Line Combos: 2016-2017 Kings Roster

[damacles1156]

Forbert is already better defensively and his potential is way higher because he can skate and he makes plays no one else can with that long reach.

Yes, its very early and of course there will be stumbles and he could fall off a cliff and peter out completely but I wouldn't bet on it.

Forbort always had hockey IQ, and first pass potential. It's never gone anywhere. It's why I was so confident he would make an NHL roster.

Something McNabb lacks. McNabb has great physical tools, and decent skating, but lacks Hockey IQ, his first pass is average to below.

 

[HookKing]

Forbort always had hockey IQ, and first pass potential. It's never gone anywhere. It's why I was so confident he would make an NHL roster.

Something McNabb lacks. McNabb has great physical tools, and decent skating, but lacks Hockey IQ, his first pass is average to below.

I agree although "decent skating" is being charitable. Kings better not return KG when BM returns.

 

[damacles1156]

I agree although "decent skating" is being charitable. Kings better not return KG when BM returns.

I am hoping Gravel continues his rise.

Forbort/Gravel is a future pairing, these two guys Chew up so much ice with their excellent Skating. They both have really long reaches, and great stick work.

They were nails paired together in the AHL. Forbort/Gravel, it's were opposing offensive went to die.

 

[Trolfoli]

Forbort always had hockey IQ, and first pass potential. It's never gone anywhere. It's why I was so confident he would make an NHL roster.

Something McNabb lacks. McNabb has great physical tools, and decent skating, but lacks Hockey IQ, his first pass is average to below.

A decade after being drafted Forbort might figure it out! In fact the only reason McNabb is here is because Forbort took so long to become a borderline NHL player.

 

[kings11]

I've made that point multiple times.

Which is why early I mentioned trading Amart for Mike McCarron and a 2nd, then exposing McNabb... And I supported this by saying IF both kids Forbort and Gravel level of play surpasses both AM and BM, it would be a calculated risk worth taking....plus Gilbert has been outstanding as a bottom pairing and LaDue will be on his way with Clague waiting in the wings...

And best of all we'd have enough to resign Toffoli and Pearson plus have money left over for Gilbert

 

[kings11]

Btw, I strongly agree with both Demacles and Hoo......

Some of you guys need to start thinking long term, last season the pairing of Forbort and Gravel was dominate down in Ontario and are proving at the NHL level that it was no fluke.... get use to that!

 

[Choralone]

A decade after being drafted Forbort might figure it out! In fact the only reason McNabb is here is because Forbort took so long to become a borderline NHL player.

Forbort was drafted 6 years ago, and he seems to have it figured out now. He's 24 years old - plenty of years ahead in the NHL for the Kings to capitalize on.

 

[HookKing]

Which is why early I mentioned trading Amart for Mike McCarron and a 2nd, then exposing McNabb... And I supported this by saying IF both kids Forbort and Gravel level of play surpasses both AM and BM, it would be a calculated risk worth taking....plus Gilbert has been outstanding as a bottom pairing and LaDue will be on his way with Clague waiting in the wings...

And best of all we'd have enough to resign Toffoli and Pearson plus have money left over for Gilbert

When do you trade AMart? Before trade deadline or after the playoffs?

 

[kings11]

When do you trade AMart? Before trade deadline or after the playoffs?

You ship him out at the deadline if the trio of Forbort/Gravel/Gilbert continue tending upward....
if not then you wait until after the playoffs and you also have to consider if Dowd keeps up his strong play you could protect
Kopitar
Carter
Toffoli
Pearson
Dowd
2 more players
Doughty
Muzzin
Forbort
Quick
7 forwards, 3 dman, quick

 

[The Tikkanen]

I've made that point multiple times.

Then you're very intelligent. Vegas could be targeting Trevor Lewis for all we know, 4th liner, long cheap contract, could play 3C for the Dark Knights. In the past it's been 2 teams coming into the league at the same time so you're not guaranteed to get who you want. Vegas has all year to go over every single possibility of who will be protected, who won't and how to develop the best team with a perfect cap hit for this season and beyond. They also may want to go hard into a top free agent so maybe they don't target a #1 LW, C or RW. McNabb only will have 1 year left on his deal. Forbort will be RFA after next season. So maybe a player like Lewis at 2 mill for 3 more years after this season makes the most sense and maybe Dean thought of that when he signed him to that deal?

 

[kings11]

Then you're very intelligent. Vegas could be targeting Trevor Lewis for all we know, 4th liner, long cheap contract, could play 3C for the Dark Knights. In the past it's been 2 teams coming into the league at the same time so you're not guaranteed to get who you want. Vegas has all year to go over every single possibility of who will be protected, who won't and how to develop the best team with a perfect cap hit for this season and beyond. They also may want to go hard into a top free agent so maybe they don't target a #1 LW, C or RW. McNabb only will have 1 year left on his deal. Forbort will be RFA after next season. So maybe a player like Lewis at 2 mill for 3 more years after this season makes the most sense and maybe Dean thought of that when he signed him to that deal?

You're under the assumption that it matters what LV wants, by being proactive and moving Amart under the stated circumstances your allowed to protect Lewis and another FWD should you choose it!
McNabb being exposed isn't the end of the world, heck if Greene plays 40 games he might also be a possibility because he'd be a UFA and $2+ mill would come off the books.

The point is you want to maximize your assets and by being proactive your allowed to keep the players you really like while minimizing your potential losses...

 

[kings11]

Btw Tikk I agree with your assessment and also remember Deano is as cunning as they come ....

 

[HookKing]

You ship him out at the deadline if the trio of Forbort/Gravel/Gilbert continue tending upward....
if not then you wait until after the playoffs and you also have to consider if Dowd keeps up his strong play you could protect
Kopitar
Carter
Toffoli
Pearson
Dowd
2 more players
Doughty
Muzzin
Forbort
Quick
7 forwards, 3 dman, quick

I agree with your protect list (it is also mine). However, even if Forbort and Gravel continue to look solid there is no way DL trades Martinez if the Kings are in the hunt.

The second problem is if you wait till after the finals every team that could lose a good d man will be looking to make the same deal. Montreal's 3rd D to protect appears to be Beaulieu, sounds scary close to McNabb in production/potential so they will likely be open to upgrade. They might not have the cap space to take on Amart though. The Kings might also get outbid.

 

[kings11]

I agree with your protect list (it is also mine). However, even if Forbort and Gravel continue to look solid there is no way DL trades Martinez if the Kings are in the hunt.

The second problem is if you wait till after the finals every team that could lose a good d man will be looking to make the same deal. Montreal's 3rd D to protect appears to be Beaulieu, sounds scary close to McNabb in production/potential so they will likely be open to upgrade. They might not have the cap space to take on Amart though. The Kings might also get outbid.

I would argue Amart is a notch above McNabb and maybe that's why he's getting a run of 20+ minutes to make him look more attractive to LV ????? Point is we need to clear cap space and with our young Dmen looking good, our D corps could end up being a position of strength surprisingly .....

 

[Fishhead]

No way is Martinez traded at the deadline unless this team is in the toilet. He scores more clutch goals than any defenseman. 4 of his 6 goals are game winners, that's pretty crazy.

 

[kings11]

No way is Martinez traded at the deadline unless this team is in the toilet. He scores more clutch goals than any defenseman. 4 of his 6 goals are game winners, that's pretty crazy.

dont assume that anybody others than Kopitar and Doughty is untouchables.....

 

[HookKing]

dont assume that anybody others than Kopitar and Doughty is untouchables.....

Nobody trades away strong roster players at the deadline unless they're out of it.

 

[Trolfoli]

Wait so now we're trading Martinez to protect Forbort? That's just insane!

Greene's getting protected first because he's a vet!

 

[kings11]

Wait so now we're trading Martinez to protect Forbort? That's just insane!

Greene's getting protected first because he's a vet!

no one is trading Amart to protect Forbort, he just happens to be the easiest guy to get rid of and his $4mill per salary could be used toward Toffoli.... Maybe you should read the whole convo before making assumptions guy....

 

[Fishhead]

no one is trading Amart to protect Forbort, he just happens to be the easiest guy to get rid of and his $4mill per salary could be used toward Toffoli.... Maybe you should read the whole convo before making assumptions guy....

All true, but Martinez is turning into a 30+ pt. defender who also plays solid in his own end. $4M is a bargain rate for guys like that. With young guys coming in, paying the top 3 $15M should be absolutely no problem. Replacing King & Purcell (along with whoever is lost in the draft) with younger talent will leave more than enough space.

 

[Trolfoli]

no one is trading Amart to protect Forbort, he just happens to be the easiest guy to get rid of and his $4mill per salary could be used toward Toffoli.... Maybe you should read the whole convo before making assumptions guy....

That's even worse.

There will be plenty of money to sign Toffoli.

Besides Muzzin would be much better to move first. He'd get a better return.

 

[member 88115]

That's even worse.

There will be plenty of money to sign Toffoli.

Besides Muzzin would be much better to move first. He'd get a better return.

I think you beat him with the idea of Trading Muzzin over Martinez. + We already had Muzzin with Doughty and set up Martinez as the 2nd Pairing D this season. Lasted only 2 Periods before they threw that idea out the window.

 

[The Tikkanen]

You're under the assumption that it matters what LV wants, by being proactive and moving Amart under the stated circumstances your allowed to protect Lewis and another FWD should you choose it!
McNabb being exposed isn't the end of the world, heck if Greene plays 40 games he might also be a possibility because he'd be a UFA and $2+ mill would come off the books.

The point is you want to maximize your assets and by being proactive your allowed to keep the players you really like while minimizing your potential losses...

If Vegas wants Lewis or McNabb they have my blessing. I don't think there are many scenarios out there where the Kings will be devastated by the expansion draft. Lewis is a 4th liner with no upside, McNabb is a 4-6 dman, still has upside but with Gravel and Forbort starting to show some promise McNabb is expendable. There will be some NHL teams that are hurt by the expansion draft and there will be some movement away from the players they could lose at the deadline. Don't forget Vegas will announce their team name on the 18th.

 

[deeshamrock]

That's even worse.

There will be plenty of money to sign Toffoli.

Besides Muzzin would be much better to move first. He'd get a better return.

Plenty? Disagree, for 17/18 Kings have 60.6M committed to 8 Forwards, 5 Defense men and 3 goalies (not including Budaj, whose contract is up)

of the 4 to 5 forwards that they need to sign, or replace, Toffoli and Pearson will eat up 12 to 13 M of that.
Doesn't leave alot left for the other 6 or 7 players that need contracts.

DL will have to move a contract in the 5 m range to get some back and even then it will be close.
And as much as I'd like to say with King, purcell, Seto, etc, going away, that the kids will come up, DL and Sutter esp, like their veterans, so I would not be surprised to see another aging vet signed in the offseason.

But that's part of the homework assignment he has. He's at a crossroads, needs to take a hard look at his projection board for the next several years and build a solid future.

Hopefully ,that starts with drafting a scoring center this year. Kopi turning 30 next summer and no top center in the pipeline isn't good.

 

[deeshamrock]

Then you're very intelligent. Vegas could be targeting Trevor Lewis for all we know, 4th liner, long cheap contract, could play 3C for the Dark Knights. In the past it's been 2 teams coming into the league at the same time so you're not guaranteed to get who you want. Vegas has all year to go over every single possibility of who will be protected, who won't and how to develop the best team with a perfect cap hit for this season and beyond. They also may want to go hard into a top free agent so maybe they don't target a #1 LW, C or RW. McNabb only will have 1 year left on his deal. Forbort will be RFA after next season. So maybe a player like Lewis at 2 mill for 3 more years after this season makes the most sense and maybe Dean thought of that when he signed him to that deal?

Doubtful. He isn't a 3rd liner and with the younger, cheaper bottom 6'ers available, why would Vegas want a 30 yr old 4th liner overpaid at 2 M a year who is 20 pt average player. That was a weak contract, DL's loyalty colors showing.