2019-20 Kings News/Rumors

[verbalkint47]

I'll never understand some of the anger and vitriol Dean gets on here (other than Herby cuz of the Red comments haha). He brought us 2 cups. Many of us may never see another 1, let alone 2.
He deserved to be let go tho. Maybe in a perfect world he would he stepped down and moved upstairs, but it didn't happen. I wish him well and remember the joy those 2 cup wins brought me.

 

[verbalkint47]

On to Blake. I agree it's way too early to call him a failure. But it is fair to criticize decisions he has made.
IMO his mistake was sitting on his hands that 1st season. He was assistant GM for several seasons and watched that group of players underachieve and disappoint. He wasted that 1st year by doing nothing other than promoting Stevens.
He could have started moving assets that year to start a rebuild or at least made some shake up/change of scenery type trades to send a message to the stale roster that the previous few years weren't good enough.
I do like the moves he has made since. At least we have a good nucleus of talented prospects to give us hope for the future. I'd definitely give him a couple more seasons to continue the rebuild and then reassess.

 

[KINGS17]

@HeadInjury

You are judging Dean's moves from his first three years by the results 11 years removed while Blake gets credit for hitting on all of his picks.

Kings had a gorgeous pool back then as well. Top 5 pool after Dean's third and fourth drafts. The pool with Doughty, Voynov and Simmonds is most likely better than the current pool but we'll see: hopefully it isn't.

You absolutely can't credit Blake for trading Muzzin for two prospects and a pick and then say the O'Sullivan and Johnson trades were bad. Those two were higher ranked prospects than any of the Muzzin pieces.

You guys get caught up a bit in defending Blake like I'm saying fire him tomorrow, which I'm not doing. I merely asked for an explanation on how Blake's done a better job so far. If we are asked to give Blake time before harshly judging him then you need to take time before crowning him.

The O'Sullivan and Johnson trades were absolutely brilliant as they were used as the key elements in trades for Carter and Williams.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Lombardi had it right with Lucic- didn’t he offer a 3 year deal at 7 million? That would have been perfect because after Lucic’s 20 goal season here- he went to Edmonton and scored 23 goals and then it dropped to 10 to 6. Kings could have walked away after last years crappy year.

 

[HeadInjury]

@HeadInjury

You absolutely can't credit Blake for trading Muzzin for two prospects and a pick and then say the O'Sullivan and Johnson trades were bad. Those two were higher ranked prospects than any of the Muzzin pieces.

You guys get caught up a bit in defending Blake like I'm saying fire him tomorrow, which I'm not doing. I merely asked for an explanation on how Blake's done a better job so far. If we are asked to give Blake time before harshly judging him then you need to take time before crowning him.

I didn't say those trades were "bad", but I did not think they were successes in and of themselves. I'd say the Demitra trade was better than the Johnson one. Still, they wasted the 1st round pick acquired on Lewis and O'Sullivan never panned out. It was the right approach. Dean didn't trade for Johnson with the intention of flipping him later. Johnson was actually a major disappointment.

Dean later traded O'Sullivan and a 2nd rounder for an injured Williams. Dean later traded Johnson and a 1st for Carter. Those were good trades, but now we're delving many more years in Dean's reign than Blake has had thus far. I was comparing apples to apples.

I also haven't "crowned" Blake. That's a figment of your imagination. I've made by position on the jury being out on Blake very clear.

 

[KINGS17]

If the rumors are true, and Blake is on his way out as GM, it will be interesting to see how it affects his ability to make trades up until the deadline.

 

[ibleedkings]

If it's Hextall, he has that same old school thinking of sand paper and grit as DL. Looks like the offense will continue to be dead for the foreseeable future.

 

[The Tikkanen]

If the rumors are true, and Blake is on his way out as GM, it will be interesting to see how it affects his ability to make trades up until the deadline.

At this point with the complete lack of movement other than dispatching Kovalchuk who is now enjoying his Escape From LA I'd welcome back Hextall. Then you'd have to fire Emerson and Murray, then onto the childish broadcasts, fire 2 on air "personalities" and THEN you can start the re-build.

 

[KINGS17]

At this point with the complete lack of movement other than dispatching Kovalchuk who is now enjoying his Escape From LA I'd welcome back Hextall. Then you'd have to fire Emerson and Murray, then onto the childish broadcasts, fire 2 on air "personalities" and THEN you can start the re-build.

I am sure Blake has been trying to move Toffoli for some time, but there probably aren't many takers at the price Blake wants to get for him.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Blake was named GM on April 10, 2017. He probably signed for a 3 year contract. So if he’s in the last year of his deal and he isn’t getting the extension he wants, wouldn’t be the first time he quit on the job.

 

[kovacro]

By most accounts, Hextall did a pretty good job of building up the Flyers pipeline but was quite hesitant to pull the trigger on deals.

I’m sure @deeshamrock could provide a good overview of his time in Philly.

IF Blake is done after this season, I would just as prefer a new voice that did not have any ties to the Kings organization currently and/or previous (Hextall).

 

[BringTheReign]

If Blake's contract is up this year, would he really have been able to give McClellan 5 years? I understand that wasn't his decision alone, but I find it unlikely that #4 is in a spot where he won't be extended (if his deal is expiring).

 

[Steve Zissou]

Bernstein saying rumblings of Blake out as GM at end of year. Not getting fired but possibly stepping down or another position. I don’t subscribe to the athletic but said there was mention in a recent article. Hextall possibly taking over....

I have a subscription to the Athletic - didn't see any such article and I do keep up with them. Maybe an ultra small blurb that was buried somewhere.

Anyways, it's mainly Dennis yapping on his Twitter account about it.

 

[Johnny Utah]

It was the article about Hextall and Toffoli. Any mention in that article?

 

[Johnny Utah]

Correction it was Arthur Staple from the Athletic who writes for the Islanders.

 

[BigKing]

Blake didn't try to rebuild until 12 months ago. Maybe he doesn't have the stomach to oversee one and realizes it's going to be a slow burn.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Would Blake step back and only be Vice President? Would he become President and Luc moves into another position?

 

[DoktorJeep]

If Blake manages to get a promotion after the season, his career will exemplify failing upwards.

 

[KingsFan7824]

On to Blake. I agree it's way too early to call him a failure. But it is fair to criticize decisions he has made. IMO his mistake was sitting on his hands that 1st season. He was assistant GM for several seasons and watched that group of players underachieve and disappoint. He wasted that 1st year by doing nothing other than promoting Stevens. He could have started moving assets that year to start a rebuild or at least made some shake up/change of scenery type trades to send a message to the stale roster that the previous few years weren't good enough. I do like the moves he has made since. At least we have a good nucleus of talented prospects to give us hope for the future. I'd definitely give him a couple more seasons to continue the rebuild and then reassess.

Gaborik/Phaneuf was sort of shake up/scenery.

The problem in 17-18 was Kopitar and Doughty. Kuemper didn't help either. Brown bouncing back to be a productive player again also didn't help. Quick having a year where he wasn't either hurt or putting up poor numbers, again, didn't help. That Stevens coached the team to to a point where they remained in the race while Carter was out for 55 games, one more time, didn't help. Had things fallen apart that year, then maybe there are guys moved out quicker. Not that the contract issues didn't exist at the time. If they miss the playoffs though, and Kopitar isn't playing at a certain level, then there's no Kovalchuk. There's not a thought of Pacioretty. Even Doughty might've paid attention to his surroundings and realized the team sucks, and why would he want to re-sign here?

There aren't many GMs that are going to make rebuilding trades when a team isn't bad. On Jan 25, 2018, the Kings were a couple points from being a top 10 overall team(in terms of record), and had a +16 goal differential, which was better than Washington's at the time. And St.Louis. And SJ. Still 2nd in GA. They were being outshot on average every game, but that's because they were no longer playing Sutter hockey.

The O'Sullivan and Johnson trades were absolutely brilliant as they were used as the key elements in trades for Carter and Williams.

O'Sullivan and Johnson were clever moves in and of themselves. Williams and Carter weren't part of that though, that's years and years later, so you can't add that in there to make it seem like it was part of some grand plan. That Carter was even available from not only Philly, but Columbus too, was a stroke of good luck. That Williams managed to get hurt so often might've made him available. He wasn't all that much older than O'Sullivan, and if he's not getting hurt, do they even get rid of him? He was a 30g/70pt guy for Carolina when healthy.

You could say O'Sullivan and Johnson gave DL younger assets with which to work. However, and certainly in Johnson's case, being a recent #3 pick in the draft, he was acquired to be a focal point of the defense. As was Hickey when he was selected at #4. Had anyone told DL in Oct 2006 that Johnson would be traded before the team won the Cup, I imagine DL would laugh in the face of anyone saying that.

If we're going to use the Cups to create a web of previous transactions that all fit together in a retroactively beautiful tapestry, then we do we blame Willsie for scoring that one game winning goal? That goal was part of destiny. Could even say it was an absolutely brilliant goal. Sure, DL still probably drafts Doughty #1, but he already had Johnson and Hickey there, and only Kopitar down the middle. Kopitar and Stamkos isn't a bad 1-2 punch. You never have to get Carter, you never have to get Richards. Maybe they don't have to draft Schenn. Maybe it's OEL instead, who knows.

 

[KINGS17]

Gaborik/Phaneuf was sort of shake up/scenery.

The problem in 17-18 was Kopitar and Doughty. Kuemper didn't help either. Brown bouncing back to be a productive player again also didn't help. Quick having a year where he wasn't either hurt or putting up poor numbers, again, didn't help. That Stevens coached the team to to a point where they remained in the race while Carter was out for 55 games, one more time, didn't help. Had things fallen apart that year, then maybe there are guys moved out quicker. Not that the contract issues didn't exist at the time. If they miss the playoffs though, and Kopitar isn't playing at a certain level, then there's no Kovalchuk. There's not a thought of Pacioretty. Even Doughty might've paid attention to his surroundings and realized the team sucks, and why would he want to re-sign here?

There aren't many GMs that are going to make rebuilding trades when a team isn't bad. On Jan 25, 2018, the Kings were a couple points from being a top 10 overall team(in terms of record), and had a +16 goal differential, which was better than Washington's at the time. And St.Louis. And SJ. Still 2nd in GA. They were being outshot on average every game, but that's because they were no longer playing Sutter hockey.



O'Sullivan and Johnson were clever moves in and of themselves. Williams and Carter weren't part of that though, that's years and years later, so you can't add that in there to make it seem like it was part of some grand plan. That Carter was even available from not only Philly, but Columbus too, was a stroke of good luck. That Williams managed to get hurt so often might've made him available. He wasn't all that much older than O'Sullivan, and if he's not getting hurt, do they even get rid of him? He was a 30g/70pt guy for Carolina when healthy.

You could say O'Sullivan and Johnson gave DL younger assets with which to work. However, and certainly in Johnson's case, being a recent #3 pick in the draft, he was acquired to be a focal point of the defense. As was Hickey when he was selected at #4. Had anyone told DL in Oct 2006 that Johnson would be traded before the team won the Cup, I imagine DL would laugh in the face of anyone saying that.

If we're going to use the Cups to create a web of previous transactions that all fit together in a retroactively beautiful tapestry, then we do we blame Willsie for scoring that one game winning goal? That goal was part of destiny. Could even say it was an absolutely brilliant goal. Sure, DL still probably drafts Doughty #1, but he already had Johnson and Hickey there, and only Kopitar down the middle. Kopitar and Stamkos isn't a bad 1-2 punch. You never have to get Carter, you never have to get Richards. Maybe they don't have to draft Schenn. Maybe it's OEL instead, who knows.

If you don't have the assets, you can't make the trades. Give me a bread on the Willsie baloney. What does scoring a meaningless goal in the last game of the season have to do with a trade?

Maybe, maybe, maybe...Maybe you could give Lombardi some credit for the work he did in LA.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Breaking news: the Kings have acquired a sniper.

 

[Herby]

Hextall? Gross.

I’m fine with them letting Blake go, but if he does it’s time to completely turn the page on the Cup teams not bring back Ron Hextall.

The Kings risk turning into USC football, who destroyed their program by trying to chase glory by getting the band back together and hiring a bunch of terrible coaches strictly because they were around for the glory years.

The Kings country club is approaching Oilers level too. Would love to see someone from outside come in and finally blow this up like it should have been done a few years ago.

 

[KingsFan7824]

If you don't have the assets, you can't make the trades. Give me a bread on the Willsie baloney. What does scoring a meaningless goal in the last game of the season have to do with a trade?

If you're saying A led to B led to C, then Willsie scoring that goal led directly to getting Doughty, which allowed DL to ruthlessly trade Visnovsky to open up a roster spot for an NHL ready 18 year old and create a culture of expectations, which brought in Stoll and Greene, and then a few month later DL bought low on Williams, and then signed Scuderi about a year after drafting Doughty, and all of those things accelerated the rebuild, and then Smyth was brought in, but would one day want to go home and cry, and then thankfully Brule was too hurt to get traded, and DL had to settle for Fraser, who ended up as the perfect 4C.

Maybe, maybe, maybe...Maybe you could give Lombardi some credit for the work he did in LA.

Which I do. I'm still pro keeping Richards and getting Lucic. I'm just not going to go so far as to say the Johnson trade was great because it resulted in Carter. The two trades are not linked like that. If Gagne doesn't get hurt, and to a lesser extent if Penner could've scored a goal, I doubt Carter is ever here. They would've had no need to get him. Richards was supposed to be the final big move. They got lucky they had zero D injuries in the 2012 playoffs. Whereas in 2014, Regehr goes down, Mitchell misses an entire series, but they went 7 deep that year, and managed to survive with Schultz as the #8.

 

[Sol]

I'll never understand some of the anger and vitriol Dean gets on here (other than Herby cuz of the Red comments haha). He brought us 2 cups. Many of us may never see another 1, let alone 2.
He deserved to be let go tho. Maybe in a perfect world he would he stepped down and moved upstairs, but it didn't happen. I wish him well and remember the joy those 2 cup wins brought me.

The shit DL gets and got was after the Cups. He completely bombed the roster into a blazing fast free ball.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Hextall? Gross.

I’m fine with them letting Blake go, but if he does it’s time to completely turn the page on the Cup teams not bring back Ron Hextall.

The Kings risk turning into USC football, who destroyed their program by trying to chase glory by getting the band back together and hiring a bunch of terrible coaches strictly because they were around for the glory years.

The Kings country club is approaching Oilers level too. Would love to see someone from outside come in and finally blow this up like it should have been done a few years ago.

First thing that came to mind for me too.

I definitely see some pros with Hextall, but if it turns out that Blake hired himself to keep the seat warm for Hexy to come back after his Philly apprenticeship, it would be interesting but strange...but more importantly just a continuation of the same ol same ol. Same thing goes for Futa et. al., like em or not. If they're actually changing thing, they need to change things, not rotate the carousel.