Rumor: 2018-19 Kings News/Rumors/Tidbits

[KingsOfCali25]

I actually think it would be more likely to see Martinez go if someone like Vilardi or Kempe break out. I don't think any forward that Martinez could bring by himself in a trade would be worth the loss of defensive depth, he doesn't have that much value. I think most teams wanting him solo would be looking to trade futures for him, being contenders looking for depth.

If a young forward steps up, Martinez and Toffoli could be packaged for a defensive upgrade. I'd rather see if something like that would get Carolina to bite with Faulk, then bring Voynov back when available. Voynov, Faulk, and Doughty down the right side would be formidable.

Blake already said that LaDue will be getting more ice time on that right side because they didn't use him properly last year.

If they Kings trade Martinez it will be for picks/prospects. If they trade Muzzin (highly unlikely) it would be a 1 for 1 deal for a young forward. But 2 things would have to happen for Muzzin to get traded...

1. Voynov comes back and plays with the Kings. (Voynov replaces Martinez)
2. LaDue and Brickley earns a spot on the roster. (Brickley replaces Muzzin)

I can't see the Kings moving any of their Top6 forwards for a Dman. Only way Toffoli/Pearson would get moved is for an upgrade in the Top6 (i.e. Panarin). The Kings need more offense not less.

The teams lineup coming out of camp should be (+/- surprises)...

Kovy--Kopitar--Brown
Iafallo--Carter--Vilardi
Pearson--Kempe--Toffoli
Clifford--Amadio--Lewis
Thompson, Brodzinski

Forbort--Doughty
Phanuef--Martinez
Muzzin--Ladue
Brickley

Quick
Campbell

 

[Johnny Utah]

MacD and Fattenberg are waiver eligible. Brickley is not. Kings also carried two extra D at points last season.

 

[KingsHockey24]

I wouldn't get your hopes up too much on Brickley, the guy has played 1 NHL game; he might very well be shit.

 

[YP44]

I wouldn't get your hopes up too much on Brickley, the guy has played 1 NHL game; he might very well be ****.

My hope is he goes to the AHL and develops into a solid puck moving defenseman. Solid meaning someone who can eventually play 15 min/game in the NHL

 

[Sleeping Dog]

I wouldn't get your hopes up too much on Brickley, the guy has played 1 NHL game; he might very well be ****.

I agree. I am hopeful that he will be an NHL player, but one game isn’t enough to convince me. If he doesn’t crack the top 6 D, then he should be in Ontario. Being a healthy scratch would be a waste for his development.

 

[Reaper45]

To me it makes more sense to have MacD as the number 7 and Brickley getting top 4 minutes in Ontario. Injuries will happen, he'll get a few games.

 

[YP44]

To me it makes more sense to have MacD as the number 7 and Brickley getting top 4 minutes in Ontario. Injuries will happen, he'll get a few games.

Agree completely. Let Brickley get used to the system in the AHL and then when injuries arise bring him up

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yeah little early on Brickley. He could simply be Drewiskie. But he did flash the tools. Then again, so did Paul LaDue, and jury is still out there too.

One of the most basic clauses in a real estate contract - "Respond by X date/time or this agreement becomes null and void at the buyer's sole discretion."

Another rule - the first offer is usually the best; create dialog, negotiate, and close a deal. Bergevin should take note of that before he botches this. Greed (which is his main motive to cover his ass after his disastrous management, he really wants a grand slam) always usually leaves you empty handed.

Weber + Price @ $18,400,000 combined for a combined 16 more years. Taking up nearly 25% of the cap, average age 31 years old. Weber out 5-6 months, Price's performance falling off a cliff - insulate yourself from depreciating assets, don't overleverage yourself, don't be afraid to walk away from a deal (that Price deal was a disaster before the ink dried).

Montrealoooooooooooooool.

That was my frame of reference too and I think of many negotiations where I had a time-sensitive offer out and said essentially whoever gets back to me first gets my business. Usually someone stays composed for dialogue while the other one shits themselves and takes themselves out of the running. Pretty clear which one is Bergevin/Patches.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Yeah little early on Brickley. He could simply be Drewiskie. But he did flash the tools. Then again, so did Paul LaDue, and jury is still out there too.




That was my frame of reference too and I think of many negotiations where I had a time-sensitive offer out and said essentially whoever gets back to me first gets my business. Usually someone stays composed for dialogue while the other one ****s themselves and takes themselves out of the running. Pretty clear which one is Bergevin/Patches.

I get more Keaton Ellerby vibes from Brickley rather than Drewiske.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I get more Keaton Ellerby vibes from Brickley rather than Drewiske.

Probably. Just thinking of a guy who was a tweener who made it work for a while. I do think Brickley is a much better skater for sure.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I get more Keaton Ellerby vibes from Brickley rather than Drewiske.

How do you get those vibes after one game in which he appeared in slightly over 10 minutes of ice time and registered an assist?

 

[Fishhead]

Blake already said that LaDue will be getting more ice time on that right side because they didn't use him properly last year.

If they Kings trade Martinez it will be for picks/prospects. If they trade Muzzin (highly unlikely) it would be a 1 for 1 deal for a young forward. But 2 things would have to happen for Muzzin to get traded...

1. Voynov comes back and plays with the Kings. (Voynov replaces Martinez)
2. LaDue and Brickley earns a spot on the roster. (Brickley replaces Muzzin)

I can't see the Kings moving any of their Top6 forwards for a Dman. Only way Toffoli/Pearson would get moved is for an upgrade in the Top6 (i.e. Panarin). The Kings need more offense not less.

The teams lineup coming out of camp should be (+/- surprises)...

Kovy--Kopitar--Brown
Iafallo--Carter--Vilardi
Pearson--Kempe--Toffoli
Clifford--Amadio--Lewis
Thompson, Brodzinski

Forbort--Doughty
Phanuef--Martinez
Muzzin--Ladue
Brickley

Quick
Campbell

I would be surprised if Martinez was moved for picks/prospects, that would be contrary to trying to win now and would go against everything the Kings have stated lately. It's why I think the only way he is traded is for a upgrade somewhere else. The Kings could do that Martinez/Toffoli package for a scoring upgrade too, but that would require both LaDue playing well and one of Brickley, Fant, or MacD showing they can handle regular shifts against solid competition. I think that's a reach even from an optimistic view. It's far more likely that someone like Kempe, Iafallo, or Vilardi breaks out than one of LaDue, Fant, MacD, or Brickley, making some offense expendable.

Realistically, I don't think either of those will happen and Martinez will finish his contract here.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Kings are currently the 3rd oldest team and have the 2nd highest payroll. Ouch. Would like to be in the middle in at least age.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Kings are currently the 3rd oldest team and have the 2nd highest payroll. Ouch. Would like to be in the middle in at least age.

Who are the two oldest?

 

[Johnny Utah]

Detroit and Ottawa. That was of January 2018.

 

[AlphaBravo]

Kings are currently the 3rd oldest team and have the 2nd highest payroll. Ouch. Would like to be in the middle in at least age.

I wouldn't read much into those "oldest team" rankings. I think overall we have a good balance of vets and young players in our lineup. Our 1st line is all older players, but after that, we have a bunch of younger players, Toffoli, Pearson, Vilardi, Kempe, Iafallo, Amadio, Brodzinkski. Also, we could easily get younger in an instant if we decided to trade Kopitar, Carter, Quick, Muzzin or Martinez, all of whom are not cap dumps and hold high value.

This team is built to try to be a contender, but if nothing happens, we are also in a position to get younger real fast.

 

[CowMix]

What about something like Muzzin + Toffoli + Voynov for Panarin + Nutivaara

We add scoring and a RD, Columbus gets 3 solid players for a guy who might not resign and upgrade their defense while still getting back some scoring, maybe they'd also want a center prospect (not Vilardi)? Columbus gives us permission to talk to Panarin's agent before finalizing the trade, we let them talk to Voynov's.

 

[Butch 19]

Kings are currently the 3rd oldest team and have the 2nd highest payroll. Ouch. Would like to be in the middle in at least age.

Ouch indeed! The Kings had to pay for their Cups after they won them.

= $$$

 

[Kingspiracy]

Detroit and Ottawa. That was of January 2018.

f*** poor ol ottawa has got everything going for it these days. Cheap owner, nut job wives, leaving superstar and geriatric team. I might make them my second team.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Caps and Knights were also among the oldest teams in the league with an average age of 28, same as the Kings.

 

[Reclamation Project]

The age thing doesn't bother me if you continue to draft and develop well (which hasn't happened consistently over the last 6 years). If the Kings had a loaded pipeline would it matter? If the Kings continue to do what they've done under Blake (and they will), it will continue to go down.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Age and payroll are, of course, correlated for many reasons, not the least of which is UFA vs. RFA contracts.

Age vs. results, however, are not as correlated as many want to make it seem.

 

[kingsholygrail]

What you really have to look at is the spread. You'll see the gap between oldest and youngest is actually pretty small.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

A fun look back at NHL player salaries 18 years ago and where the team's payroll stood at the time.

Fiscal Play Is Key for Kings

"I did have a chance to speak with [Lindros], but that was before the qualifying offer," Taylor said. "I talked to him and he appreciated our interest. . . . Along with the injury and what you would have to give up to get him in trade, [the $8.5 million salary] is a factor that has to be considered by any team."

The Kings are not interested in Lindros or anybody else at $8.5 million, or anything close to it, something to think about when Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille can become unrestricted free agents next summer.

The Kings' summer has been spent signing free-agent defenseman Mathieu Schneider to a one-year, $2-million contract and winger Stu Grimson to a one-year, $500,000 deal.

They also have signed European defensemen Andreas Lilja and Lubomir Visnovsky, who were drafted in June, and Tomas Vlasak, a Czech winger who had been playing in Europe, though he was drafted by the Kings in 1993.

Instead of going after free agents Gary Roberts and Mark Messier, the Kings are trying to grow their own talent and watch the purse in the process. From a $27-million player payroll two years ago, they added Ziggy Palffy's $5 million and Bryan Smolinski's $1.7 million and went to about $34 million last season. They will be at $36-36.5 million in 2000-2001.

That will be close to the top 10 in the NHL, whose teams are also slowing salary escalation.

"We've only signed two free agents, but we've signed a couple of our own players, and we spent some money signing two college free agents at the end of last season, [Steve] Reinprecht and [Michael] Pudlick . . . and we signed both of the European defensemen we drafted this year," says Taylor. "So there could be four or five new faces, even if we don't do anything [in a trade] before the season."

Oh and there's this bit of info to complete the story:

The line of Robitaille, Jozef Stumpel and Palffy, which accounted for 198 points, is no more. Robitaille moves to a line with Bryan Smolinski and Glen Murray, and rookie Vlasak, a Czech, joins Stumpel and Palffy, two Slovakians.

Or rather, he will once Stumpel is signed. The Kings' center is the lone holdout going into training camp, and there seems to be little movement in their positions.

I'm sure everyone here fondly remembers Tomas Vlasak and his one career goal in 10 games.

 

[redcard]

Its not how old you are that matters, its how old you smell.