2019-20 Kings News/Rumors

[KINGS17]

We've had this talk awhile ago as well, Robitaille is the cancer that's killing this team.. I thnk he undermines Rob and Co with his cheerleadering antics and from having the unfortunate chance to talk to him... He makes Gomer Pyle look like a genius

Yeah, I love Luc as a happy go lucky player, but not so much as an executive. His role should be limited to being an ambassador for the franchise.

 

[HeadInjury]

We've had this talk awhile ago as well, Robitaille is the cancer that's killing this team.. I thnk he undermines Rob and Co with his cheerleadering antics and from having the unfortunate chance to talk to him... He makes Gomer Pyle look like a genius

You could say the same thing about Jeannie Buss a year ago. Then the team got the right players and suddenly she's a great owner.

As far as I know, Luc isn't making personnel decisions.

I boo'd Blake for years, but I see a clear path we are on and am cutting him some slack for now. In two years we will know whether he's a decent GM or not. That's assuming the rumors aren't true and he'll still be around.

Frankly, he's doing a better job than DL did his first couple of seasons.

 

[kings11]

You could say the same thing about Jeannie Buss a year ago. Then the team got the right players and suddenly she's a great owner.

As far as I know, Luc isn't making personnel decisions.

I boo'd Blake for years, but I see a clear path we are on and am cutting him some slack for now. In two years we will know whether he's a decent GM or not. That's assuming the rumors aren't true and he'll still be around.

Frankly, he's doing a better job than DL did his first couple of seasons.

Jeannie let guys like that knew basketball take over and guess what... they've improved.
Luc was the guy behind the scenes that convinced ownership that this team could still compete which put the screws on Blake and Co..
It would not surprise me one bit if Luc's role is minimized with Blake moving up and Ron taking over.. maybe even Futa..

 

[crassbonanza]

Yeah, I love Luc as a happy go lucky player, but not so much as an executive. His role should be limited to being an ambassador for the franchise.

If he is behind most of the unfortunate off ice decisions recently from the boring jerseys to ditching AM to changing the giveaways to the horrible broadcast, I'd be OK with him stepping into an ambassador role. It's been a bigger mess off ice and I don't see any improvements.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

The people who cry about Lombardi not rebuilding soon enough are the same people who are perfectly happy with Doughty and Kopitar being signed into their mid-30s.

I swear, some of you yahoos will still be blaming Lombardi for the Kings failures in 2045.

 

[Statto]

Jeannie let guys like that knew basketball take over and guess what... they've improved.
Luc was the guy behind the scenes that convinced ownership that this team could still compete which put the screws on Blake and Co..
It would not surprise me one bit if Luc's role is minimized with Blake moving up and Ron taking over.. maybe even Futa..

That’s something I could live with... I think. Losing Luc is a ‘meh’ thing for me but I do think Blake is on the right path. I’ve tended to think the same as you, in that Blake was hand cuffed into trying to compete when he took over. However, I don’t have a view if that was Luc or someone else above as my only source of info on that is these boards.

Changing GM, even if Blake moved up, would be a risk so it would make me slightly uneasy. Anyone new would bring their own ideas and could potentially screw the pooch, equally they could do something genius. Might be interesting but I suspect it is just gossip.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The people who cry about Lombardi not rebuilding soon enough are the same people who are perfectly happy with Doughty and Kopitar being signed into their mid-30s.

I swear, some of you yahoos will still be blaming Lombardi for the Kings failures in 2045.

Which GM signed those contracts anyhow?

 

[crassbonanza]

The people who cry about Lombardi not rebuilding soon enough are the same people who are perfectly happy with Doughty and Kopitar being signed into their mid-30s.

I swear, some of you yahoos will still be blaming Lombardi for the Kings failures in 2045.

I don't know if you are talking about me, but I didn't want Deano to rebuild. I just wanted him to stop emptying the prospect cupboard by massively overpaying for rentals. His actions are directly responsible for the mess we are in right now, you really can't deny that.

 

[KINGS17]

Which GM signed those contracts anyhow?

Lombardi did Kopitar, and Blake did Doughty.

So? Should the Kings hang onto Doughty until the end of his deal? I don't think they are going to contend for at least 3-5 more years.

 

[go4hockey]

How is Robitaille going to find time for it when he has to design uniforms?

Have you looked at the recent jerseys. The design time can’t be that much. I was thinking a 5th grader did that work in about 12 minutes.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Which GM signed those contracts anyhow?

That's my point. You can't criticize Lombardi for "going all in" on more championship runs and in the same breath defend the Kopitar and Doughty extensions.

Blake signed Doughty's extension, for the record.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Lombardi did Kopitar, and Blake did Doughty.

So? Should the Kings hang onto Doughty until the end of his deal? I don't think they are going to contend for at least 3-5 more years.

I’m not opposed to moving Doughty if it makes sense. There’s also that Quick contract Deano signed that won’t be easy to move.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I don't know if you are talking about me, but I didn't want Deano to rebuild. I just wanted him to stop emptying the prospect cupboard by massively overpaying for rentals. His actions are directly responsible for the mess we are in right now, you really can't deny that.

So when is it appropriate to start holding the current regime responsible? Give me a year and your reasoning.

 

[KopitarFAN]

So when is it appropriate to start holding the current regime responsible? Give me a year and your reasoning.

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I would think when most of the roster is guys signed/drafted/acquired by the Blake regime, and most (if not all) of the Lombardi contracts are off the books, not including potential buyouts as those will be Blake decisions.

 

[Rusty Batch]

Depends on what you mean by turn around. It will be 3-4 years at a minimum before the Kings contend again.

Depends how good the prospects are

 

[BigKing]

You could say the same thing about Jeannie Buss a year ago. Then the team got the right players and suddenly she's a great owner.

As far as I know, Luc isn't making personnel decisions.

I boo'd Blake for years, but I see a clear path we are on and am cutting him some slack for now. In two years we will know whether he's a decent GM or not. That's assuming the rumors aren't true and he'll still be around.

Frankly, he's doing a better job than DL did his first couple of seasons.

Please explain the bolded.

 

[crassbonanza]

So when is it appropriate to start holding the current regime responsible? Give me a year and your reasoning.

I think it takes a good 4 years before a team starts to take on the identity of a new GM. My reasoning is for the most part based on two key factors. The first factor is that hopefully by that time most contracts signed by the previous GM should be coming off the books. Now in Blake's case that won't be completely true, Kopitar, Carter, Brown and Quick will still be on the books at that time, but in most situations that won't be the case. The second factor is that we will begin to see the prospects from the first draft class of the new GM make the NHL. There actually was a recent discussion about how soon prospects should be making the NHL, I was more aggressive in my opinion, thinking they should be up in 2 or 3 seasons, but others thought 4-5 was more appropriate. Either way, you are not going to begin to see prospects making impacts until about 3-4 years in(excepting generational talents). After 4 years, the players on the ice and in the organization will start to fully represent the GM.

Dean took over in 2006 and the Kings were in the playoffs in 2010, people didn't blame him for those early seasons(although people did blame him for that f***ing Cloutier disaster). One key leg up that Lombardi had over Blake is that Taylor left the Kings with Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick. In your opinion, when Blake took over, who were the 3 best young players left by Lombardi?

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I would think when most of the roster is guys signed/drafted/acquired by the Blake regime, and most (if not all) of the Lombardi contracts are off the books, not including potential buyouts as those will be Blake decisions.

Lombardi did not draft Kopitar, Brown, or Quick. Under this rubric, he doesn't deserve credit for the 2012 and 2014 Cups.

 

[crassbonanza]

Please explain the bolded.

Jonathan Bernier, Thomas Hickey, Colten Teubert, Dan Cloutier all happened within the first couple of seasons.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Imagine if the Kings fired Lombardi two years after they hired him. If you look at his first two seasons here, it was pretty disastrous.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Every GM spends time changing the curtains from the previous GM's tenure. Wasn't DL's initial problem was he was told to "make do" and it took further failure to convince ownership to commit to a rebuild?

 

[Fishhead]

I’m not opposed to moving Doughty if it makes sense. There’s also that Quick contract Deano signed that won’t be easy to move.

I don't fault him that much for the Quick contract (or Brown's, for that matter) because those two were going to expire when the window was supposed to end. Things like Richards, and especially Voynov, slammed that window shut early, but the plan was there. The team was winning and things looked good for the immediate future. Had things out of team control not blown up, there would have been further success and the timing would have been perfect for those to run out. Trading Brown or Quick at the time didn't make sense at all.

I also get the Kopitar and Doughty contracts, because it's not just about winning but also about business. The difference is at the time they were signed, there wasn't a clear plan other than to cross fingers and hope for the best. It was obvious the team was starting to pay the piper for their success. They are all-time Kings, but I feel more like they were signed to deals just to give some semblance of maintaining respectability and profitability rather than with an endgame in mind. It would be a tough call to trade either, but at least it makes sense with a long term goal of winning.

 

[KopitarFAN]

Lombardi did not draft Kopitar, Brown, or Quick. Under this rubric, he doesn't deserve credit for the 2012 and 2014 Cups.

But he did sign them all to the albatross contracts after either or both of those wins (varies on a case by case basis) which is mostly what is worth discussing at this point.

Imagine if the Kings fired Lombardi two years after they hired him. If you look at his first two seasons here, it was pretty disastrous.

And he got to inherit pretty clean books, hardly the case for Blake.

 

[crassbonanza]

And he got to inherit pretty clean books, hardly the case for Blake.

Not just clean books, but a pretty great prospect pool in comparison. Who were the top prospects when Blake took over?

 

[Butch 19]

Jonathan Bernier, Thomas Hickey, Colten Teubert, Dan Cloutier all happened within the first couple of seasons.

drink!!