ESPN recently released their predictions for the NHL's top 100 players this season, and to say it caused some controversy is an understatement.

These kinds of lists are always problematic and have to be taken with a grain of salt, but it can still be fun to break them down.

Let's set aside some of my overall gripes with this list — like no Evgeni Malkin or listing an 18-year-old who has just a handful of games under his belt — and focus just on the Los Angeles Kings.

Four Kings players made the list from back-to-front: Drew Doughty, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar. They were ranked 92nd, 73rd, 46th and 45th.

I think these are all relatively fair rankings for these players. Sure Doughty could have been a bit higher, and maybe Kopitar too, but I don't think any of these rankings are egregious.

However, what is egregious is the exclusion of Adrian Kempe.

Over the last two seasons Kempe has established himself as one of the league's premier goal scorers and to leave him off this list is just wrong.

Kempe's 76 goals over the last two seasons rank him 17th in the league, while his 41 goals last season ranked him 13th in the league. 

Based on those numbers, it's fair to say he's a top-15 goal scorer in the league, but he manages to not crack the top 100 players.

If this was last summer and Kempe was coming off his first 30-goal season where he was also a liability defensively, I would get leaving him off. 

But that isn't the case. Kempe was solid defensively, played in all situations and broke the 40-goal mark. What more does someone need to do?

This isn't a knock on these players, but you're telling me Ryan O'Reilly, Brock Boeser and Matt Boldy are all better players than Kempe? That's a massive stretch in my eyes.

Kempe is a true game-breaker who can beat teams in a variety of ways and play a responsible 200-foot game. He is certainly a top 100 player in the league and was robbed on this list.

Maybe another 40-goal season and a deep playoff run will get Kempe onto this list next season.

Maybe he'll be joined by a few more Kings too.