Speculation: 2019-20 News/Rumors,Roster thread Post Deadline

[Docgonzo]

@Raccoon Jesus

Agree about the 2018 draft. While doing all of this looking back at draft picks, that one doesn't have anyone that jumps out and screams "pencil me in".

It's still too early though.

Agree on this, even the best seem to scream bottom 6. And that seems to be a stretch.

 

[Fishhead]

Yeah it's early, but 2018 looks... Yeesh.

I mean who is outstanding? Quinn Hughes had a good year. Dahlin looks solid. Svechnikov is good. The less annoying Tkachuk is pulling his weight. I don't see any award winners there yet, though. Maybe a later first rounder blows up when they get a shot.

I kind of see 2019 the same way, but that needs more time to play out with the stoppage and all. I do think it will be better than 2018.

I'm hoping this draft is more like 2017, that one was a cut above the last 2. There's an outside chance it ends up as good as 2016. Would be nice as we have a lot of picks.

 

[Fishhead]

Ask yourself what was the worst pick made in DL's first three drafts. It's hard to say because their were so many. Other than Doughty, all first rounders were busts. (Yes, Bernier is a bust as the 11th overall and Lewis is a bust as the 17th overall.)

Then tell me one bad draft pick by Blake in any of his first three drafts. Just one. What are you going to say, Kupari? Shafigullin?

I know that you will probably say it's too soon to judge Blake's picks. Fair enough, but a lot of people here were shaking their heads when the likes of Lewis, Hickey, Joey Ryan, Oscar Moller and Colton Teubert were drafted so high.

I don't know if Lewis is a bust, he was pretty valuable at what he did. Let's not confuse Lewis now with when he was effective. Look at #17's taken around that time period - Marek Schwartz, Martin Hanzal, Cherepanov (RIP), Jake Gardiner, David Rundblad, Joey Hishon. Who's a better pick? Maybe Hanzal? To me they are a wash as they are good at different things. And look at the rest of that draft. Out of everyone taken after Lewis, how many are head and shoulders above him?

Chris Stewart? Better, but not much
Giroux obviously
Varlamov yes
Berglund? yeah
Foligno for sure

2nd round on

Petry yes
Lucic yes
Anisimov yes
Marchand obviously
Perreault probably

So 196 players after him, maybe 4 who stick out in the first round and 5 after that, which a lot of other teams passed on as well. I don't think Lewis is so much a bust as that draft wasn't very good. Even between Bernier and Lewis the only player worth a crap was Little. Tlusty and Grabner? Meh. I take Lewis and Bernier's contribution over both those guys. 1/3rd of the players in that first round couldn't even stick in the NHL.

 

[crassbonanza]

I'm not a huge Kupari fan, Akil Thomas is a great human being and player I'd like to root for but there's a chance he just does nothing well and doesn't quite hack it (think Roland McKeown but forward), Bulat is a huge home run swing loaded with potential but never fulfills it OR comes over, Aidan Dudas isn't any better than any other 4th liner, Hrenak does nothing of note, Sodergran never takes a step, Ingham stagnates.

Personally I think Kupari makes it as a middle six winger, Thomas is a trevor lewis clone, and Ingham has a future, but that's really it. I'm rooting for Dudas too, but I don't think he sticks long-term. The others are longshot darkhorses. And again, the above is all just me being really, really pessimistic. But I think it's fair. But I don't think any of them are 'bad picks' either.

What I find interesting is that your pessimistic take would actually be a decently successful draft. To find a middle 6 winger and a contributing bottom 6 forward at 20 and 51 would be pretty good. I also don't know why you are so down on the rest of the draft, when most of them have seemed to have progressed pretty well. Actually, had Bulat and Kupari not been injured the Kings very likely could have had 6 of their 7 2018 draft picks attend the WJC. Which would have been extremely impressive.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

What I find interesting is that your pessimistic take would actually be a decently successful draft. To find a middle 6 winger and a contributing bottom 6 forward at 20 and 51 would be pretty good. I also don't know why you are so down on the rest of the draft, when most of them have seemed to have progressed pretty well. Actually, had Bulat and Kupari not been injured the Kings very likely could have had 6 of their 7 2018 draft picks attend the WJC. Which would have been extremely impressive.

Right, and to be clear I don't actually hold those views--but that would be the difference between a successful/decent draft and an outstanding draft. But as @Fishhead points out as well, 2018 is looking pretty 'meh' overall so far anyway, so it may actually still be a great draft relative to position and to others. I mean, there's not much around Kupari, for example, that I'm thinking yeah that would have been a better pick.

2017 is looking very good, 2019 is looking monstrous...and 2020 stands to be the best of them all.

 

[volcom92886]

Any potential to the Kings taking on a salary dump just for next season if a high pick or good prospect is attached to it?

 

[funky]

I love Dean Lombardi, I will sacrifice a stretch of crappy seasons for those cups. He wasn’t perfect but who is. I don’t care about his first couple years as sometimes you have to clean the foundation off before you build the house.

Dean unfortunately had a few non hockey issues affect his final years that lead him to scramble to replace and try and move forward. Those cup team should have been a contender for 5 years

1. Voynov - we lose our up and coming 2nd pairing right shot defenseman to a non hockey issue. It wasn’t a concussion, blown knee, bad back. It was an up and coming guy that slotted perfectly behind Drew that was gone overnight. If this never happened the Sekera trade doesn’t happen.

2. Richards fall from grace. We lost our second line center to hockey injuries that allegedly led to non hockey related prescription medicine abuse. We watched our tough as nails, gritty, second line warrior fade before our eyes 5 years ahead of when he should have started slowing down. In this league you cannot go out and acquire guys like prime Richards very easy. DL gave up a ton to get him which put a massive hole in our prospect base and should have got double the length out of that acquisition. Do we go after Lucic if Richards is running on all cylinders?

Stoll - I was a huge critic of him on the PP but man we were spoiled running Kopitar, Carter/ Richards, Stoll down the middle.

3 losses from pretty key positions be it talent, grit or leadership that were not hockey related losses. Some of the losses counted against the cap effecting DL’ s ability. All caused him to acquire players to replace the losses while having to trade from a position of weakness.

these players were lost not when we were playoff contender but cup contenders. Dean was loyal to his players and wanted to bring pieces in to keep it going. Unfortunately the money/ assets used to do that should have been available to just tinker with a roster that included Prime Richards and Voynov.

I am not sure what else to say. Yes he had warts as well but he did admit he was too loyal. He was basically taken out at the knees by a few of his own players. We don’t know what happened behind the scenes. I was pissed at the Brown demotion but all this stuff happened on his watch and that may be why he was punished. We may never know.

going forward I just feel people should stop dwelling in the past and embrace what both DL and Blake have and are currently building. (I love Blake as well)

As if the start of next year we will be loaded and balances with prospects that should be able to take spots from 1 to 23 through the roster. Our cap situation in two years is beyond envious. We have awesome ownership and a wicked fan base. Plus we have something other “rebuilding/retooling teams” usually don’t. We have Kopitar and Doughty here still playing high level hockey to shield these pups as they enter the greatest league in the world. McDavid did not have this, Eichel did not have this and numerous others could be included.

We are in a great position moving forward and our GM and crew seem to be pulling the right strings at this point.

 

[Token]

Any potential to the Kings taking on a salary dump just for next season if a high pick or good prospect is attached to it?

Possible but not very likely.

The owner, AEG, is hit hard by the pandemic and not likely to spend money anytime soon.

Having said that, a path to incite AEG to consider a spend would be to accelerate the rebuild.

That would be the right NHL-ready, quality prospect bundled with whatever dirty laundry one was washing.

 

[KingCanadain1976]

Any potential to the Kings taking on a salary dump just for next season if a high pick or good prospect is attached to it?

IMO it all depends on how long the dump is for if it one year sure 2 maybe depending on prospect any more then that slim to none as the person would be blocking a cheaper player coming in

 

[johnjm22]

The Kings showed no interest in taking on Marleau in exchange for a pick.

The hirings/promotions of Blake/Stevens/Willie D partially felt like money saving moves to me.

But then again they did sign Kovalchuk and eventually hire TMac.

 

[bland]

I don't disagree with your analysis of some of the picks, but there's no one who sticks out as a reach let alone a bad call. Do you remember Hickey when his name was called at the draft? Even he couldn't believe it. He looked sheepish.

Only time the consensus here was to criticize Blake was when we picked Bjornfot over Kaliyev in the first round last year. That nearly caused a mass suicide on this board. Yet Blake got the last laugh when Kaliyev was still available in the second.

Funny thing is, as much as I criticize Blake, I was one of like 5 people here who loved the Bjornfot pick. Not only because I really liked the player, but it was the polar opposite of the Kupari pick the year before.

Kupari has top 10 talent but his flaws make it unlikely he will reach his ceiling. It was a hope pick and at the time I felt the pool was so shallow that they needed more certainty, even at a potentially lower roster spot. I was really happy with the Thomas pick and still think he will have the better NHL career.

Last year was the opposite - instead of taking the risk of Kaliyev they went with a kid who has an outstanding chance of being a 2nd pairing defender in the league for 15 years, THEN took the flawed diamond risk of Kaliyev in the 2nd round. Having a top 5 pick allowed them to slot those choices perfectly.

I am not as high on Kaliyev as most, I think his success will largely depend on having a premier playmaker opening things up for him that he won't be able to do on his own.

The great news is that the Kings will have no shortage of playmaking centers with Vilardi, Turcotte and Byfield/Stützle.

 

[PumperNichol]

Funny thing is, as much as I criticize Blake, I was one of like 5 people here who loved the Bjornfot pick. Not only because I really liked the player, but it was the polar opposite of the Kupari pick the year before.

Kupari has top 10 talent but his flaws make it unlikely he will reach his ceiling. It was a hope pick and at the time I felt the pool was so shallow that they needed more certainty, even at a potentially lower roster spot. I was really happy with the Thomas pick and still think he will have the better NHL career.

Last year was the opposite - instead of taking the risk of Kaliyev they went with a kid who has an outstanding chance of being a 2nd pairing defender in the league for 15 years, THEN took the flawed diamond risk of Kaliyev in the 2nd round. Having a top 5 pick allowed them to slot those choices perfectly.

I am not as high on Kaliyev as most, I think his success will largely depend on having a premier playmaker opening things up for him that he won't be able to do on his own.

The great news is that the Kings will have no shortage of playmaking centers with Vilardi, Turcotte and Byfield/Stützle.

It's rare that I agree with everything in a post like that but it's spot on. I think Kupari's potential is 3rd line and Thomas 2nd line.

But, the take on Kaliyev is what I wanted to comment on. There's no doubt the kid has a NHL snap/slap/wrist shot. But, the VAST majority of goals he scores are from stationary spots and receiving passes in his wheel house. There's obviously a huge need for someone that can do that on the PP but, unless he can create a little on his own AND play at least respectable defense, he won't get much ice time. I think the key is working on all aspects of his game but just as importantly surrounding him with the right guys.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

This shouldn’t come as a surprise.

 

[HeadInjury]

Funny thing is, as much as I criticize Blake, I was one of like 5 people here who loved the Bjornfot pick. Not only because I really liked the player, but it was the polar opposite of the Kupari pick the year before.

Kupari has top 10 talent but his flaws make it unlikely he will reach his ceiling. It was a hope pick and at the time I felt the pool was so shallow that they needed more certainty, even at a potentially lower roster spot. I was really happy with the Thomas pick and still think he will have the better NHL career.

Last year was the opposite - instead of taking the risk of Kaliyev they went with a kid who has an outstanding chance of being a 2nd pairing defender in the league for 15 years, THEN took the flawed diamond risk of Kaliyev in the 2nd round. Having a top 5 pick allowed them to slot those choices perfectly.

I am not as high on Kaliyev as most, I think his success will largely depend on having a premier playmaker opening things up for him that he won't be able to do on his own.

The great news is that the Kings will have no shortage of playmaking centers with Vilardi, Turcotte and Byfield/Stützle.

Last year I was poking fun at everyone here after we got Kaliyev in the second. The board overreaction to the Bjornfot pick was hilarious.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

It's rare that I agree with everything in a post like that but it's spot on. I think Kupari's potential is 3rd line and Thomas 2nd line.

But, the take on Kaliyev is what I wanted to comment on. There's no doubt the kid has a NHL snap/slap/wrist shot. But, the VAST majority of goals he scores are from stationary spots and receiving passes in his wheel house. There's obviously a huge need for someone that can do that on the PP but, unless he can create a little on his own AND play at least respectable defense, he won't get much ice time. I think the key is working on all aspects of his game but just as importantly surrounding him with the right guys.

If Thomas Vanek can carve out a career, so can Kaliyev.

 

[kingsboy11]

This shouldn’t come as a surprise.

 

[Jericho111091]

Darn. I liked Porkchop

 

[AlphaBravo]

Porky wasn’t a good fit. He wasn’t good enough for the top 6, and is not useful as a bottom 6 guy. Best of luck to him.

 

[lexlavender]

I think that after the nightmare cap scenario we dealt with for the last 6 years until basically now, and with the rebuild going pretty smoothly with a full prospect cupboard, I feel like the Kings would prefer having as much cap flexibility as possible vs. marginally more prospects of value coupled with taking a cap dump.

Cap dumps are for bad teams who have no cupboards. The Kings are full to the brim right now.

 

[BigKing]

I think that after the nightmare cap scenario we dealt with for the last 6 years until basically now, and with the rebuild going pretty smoothly with a full prospect cupboard, I feel like the Kings would prefer having as much cap flexibility as possible vs. marginally more prospects of value coupled with taking a cap dump.

Cap dumps are for bad teams who have no cupboards. The Kings are full to the brim right now.

But buying another 1st round pick means you have another attractive asset to flip for legit NHL help once the time is right.

It's a moot point, in my opinion, since I don't feel like AEG is interested in spending too much money on the Kings than hey already are. They should have been all over the Marleau dump but seemingly weren't interested in tossing away more dollars on someone not playing for the Kings.

 

[Johnny Utah]

This was the Kings line up the last game they played.

Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown
Kempe-Lizotte-Lewis
Moore-Vilardi-Frk
Prokhorkin-Amadio-Wagner

D pairs of:
Hutton-Doughty
Anderson-Roy
MacDermid-Walker

The Kings played pretty well with this line-up down the stretch.

Carter was out injured, so he will back in that line up. If the Kings re-sign Lewis this is how the line-up will look at forward - probably take out Amadio and re-arrange the lines with Carter in. If Lewis is out, then Luff and JAD have a shot as the 13th forward.

On D, Hutton is a UFA. Let's assume the Kings bring in another UFA - that would push MacD as the #7.

 

[BigKing]

This was the Kings line up the last game they played.

Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown
Kempe-Lizotte-Lewis
Moore-Vilardi-Frk
Prokhorkin-Amadio-Wagner

D pairs of:
Hutton-Doughty
Anderson-Roy
MacDermid-Walker

The Kings played pretty well with this line-up down the stretch.

Carter was out injured, so he will back in that line up. If the Kings re-sign Lewis this is how the line-up will look at forward - probably take out Amadio and re-arrange the lines with Carter in. If Lewis is out, then Luff and JAD have a shot as the 13th forward.

On D, Hutton is a UFA. Let's assume the Kings bring in another UFA - that would push MacD as the #7.

Pro is gone. KHL.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Whoops- I meant without Pro, Carter will be in that line-up.

Iafallo-Kopitar-Brown
Kempe-Lizotte-Carter
Moore-Vilardi-Frk
Lewis or JAD/Luff-Amadio-Wagner

 

[Lt Dan]

. If the Kings re-sign Lewis

Don't even joke about that

I personally think that he won't be offered a contract. If he tests the UFA market and doesn't get any bites, then he will move in to player development

 

[psych3man]

Per Lisa Dillman, The Athletic

"It appears unlikely that any of the unrestricted free agents will be back next season. Lewis is valued for his contributions during the two Stanley Cup championship runs and his veteran presence in the dressing room. But with there will be a serious logjam at forward and the organization will want meaningful playing time for its many prospects."

My experience reading Lisa is she's very careful to only write that which she is sure will be true.

Kings are in perfect position to take advantage of a flat...