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Speculation: 2020-21 LA Kings News/Roster/Rumors Discussion Part VI

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GoldenBearHockey said:
Misread you, but yea, no f***ing shit there are no playoffs in January, but a team can sure as hell be competing FOR them..which is what I said...

No one said that you said you expected Blake to win the cup, but you are judging Blake's moves/timeline, by comparing it to Lombardi......and failing absolutely miserably at it. You completely ignore the two completely different situations each where in....

I get it, you don't like Blake....but again, be honest with your posts...

Had to edit this, hit the post before I was ready...

But I will reiterate, whose fault is this years team not making the playoffs, Blakes....or the players? And yea, you can say Blake didn't bring in the right players, but we've seen this team be absolutely dominant....so that doesn't really point to not bringing in the right players
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I have actually been very complimentary of Blake and said he's been doing the right things for the most part. So you're either making assumptions or mischaracterizing me (or confusing me for someone else).

I don't dislike Blake. I don't even dislike the team missing the playoffs this year. I DO hold Blake accountable for expecting this team to make the playoffs this year. The players didn't deliver. So now he has this offseason to correct it and do something about it.

Now if he says this offseason "We have a core of players I built around who I expected to carry the burden, but that was not the right core" I'll adjust my expectations. But even then, he would still have to act.

He either needs to meet or change expectations next season. I don't think that's unreasonable.
 
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Mats26 said:
Anyone comparing the timelines of the DL rebuild to Blake's timeline does not understand the fundamentals of a rebuild and what was DL's plan in the first place.
What DL did was to bring a cup to LA. Remember what he said to Doughty at the draft, "you are going to bring us a cup". That was it, he did not plan for 10+ years he just wanted a cup. The fans , the organization was straving for one, and we got 2. I don't think following what DL did now is the plan for Blake. I really think this team needs to be competive every year, a good team first, build a culture but alwas keep the 4 keys in mind.

4 Keys to a rebuild:
Good managment, good coaching, drafting and developement and I will add Patience.
If any one of those keys are missing then you can end up like the Sabres , Detroit even the Oilers or make stupid TDL moves like the BlueJacket did a fews year back just to win a playoff round.

Good teams who are tuning in and becoming great like the Canes and Pathers have been patient and have now excelled in all 4 areas. I'll add the Avs in here too. And yes they were bubble teams for a while. I think our goal is to make it to the Canes, Panthers tier. Good solid teams with young players and a nice prospect pool, good coaching, management etc.. That is still years away.

I guess my point is, there is no timeline for this rebuild. Past success should be analyzed but not duplicated, it might not work as expected. We need to build up assets and form the culture, adding the right pieces along the way. Any talk of us going for the cup in 3 years is nonsense unless we dump our picks and assets for a run.
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I dread watching this shit team for 3 more years. minimum!! :mad:

Attendance will become a huge issue starting next season.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
The first order of business this summer is to acquire a player (or players) with a set of balls who can light a fire under this team's ass, y'know, like Mike Richards did nine years ago.

Can't believe we're already approaching a decade since this glorious run.
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Time flies. It sucks that this type of player is such a rare breed now.
 
bland said:
This year and next, no, its not reasonable.

Blake's legacy will be judged on his regime's ability to develop the picks he gathered, not if the team makes the playoffs during the infancy of the process.

Clearly Blake felt that the core was first still able to challenge, and he was wrong. Then he thought that they would be competitive with them while developing the kids. Wrong there too.

The problem is, and I have been saying this for 11 years now, is that this core is deeply flawed and is not capable of pulling its own weight, much less a whole team on its shoulders. Great guys, just the wrong ones to build a team around. They needed outside leadership and competitiveness brought in to just to get out of the first round much less win the Cup. Now it's obvious that they need it yo be brought in again just to get through a season without collapsing in on themselves.

I know you love Kopitar, I do too - as a player. He is simply not the kind of person who inspires others to be the best they can be. You need more than an example to point at during this period of change, that example needs to lead from the front, not the side. His 5 on 5 work has been the worst of his career at the worst time.

Brown is done. He has to go. You can't have a "leader" who only cherry picks at this stage of his career. He continually blows coverages, turns over pucks at key stages, ignores board battles, essentially he only puts himself in position to score while doing very little of it. This is no example to set, he is just a mascot for the fans to cheer when he stumbles upon a goal now and then.
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Do you think Blake has the cojones to buy out Brown? We have the cap space to do so, it would send a message and free up a roster spot for the prospects. But, it is Dustin Brown we are talking about. If he is setting a poor example, isn't it best to cut ties now?
 
GoldenBearHockey said:
Misread you, but yea, no f***ing shit there are no playoffs in January, but a team can sure as hell be competing FOR them..which is what I said...

No one said that you said you expected Blake to win the cup, but you are judging Blake's moves/timeline, by comparing it to Lombardi......and failing absolutely miserably at it. You completely ignore the two completely different situations each where in....

I get it, you don't like Blake....but again, be honest with your posts...

Had to edit this, hit the post before I was ready...

But I will reiterate, whose fault is this years team not making the playoffs, Blakes....or the players? And yea, you can say Blake didn't bring in the right players, but we've seen this team be absolutely dominant....so that doesn't really point to not bringing in the right players
Click to expand...

The bolded is an insane comment. So there are stretches of time--small stretches--over 50 games where they look good or "dominant". Cool. You know who just looked dominant on Saturday? The Ducks and they are absolutely horrible. Kings haven't won two games in a row for like over two months.

The team isn't good enough. Whose fault is it for not making the playoffs? Well, I don't really believe that was the true goal so I'm not going to blame anyone for it: Blake knows the roster isn't good enough but just wanted to see improvement this year while securing another nice 1st round pick. What needed to happen this year though was playing meaningful games late in the season while seeing progress. I was perfectly fine with where they were at around mid-March knowing they wouldn't make the playoffs but it seemed like progress was being made...probably around the Blues game on St. Patrick's Day. It's really gone south since then and it is very difficult to try and find bright spots.

They are like 10-21 since the six game win streak. The sixth game of the six game win streak was the 18th game of the year. In 2020, the 18th game took place on November 12th. Game 49 or 50 would be mid-January and these guys would have already packed it up. Hell, they've packed it up now in what is supposed to be a playoff push.

You can say that they've played meaningful games or have been in the playoff race late in the season but that is purely a function of this COVID season. They have not maintained the positive play from the first ~20 games and it is disheartening to see the lack of fight in them. Mission accomplished for another high 1st round pick but the lack of buy-in to T-Mac's system is worrisome and it is more-than-reasonable to question if Blake knows what he's building when it comes to the culture and identity of this team. Last year ended on a winning streak and what appeared to be a team buying in to the coach's system. There appears to be a big step back in that regard this season and I wouldn't be surprised if the underlying numbers this season are worse than last year. 0.91 points per game last season and 0.89 this season. That's only like 1-2 points less over 82 games but this was supposed to be a season with progress as opposed to maybe a slight regression. I expected maybe an eight point improvement.

T-Mac's second "full" season should not see a regression. This is a big red flag as it is a bad look for Todd, the players or both.
 
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The fact that the Kings have not won consecutive games since February should tell you just how strong their desire is to play any meaningful hockey in April, May, June, etc.

Their effort level has taken a nosedive, and that is inexcusable. I don't care so much about the results, but more concerned with what I'm seeing on the ice and how easily this team folds. That is concerning and disheartening, and I wouldn't want the young players coming up to get used to this losing culture and a group of quitters.

Blake and company have a lot to fix this off-season. We'll see just how committed they are into turning this squad into a playoff team by the actions taken this summer.
 
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BigKing said:
The bolded is an insane comment. So there are stretches of time--small stretches--over 50 games where they look good or "dominant". Cool. You know who just looked dominant on Saturday? The Ducks and they are absolutely horrible. Kings haven't won two games in a row for like over two months.

The team isn't good enough. Whose fault is it for not making the playoffs? Well, I don't really believe that was the true goal so I'm not going to blame anyone for it: Blake knows the roster isn't good enough but just wanted to see improvement this year while securing another nice 1st round pick. What needed to happen this year though was playing meaningful games late in the season while seeing progress. I was perfectly fine with where they were at around mid-March knowing they wouldn't make the playoffs but it seemed like progress was being made...probably around the Blues game on St. Patrick's Day. It's really gone south since then and it is very difficult to try and find bright spots.

They are like 10-21 since the six game win streak. The sixth game of the six game win streak was the 18th game of the year. In 2020, the 18th game took place on November 12th. Game 49 or 50 would be mid-January and these guys would have already packed it up. Hell, they've packed it up now in what is supposed to be a playoff push.

You can say that they've played meaningful games or have been in the playoff race late in the season but that is purely a function of this COVID season. They have not maintained the positive play from the first ~20 games and it is disheartening to see the lack of fight in them. Mission accomplished for another high 1st round pick but the lack of buy-in to T-Mac's system is worrisome and it is more-than-reasonable to question if Blake knows what he's building when it comes to the culture and identity of this team. Last year ended on a winning streak and what appeared to be a team buying in to the coach's system. There appears to be a big step back in that regard this season and I wouldn't be surprised if the underlying numbers this season are worse than last year. 0.91 points per game last season and 0.89 this season. That's only like 1-2 points less over 82 games but this was supposed to be a season with progress as opposed to maybe a slight regression. I expected maybe an eight point improvement.

T-Mac's second "full" season should not see a regression. This is a big red flag as it is a bad look for Todd, the players or both.
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You say it's insane comment...then there is this..."They are like 10-21 since the six game win streak. " so that six game win streak, they weren't playing dominant hockey? They bulldozed St. Louis, you know, last year's Cup Champions etc.... so yea, this team has SHOWN that they can play like that.....so is the issue the players, or management? If the players have shown they can do that, then it's gotta be on the players....right? Or are you saying they played that way despite management? That's a bold take so I am asking if that's your position..

It's absolutely gone south since then.....but this debate is in regards to Blake and management, not what the players have failed to do or execute.

It's almost like playing poker, or gambling on DFS, you have to keep to the process regardless of the results, it's the same here, Blake should keep to the process REGARDLESS of the results.....
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
The fact that the Kings have not won consecutive games since February should tell you just how strong their desire is to play any meaningful hockey in April, May, June, etc.

Their effort level has taken a nosedive, and that is inexcusable. I don't care so much about the results, but more concerned with what I'm seeing on the ice and how easily this team folds. That is concerning and disheartening, and I wouldn't want the young players coming up to get used to this losing culture and a group of quitters.

Blake and company have a lot to fix this off-season. We'll see just how committed they are into turning this squad into a playoff team by the actions taken this summer.
Click to expand...

I can get with this, I think this off-season and next year they are going to have to make some very difficult choices, on players and coaches....
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
The first order of business this summer is to acquire a player (or players) with a set of balls who can light a fire under this team's ass, y'know, like Mike Richards did nine years ago.

Can't believe we're already approaching a decade since this glorious run.
Click to expand...

*4-2 win
But yeah, the Kings attacking scoring areas. I want it back.
 
I didn't have playoff expectations this year, but was hopeful they would be more in the mix then they currently are.

Looking at the division before the season thought for sure LA had a chance at grabbing the 4th spot but would likely finish 5th or 6th. In the gran scheme of things the team is not far off of where many thought they would be, but watching them no show for so many games has definitely put some concern in my head.

I am ok with the team losing as long as they show up (like the last Wild game).
 
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Axl Rhoadz said:
Can't think of a more disturbing point than this when evaluating our team right now -- all of the other bottom-dweller teams have all had at least a 2-game winning stream in that time -- ANA, OTT, VAN, SJ, BUF, DET. All of them....
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Haven't the Kings only had two winning streaks all season? That's a mind blower.
 
Butch 19 said:
I dread watching this shit team for 3 more years. minimum!! :mad:

Attendance will become a huge issue starting next season.
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I know we all want to see progress now, but we still have development work to do and moves to make. I agree that Fans need to see some sort of progress, after all we dismantled a cup winning core, decent players got traded, so show us what you got for all this right?

We were a good team with 46 wins seasons under Murray for a few years until DL decided to go for it. We are not even close to that "good team" level yet.
 
Not an excuse but LA had some injuries to overcome this year that effected some games for sure.

1:3:1 got figured out by most good teams. (stretch passes)

PP dried up and died. Killed the offense from early on.
 
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LAKings88 said:
Not an excuse but LA had some injuries to overcome this year that effected some games for sure.

1:3:1 got figured out by most good teams. (stretch passes)

PP dried up and died. Killed the offense from early on.
Click to expand...

a lot of teams have been harder than LA though on the injury/covid front. LA just does not have the depth yet to overcome.
 
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AzKing said:
There was one poster guaranteeing and arguing all year that the Kings would easily make the playoffs and then supporting it by explaining how many bad teams they would be playing that would assure it.

It would seem that the “bad” team is actually the Kings and not vice versa.
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Good teams win the games they are supposed to. I look at Calgary and how if they did not suck ass against the Sens where they could be.
Kinda similar with LA vs the teams I had hope they would do well against.
 
bland said:
This year and next, no, its not reasonable.

Blake's legacy will be judged on his regime's ability to develop the picks he gathered, not if the team makes the playoffs during the infancy of the process.

Clearly Blake felt that the core was first still able to challenge, and he was wrong. Then he thought that they would be competitive with them while developing the kids. Wrong there too.

The problem is, and I have been saying this for 11 years now, is that this core is deeply flawed and is not capable of pulling its own weight, much less a whole team on its shoulders. Great guys, just the wrong ones to build a team around. They needed outside leadership and competitiveness brought in to just to get out of the first round much less win the Cup. Now it's obvious that they need it yo be brought in again just to get through a season without collapsing in on themselves.

I know you love Kopitar, I do too - as a player. He is simply not the kind of person who inspires others to be the best they can be. You need more than an example to point at during this period of change, that example needs to lead from the front, not the side. His 5 on 5 work has been the worst of his career at the worst time.

Brown is done. He has to go. You can't have a "leader" who only cherry picks at this stage of his career. He continually blows coverages, turns over pucks at key stages, ignores board battles, essentially he only puts himself in position to score while doing very little of it. This is no example to set, he is just a mascot for the fans to cheer when he stumbles upon a goal now and then.
Click to expand...

Blake and Robitaille can't see it, because they were the same type of veteran leaders when they were playing as Kopitar and Brown are today.
 
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