2019-20 Kings News/Rumors

[KINGS17]

Bringing back the man who created this mess sounds like a swell idea.

It's not going to happen. It was said sort of tongue and cheek. It would just be poetic justice for Robitaille.

 

[KINGS17]

The same as the Lucic trade. Nothing.

The Lucic trade has had major ramifications for the Kings.

 

[The Tikkanen]

Bringing back the man who created this mess sounds like a swell idea.

Bruce McNall?

 

[Sol]

Or maybe there's more to it? Clearly there must be, though I'm sure we'll never find out which is annoying. Also I don't think scapegoat is really the right word. It's possible for Kovalchuck to be a problem without being the problem.

I'd see that if I didn't notice one thing that contradicts that theory, Kovalchuk by the Kings broadcast among other kings brass gets criticized much more than anyone considering the fact they all suck.

 

[crassbonanza]

signing Kovalchuk,

How does that affect restocking the pipeline? In fact that would appear to line up with his stated goals, Kovalchuk cost nothing in assets.

trading for Phaneuf,

Again, this move cost notihgn in assets and was simply a trade in cap space.

early erasing more than half of the Kings current top 10 prospects if Pacioretty agreed to an extension

We don't know anything about the proposed trade or even if there was one.

 

[crassbonanza]

I like you crass, but you don't get to say Dean traded Barzal or Connor while continuing to say that Blake wasn't going to trade nice assets for Patches.

Fair enough. I only brought them up because someone said losing out on the 13th overall pick(among other assets) had no long term ramifications on the team, I used Barzal/Connor for tangible examples. I get your point though.

 

[The Tikkanen]

Why would Kovalchuk practice with the Kings? Most of us have played for sports teams, imagine being told you're not good enough to play for us but you're still welcome to practice with us?

 

[Bandit]

I'd see that if I didn't notice one thing that contradicts that theory, Kovalchuk by the Kings broadcast among other kings brass gets criticized much more than anyone considering the fact they all suck.

They do, no question but Carter and Toffoli still could get traded. No one is taking Quick. Kopitar and Doughty aren’t getting benched, no chance. Kovalchuck is in a unique position in that he may leave on his own in December, rectifying one of BLuc’s dumber moves.

or maybe Kovalchuck has vodka in his water bottle and eats children in between periods in the locker room. Who knows.

 

[Bandit]

Why would Kovalchuk practice with the Kings? Most of us have played for sports teams, imagine being told you're not good enough to play for us but you're still welcome to practice with us?

They probably have to say that to keep the PA off their asses.

 

[BigKing]

That's most definitely what they want you to think now, but looking at signing Kovalchuk, trading for Phaneuf, and nearly erasing more than half of the Kings current top 10 prospects if Pacioretty agreed to an extension tells you that the party line has been revisionist at best, downright BS at worst.

Correct. They wanted to have their cake and eat it too. More of a retool than a rebuild: can be competitive and at the same time replenish the pipeline.

They correctly pivoted when basically forced to do so. Then Luc said some trash about how they always knew they would have to do something by the end of this season but the end of the ride accelerated last season. That part is definitely revisionist at best, BS at worst.

 

[lumbergh]

While Kovy hasn't been good, this is some seriously weird scapegoating.

In my book, it's called addition by subtraction.

Of all forwards that have played over 1000 minutes at 5 vs 5 in the last two seasons, Kovalchuk has the second worst goals for % at 5 vs 5. That's 31 goals for, 56 goals against for a -25. That's the worst goal differential in the same group of forwards. We're talking 232 forwards. We're basically talking about arguably the worst regular forward over the past 100 games.

It's not just that Kovalchuk can't play defense. He's a turnover machine in all three zones. For a offensive-minded player, he didn't produce nearly enough to justify his obvious deficiencies when he didn't have the puck.

I would have been okay with him only playing on the power play, but McLellan and Blake are done with this whole experiment. I understand the decision to permanently bench him. No amount of fitness training can make Kovalchuk a good player on this team.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

This was obviously not a good signing, but I’m not going to fault Blake for taking the chance on a free, potentially game-changing asset. I know many people here claim to be clairvoyant, but the Kings had just come off an injury-riddled playoff series loss. It wasn’t absurd to think that a rejuvenated Kovalchuk and some health-related luck could fuel one last playoff run before Kopitar and crew got too old.

Obviously it was wrong. Kovalchuk didn’t fit at all. It all turned out horribly. But this notion that it was absolutely obvious and there was no way any good could have come from the signing is just unfair.

With that said, everything since the Muzzin trade has been positive. I’d like to give Blake through this year’s draft before deciding that the management team is incapable of progress. Guys like Toffoli, Carter, and Martinez can still fetch pieces on the open market. Ditching Kovalchuk is a huge positive for LA. I’d like to see what else happens this year before passing judgement.

Pretty much this. I know quite a few posters can say they disagreed with the move based on their assessment of the team, and that's totally 100% fair, but to pretend you can't understand the reasoning/thought process behind the acquisition at all is just grandstanding.

You can get a free guy who was still on pace for the expected 25 goals 50 points and use him as a PP weapon, bolstering the weakness (scoring/offense/PP) of the best defensive team in the league? Why not? Especially when he's surrounded by overly cautious two-way forwards? We didn't have a risky player like him and that was a nice thought.

In retrospect it's 'bad' but it still didn't hurt us in any way. No assets out. No kids blocked. And one of the things Blake has been better than any GM I remember at is at least owning his mistakes by not participating in sunk cost fallacy. He'll make a move, and then if it doesn't work out, adjust. Obviously it's not good to be making mistakes, but to move guys like Cammalleri and Jokinen and Pearson and Hagelin quickly like the Pawns/Knights they are rather than treating them like Rooks/Queens (no pun intended) is a refreshing change from the loyalty.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

Good riddance to the dumbest Kings' free agent signing in decades.

did you indirectly call Blake dumb? you do know this is blasphemy

 

[The Tikkanen]

In my book, it's called addition by subtraction.

Of all forwards that have played over 1000 minutes at 5 vs 5 in the last two seasons, Kovalchuk has the second worst goals for % at 5 vs 5. That's 31 goals for, 56 goals against for a -25. That's the worst goal differential in the same group of forwards. We're talking 232 forwards. We're basically talking about arguably the worst regular forward over the past 100 games.

It's not just that Kovalchuk can't play defense. He's a turnover machine in all three zones. For a offensive-minded player, he didn't produce nearly enough to justify his obvious deficiencies when he didn't have the puck.

I would have been okay with him only playing on the power play, but McLellan and Blake are done with this whole experiment. I understand the decision to permanently bench him. No amount of fitness training can make Kovalchuk a good player on this team.

So the Kings win tonight without Kovalchuk? Calling my bookie now, betting large.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

Blake / Robitaille era reminds me of Mactavish / Lowe except that Blake Robitaille have this amazing talent of not trading picks

scenario 1:

Luc "i have an idea! let's trade a pick"
Blake "no, let's... let's not..."

scenario 2:

Blake "yeah but what if we traded a pick for it?"
Luc "no no, let's hold on to our picks"

a visual demonstration of our management:

 

[lumbergh]

So the Kings win tonight without Kovalchuk? Calling my bookie now, betting large.

Plus Trevor Lewis is out, so double your bet!

 

[Herby]

I’m late to the discussion...

But Futa as GM?
Dean returning as President?

Come on guys, if they make a management change in the next year or two it better damn well be someone from outside the organization with no biases towards anyone on the roster. If they stay in-house they risk becoming what the Oilers used to be.

As far as Dean and Blake. You don’t have to place all the blame on one or the other. Dean was the worst GM in the league from 14-17 and left Blake with very little, but that doesn’t mean Blake himself has not been terrible also.

 

[bland]

How does that affect restocking the pipeline? In fact that would appear to line up with his stated goals, Kovalchuk cost nothing in assets.



Again, this move cost notihgn in assets and was simply a trade in cap space.



We don't know anything about the proposed trade or even if there was one.

Yes, we do know.

And secondly, the Kings had no assets to move. Blake had zero players in the 19-20 range and had to dip heavily into the collegiate free agent market to flesh out an Ontario roster and hope a few could do even better.

But none of that matters to this subject, the Kings clearly believed that they were contenders and instead of pursuing methods of ridding themselves of retirement contracts Blake actually added to it BEFORE reversing course.

 

[crassbonanza]

Yes, we do know.

And secondly, the Kings had no assets to move. Blake had zero players in the 19-20 range and had to dip heavily into the collegiate free agent market to flesh out an Ontario roster and hope a few could do even better.

But none of that matters to this subject, the Kings clearly believed that they were contenders and instead of pursuing methods of ridding themselves of retirement contracts Blake actually added to it BEFORE reversing course.

Alright, I'll bite. Show me what the Kings proposed trade was. Show me any credible source detailing it.

For your second part, how is that a bad thing? Blake inherited an empty cupboard and was able to fill it in an extremely impressive amount of time. I don't know why you think signing college free agents is considered a failure by Blake.

The Kings were clearly going to give the core an opportunity to continue to compete while the team continued its restocking of the pipeline. The idea was a mini retool, which is why they didn't trade assets at the deadline and why the Kovalchuk signing made sense.

He didn't reverse course, he shifted to a rebuild once the wheels fell off. You also didn't explain how the Kovalchuk signing/Dion trade were examples of Blake not having a clear goal of restocking the pipeline.

 

[crassbonanza]

Blake / Robitaille era reminds me of Mactavish / Lowe except that Blake Robitaille have this amazing talent of not trading picks

scenario 1:

Luc "i have an idea! let's trade a pick"
Blake "no, let's... let's not..."

scenario 2:

Blake "yeah but what if we traded a pick for it?"
Luc "no no, let's hold on to our picks"

a visual demonstration of our management:

I'm confused, are you saying that not trading picks is a bad thing? Do you not believe that the prospect pool has significantly improved?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Also just a random point but I see people banging on Blake for just sitting back and taking draft picks--I mean, he traded Muzzin for ONE pick and other good assets. He's signed good college UFAs. He's trying to make chicken soup out of chicken shit and it's not like he's the Oilers just taking 1st overall no-brainers, his picks have been thoughtful and very strong. (or if you're going to say that's on the scouting department at least he knows to keep his hands out of the cookie jar.)

The way it is now, people nail Blake twice, and it's kind of crap--laying into him for making a mistake, then laying into him again for correcting it. I'm not giving him an A or anything yet, but at least keep the double jeopardy out of it.

The "these guys should have been traded ages ago" crowd can't really execute Blake for not unloading a bunch of them at once.

 

[tny760]

but that doesn’t mean Blake himself has not been terrible also.

i don't think"terrible" is quite fair

he's certainly swung and missed a few times but if things pan out, this last draft combined with some of the college players we've picked up have the potential to put him in the S tier real quick

 

[The Tikkanen]

So far we have Sutter, Stevens, Desjardins, Kovalchuk, Kempe and maybe Lombardi as scape goats. If the Kings keep losing and they should who will be next up?

 

[ru4reals]

Wow just read that Kovy will no longer play the rest of the season but can practice? Damn I know he sucks but sorta feel bad for the fella. I thought we were trying to tank. So does that mean a few more wins.

 

[Johnny Utah]

This is similar to 2006-2007 and those years following except instead of Thornton, Calder, Nagy, Handzus we have a few more high profile guys with bigger contracts.

Hopefully in the next 1-2 seasons Kings will be competitive again. This is really the first year a lot of the Kings stud prospects turned pro.

We haven’t seen this amount of young talent in the organization in years. Maybe back during the lockout season in 2004-2005 when we had Brown, Cammy, Gleason, etc in Manchester. Then a few years after that the kings drafted Doughty, Simmonds, Schenn, Clifford etc etc.

The Kings 2008-09 team had a lot of guys in there early 20s and was really the first year Lombardi turned the team over the youth and had already dealt or moved on from all those guys he signed in 2006.