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

[Johnny Utah]

I think Vilardi and one of Madden/Turcotte is gone via a bigger deal. Possibly Kupari, but likely no because of the offensive upside.

Kings won't move Byfield.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

I was not a fan of the Kovalchuk signing but i at least got it. The team just lost a close 4 game series against the Knights (yes it was close even though sweep), and their main issued seemed to be on the wing and scoring. Kovalchuk checked both boxes in theory.

Man was Quick good that series.

No it wasn’t close. The shot totals and possession were crazy in VGK’s favor. Kings were just hanging on for dear life in that series.

 

[SFKingshomer]

Upgrading at D is pretty well defined for this club. Everyone can agree that a 25 yo LHD who puts up 35+ points would immediately improve the roster. A guy like Dahlin might be the best potential option. If he plays to his draft potential, being able to play him or Doughty for the whole game is a major asset.

A move at forward is more fuzzy. Is a 2C more impactful versus a #1 winger? Common sense says a goal scorer for Kopitar would be raise the top lines overall output and might win you more games. But this is the kings and Iafallo and Brown will be probably be Kopitar’s wingers until he retires.

Getting a long term 2C just muddies the picture at center ice for the next two years. A 2C means Vilardi is a winger or he and JAD are battling for bottom six minutes. Plus it blocks Byfield effectively from next years top six, as making him into a winger is a potential mistake.

In my opinion, as long as Kopitar is this team’s top forward it’s useless to try and import goals from the forward position. The Kings are better off improving the D in the short term. The path to the playoffs is much quicker if the GA are cut way down.

If you can guy a defenseman who adds goals for and cuts down goals against, then that’s your biggest bang for the buck. Make a splash there Rob Blake and let the kids play at forward and I’ll back off my opinion that you are a slow to move, barely competent GM.

The Sabres have no reason to trade Dahlin. How many defenseman similar to how to describe get moved? Everyone is looking for a "dynamic" 2 way defenseman under the age of 25 and those guys don't get moved.

 

[Stimpythecat]

Blake did well with getting Moore.

Maatta trade had to be done and for the price paid, the trade was a bargain. Blake even got Chicago to retain. A defenseman needs to be exposed for the expansion draft. Going into the season, I would not want the kings to play MacDermid for the games necessary and what happens if MacDermid got injured and could not meet the requirement? We all complain about the limited games MacDermid got into as it is.

Andersson I have some questions about. I am open to the idea the trade was done as a favor to a long time kings scout. It was a very late 2nd round pick. He has the skills to have been taken 7OA so there is potential.

Wolanin - I have no expectations for him as a NHL player. He was obtained for Amadio so that should be an indication of his value.

Lemieux is too soon to see what he's got.

 

[Kudelski37]

I think Vilardi and one of Madden/Turcotte is gone via a bigger deal. Possibly Kupari, but likely no because of the offensive upside.

Kings won't move Byfield.

I wonder if the Red Wings would be interested in Madden + pick for Vrana. That would certainly add scoring, speed, and a young vet this team needs.

 

[The Lukeman]

The Sabres have no reason to trade Dahlin. How many defenseman similar to how to describe get moved? Everyone is looking for a "dynamic" 2 way defenseman under the age of 25 and those guys don't get moved.

In theory yes, but what happens if Dahlin asks for a move? His contract expires at the end of the season, and the dude looks depressed in Buffalo. This all just a big what if.

It doesn’t hurt to speculate on it. I agree that the odds of him being moved are not high, but who had Mike Richards leaving philly before it happened?

Dahlin fits exactly what we need. There isn’t anyone else in the league who would be a better fit IMO. UFA is dry of 1LD. No other 1LD is really available trade wise. Mikey and Toby are not 1LD. We have the assets to make it happen.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

In theory yes, but what happens if Dahlin asks for a move? His contract expires at the end of the season, and the dude looks depressed in Buffalo. This all just a big what if.

It doesn’t hurt to speculate on it. I agree that the odds of him being moved are not high, but who had Mike Richards leaving philly before it happened?

Dahlin fits exactly what we need. There isn’t anyone else in the league who would be a better fit IMO. UFA is dry of 1LD. No other 1LD is really available trade wise. Mikey and Toby are not 1LD. We have the assets to make it happen.

I can't recall the last time a defenseman like Dahlin was moved. He just turned 21 days ago, a 1st overall three years ago and still on an entry-level contract, and he has 104 points in 186 games.

Sure, Dahlin fits exactly what the Kings need, as well as what every team in the league needs, including Buffalo. They're not trading him.

 

[Lt Dan]

I can't recall the last time a defenseman like Dahlin was moved. He just turned 21 days ago, a 1st overall three years ago and still on an entry-level contract, and he has 104 points in 186 games.

Sure, Dahlin fits exactly what the Kings need, as well as what every team in the league needs, including Buffalo. They're not trading him.

My guess is Pronger

 

[YP44]

No it wasn’t close. The shot totals and possession were crazy in VGK’s favor. Kings were just hanging on for dear life in that series.

LA lost in double OT with Doughty serving a BS suspension and forbort logging most minutes. It was close

 

[Lt Dan]

LA lost in double OT with Doughty serving a BS suspension and forbort logging most minutes. It was close

That was one game. They still lost the other three that were played.

It it were a seven game series, your post would have much more creedence clearwater revival. But had Doughty played that one game and they won, it would have been a 5 game series instead of a sweep and still wouldn't have been close

 

[bland]

LA lost in double OT with Doughty serving a BS suspension and forbort logging most minutes. It was close

Playoff hockey is judged differently. It doesn't matter how close the games were, the Kings were blown out in that series 4-0.

 

[Piston]

Playoff hockey is judged differently. It doesn't matter how close the games were, the Kings were blown out in that series 4-0.

And were clearly the lesser team by quite a margin. Still can't believe Blake thought we were only player away (Kovalchuk) from seriously contending. I do give him credit for quickly recognizing his mistake and beginning to blow things up.

One thing to note here is the concern about the 'potential' of our prospect pool. Just as it is unreasonable to assume each of these youngsters will make a significant mark in the NHL, it is just as wrong to assume everyone will be a bust. Some surely will be, but the odds are very good that one or two of them, if not more, will become stars.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

My guess is Pronger

Seems like he’d be the closest match, and that was 26 years ago, and he was dealt for a two-time 50-goal scorer. Plus Hartford was also a horribly mismanaged organization, which I guess the same could be said about Buffalo today.

Even with that, there’s just no way they’re moving Dahlin. It’s not like they have another franchise defenseman pushing for his spot.

 

[unicornpig]

vegas torched everybody except for washington that year.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Vegas series aside (which definitely was a tell-tale sign the team needed to be gutted), the 2017-18 Kings were ranked 1st overall in goals against, but 17th in goals for.

Those Kings also had the best PK in the league, and ranked 18th on the PP. So you look at those numbers and come to the conclusion, they need goals, and they need a sniper with an ability to finish. Enter Ilya Kovalchuk. The Bruins and Sharks were the other two who were after him, and it seems like the Kings got more aggressive in offering an extra year after their failure to acquire Max Pacioretty.

Going an extra year helped them secure another free agent a few years earlier in Willie Mitchell, who was coming off a concussion, and was perceived as a risk. Given the seasons Kopitar, Quick, Doughty, Brown were coming off of, there is simply no way the Kings weren't going to immediately jump into a rebuild.

Everything going to shit the following season is what really propelled the rebuild. The loss to Vegas raised concerns that maybe stylistically, the Kings needed to make some changes, but the disastrous season that ensued needed to happen to get to this point.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The Vegas series aside (which definitely was a tell-tale sign the team needed to be gutted), the 2017-18 Kings were ranked 1st overall in goals against, but 17th in goals for.

Those Kings also had the best PK in the league, and ranked 18th on the PP. So you look at those numbers and come to the conclusion, they need goals, and they need a sniper with an ability to finish. Enter Ilya Kovalchuk. The Bruins and Sharks were the other two who were after him, and it seems like the Kings got more aggressive in offering an extra year after their failure to acquire Max Pacioretty.

Going an extra year helped them secure another free agent a few years earlier in Willie Mitchell, who was coming off a concussion, and was perceived as a risk. Given the seasons Kopitar, Quick, Doughty, Brown were coming off of, there is simply no way the Kings weren't going to immediately jump into a rebuild.

Everything going to shit the following season is what really propelled the rebuild. The loss to Vegas raised concerns that maybe stylistically, the Kings needed to make some changes, but the disastrous season that ensued needed to happen to get to this point.

That was also with the 1st line, Drew Doughty, and Quick being monsters--and depth being exposed. That game 2 without Drew was hilarious. Fantenberg and Martinez were the first pairing and were 25 and 33% cf; drew was nearly 60 across the series. That's how good our best players were and how outmatched the rest were by VGK. It made sense at the time to me to try to add 'free' scoring in Ilya, as well as assume (pray?) Carter would come back as a strong 2C the following season (remember how much time we had with Kempe as a 2C).

 

[King'sPawn]

Not to mention free agency is where you add depth and fill holes of what you don't already have in your system.

Kovalchuk didn't fit the team, but he fit the role.

 

[Herby]

In some parallel universe the Kings sucked in 2017-2018, they traded atleast one of core players at the deadline or offseason for younger assets, they drafted Tkachuk, Svechnikov or Hughes and never got involved with Kovalchuk.

The Doughty suspension is like the missed call with Courtnall 20 years before, it made no difference on the overall result of the series. That team was one of the worst rosters to make the playoffs that I can remember.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Good listen on the recent ATKM podcast with Jim and Nick. They preached patience to the fan base, which I think a lot on this board agree with.

If management takes that direction, I respect it. It’s what is needed at this point. My hope is the message from Luc and Blake is in line with this, starting in the offseason. And the path forward to do the right thing and show conviction in the strength of the drafting is to pencil in as many top prospects into next seasons starting lineup.

Even fans who slavishly defend the fake meritocracy argument that prospects must earn a spot will get behind a roster stocked with kids. Making expensive acquisitions in the offseason is risky and short sighted, even for a guy like Dahlin or Eichel, like a lot of people on here have argued.

Nut up Rob Blake and level with the fans that by the time the Kings are ready to contend for the playoffs, we’ll be down to Doughty as the left over vet. Maybe we get there before Kopitar’s deal runs out, but it’s better to keep hopes realistic.

 

[funky]

No it wasn’t close. The shot totals and possession were crazy in VGK’s favor. Kings were just hanging on for dear life in that series.

You have to remember we also did it without half our defensive core and without Doughty for a game. Quick was a beast and that guy at the other end wasn’t half bad either. What it did do was it did show that the Kings style of play was no longer relevant

 

[Bandit]

In some parallel universe the Kings still haven't won the cup.

 

[Reclamation Project]

 

[LAKings88]

All the Kings Men Podcast - Official LA Kings Podcast

Great listen

ATKM latest episode

 

[KingsFan7824]

And were clearly the lesser team by quite a margin. Still can't believe Blake thought we were only player away (Kovalchuk) from seriously contending. I do give him credit for quickly recognizing his mistake and beginning to blow things up.

One thing to note here is the concern about the 'potential' of our prospect pool. Just as it is unreasonable to assume each of these youngsters will make a significant mark in the NHL, it is just as wrong to assume everyone will be a bust. Some surely will be, but the odds are very good that one or two of them, if not more, will become stars.

Teams don't tend to try to suck after making the playoffs. Regardless of how overmatched they were. Teams don't want to suck. Something has to happen for that process to start. Players have to choose to leave, the team has to quit, whatever it is. It's not just, eh, let's rebuild today. Because it can be an endless process, with no guarantee that it works.

In some parallel universe the Kings sucked in 2017-2018, they traded atleast one of core players at the deadline or offseason for younger assets, they drafted Tkachuk, Svechnikov or Hughes and never got involved with Kovalchuk.

The Doughty suspension is like the missed call with Courtnall 20 years before, it made no difference on the overall result of the series. That team was one of the worst rosters to make the playoffs that I can remember.

By core, you mean one of the 5 that were still here this year? I highly doubt anything changes in that regard if they sucked in 17-18. They were still aging with, more importantly, term. But yes, so many things would've been better had they just fallen completely flat in 14-15. Do not give DL a reason to even think about the playoffs. They go on that little run though, and them being the "just get in Kings" and what not, sort of doomed the franchise. Had they just been bad, there's no 1st for Sekera. There's no desperate move for Lucic. Maybe even Doughty wants to leave.

Close enough was the key in the golden age. 8th seed? Close enough. Only down 0-3? Close enough. Having to win three Game 7's on the road? Close enough. Having to win 3 OT games at home in the Final? Close enough. Just get in.

But, of course, Kopitar has to have his one league MVP-type season in a year where Carter missed 50 games. That injury should've killed that season.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I can't recall the last time a defenseman like Dahlin was moved. He just turned 21 days ago, a 1st overall three years ago and still on an entry-level contract, and he has 104 points in 186 games.

Sure, Dahlin fits exactly what the Kings need, as well as what every team in the league needs, including Buffalo. They're not trading him.

My guess is Pronger

Seth Jones...out of Nashville.