Speculation: 2020-21 News/Rumors/Roster Thread Part IV

[kings11]

I think it's definitely a possibility. The one thing is that GMs in general now see how Vegas capitalized on that in building their team now. They killed it in the trade market. Luc lamented about that either in a season ticket holder meeting or an online segment. That being said, the Kings should only concern themselves with their own house and not someone else's. If it turns out that Clague, Strand, Andersson, Grundstrom etc are absolute keepers, then it makes sense to part with a future pick instead of the sunk cost of the original pick to draft the player and development investment.

I think this is why we acquired Maata and signed Wagner to a 3 year deal.. Teams are always suckers for unreal speed.
Add to this the haul that we get for Iafallo, AA and maybe Walker.. or even take into account the fact that some of those kids we all like might be traded for some superstar player..
The Kings are in a position most teams only dream, like the pundits said earlier this year... There isn't a player the LA Kings cannot afford! whether it be via trade or UFA

 

[HookKing]

It's not just you. Walker is awesome. And he's an unfair advantage on the bottom pair but he's acquitted himself well even as a #2. I agree that he's an absolutely shitty asset to just 'lose' which is why if he's exposed he's most likely guaranteed to be gone. It's a tough thing to see, Kings finally figuring out the defense and getting some guys outperforming their role just in time to lose them...

Its even worse than that as he might not be very tradeable with the full shield. Kings could still protect him and leave either Grundstrom or Andersson available. The thing to consider here is how easy would they be to replace. Kings have far more good forwards in the pipeline than D although forwards with an edge are unproven. And then of course if you protect 5 D you now have too many D for next year's roster.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The other thing I'm worried about with Strand is the natural connection to Seattle with his championship with the Tbirds. It's an easy sell.

Its even worse than that as he might not be very tradeable with the full shield. Kings could still protect him and leave either Grundstrom or Andersson available. The thing to consider here is how easy would they be to replace. Kings have far more good forwards in the pipeline than D although forwards with an edge are unproven. And then of course if you protect 5 D you now have too many D for next year's roster.

That's also true. I'd much rather lose Andersson than Grundy though at least at this point. Lots can still change, that's for sure. But with the stuff in the pipeline, yeah forwards are more expendable. Just hard to see beyond the mystery boxes right now! And it's a good problem to have to have too many guys you want to keep, the picture was much clearer before the season IMO.

 

[HookKing]

The other thing I'm worried about with Strand is the natural connection to Seattle with his championship with the Tbirds. It's an easy sell.



That's also true. I'd much rather lose Andersson than Grundy though at least at this point. Lots can still change, that's for sure. But with the stuff in the pipeline, yeah forwards are more expendable. Just hard to see beyond the mystery boxes right now! And it's a good problem to have to have too many guys you want to keep, the picture was much clearer before the season IMO.

You gotta figure Iafallo will be traded (for picks). I can see JAD doing fine on Kopitar's line and Turcotte/Kupari as 3C (assuming the Turc isn't a complete china doll).

 

[Reaper45]

You gotta figure Iafallo will be traded (for picks). I can see JAD doing fine on Kopitar's line and Turcotte/Kupari as 3C (assuming the Turc isn't a complete china doll).

I don’t see him getting traded at all unless someone overpays.

 

[HookKing]

I don’t see him getting traded at all unless someone overpays.

Then you have to protect him and you still may lose him for nothing if won't sign. Moreover, now you lose another player that you couldn't protect because he took a precious spot on the list. Doesn't sound like good business to me.

 

[YP44]

Give Seattle a 3rd to take Frk, keep everyone else

 

[Statto]

Clague is making Walker look expendable.

And some fans/bloggers are saying Strand is making Big Mac look expendable. I don't believe that. But if the Kings want to go that route, then give Boko Imama a shot on the 4th line.

Is Imama capable of doing even 6-8 mins of NHL ice time? I’d love the answer to be yes but I’m far from certain he could even do half of that. Don’t get me wrong, from what I understand he’s a great guy in the room and can do the tough guy bit, but if he could even possibly do that job at the NHL level you’d have to think he’d have had some sort of look by now. I get what you’re saying though, it would be far better to have a forward that could play the MacDermid role.

As for the expansion draft I suspect the collective view will change anyway as the season progresses and we start picking holes in Strands game. So whilst I’m not predicting anything, before the season started, I actually saw Walker as a short term King anyway as once Faber is ready to turn pro he’s be expendable and that’s without even thinking about Grans. So if Strand can step in and fill that void even for a season or 2 whilst Faber and Grans mature it’s a pretty good spot to be in. Whatever rout we go the Kings are pretty well placed for the draft.

 

[BigKing]

It's tough with Iafallo because he's on a 53 point pace over 82 games but he's also playing 20 minutes a night. Not that you can just play anyone 20 minutes a night and they will score at that clip but, at the same time, you want someone better on your top line.

Drop him down to 3rd line wing--where I'd prefer him--and he isn't a 50-point player but you are going to have to pay him like one right now.

Kings have a ton of space though and could probably afford to overpay him a bit as long as the term isn't rough. I think Toffoli is a better player and is slightly older. Signed at $4.25MM for four years. He shouldn't get more than that but he might be able to comp to someone like that based on point production.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

It's tough with Iafallo because he's on a 53 point pace over 82 games but he's also playing 20 minutes a night. Not that you can just play anyone 20 minutes a night and they will score at that clip but, at the same time, you want someone better on your top line.

Drop him down to 3rd line wing--where I'd prefer him--and he isn't a 50-point player but you are going to have to pay him like one right now.

Kings have a ton of space though and could probably afford to overpay him a bit as long as the term isn't rough. I think Toffoli is a better player and is slightly older. Signed at $4.25MM for four years. He shouldn't get more than that but he might be able to comp to someone like that based on point production.

50+ points is absolutely top line production. I think 40-50 I'll concede on but I'm not sure people's expectations of 'first line talent' is commensurate with reality.

In the last full regular season, 82 total forwards has more than 53 points.

Do we want someone more talented ideally, sure. But this idea that Iafallo somehow doesn't fit that scoring profile needs to stop, they can't all be play drivers, some are complementary. I guess this is less at you and more at the general idea that somehow Iafallo isn't enough/doesn't fit.

For all the wingers we've lined up next to Kopitar, Iafallo fits right in that top tier with Williams and Brown.

 

[Stimpythecat]

52 points or so is definitely 1st line. 40ish is 2nd. 1st line seems to be working with brown and kopitar producing well with Iafallo.

I'd rather keep grundstom and exposse andersson. Go with 8 skaters protected but this is not set in stone. Fortunately, most of the top forward prospects don't need to be protected.

Sign Iafallo in the offseason.

Kopitar
Tonka
Kempe
Doughty
Roy
Walker
Clague
Strand

Petersen

I go with 5 D protected since that has been an issue ever since Voynov. A forward is easier to replace than a good defenseman. And if we have too many defensemen, a trade is always an option.

 

[YP44]

If Seattle takes Brown I will be pissed

 

[bland]

Its even worse than that as he might not be very tradeable with the full shield. Kings could still protect him and leave either Grundstrom or Andersson available. The thing to consider here is how easy would they be to replace. Kings have far more good forwards in the pipeline than D although forwards with an edge are unproven. And then of course if you protect 5 D you now have too many D for next year's roster.

The Kings have more right shot defensemen than anything, and fretting over a 3rd pairing version when you have next to zero forward grit makes it an easy consideration towards keeping Grundstrom and Andersson.

 

[bland]

Then you have to protect him and you still may lose him for nothing if won't sign. Moreover, now you lose another player that you couldn't protect because he took a precious spot on the list. Doesn't sound like good business to me.

Iafallo is unrestricted this summer, you don't need to protect him. Handshake agreement to re-sign after the draft, thats all you need.

 

[Anguyen92]

Like if Seattle wants to claim Iafallo when he's currently UFA and may still be UFA until around offseason time, can they do so? If so, they would need to negotiate the deal with him, right? It wouldn't be on the Kings? If the negotiation doesn't pan out well and they don't sign him, does that burn the Kings' spot in the expansion draft?

I mean I know Seattle probably would not pick him if he's still UFA at the time they make the decision, but it's something to ponder about.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

If Seattle takes Brown I will be pissed

He can just pull a Spezza (“if you pick me, I’ll just retire”) and Seattle could look at someone else.

 

[Schmooley]

Cant imagine brown being taken. I think there will be better defenseman than forwards available for seattle to take from around the league. I have heard they hired a good analytics team. So i imagine whatever forward we expose that has the best analytics will be the one taken. Wagner or lizotte maybe?

 

[Anguyen92]

If they are having issues meeting Cap Floor, I can see them entertaining the idea of taking Carter. They only need to pay him $2 million of salary for one year to finish that long contract. They also want to think trying to have that steady veteran presence as well (although, I'm sure other teams probably want Seattle to pick their expendable veterans with huge contracts as well ).

 

[BigKing]

50+ points is absolutely top line production. I think 40-50 I'll concede on but I'm not sure people's expectations of 'first line talent' is commensurate with reality.

In the last full regular season, 82 total forwards has more than 53 points.

Do we want someone more talented ideally, sure. But this idea that Iafallo somehow doesn't fit that scoring profile needs to stop, they can't all be play drivers, some are complementary. I guess this is less at you and more at the general idea that somehow Iafallo isn't enough/doesn't fit.

For all the wingers we've lined up next to Kopitar, Iafallo fits right in that top tier with Williams and Brown.

True, but it still an "on-pace" projection and it is with 20 minutes a night, which seems insane for him.

He might fit from a pure counting numbers perspective--if he hits 50--but he's also been a top line winger and PP guy on a team that hasn't done jack shit. He has that stink of "good player on a bad team" type of production to me but, then again, he can't prove he can score at that pace on a good team until he is on one. Unfortunately, the Kings are going to have to make the decision based on him putting up 40-ish points on a bottom-feeder v. similar production on a contending team that plays meaningful games.

This isn't all to say I dislike the player because I don't. I'd just like someone that can do more offensively with the ice time he is given and I'd like his tenacity on a 3rd line where he can go all-out even more with fewer minutes. Of course, if we have wingers in the Top 6 better than him than that means we are a much better team than today or the past couple of years which is kind of the point.

Say you do think he is a top-line forward: what are you paying him on this next deal and for how long?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

True, but it still an "on-pace" projection and it is with 20 minutes a night, which seems insane for him.

He might fit from a pure counting numbers perspective--if he hits 50--but he's also been a top line winger and PP guy on a team that hasn't done jack shit. He has that stink of "good player on a bad team" type of production to me but, then again, he can't prove he can score at that pace on a good team until he is on one. Unfortunately, the Kings are going to have to make the decision based on him putting up 40-ish points on a bottom-feeder v. similar production on a contending team that plays meaningful games.

This isn't all to say I dislike the player because I don't. I'd just like someone that can do more offensively with the ice time he is given and I'd like his tenacity on a 3rd line where he can go all-out even more with fewer minutes. Of course, if we have wingers in the Top 6 better than him than that means we are a much better team than today or the past couple of years which is kind of the point.

Say you do think he is a top-line forward: what are you paying him on this next deal and for how long?

Which is also the problem because no one has been able to take that spot so far and does moving him to the 3rd line on a crappy team really accomplish anything? I'd love to see what he can do on a 'functional' 3rd line (which we should have now) to get a better assessment of what he can be. It kind of stinks that it falls into the "if it ain't broken" category because in theory you could swap Grundstrom or soemone else to Kopitar's LW and see what Iafallo can do with Vilardi or something.

I think he's in line for a Pearson/Toffoli deal, anything more than that is too rich (for us). He's a top-sixer but a complementary one

 

[LAKings88]

Pair of LA Kings Roster Decisions Looming on the Horizon

 

[redcard]

If they are having issues meeting Cap Floor, I can see them entertaining the idea of taking Carter. They only need to pay him $2 million of salary for one year to finish that long contract. They also want to think trying to have that steady veteran presence as well (although, I'm sure other teams probably want Seattle to pick their expendable veterans with huge contracts as well ).

They can trade for bad contracts and get additional assets in return if they need to reach the cap floor, unlikely they'd use an expansion pick for those means.

 

[HookKing]

Iafallo is unrestricted this summer, you don't need to protect him. Handshake agreement to re-sign after the draft, thats all you need.

Sure.

 

[HookKing]

The Kings have more right shot defensemen than anything, and fretting over a 3rd pairing version when you have next to zero forward grit makes it an easy consideration towards keeping Grundstrom and Andersson.

Not easy at all. Neither one of those two have proven they're better than the players still out much less worthy of being protected.

 

[HookKing]

Cant imagine brown being taken. I think there will be better defenseman than forwards available for seattle to take from around the league. I have heard they hired a good analytics team. So i imagine whatever forward we expose that has the best analytics will be the one taken. Wagner or lizotte maybe?

It is unlikely they take Brown unless they have a trading partner for him.