Line Combos: 2016-2017 Kings Roster

[damacles1156]

There seems more doom and gloom in here than in 2006-2012 put together.

No one knew who Quick was or what he could be, Doughty was bright spot but not dominant like he is now.

Kopitar was steady, the Wingers were garbage outside of Brown/Williams/Simmonds/Cammy.

Some folks are acting like the Kings rebuilt, and the roster is full of second year players. With no hope what so ever of making the playoff's

I guess 2006 on, had no expectations, so no one cared. We were all use to the Kings being garbage.

Jeez guys.

 

[theMajor]

It's called reality. I have no clue what your expectations are, but this team is not any better than last season's squad.

what is your reality based on? what is happening now or what you think will happen many months from now? please, indulge us all and tell us where you think the Kings will be come playoff time. Ill quote you so I can save it and then we can all laugh about it 6 months from now

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

what is your reality based on? what is happening now or what you think will happen many months from now? please, indulge us all and tell us where you think the Kings will be come playoff time. Ill quote you so I can save it and then we can all laugh about it 6 months from now

Someone hasn't been paying attention to Kings hockey since the 2014-15 season...

Must be why Dean Lombardi was so pleased with the team's performance this season.

My reality is based on what's taken place over the past two years. You can count on one finger how many playoff victories the Kings have had in that span.

 

[damacles1156]

The Kings are going to suck this season

The Kings are going to be good this season.

I have covered my butt either way.

 

[damacles1156]

And for most of the season last years team was good.
It went cold down the stretch. But I'd take last seasons numbers without the going cold. Maybe start cold and pick it up as the season goes along.

Peak at the right time.

We can hope.

 

[mattgkg]

The Kings are going to suck this season

The Kings are going to be good this season.

I have covered my butt either way.

carter, kopitar, toffoli and pearson will all perform somewhere between the allstar team and waiver wire. you can mark my word on it!

 

[tsanuri]

The Kings are going to suck this season

The Kings are going to be good this season.

I have covered my butt either way.

You've doomed us is what you have done.
A house divided can't stand.

 

[damacles1156]

carter, kopitar, toffoli and pearson will all perform somewhere between the allstar team and waiver wire. you can mark my word on it!

Good one, made me chuckle quite a bit.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Kings are going to suck this season

The Kings are going to be good this season.

I have covered my butt either way.

In essence, they are an average team (well, slightly before average, but you get the gist of it).

If you break it down, their defense and goaltending is above average as a group thanks to Doughty, Quick, Muzzin and Martinez.

The offense is very average to below average. The only threats inside the blueline being Kopitar, Carter and Toffoli. Who knows how Gaborik will be once he returns.

The special teams will likely be middle of the road just like it's been the past couple of seasons.

The lack of depth is what will ultimately hurt this team in the long run. We saw it last season when the top guys ran out of gas. The depth simply isn't there to pick up for them.

 

[Johnny Utah]

On NHL radio they keep talking about the Kings depth every time they do a review of the team.

What is really different on the bottom 6? We subbed Dowd in for Stoll? Took Fraser out for Andreoff?

I was hoping there would be enough turn over and youth injected into the bottom 6 that players like Andreoff would be paired with other good young players...now it's just Dowd and AA surrounded by the same guys that have been around for 5 seasons; King, Lewis, Nolan and Clifford.

I would like to see Kempe, Mersch mixed in with Andreoff and Dowd.

Mersch-Kempe-Purcell
Andreoff-Dowd-Lewis

 

[Kingsfan1]

I think we have all the right pieces to succeed long as they tweak the system a little to have some creativity and involved and more offense. Also if we let the kids come up sooner rather than later and let them develop at the NHL level instead of the AHL its much better . Has been working out just fine for Tampa , Chicago and the Pens .

Also the defense took a big nose dive affer Voynov left . Voynov was a great draft pick of Lombardis. He is and i firmly believe he was a #1 Caliber defenseman. We were so lucky to have Doughty , Voynov , Muzzin and Mitchell , Scuderi . We have a Mitchell and Scuderi type dman in Forbort and Gravel but we will have to see if Ladue or Clague or Cernak can step in to fill Voynovs void .

However imagine an offensive lineup of

Kempe-Kopitar-Gaborik
Pearson-Carter-Toffoli
Setoguchi-Dowd-Purcell
King-Lewis-Brown

What better place for Kempe to develop rather than on Kopis wing and in the NhL. With his speed and skillset he will add another dynamic to our team. Also our bottom 6 has been lacking of talent and skill but with Purcell and Seto and King and Brown on the bottom 6 wings they bring hockey iq , skill and defense instead of plugs like Clifford , Nolan and King would be better on the 4th line . What other team in the league would King be on the 3rd line .

 

[KingsFan7824]

The lack of depth is what will ultimately hurt this team in the long run.

It's not the lack of depth, it's if the depth doesn't come around as the season unfolds. It doesn't all have to be perfect in October.

Nothing is static. What the lines are on opening night, what a player is on opening night, what expectations are on opening night, it can all change by game 82. Good or bad.

 

[KingTrouty]

Watching Kings Live -- I think OD gets his eyebrows professionally done. Or maybe I never noticed till now how perfectly shaped they were/are

That is all.

 

[Omni Owl]

I'm expecting Andreoff to have a pretty good year. He was one of the few guys that looked good down the stretch along with Lecavalier, so I wouldn't have him penciled out of the lineup. Dowd is another that could impress, if not, Lewis can always play 3C. If one of Forbort/Gravel/LaDue can emerge on the back end, the D should be in good shape. Our top guys are going to be ridden hard this year, like most other teams, but I feel like we could have some young guns come in and support them.

 

[BigKing]

The 2012 team had a real Mike Richards come in and then got the injection of Carter/Voynov while Quick was lights out. Plus there was cap space and assets to make trades.

Sure, the season wasn't going well until Murray was fired and, most importantly, the Carter trade and Brown going to another level.

This team does not have the resources to make a trade on the level of Carter and Gaborik was a one in a million shot. We already saw the team struggling to score last year and the big move was for Versteeg because they don't have the assets or cap space to do anything really significant without getting someone to promise to retire.

Now, guys could surprise. I hope they do. What I do know is that this team is down its 2nd best winger, has a middling (on paper) Bottom 6 and is having to sign the ghost of Setoguchi to find someone to play with Kopitar.

It feels like everything has to work from the get go because, outside of bringing up Reign players, I don't know how Lombardi would fix anything at this point.

You're also going to get more gloom around here because this team hasn't won a playoff game in two years while continuing to lose cap space and see key players/assets walk for nothing or, in some cases, still count against the cap.

Again, it comes down to the best players being STUDS on a consistent basis and the young guys need to really show up. That's a lot different than going into the '13 season or even the '14 season where there weren't a lot of question marks.

I don't see it being a problem that some of us are not optimistic. I'm expecting a WC spot at best and would not be surprised if they missed since a better team missed just two seasons ago. I really hope to be surprised though and will continue to watch all road games and go to nearly every home game.

 

[mattgkg]

saw this spread on another site and hadn't considered this set up for the 3 skill lines idea and it pairs purcell and carter for the stretch options. not bad.

brown - kopitar - setoguchi

purcell - carter - toffoli

pearson - dowd - lewis

king - shore - andreoff/clifford/nolan

 

[King'sPawn]

Funny how we're still panicking about offense in the regular season when they made the playoffs and won the cup with the 29th/30th ranked offense.

I know, different circumstances, yada yada. But we should know by now you don't need the perfect team.

 

[mattgkg]

I know, different circumstances, yada yada. But we should know by now you don't need the perfect team.

this team is pretty damn formidable right now but haters gon' hate. there are 20+ teams that would love to have 6 competitive nhl ready forwards they'll have to choose one of to waive/trade when they get marian gaborik back.

(king, clifford, shore, nolan, andreoff, dowd)

people think they are complaining about "the bottom 6" they are only worried about the plugs that are extra forwards might having to actually play 6-10 mins a game every 10 or so.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The 2012 team had a real Mike Richards come in and then got the injection of Carter/Voynov while Quick was lights out. Plus there was cap space and assets to make trades.

Sure, the season wasn't going well until Murray was fired and, most importantly, the Carter trade and Brown going to another level.

This team does not have the resources to make a trade on the level of Carter and Gaborik was a one in a million shot. We already saw the team struggling to score last year and the big move was for Versteeg because they don't have the assets or cap space to do anything really significant without getting someone to promise to retire.

Now, guys could surprise. I hope they do. What I do know is that this team is down its 2nd best winger, has a middling (on paper) Bottom 6 and is having to sign the ghost of Setoguchi to find someone to play with Kopitar.

It feels like everything has to work from the get go because, outside of bringing up Reign players, I don't know how Lombardi would fix anything at this point.

You're also going to get more gloom around here because this team hasn't won a playoff game in two years while continuing to lose cap space and see key players/assets walk for nothing or, in some cases, still count against the cap.

Again, it comes down to the best players being STUDS on a consistent basis and the young guys need to really show up. That's a lot different than going into the '13 season or even the '14 season where there weren't a lot of question marks.

I don't see it being a problem that some of us are not optimistic. I'm expecting a WC spot at best and would not be surprised if they missed since a better team missed just two seasons ago. I really hope to be surprised though and will continue to watch all road games and go to nearly every home game.

I only see it as a problem in that optimism is openly mocked.

It's funny that last year's team kind of worked in reverse--instead of being mediocre all season and turning red hot at the end, they were great most of the season and went splat at the end. I don't blame people having a bitter taste after that, but some sense of perspective is necessary (a lottery team? A non-playoff team? Really?)

 

[KingTrouty]

Optimism won't be mocked here.

Not with our champs. Our beautiful champs.

We are one of the poster franchises in the league, and if it takes a year or two longer for the rebuild to be complete (hitting on LaDue, Gravel, etc) then so be it.

You guys wanting to throw this team to the wolves (and more specifically Dean and Sutter) can go and <censored> yourselves.

I live through too much sports turmoil (and so do many of you if you follow sports outside of the NHL, just going by odds, unless you follow the Pats and SF Giants) to see silly 20 something and 30 something entitled fans complaining about a down year, when it's apparently Stanley Cup or bust. When the salary cap is as big as an opponent as the Blackhawks or Lightening, it's gonna be hard to rattle off four Cups in a row.

Miss me with this entitled <censored>. We have a championship team that is in a current rebuild that may or may not surprise this season. We have a team, and by God, it's probably a playoff team, but I digress.

With the elite front office we have, they better <censored> get the benefit of the doubt.

"But I buy season tickets blah blah blah" shuddup and respect greatness.

 

[KingTrouty]

I only see it as a problem in that optimism is openly mocked.

It's funny that last year's team kind of worked in reverse--instead of being mediocre all season and turning red hot at the end, they were great most of the season and went splat at the end. I don't blame people having a bitter taste after that, but some sense of perspective is necessary (a lottery team? A non-playoff team? Really?)

And for that reason, Raccoon, Dean called the regular season an abject failure (paraphrase). He only wants to win when it matters.

We have a true captain at the helm of this franchise. He isn't okay with flashy regular season accolades, like I'm sure many of his counterparts are. It's what makes a GM elite. Part of it, at least. Well, there's a lot that makes a GM elite, but I loved hearing Dean scoff at last season's regular season success. If only because it shows how intent he is on winning. It's all he cares about, Raccoon.

 

[Trolfoli]

This place is going to become really unbearable if it's overtaken by optimism.


I'm calling it now! They're winning the division!!! Seto is going to have the greatest comeback of all time and put up 20+, Brown is going to rebound into a hockey player. 2 of the young defenders are going to turn into legit top 4D by the end of the year, and we'll stomp the Sharks in the first round of the playoffs!!!!

 

[KingTrouty]

This place is going to become really unbearable if it's overtaken by optimism.


I'm calling it now! They're winning the division!!! Seto is going to have the greatest comeback of all time and put up 20+, Brown is going to rebound into a hockey player. 2 of the young defenders are going to turn into legit top 4D by the end of the year, and we'll stomp the Sharks in the first round of the playoffs!!!!

Spare us the hyperbole, angsty Kings fan.

No one is saying anything that is in that ridiculous post of yours. God forbid fans support our champs.

 

[Trolfoli]

Spare us the hyperbole, angsty Kings fan.

No one is saying anything that is in that ridiculous post of yours. God forbid fans support our champs.

I'm totally on the optimism train!!! Lets get it done!!!!

Seriously though, if Seto can turn into a productive player, Gaborik coming back the forwards have a ton of depth. Pearson should have a better year. Broken legs take a while to get all the strenght back. Add to that Kempe probably getting a call up for the playoffs. That could be enough of an extra spark.

On D the Kings only really need to sort out the second pair. They need one of Gravel/Forbort/McNabb/LaDue to step up by the end of this season. That's not completely out of the realm of possibilities.

And we get to see Greene smash fools tomorrow!!!! I love when he skates down from the offensive blue line with his stick up like a tomahawk and smashes someone in the face.

 

[The Tikkanen]

I think tomorrow night will show me a lot as to where this King team is going this season. Opening night against your rival, this team should be pumped up and ready to go.