2017-18 Kings News/Rumors/Tidbits

[regulate]

 

[KingTrouty]

Strand is RH or LH?

 

[regulate]

Strand is RH or LH?

RHD

 

[KingCanadain1976]

He's rangy, skates pretty well, moves the puck well and can play defense. Still has to get stronger but this is a good risk.

 

[kingsfan28]

Kinda bummed that we got the last legs version of Laich, apparently he's had an eye on our team for a while, would have been the ideal add during the Cup years.

LA Kings Weekly: Hanging at a farmer's market with Brooks Laich (VIDEO)

I saw the episode , too bad he was cut a few days after it aired. He seems like a good dude to have in the room.Not sure why he didn't just go play in Ontario after he cleared.

 

[KingCanadain1976]

@mayorNHL Any thoughts on Austin Strand's signing and where you see him fitting long term?

answer
Late bloomer, big body, championship experience, more physical than offensive, right shot (the near unicorn for D), etc. Long term still TBD. More of a depth move than anything else.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

FYI, Jake Muzzin was another late-blooming defenseman in juniors and was signed as a 20-year old free agent. He was an unsigned prospect who was selected in the fifth round by the Penguins in 2007. The Kings signed Muzzin in December of 2009, and he made his NHL debut in 2010 and became a full-timer by 2012-13.

Muzzin jumped from 29 points in his third year to 67 points in his overage year.

Here's a scouting report I found on Strand that was written during his draft year, in 2015,
The Next Ones

 

[Little Psycho]

Sounds like they are stalking up on D so they can trade someone from the roster or Reign roster.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Per Rosen, Forbort is experienced enough now that he can move elsewhere in the lineup. They're apparently sick of Drew babysitting people and are putting him and Muzzin back together (splitting up everyone's favorite M+M pairing). Frankly, I love it. They both played their best hockey next to each other for the most part (Drew had his best year imo with McNabb but in spite of him through the 2nd half of the season).

And this is why we've called Muzzin a #2 for so long--he seems to be a fantastic complementary d-man. May not be able to fully hold down a pairing on his own, but is good enough both offensively and defensively to enable a guy like Drew without the opponent trying to just dump the puck into his corner and abuse him because he can move it well, unlike a Scuderi.

Hoping it works out and he gets his game back together, because the rest of our d is a tire fire right now, frankly. Forbort is fulfilling the old muffin role currently. Martinez is having a phenomenal year though.

 

[Sol]

Forbort, Martinez, and Muzzin have had a poor year.

I wouldn't be against trading any of them for an upgrade at offense, or a younger agile two way-defenseman

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Frankly I'm not seeing in any way how Martinez has had a bad year. He's been fantastic, especially playing on his off-side for the dumpster fire that has been Muzzin. He was leading the league in blocked shots too, but other players with more games have passed him (currently 4th). He's 2nd in TOI to Drew (3 min behind Drew, 2 AHEAD of Jake).

We could use more PRODUCTION from him but that point is sort of moot since his partner has been Muzzin and he's been the active-offensively one while Marty covers him.

 

[Sol]

Frankly I'm not seeing in any way how Martinez has had a bad year. He's been fantastic, especially playing on his off-side for the dumpster fire that has been Muzzin. He was leading the league in blocked shots too, but other players with more games have passed him (currently 4th). He's 2nd in TOI to Drew (3 min behind Drew, 2 AHEAD of Jake).

We could use more PRODUCTION from him but that point is sort of moot since his partner has been Muzzin and he's been the active-offensively one while Marty covers him.

Ive seen him lose his man a lot, and while he's blocking a lot of shots, he's losing his assignments often. And with the puck he's been mediocre. I've seen him make some awful passes, and passing up prime shooting oppurtinies.

And he's gotten slower.

(Maybe I'm being harsh on him so I'll watch him more closely the next few games, would appreciate you do the same)
I wouldn't mind trading those 3 players for a quicker (younger) two way defenseman.

I feel we have a lot of similar defenseman types. Kings need more variety.

Wouldn't be against a better top 9 player either.

 

[KingsOfCali25]

Forbort, Martinez, and Muzzin have had a poor year.

I wouldn't be against trading any of them for an upgrade at offense, or a younger agile two way-defenseman

To Winnipeg:

Muzzin

To LA:

Trouba+Dano

 

[regulate]

Sounds like they are stalking up on D so they can trade someone from the roster or Reign roster.

There is really nothing this signing does to help the roster this year as he has to finish his season in Juniors. He may join the Reign as one of the black aces at the end of his season if the Reign are still playing.

 

[tsanuri]

Frankly I'm not seeing in any way how Martinez has had a bad year. He's been fantastic, especially playing on his off-side for the dumpster fire that has been Muzzin. He was leading the league in blocked shots too, but other players with more games have passed him (currently 4th). He's 2nd in TOI to Drew (3 min behind Drew, 2 AHEAD of Jake).

We could use more PRODUCTION from him but that point is sort of moot since his partner has been Muzzin and he's been the active-offensively one while Marty covers him.

Where it shows he's willing to do whatever is needed. Being high in blocked shots is never a good thing to me. Leading your team fine.
It's one of those stats that shows you don't have the puck. And that either you or more precisely the team is struggling on D.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Where it shows he's willing to do whatever is needed. Being high in blocked shots is never a good thing to me. Leading your team fine.
It's one of those stats that shows you don't have the puck. And that either you or more precisely the team is struggling on D.

He had 8 blocked shots a few games ago and 6 of them were on the PK. Typically I see it as you're chasing the game, but he's played the 'defensive d-man' role on his wrong side next to the d-man who everyone wants to see jettisoned out of a cannon into orbit yesterday. The guy has been making better breakout passes on his backhand than Forbort and Muzzin are on their forehands and he gets plastered in the back on damn near every play for it. He needs to produce more and have better advanced stats because you're right that we've struggled on D, but to me, outside of Doughty, he's been a bright spot. I think saying he's been 'bad' is just wrong. There's Drew, there's Marty, then there's three traffic cones before Muzzin and Forbort who have been the real problems. Make either one of those guys not suck, and Martinez will look better. He's not a guy who is going to carry the team, he's a #4 who is going to take on shades of what's going on around him, so what exactly are people's expectations for him? It's just a strange guy to lay fault on. Unsung hero so far as far as I'm concerned.

 

[kings11]

He had 8 blocked shots a few games ago and 6 of them were on the PK. Typically I see it as you're chasing the game, but he's played the 'defensive d-man' role on his wrong side next to the d-man who everyone wants to see jettisoned out of a cannon into orbit yesterday. The guy has been making better breakout passes on his backhand than Forbort and Muzzin are on their forehands and he gets plastered in the back on damn near every play for it. He needs to produce more and have better advanced stats because you're right that we've struggled on D, but to me, outside of Doughty, he's been a bright spot. I think saying he's been 'bad' is just wrong. There's Drew, there's Marty, then there's three traffic cones before Muzzin and Forbort who have been the real problems. Make either one of those guys not suck, and Martinez will look better. He's not a guy who is going to carry the team, he's a #4 who is going to take on shades of what's going on around him, so what exactly are people's expectations for him? It's just a strange guy to lay fault on. Unsung hero so far as far as I'm concerned.

Both Muzzin and Amart have the most horrific habit of drop passing to the center of the ice and creating pressure from the team... Frolin is ok but I’d move him just to get LaDue up....
Muzzin- Doughty
Forbort- LaDue
Martinez-MacDermid/Fantenberg/Gravel
If that doesn’t work I’m open to trading that bottom 4

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Do some even notice how many minutes Martinez is playing ? This was once a 3rd pairing defenseman who is now playing almost 25 minutes a night.

Of course he's more prone to errors than in the past but does this make him more worse than in the past ?

Make your call.

 

[Sol]

If Martinez is playing a position he shouldn't be maybe we should trade him for someone who should be playing his position. It's bad enough that muzzin and Martinez are putrid together.

 

[lumbergh]

Who’s gonna trade a young two way defenseman with any track record for success for Alec Martinez? I still don’t understand why posters on this board continually bring up trading Marty. The guy puts up 30-40 points a year, is now playing #2 minutes, and makes a better first pass than anyone on the team. Plus who is gonna score all the clutch goals for the Kings? I’ll bet the players in the locker room love Marty as a team mate. He is one of the few guys who seem to bring the fun to the team.

So sure, let’s make the defense corps even poorer for a third line forward. That makes sense.

When Ladue or Clague are ready for 20 minutes a night in the NHL, we can maybe talk about trading the second best defenseman on the team.

 

[regulate]

 

[lumbergh]

I would also agree that Martinez is frequently overpowered by big forwards in front and behind the net. He plays best with a big tough defense partner.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

If Martinez is playing a position he shouldn't be maybe we should trade him for someone who should be playing his position. It's bad enough that muzzin and Martinez are putrid together.

RHDs of similar ability as Martinez and/or better are highly coveted as they're rare. How long have we been looking for a Voynov replacement?

I feel like people are forgetting how hard it is to find good NHL defensemen and that Muzzin and Martinez are actually damn good NHL defensemen.

Though I don't think you'll find anyone disagree about the lack of chemistry between Muzzin and Marty.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Forbort, Martinez, and Muzzin have had a poor year.

I wouldn't be against trading any of them for an upgrade at offense, or a younger agile two way-defenseman

Selling low, but you'll get better and/or younger in return?

To Winnipeg:

Muzzin

To LA:

Trouba+Dano

What's the incentive for Winnipeg?

 

[The Tikkanen]

Martinez is getting the most ice time in his career at ES and on the PP. He's also averaging 2:43 on the PK so the dude is playing all over. The only issue I see and one that has plagued the Kings for a few years now is when somebody plays more you'd expect more production. Secondary assists, goals, shots on goal and none of those are happening for AMart. 4 points in 21 games, 35 shots on goal, 2 points on the PP, hits are way down, blocked shots are way up. So we may be seeing a fatigued hockey player or worse one that has lost the foot speed. No points in his last 10 games, at 30 years old in todays NHL we may be seeing the transition to the shady side of the mountain.