2019 LA Kings Development Camp Discussion thread.....

[ru4reals]

Yup, at least 1 season. You may get a wild card call up like JAD or Kupari but all of the 2019 drafts are def. 1-2 seasons away minimum.

Yes totally agree JAD definitely and I think Kupari can benefit one more year in Finland.

 

[SCARFACE909]

Yes totally agree JAD definitely and I think Kupari can benefit one more year in Finland.

Kupari isn’t going back to Finland, he’s either making kings out of camp or going to Ontario.

Either way he’s staying in North America, kings want him here this year and he will be.

 

[ru4reals]

Kupari isn’t going back to Finland, he’s either making kings out of camp or going to Ontario.

Either way he’s staying in North America, kings want him here this year and he will be.

Awesome that's even better wasn't sure about his situation so that's great news.

 

[SCARFACE909]

Awesome that's even better wasn't sure about his situation so that's great news.

Yes, sorry I’m on mobile at moment and can’t link, but Rosen wrote an article laying out that Kupari is coming over and staying in NA this year and kings will give him every chance to make the team out of camp, but worst case he’ll start year in Ontario and be called up later on.

 

[ru4reals]

Yes, sorry I’m on mobile at moment and can’t link, but Rosen wrote an article laying out that Kupari is coming over and staying in NA this year and kings will give him every chance to make the team out of camp, but worst case he’ll start year in Ontario and be called up later on.

That's great to hear I was hoping he stays in North America same path as Kempe.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Some quick observations

Sodergran is my standout for the 2nd year in a row, its' like somewhere along the line he realized he was playing kids not men and just went beastmode. Heady player, he's not just some big plug, showing that he can be a real good depth player imo.

Kupari was up there too, similar reason, all that playing against men has really made them stand out vs. their peers, seemed to have his head on a little straighter this year with respect to using his teammates

Turcotte is Mike Richards 2.0. All brain, all heart, maybe 2nd liner raw physical skills, he wasn't really wow-ing that way, but his anticipation, he just always knows where to be.

Durzi might already be the best offensive D we have in the entire organization

Those were the guys who immediatley jumped to mind, just going down the roster now:

Andre Lee is a f***ing monster

Thomas is the guy I was really looking at this trip to establish an identity and he was mostly just 'there'. Not particularly bad, but didn't stand out in any way. Kinda disappointing, but then again, what's his 'thing?'

Phillips is looking like he took some strides forward this year and him and Bjornfot seem like they'll be in a healthy competition for the same-ish roster spot in upcoming years, pretty quiet games for the most part (in a good way), with Tobias' skating being a lot of fun to watch, which will probably vault him up.

JAD looks like the same dude we saw last year basically, just chomping at the bit for a bigger role I hope.

Dudas surprised me a little bit, not that I didn't know he was feisty, but he's clearly there to compete. Don't think he'll ever make it, but I like it, good for culture.

Lots of attention on Lizotte and rightfully so

I think Constantinou gets a contract, I think he's got some major upside down the road.

I have some more actual notes, just stuff off the top of my head, had a long day (up since 3am) and a long drive home so I'll elaborate if I get more free time tomorrow, notes are way more specific than "lol looks gud," i'm just totally brain dead

 

[SCARFACE909]

That's great to hear I was hoping he stays in North America same path as Kempe.

I went back and found this quote from Rosen

Kupari will attend both development camp and rookie/training camp, and while he’s a player likely ticketed for Ontario, the Kings would love to see him make a bid for a roster spot this fall.

Also Mayor was reporting back in March that he was coming over full-time this season;

Obviously, the Kings are eager to get him over to North America this summer. Given the current state of their NHL roster, Kupari will have the opportunity to push for a roster spot in camp. However, we expect him to start next year in the AHL, similar to the development path the chose for Adrian Kempe. If he produces and matures at a level similar to the past 12 months, there is a good chance Kupari could be up with the Kings in the second half of the 2019-20 campaign.

 

[BigKing]

Kupari will have to blow the doors off of camp to make the big club. Absolutely nothing wrong with a guy in his D + 2 year playing big minutes in Ontario to get acclimated to professional NA hockey.

I prefer all of them--those with no AHL experience--to go to Ontario as I'd like to see the asshats from last year show some professionalism before we start throwing prospects in to the fold as well.

 

[onlyalad]

I think they tell some guys they have a chance to see how hard they work. Don’t want to say, “ Hey kid, it doesn’t matter what you do, you have no chance of making the team this year’

 

[kings11]

Kupari will have to blow the doors off of camp to make the big club. Absolutely nothing wrong with a guy in his D + 2 year playing big minutes in Ontario to get acclimated to professional NA hockey.

I prefer all of them--those with no AHL experience--to go to Ontario as I'd like to see the asshats from last year show some professionalism before we start throwing prospects in to the fold as well.

As we've all said if anyone makes the team its a Anderson/Clague but I have them all pegged for Ontario which should help them all grow together and hopefully win together...

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

That's great to hear I was hoping he stays in North America same path as Kempe.

I think Kempe would have been better served playing another year in Europe! And I believe the same goes for Kupari. He could play 18-22 minutes in Finland rather than fight for time in North America and besides another year to get stronger really helps!

 

[Sol]

Kupari will have to blow the doors off of camp to make the big club. Absolutely nothing wrong with a guy in his D + 2 year playing big minutes in Ontario to get acclimated to professional NA hockey.

I prefer all of them--those with no AHL experience--to go to Ontario as I'd like to see the asshats from last year show some professionalism before we start throwing prospects in to the fold as well.

You think the prospects were the problem last year or am I misunderstanding you?


The vets were pure garbage and the prospects for the most part all did very well. Just misused by the coaches.

 

[riznat]

You think the prospects were the problem last year or am I misunderstanding you?


The vets were pure garbage and the prospects for the most part all did very well. Just misused by the coaches.

I think he’s calling the vets asshats, and if there going to give so little effort again next year then keep as many young players away from that as possible.

 

[SCARFACE909]

I think Kempe would have been better served playing another year in Europe! And I believe the same goes for Kupari. He could play 18-22 minutes in Finland rather than fight for time in North America and besides another year to get stronger really helps!

He won't be fighting for time here. Kings want him in North America, he's coming to camp, so already rules out Finland since their season already starts by then.

 

[BigKing]

You think the prospects were the problem last year or am I misunderstanding you?


The vets were pure garbage and the prospects for the most part all did very well. Just misused by the coaches.

Yeah. The vets are the asshats and the prospects I'm talking about aren't the ones that played pro last year, at least NA Pro.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

'awakening' to Sodergran requires me to redo this!! Lizotte moves up. And added Parik and Spence. Not ready to add Nousiainen, Braden Doyle Andre Lee yet. Will know in about 6 months from
now or so...I am sure I am off a little anyways. Never seen this much QUALITY ever, in the Kings pipeline. Guys at 10-12 now, were like the 2-4 slots of just a few years ago; and not overrating them either.
Sodergran can be anywhere from 6-12 I think and this year should be a big year for him. Putting Kupari over Turcotte, for that matter. Both elite prospects. Kupari can be a superstar....but if falls
a little short, he's going to be dynamic. Strand is another that can move up...just depends how strong
he plays this year in Ontario. Graduated Brickley, but may have kept him on. Too hard to place him, based on his past season and think he's almost 24 anyway. I would not count him out yet, from making it and being a good NHL player. I honestly do not how to compare the goalies - Hrenak, Kehler, Ingham. Think Villalta has dipped some.

Kupari
Turcotte
Vilardi
Anderson Mikey
Anderson-Dolan
Petersen
Clague
Kaliyev
Sodergran
Thomas
Bjornfot
Durzi
Fagemo
Lizotte
Dudas
Parik
Phillips
Hults
Spence
Moverare
Kehler
Strand
Hrenak
Shafigullin
Ingham
Eyssimont
Villalta
Rymsha

 

[Statto]

Kupari will have to blow the doors off of camp to make the big club. Absolutely nothing wrong with a guy in his D + 2 year playing big minutes in Ontario to get acclimated to professional NA hockey.

I prefer all of them--those with no AHL experience--to go to Ontario as I'd like to see the asshats from last year show some professionalism before we start throwing prospects in to the fold as well.

The dearth of skill we have means they will give him every chance to make the opening night roster. If he has a good camp they will build off that momentum and put him on Kopitar’s wing. If they think he can do the offensive part of the game at the right level he should play, the more detailed stuff he will learn.

We’ve gotten too used to the overly cautious way the Kings have developed prospects. Our forwards have mostly been role guys so the details defensively get drilled into them before they get to play which makes sense. However we’ve taken the same approach with more attack minded prospects also. Look at Toffoli and Pearson it’s no coincidence that they played their best offence in their first few seasons before the creativity and spark was coached out of them.

So if they think Kupari can live with Kopi on the offensive side of things then, if they are now doing it differently, he plays. Or at least he should. Let’s face it offensively who is he competing with? Kovi is more skilled, Kempe its debatable but after that it’s tumbleweed everywhere. He should be heading into camp with a spot to lose.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

O’Connell, on what was said to the benches during an early pause in Thursday night’s scrimmage:

Basically, the message was ‘don’t pass it to someone who was covered.’ Passing it to people who are covered – don’t do that. If you don’t have [a good opportunity] to pass, don’t pass it. Hold onto it, go back, use the whole ice. And, also, work to get open. If you looked at our camp, we don’t allow the players to dump it in or dump it out. There were no dump-ins, no dump-outs.

As someone who believes keeping the puck is crucial to creating offense, particularly regarding exiting your own zone and entering the offensive zone, I'm very pleased to see this is what they're teaching the kids this year.

O'Connell talks fundamentals, structure, prospects as camp wraps up - LA Kings Insider

 

[henkkj]

The dearth of skill we have means they will give him every chance to make the opening night roster. If he has a good camp they will build off that momentum and put him on Kopitar’s wing. If they think he can do the offensive part of the game at the right level he should play, the more detailed stuff he will learn.

We’ve gotten too used to the overly cautious way the Kings have developed prospects. Our forwards have mostly been role guys so the details defensively get drilled into them before they get to play which makes sense. However we’ve taken the same approach with more attack minded prospects also. Look at Toffoli and Pearson it’s no coincidence that they played their best offence in their first few seasons before the creativity and spark was coached out of them.

So if they think Kupari can live with Kopi on the offensive side of things then, if they are now doing it differently, he plays. Or at least he should. Let’s face it offensively who is he competing with? Kovi is more skilled, Kempe its debatable but after that it’s tumbleweed everywhere. He should be heading into camp with a spot to lose.

I highly doubt that Kupari is going to be ready to play in the NHL. They might give him a few games at the start of the season and/or after TDL, but imo he should mostly play in the AHL. I watched about 40 games of him last season (including all playoff games) and while he for sure is very skilled and a great skater, he isn't even close to ready mentally. Of course I root for him to have a great summer and be ready in October since he's coming from my hometown, but realistically I just can't see that happen though would love to be proven wrong. His playing style reminds me a lot of more skilled Adrian Kempe. I'd say he has a good chance to become a 35-60 point middle 6 fwd in the NHL over time, but I've seen some rank him the best prospect for the Kings and expect him to become a big time first line scorer, I just think that might be a bit too much to expect.

I'll be watching Kim Nousiainen more closely next season if he gets to play in Liiga and maybe post a few reports here. Nice to see some Finns drafted to the Kings.

 

[BigKing]

The dearth of skill we have means they will give him every chance to make the opening night roster. If he has a good camp they will build off that momentum and put him on Kopitar’s wing. If they think he can do the offensive part of the game at the right level he should play, the more detailed stuff he will learn.

We’ve gotten too used to the overly cautious way the Kings have developed prospects. Our forwards have mostly been role guys so the details defensively get drilled into them before they get to play which makes sense. However we’ve taken the same approach with more attack minded prospects also. Look at Toffoli and Pearson it’s no coincidence that they played their best offence in their first few seasons before the creativity and spark was coached out of them.

So if they think Kupari can live with Kopi on the offensive side of things then, if they are now doing it differently, he plays. Or at least he should. Let’s face it offensively who is he competing with? Kovi is more skilled, Kempe its debatable but after that it’s tumbleweed everywhere. He should be heading into camp with a spot to lose.

He personally should have the mindset to make the team but the franchise in absolutely no way whatsoever should be acting like he has a spot and only a poor camp would cause him to lose it.

It's not being cautious to have a kid his age start in the AHL. He's not the elite of the elite. A good chunk of the future is arriving in Ontario next season. Let them play together and eventually get some call-ups.

For excitement and entertainment purposes, sure, let's put the projected lineups with a ton of prospects out there. In reality, that's a mistake. He needs to force his way on to the team as opposed to losing his spot.

 

[LAKings88]

I say let Kupari and JAD push Carter and Toffoli at camp. Those two shouldn’t be able to assume they have spots after last year.

 

[kilowatt]

I'd be fine forcing Carter and Toffoli into a third line shutdown role.

Wagner - Kopitar - Brown
Grundstrom - Anderson-Dolan - Kupari
Kempe - Carter - Toffoli
Clifford - Lewis - Iafallo

Why not?

 

[KingCanadain1976]

I'd be fine forcing Carter and Toffoli into a third line shutdown role.

Wagner - Kopitar - Brown
Grundstrom - Anderson-Dolan - Kupari
Kempe - Carter - Toffoli
Clifford - Lewis - Iafallo

Why not?

2 russians say hi

 

[kilowatt]

2 russians say hi

heck

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Willie D says "nyet"