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

[Axl Rhoadz]

This is like a dude who meets a sexy college grad. Smart and a 9/10 in the looks department. It's hot and fresh. Their relationship is a romance and a porno movie.

The two move in together. She's taking a break from life because she just graduated. Fast forward a year and the relationship is rough. She doesn't work. She can't cool well but tries. She doesn't clean the house but she makes the bed. She's gained 30 pounds and needs lots of time to herself. She goes on girls trips but she messages you and says she misses you.

There's an argument and a serious talk that results in her trying. She promises to look for a job and she loses 5 pounds. Repeat this cycle over and over again.

Eventually you have to make a decision. She is no longer the 110 pound firecracker. She's smart but not using it. It's great for 3 months out of the year. You know that it's not special but there is always that memory of sleeping with that 110 pound college girl. She gives you just enough to make you think that maybe she can make something special.

Do you give her the ring and HOPE for average or do you wish her well and try for special?

Don't make this about your failed marriage, we're talking hockey here.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Would be nice if the Kings could sprinkle in a young Schenn, Clifford or Simmonds type prospect.

Seems like all these current prospects are getting injured and I wouldn’t say anyone of them are physical.

 

[MartinS82]

chicken wire, and the wall of death.....had to play non-contact against that wall.....

Lol...Norwalk! Remember that rink well. Anyone here ever play at Ice Capades Chalet in Costa Mesa? Man, there were some BAD rinks in SoCal back in the day.

 

[SFKingshomer]

Would be nice if the Kings could sprinkle in a young Schenn, Clifford or Simmonds type prospect.

Seems like all these current prospects are getting injured and I wouldn’t say anyone of them are physical.

Those types rarely exist anymore.

 

[MartinS82]

I can’t remember which former Russian player from the Ducks coached in Riverside...Anatoli Semenov? Guy smoked like a chimney. I played roller hockey for former King and Duck Jim Thomson. Energy Performance Hockey! It was him Mikhail Shtalenkov, and Dave Karpa.

Yep, Semenov. Still coaches down here.

 

[bland]

This is like a dude who meets a sexy college grad. Smart and a 9/10 in the looks department. It's hot and fresh. Their relationship is a romance and a porno movie.

The two move in together. She's taking a break from life because she just graduated. Fast forward a year and the relationship is rough. She doesn't work. She can't cool well but tries. She doesn't clean the house but she makes the bed. She's gained 30 pounds and needs lots of time to herself. She goes on girls trips but she messages you and says she misses you.

There's an argument and a serious talk that results in her trying. She promises to look for a job and she loses 5 pounds. Repeat this cycle over and over again.

Eventually you have to make a decision. She is no longer the 110 pound firecracker. She's smart but not using it. It's great for 3 months out of the year. You know that it's not special but there is always that memory of sleeping with that 110 pound college girl. She gives you just enough to make you think that maybe she can make something special.

Do you give her the ring and HOPE for average or do you wish her well and try for special?

Cuckold in denial here.

 

[No Name The Nameless]

I understand the analogy, but man that was depressing.

That.....was my 2012,13. I moved on.

 

[Bandit]

Apparently Gabe Vilardi teaches yoga in the off-season…

When he’s not doing cooking classes about steak and potatoes of course.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Lol...Norwalk! Remember that rink well. Anyone here ever play at Ice Capades Chalet in Costa Mesa? Man, there were some BAD rinks in SoCal back in the day.

Oh yea, we had to dress in their party room because it was like a closet in the locker room.

Lake Arrowhead hands down favorite rink

 

[SFKingshomer]

Oh yea, we had to dress in their party room because it was like a closet in the locker room.

Lake Arrowhead hands down favorite rink

We trained in Lake Arrowhead during the offseason. I remember when myself and a bunch of others got sick from the Zamboni at Norwalk. We were playing the Southeastern Blues and the game was cancelled because a bunch of us started throwing up.

 

[BigKing]

Learned how to skate at Ice Chalet in Costa Mesa. Ice Hawk across the street was awesome...hard to imagine being able to buy NHL jerseys from a strip mall nowadays.

Saw a lot of movies at the Edwards next to Ice Chalet and was a fixture at Kona Lanes for a decent stretch of time. Bummer what became of all that but, hey...progress?

 

[Gjwrams]

Turcotte issue is that every time he looks like he is about to turn the corner offensively, he gets hurt. Wasn't he the AHL player of the week a few weeks ago? He needs time to heal with whatever it is that is going on, get stronger. I expect a good start to the season out of him on the Reign next year. Hopefully he will finish the year on the Kings roster.

I think he might finish the season on the Sabres roster!

 

[MartinS82]

Oh yea, we had to dress in their party room because it was like a closet in the locker room.

Lake Arrowhead hands down favorite rink

Yep...Blue Jay, miss that one.

 

[YP44]

Maybe but name two teams that were worse than the Ducks this year.

don't see how this relates

 

[tomd]

Learned how to skate at Ice Chalet in Costa Mesa. Ice Hawk across the street was awesome...hard to imagine being able to buy NHL jerseys from a strip mall nowadays.

Saw a lot of movies at the Edwards next to Ice Chalet and was a fixture at Kona Lanes for a decent stretch of time. Bummer what became of all that but, hey...progress?

I remember it well. Great record store there as well back in the day (Music Market IIRC).

 

[Herby]

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it feels like you are criticizing the Kings picks as if they are all 'off the board', Lombardi-esque (think Hickey). I mean Blake ain't that creative, he doesn't think out of the box. You think OTT would have taken Stutzle at #2? If the Kings didn't have the #5 pick in 2019, would Turcotte not have gone that high? I look back at draft rankings and he's listed at anywhere from #3 to #10. Hell, Vilardi was ranked #4 and fell to the the Kings at #11! My point is if these guys don't 'hit', is it lack of vision on our organization's part or just bad luck?

I don't think I said any of the Kings picks were off the board, I don't think any of the Kings picks have been off the board, even though I do think in some instances they should have looked for more higher ceiling players. But no, the Kings always taken guys where they were expected to be picked. My biggest issues with the Kings are why they have so many centers at the expense of almost all the other positions and why they went against the trend and didn't have Turcotte go back to school and dominate because it hindered the development of someone the Kings used an insanely valuable pick on. Possibly one of only two top 5 picks the Kings are going to have in this rebuild.

My concerns continue to be how many truly game changing players the Kings have in their system vs. teams that are either contending right now (Colorado etc) and teams that the Kings will have to go through if they want to win another cup. Colorado who is the cup favorite right now and Tampa who won the cup last year have multiple star 1st line players on their team and that is the recipe for success in the NHL now with the emphasis on skill and speed.

Colorado's best players almost all were instant contributors immediately who were stars before they were old enough to buy a fat tire.

MacK was a borderline star in his D+1 at 18

Rantanen came over to North America and dominated the AHL in his D+1, was a 20 goal scorer in the NHL in his D+2 and has been a huge star from 21 on.

Landeskog was a difference maker from the second he stepped into the league at 18/19 in his D+1

Makar did the optimal development route for NCAA players, pretty good as a freshman in D+1, went back to school to dominate and was a mega star as a soph in his D+2 and then immediately joined the Avs for the playoffs that season and has been a huge star in the NHL ever since.

The Avs had five top 10 picks from 2011-2017 and basically had 4 homeruns and 1 fielders choice groundout. And the fielders choice groundout was on a guy who they (wait for it) pulled out of school after his freshman season and never let him truly dominate that level. Atleast they learned their lesson in time to handle Makar right.

For Ottawa as discussed.

Tkachuk steps into the NHL in his D+1 and is immediately a difference making player with his offense plus physicality.

Stutzle comes over from Europe as an 18 year old and immediately steps in and looks the part of a future star. Scoring at an 18G/45P pace while looking electric at times doing it.

Josh Norris, kind of like Turcotte had some challenges as a freshman, Ottawa sent him back to college as a sophomore and he was a much better player. His first year as a pro he was dominant in the AHL at 20 and then follows it up with a 25G/50P pace NHL rookie season at 21.

They also have Chabot who has been a damn good offensive defenseman from age 20 on.

For the Ducks

Zegras dominates the AHL and scores at a 45 point pace over 25 games in the NHL as a 19 year old. Is it fair to say that it's very likely that Zegras is a 60+ point guy next season at 20?

Drysdale was a star in the AHL, I don't think they wanted him in the NHL but he was just to good to not call up. Looked pretty damn impressive playing against NHL players as an 18 year old d-man. I obviously wouldn't trade QB for Drysdale but give them credit, historically there has been a big difference between 2 and 6 many years and they probably found a guy who looks like a similar caliber prospect to the consensus Big 3 from last year.

And there are other examples, usually guys who are star players in the league look like star players very early on. I don't question that the Kings have a lot of future 2nd liners in the system, more than anyone else in the league, but how many blue chip guys do the Kings have outside of QB? This is why I want anything but the status quo with the current Kings team. Either cash in some of these future 2nd line chips to get a true difference maker (and make no mistake, Eichel is a 1st line difference maker) or trade everyone and blow it up to get a few more shots at top 5 picks and hopefully land another true blue chip prospect or two to pair with QB, someone like Bedard or Wright.

I just don't think the Kings have the game-changers to win a SC in the next 6-8 years without bringing in another elite player or two, either from the draft or from trade.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Kopitar - "No secret this summer is going to be big for us.”

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

We trained in Lake Arrowhead during the offseason. I remember when myself and a bunch of others got sick from the Zamboni at Norwalk. We were playing the Southeastern Blues and the game was cancelled because a bunch of us started throwing up.

Southeastern Blues holy shit.....lol...

WTF Train in the off-season? lmao.....

 

[johnjm22]

My concerns continue to be how many truly game changing players the Kings have in their system vs. teams that are either contending right now (Colorado etc) and teams that the Kings will have to go through if they want to win another cup.

And that's always the concern. You have to strike gold on multiple draft picks in a relatively short period of time.

It involves a large amount of luck.

Kings got lucky when Kopitar fell to 11th. Also got lucky by getting the 2OA in 2020.

That's why I advocate for continuing to build/tank, because it increases your chances of getting "lucky".

 

[The Lukeman]

Man look at Taylor Hall's turn around after leaving Buffalo. Can only imagine what Eichel would be like on a team that he enjoys playing for. 8 Goals, 14 points +15 in 16 games after going 2 goals, 19 points, -21 in 37 games in Buffalo.

 

[Sol]

Apparently Gabe Vilardi teaches yoga in the off-season…

View attachment 435917

When he’s not doing cooking classes about steak and potatoes of course.

Wow what happened to Harry Potter

 

[BringTheReign]

I liked playing in Pasadena, maybe it was because the best goalie in the league was Billy Ruggierio and I'd have my best games against him. That team was always loaded with several guys that played Canadian major junior and or college. Billy's sister Angela played D and her shot was so hard and heavy.

That's rad that you played against Angela! I attended a clinic my sister was in where she made an appearance.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Ritchie looks like 40 year old baby.

Edit - wrong thread.

 

[SFKingshomer]

That's rad that you played against Angela! I attended a clinic my sister was in where she made an appearance.

Yea I just remember her shot feeling really heavy. Chanda Gunn tried out for our team that won State and she played better than myself and our other goalie in tryouts but later went elsewhere. I know she won a US Gold.

 

[Herby]

And that's always the concern. You have to strike gold on multiple draft picks in a relatively short period of time.

It involves a large amount of luck.

Kings got lucky when Kopitar fell to 11th. Also got lucky by getting the 2OA in 2020.

That's why I advocate for continuing to build/tank, because it increases your chances of getting "lucky".

Yup, the teams that have been really good in the last 10 years almost all drafted multiple Hall of Fame caliber players within a few years of each other. That is how you win championships, with difference making offensive players.

Chicago - Kane, Toews, Keith within 5 years of each other. Seabrook and Crawford as nice complimentary pieces. I think the Kings system is full of complimentary pieces like that but really only QB has that big dog potential.

Pittsburgh - Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Fleury all within three drafts of each other. Two HOF caliber players in one draft. Two legit superstars in back to back years, how? Well a little luck, but they were bad enough where moving up one spot gave them that superstar, they weren't picking 8th.

LA - Also two HOF caliber players in one draft and then followed it up with a third three years later. Some people here love to crap on these guys and try and give credit to secondary pieces but there are zero banners hanging in the rafters if one of those guys isn't here, period.

Washington - Ovechkin and Backstrom within 2 years of each other.

Tampa - Stamkos, Hedman and Kucherov within 3 years of each other.

Does anyone really think the Kings system is going to produce multiple players of this caliber which seems to be the path most traveled to SC championships?

And I agree with the last part, I am more in the trade for Eichel camp because the Kings are bursting at the seams with future 2nd liners, but as I said in my post, I'd be cool with trading the older players and sucking the next 2-3 years and trying to get a player or two who might end up like that. Either option is fine, the thing the Kings can't do is pick 11th or something the next two years.