Kings draft party and all I got was a Hickey,” after he was drafted.

When the Kings selected 4th overall in 2007, they were in a much different place than they are today. Sometimes people forget, but three years ago, the Kings prospect cupboard was bare. The entire organization was a mess—and the defensive corps stood above all for its disarray. Whether you were talking about a puck mover or a stay-at-home guy, there was no one on the horizon who could be counted on to make the NHL. Drew Doughty was still a year away from becoming a part of the Kings organization, as were Colten Teubert and Vyacheslav Voynov. They needed a defenseman, particularly one who could potentially run an NHL power play one day. And with that, the Kings reached, shocked the hockey world, and picked Thomas Hickey.

Fast forward to the present and we still haven’t seen what he can do at the NHL level. He’s still a highly regarded prospect, but there are just as many questions today as there were the day he was drafted three years ago. At some point, he has to get a chance to show what he can do. The first round pick in the 2007 draft has been brought along slowly and last year dealt with injuries that cost him most of his AHL season. But the time he was up with the Monarch, reports tagged him as one of the best defensemen on the team. He was able to come back for the playoffs, had three points in four games, and despite the rust, was one of the most effective defenseman on the entire team.

This is how he negates any opponents' size advantage...

The Kings have three legitimate options going into the season for Hickey. He could earn a spot in training camp with the big club, they could send him back down to Manchester so he can get a FULL season in the AHL, or they can explore trade opportunities to transfer an asset with potential for an experienced player who can contribute in the here and now.

The best option for all parties involved is for Hickey to come into training camp, blow everyone away, and lock up one of the empty defensive spots. The Kings have two slots to fill on the blue line after Sean O’Donnell and Randy Jones departed; someone is going to need to play those minutes. Matt Greene’s off-season surgery means there are currently three spots available on the NHL roster—four if you count the chair in the press box that was reserved for Davis Drewiske last season. Even if the Kings are able to sign one of the few free agents left, they still have holes to fill.

When you hear people who have closely followed his career, it’s hard not to be excited with his potential:

“In his four years with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Thomas matured into a talented defenseman with an innate ability to see all the ice, not just what’s going on in front of him. He can step up to make crucial plays; in fact, I’ve seen him do this on a number of occasions during his final two years as a T-Bird. There were games where he could turn the tide with a well-timed hip-check or a steal. He’s also one of the most powerful skaters I’ve ever seen. But I believe the biggest asset Thomas will bring to the NHL is his brain. This is one smart, even-keeled guy; a trait not lost on the T-Birds, who named him Captain during his last two seasons.”
-Su Ring, CCPT Hockey Show and KING 5 Hockey Editor in Seattle

In all honesty, this should be a season where another of the vaunted defensive prospects makes the jump. Vyacheslav Voynov was one of Manchester’s best defensemen last season and seems poised to challenge for a spot. Jake Muzzin is a 6’2″, 215 pound sonofabeech who was OHL defenseman of the year last season and was impressive when he made the jump to the AHL after signing a pro contract. Alec Martinez has been waiting patiently for his shot, and Drewiske is still trying to solidify a spot on the ice every night.

If the Kings are so confident in their pipeline of prospects, this should be the season we see what some of these kids have.

Another feasible option for Hickey would be to practice his craft against professionals in the AHL. While that’s always a good idea with prospects, it might be even more applicable in Hickey’s case. There’s no question that he has a strong all-around game. When he was drafted, many people viewed him as an offensive defenseman. While not all together accurate, he’s a mobile, puck-moving defenseman who has an incredibly high hockey IQ and the ability to slow the game down. The only question mark about him is his size and ability to take a beating against some of the bigger forwards of the NHL. He’s on record as saying his brief time on the ice in Manchester helped:

“Although I didn’t play a lot this past year, it helped to play against pros and bigger guys. I learned from that—that was probably my biggest weakness last year, so I’ll be a step up when it comes to that.” –Thomas Hickey (via FrozenRoyalty.net)

One of the best cultural shifts since Dean Lombardi has joined the Kings organization is that they have finally made the commitment to bring along their prospects slowly. Instead of throwing any player with potential into the NHL to see if they’ll sink or swim, they have been committed to letting their prized prospects mature in juniors and the AHL before giving them their shot. They’re putting their players in a position to succeed. Hickey was drafted in 2007 and hasn’t sniffed the NHL, which is completely acceptable for a defenseman who is honing his craft. Similarly, Jonathan Bernier has been brought along slowly to ensure he is able to mature mentally and physically before he’s thrown to the wolves. Sure, there are the Drew Doughty’s of the world—but obviously he’s the exception.

Another positive to placing Hickey in Manchester for the season is that it would allow him to continue to grow as a leader. Aside from his poise and ability to make the first pass out of the zone, Hickey’s most valuable characteristic is his leadership quality. He was the undisputed captain in Seattle for the Thunderbirds and won a gold medal at the World Junior Championships while serving as captain for Team Canada. Some people are born with it and some people aren’t. But that doesn’t change the notion that it’s a skill that can be worked on like any other skill. Taking a leadership role with Manchester would be the next step in the natural progression for Hickey.

Check out this exchange Hickey had with Kings beat-writer Rich Hammond:

HAMMOND: Ron Hextall, in particular, singled you out for your effort during that final playoff game. Even though you lost, do you look at that game as a highlight for yourself?
HICKEY: “It was an elimination game. We had our backs to the wall, and everyone was just working so hard. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it, but everyone’s mindset was to just go as hard as you can, because we had a whole summer ahead of us. So we all put it out there.”

The third and final option for the Kings would be to trade Hickey while he still has value for someone who can help their team immediately. All of the qualities we’ve mentioned, from his poise and puck moving ability to his leadership abilities, would be an asset to any organization. If the Kings are looking for someone who can help the team (whether a top 4 defender or top 6 forward), Hickey would be one of the first names mentioned going the other way.

Something for Kings fans to think about is his value on the open market versus his value to the organization. Every single prospect selected early in the draft has the same type of value curve. Obviously, their value is sky high immediately after the draft. But with each passing season, as the prospect doesn’t make the NHL (or doesn’t make an impact), their value continually decreases. At some point, the league as a whole will look at the player as a bust and he’s virtually worthless on the open-market. A perfect example was L.A.’s 1st round pick in 2004: Lauri Tukonen. He went from a can’t-miss prospect with potential, to potential 3rd liner, to being traded for Rich Clune, to getting bounced to Tampa Bay, and is now playing in Russia. Just imagine if the Kings traded Tukonen when he was a hot-shot first rounder instead of trading him for marginal 4th liner. But at the same time, the Kings didn’t want to give up on him too soon.

That’s exactly the balance they’d be trying to find with Thomas Hickey. Give him time to reach his potential, but if you hold on too long and he never reaches that potential, management could be left kicking themselves, thinking about what they could have gotten for him.

Between training camp and this season, we should have a better idea of the kind of career Thomas Hickey is going to have. If he tears it up, he could be a mainstay on the Kings’ blue line for the next 10 years. If he’s sent back to the minors, he could either struggle against bigger competition or fulfill some of the promise that made him the former 4th overall pick. And if the Kings question his potential, they might press “eject” and get what they can while they can still get it.

Another thing fans should keep in mind is that this is part of the difficulty in patiently building a team from within. For the record, it would be a huge mistake for the Kings to go through the growing pains of watching a prized prospect develop, only to trade him away when he’s about to deliver. Some players take longer—in fact, some positions take longer to develop. But if an organization truly trusts their scouting staff, they can afford to take their time because they should have a good idea of what they’re getting. It takes time.

Remember, if it was easy—everyone would do it. Hopefully for Hickey and Kings fans, patience will pay off.