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

[KingsFan7824]

If it takes Byfield forever to become a top 6 F, not even a top line guy, then why did they bother drafting him #2? If he's not a known quantity by 20, then might as well trade him for Eichel now.

 

[cyclones22]

equivalent of 3 1st round picks and a 2nd round pick for a guy who hits free agency after this upcoming season?

Exactly. He is a rental who you hope to convince sign an extension. Could be Lucic Part 2. Yes the Kings have the money to re-sign him, but that's a big assumption that he would be willing to do so.

 

[Gjwrams]

If it takes Byfield forever to become a top 6 F, not even a top line guy, then why did they bother drafting him #2? If he's not a known quantity by 20, then might as well trade him for Eichel now.

Who says he will take forever. I think he starts the year as 3c and finishes the year at 2c, bypassing Vilardi.

 

[DAkings20]

 

[funky]

I will say that I have not been impressed with The Athletic's LA Kings coverage this season and offseason. It has noticeably declined in frequency of articles and content quality. I think the entire package is still worth it for other teams, league-wide articles, and other sports, but yeah, disappointing locally.

Edit: I will add that the Ducks coverage has noticeable improved in the same amount of time, which is odd given that according to fan surveys there are definitely more Kings fans on the site than Ducks fans. Eric Stephens had an article on Jamie Drysdale recently that was fantastic.

just ended my subscription with the Atheletic a few days ago. I found the same thing regarding the Kings. Not impressed with the Locked on Kings Podcast either. It’s awesome that all I have to do is log onto HockeysFuture and it is usually up to date with all news and some very knowledgeable posters

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Tarasenko’s shoulder problems concern me. We all remember what happened to Palffy, and he was around the same age as Tarasenko when those shoulder problems became a lingering issue.

 

[kilowatt]

Tarasenko’s shoulder problems concern me. We all remember what happened to Palffy, and he was around the same age as Tarasenko when those shoulder problems became a lingering issue.

I agree. The price the Kings would be willing to pay is likely lower than a contender who only really needs him for the duration of his current contract. I'd be willing to send something like St. Louis' second round pick, Clague, and Lizotte or Wagner for him. Tarasenko has two knocks going against him: his huge contract and his injury issues. Both alone are enough to dissuade teams, but together, that's a scary player to trade for.

A healthy Tarasenko pre-covid-flat-cap was likely worth the 8th overall and more.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Tarasenko’s shoulder problems concern me. We all remember what happened to Palffy, and he was around the same age as Tarasenko when those shoulder problems became a lingering issue.

Contract runs 2 years & is a good bridge contract to get to Laine & Pasta free agency.

Laine we all know is fast heading for free agency.

Pasta I suspect will get traded. Bos has a history of requiring their players to take a home town discount. With Bergeron, Krejci, Rask getting older & not being replaced, will Pasta take a discount on a team heading for a retool?

 

[Reclamation Project]

I will say that I have not been impressed with The Athletic's LA Kings coverage this season and offseason. It has noticeably declined in frequency of articles and content quality. I think the entire package is still worth it for other teams, league-wide articles, and other sports, but yeah, disappointing locally.

Edit: I will add that the Ducks coverage has noticeable improved in the same amount of time, which is odd given that according to fan surveys there are definitely more Kings fans on the site than Ducks fans. Eric Stephens had an article on Jamie Drysdale recently that was fantastic.

It's hard to dress up a turd.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Targets for the future. Big money targets that the Kings can afford with all their young players coming.
Ovechkin UFA
Forsberg 1 year on contract
Laine & Pasta 2 years
Mathews & Nylander 3 years (same as Kopi & Byfield)

After next season Kopi will be the only forward making over 5 million. There's space to add an expensive player. Maybe a 2nd short term one.

 

[Bandit]

Cool. Anywhere but here.

 

[raswilliam]

Solid take on the kings by steve. He spends a considerable amount of time on kings prospects and discusses the draft as well.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Who says he will take forever. I think he starts the year as 3c and finishes the year at 2c, bypassing Vilardi.

But who are you getting? I don’t think it’s a 70 point guy, because he won’t play with Matthews and Marner on the PP. But is he even a 50 point guy on the Kings? By the time Byfield and company are NHL top six forwards, Reilly will be 30 years old at the earliest.

That's what I was responding to. Just a random comment, but Reilly just turned 27. If Byfield isn't already the team's leading scorer well within the next 3 years, what are we doing here? If we're waiting another 3 years for Turcotte and Kaliyev to be main offensive weapons, why are the Kings not trading them before the league knows they're not that good?

 

[kilowatt]

Reilly would be a great target for LA.

 

[DoktorJeep]

That's what I was responding to. Just a random comment, but Reilly just turned 27. If Byfield isn't already the team's leading scorer well within the next 3 years, what are we doing here? If we're waiting another 3 years for Turcotte and Kaliyev to be main offensive weapons, why are the Kings not trading them before the league knows they're not that good?

I doubt any of the kids crack 30 points with coach Todd in charge.

 

[kingsfan28]

Exactly. He is a rental who you hope to convince sign an extension. Could be Lucic Part 2. Yes the Kings have the money to re-sign him, but that's a big assumption that he would be willing to do so.

Bingo! theres now way you give up major assets for him, especially with his future uncertain. Hell, he may get all pissy with the nhl and bolt back to russia. HARD PASS!

 

[Johnny Utah]

Rumor has it the Kings will buy out Maata. Why would they do this with the chance Seattle takes him? One more player in the mix for them to take.

 

[King'sPawn]

Rumor has it the Kings will buy out Maata. Why would they do this with the chance Seattle takes him? One more player in the mix for them to take.

Who said that rumor? Part of the reason they keep him is because Maata meets the veteran requirements for exposure to expansion purposes.

 

[Steve Zissou]

Solid take on the kings by steve. He spends a considerable amount of time on kings prospects and discusses the draft as well.

This was a hard listen for me. It's been a long time since I heard a dude say so much without really saying anything.

The 1st 30 minutes were recaps of the the Kings recent season and was a snoozefest. How fast he talked and jumped around I felt I was growing a tumor.

After that, the prospects info lacked any factual stats... Dude didn't even know Ontario was California. Thought Doughty was born in 1980. Didn't even mention Turcotte was hurt again this past season (or Madden / Hults for that matter).

At least he watched the World Junior Tournament, that seemed to be his strongest arguments about player info.

Also he mentioned he had to watch Malmö Redhawks because of another player so he also watched Helge Grans... but just completely glossed over how he played this past season (Grans led the entire league with a -21 in his plus/minus in 43 games this year) and just resorted to future projections about him.

Kudos on knowing Lukas Parik's .860 save percentage this past season, but Kaliyev doesn't play LW (1:07:00). Doesn't sound like he watched any highlights/full games of the Reign games this past season. So why not do a touch of research but doing a super long podcast? I don't get it. Put in the work.

He could have read some recent articles and write-ups to have some 1st hand knowledge about how all the players in Ontario grew/regressed, started losing at the beginning of the season but turned it around, suffered because of the goaltending, etc. Also first year coach for that Reign team with Wrobo. Nothing, nada, zip.

FWIW - 2021 draft info starts @ 1:10:00 – this is probably what people here will find interesting.

Solid Boston accent, still gave me a migraine.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I doubt any of the kids crack 30 points with coach Todd in charge.

Vilardi would've done it this year in 82 games, but whatever.

Rumor has it the Kings will buy out Maata. Why would they do this with the chance Seattle takes him? One more player in the mix for them to take.

Maybe they know Seattle won't?

Who said that rumor? Part of the reason they keep him is because Maata meets the veteran requirements for exposure to expansion purposes.

Part of the reason they got him was to meet the requirement. MacDermid now meets that requirement too.

 

[Docgonzo]

Bingo! theres now way you give up major assets for him, especially with his future uncertain. Hell, he may get all pissy with the nhl and bolt back to russia. HARD PASS!

Seth Jones is bolting back to Russia?

 

[KingsFan7824]

I agree. The price the Kings would be willing to pay is likely lower than a contender who only really needs him for the duration of his current contract. I'd be willing to send something like St. Louis' second round pick, Clague, and Lizotte or Wagner for him. Tarasenko has two knocks going against him: his huge contract and his injury issues. Both alone are enough to dissuade teams, but together, that's a scary player to trade for.

A healthy Tarasenko pre-covid-flat-cap was likely worth the 8th overall and more.

The contract isn't that huge anymore.

I get the injury worry, but Clague, Lizotte/Wagner, and a 2nd doesn't get you anything anywhere in the league.

 

[HookKing]

Rumor has it the Kings will buy out Maata. Why would they do this with the chance Seattle takes him? One more player in the mix for them to take.

Because there is zero chance Seattle takes Maata.

 

[funky]

Wait for Seattle to throw us a curveball and take Quick. His actual salary is peanuts and he could be a useful trade chip.

 

[Legionnaire]

Did anybody see the Athletic article about Seth Jones written by Pronman and Portzline? It goes over potential costs for Jones and if that’s all it’d cost I’d hope Blake would pull the trigger.

Kempe
Thomas
Bjornfot
2022 1st lottery protected

Jones for none of Byfield, Turcotte, Vilardi, Kaliyev? Heck yes.

I'd do this in a second. Jones would definitely re-sign.