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

[Perratrooper]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think LA would pay to acquire Byram from Colorado? It was rumored that LA was looking for a skilled LHD and to be quite honest Byram has a lot of similarities to Doughty (though I don’t think he’ll ever reach the same offensive level).

Colorado would be looking for centers ideally in a trade.

 

[funky]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think LA would pay to acquire Byram from Colorado? It was rumored that LA was looking for a skilled LHD and to be quite honest Byram has a lot of similarities to Doughty (though I don’t think he’ll ever reach the same offensive level).

Colorado would be looking for centers ideally in a trade.

nhl center depth or prospects?

 

[BringTheReign]

This isn't good.

 

[funky]

And the problem is you trade depth in other positions, where you're weaker, to bolster a position where you're already strong.

Kings didn't just win by strength of center depth.

I just don’t see us having center depth right now in the NHL. We have Kopitar as a true number one followed by Villardi who may be better off on the wing followed by a bunch of nobody’s. I think Anderson-Dolan and has promised as a bottom six center But I am not impressed by Amadio, Lizotte and I think Carter is done at center.

we have great prospect depth with some possible high-end talent if they reach it. None of them are close to that point as we speak. Not all the prospects will make it, and a bunch will have to be traded away.

Eichel is a sure bet. Even if they take two of our grade a prospects that does not decrease or any child depth by any means. We can even throw in an NHL ready defenseman like Walker, Clague or Strand.

I love our bottom sixth depth and think we have kids ready to step in there.

If we grab a call we can move Vilardi to wing filling a huge hole.

We are still getting a very young player that bridge is that gap between the Kopitars and the next wave. The player that will be a true number one center after Kopitar is gone. I just don’t see how it depletes the depth other than our prospect pool which is stacked.

 

[Perratrooper]

nhl center depth or prospects?

Either, but closer to the NHL the better.

 

[Islcey]

Either, but closer to the NHL the better.

Rasmus Kupari + Kale Clague + 2nd ?

 

[Mats26]

probably lose one via expansion

Free agency starts a week after the expansion draft.

 

[Perratrooper]

Rasmus Kupari + Kale Clague + 2nd ?

Not close imo

 

[Stimpythecat]

I can't say enough how fortunate the Kings were with the timing of a rebuild for right before the pandemic.

 

[Steve Zissou]

I can't say enough how fortunate the Kings were with the timing of a rebuild for right before the pandemic.

Couple with the expansion draft right around the corner....

 

[Fat Elvis]

Two guys I wouldn't mind seeing around next season are Moore and AA. Been impressed with both and they're (or will be next season) 26 and 27 yrs old. Would be up for signing both to 2 yr contract extensions.

 

[BigBrown]

Two guys I wouldn't mind seeing around next season are Moore and AA. Been impressed with both and they're (or will be next season) 26 and 27 yrs old. Would be up for signing both to 2 yr contract extensions.

Both guys are RFA so chances are good. I was surprised to see Athanasiou as a RFA, I could have sworn he was unrestricted. I think I was fooled by him being signed as a free agent this past summer, you just assume they're unrestricted at that point if they're not straight from junior/college. It was the Oilers who didn't qualify him if I remember correctly.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[BringTheReign]

Both guys are RFA so chances are good. I was surprised to see Athanasiou as a RFA, I could have sworn he was unrestricted. I think I was fooled by him being signed as a free agent this past summer, you just assume they're unrestricted at that point if they're not straight from junior/college. It was the Oilers who didn't qualify him if I remember correctly.

Wow, that's huge. I didn't realize AA was a RFA. I think the tough part is thinking out how many years you'd want to sign him for. He sure looks like he's capable of being a 25 goal, top 6 winger moving forward. If you're confident in that, you try to lock him for a while at his age. However, if you're worried about his consistency, maybe you give him something akin to Kempe or Iafallo's current deal. If he produces through the bridge deal though, you could be on the hook for a big raise to keep him later on.

I wonder if he'd take Toffoli's deal. $4M x 4 years.

 

[Fat Elvis]

Wow, that's huge. I didn't realize AA was a RFA. I think the tough part is thinking out how many years you'd want to sign him for. He sure looks like he's capable of being a 25 goal, top 6 winger moving forward. If you're confident in that, you try to lock him for a while at his age. However, if you're worried about his consistency, maybe you give him something akin to Kempe or Iafallo's current deal. If he produces through the bridge deal though, you could be on the hook for a big raise to keep him later on.

I wonder if he'd take Toffoli's deal. $4M x 4 years.

I'd prefer a 2 yr commitment to AA in hopes he stays hungry and focused.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think LA would pay to acquire Byram from Colorado? It was rumored that LA was looking for a skilled LHD and to be quite honest Byram has a lot of similarities to Doughty (though I don’t think he’ll ever reach the same offensive level).

Colorado would be looking for centers ideally in a trade.

I assume it starts at Byfield or Turcotte.

 

[Perratrooper]

I assume it starts at Byfield or Turcotte.

I guess I’m a bit sure of who holds the most value of Byfield, Turcotte and Vilardi. I’m under the impression it follows that order, but if you could provide insight that would be awesome.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I guess I’m a bit sure of who holds the most value of Byfield, Turcotte and Vilardi. I’m under the impression it follows that order, but if you could provide insight that would be awesome.

That order. Vilardi has proven the most, which isn't a lot yet though. Turcotte is the safer bet of the other two, but Byfield has the higher potential ceiling.

 

[BringTheReign]

I guess I’m a bit sure of who holds the most value of Byfield, Turcotte and Vilardi. I’m under the impression it follows that order, but if you could provide insight that would be awesome.

I'd say I would order them: Byfield - Vilardi - Turcotte. It's close, for sure, particularly between Vilardi and Turcotte.

I think many of our projections see Turcotte sliding over to wing in a future top six because of his speed and forechecking tenacity. I think regardless of that fact we all definitely see him having the skillset to be a top six center, it's just more of the reality we're in with our center depth (plus the fact that Kopitar will probably be pretty damn effective as a middle six center later into his career). There are also awesome middle and bottom six center prospects in the pipeline like Thomas and Anderson-Dolan, where they'd be better fits for 3C/4C and would allow Turcotte to stay in our top six.

As for a deal for Byram, I would say as painful as it would be, I would definitely listen to a deal that used any of those three as a centerpiece. If it were Byfield, I feel it would have to be straight 1 for 1. If it were Vilardi, hell, it might also be a 1 for 1 value-wise on our end, but I could understand if Colorado didn't like that. As for Turcotte, I could see a deal around Turcotte + a late 1st round pick or a contributing roster player like Kempe/Anderson. I think the Turcotte centerpiece deal would be similar to what it would've cost us to move up from 5th to 4th on draft day in 2019, and I don't think Colorado does that unless they're getting value akin to another first round pick later on.

Do you think the Avs would actually entertain moving Byram? I know they just traded for him, but I feel like they'd rather move Toews or Girard before Byram.

 

[Master Yoda]

Two guys I wouldn't mind seeing around next season are Moore and AA. Been impressed with both and they're (or will be next season) 26 and 27 yrs old. Would be up for signing both to 2 yr contract extensions.

I was about to post something similar about these two guys too.
Both guys were not really expected to be anything more than 1 year stop gaps, but AA's been better than expected offensively and definitely isn't a complete liability defensively.
And Moore's been a real spark plug on the bottom 6.
I'd be looking to extend both on 2-3 year terms and they'll be in serious discussion to be protected for the expansion draft.

 

[Perratrooper]

That order. Vilardi has proven the most, which isn't a lot yet though. Turcotte is the safer bet of the other two, but Byfield has the higher potential ceiling.

Essentially what I thought, but it’s easy for an outsider to be completely out of touch with value of prospects.

I guess with taking that into consideration where would you put Byram in terms of value compared to those three? To me a 19 year old already playing like a top 4 d-man has a very high value, but not Turcotte+Vilardi high.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Essentially what I thought, but it’s easy for an outsider to be completely out of touch with value of prospects.

I guess with taking that into consideration where would you put Byram in terms of value compared to those three? To me a 19 year old already playing like a top 4 d-man has a very high value, but not Turcotte+Vilardi high.

Yeah the problem is the 'unknowns' of Byfield and Turcotte. I'd put them, at this moment, Byfield-Byram-Turcotte-Vilardi, but I could be swayed either way. I'm just not sure what the +/- going either way would be. Probably some conditionals in there. That's a toughie.

 

[Perratrooper]

I'd say I would order them: Byfield - Vilardi - Turcotte. It's close, for sure, particularly between Vilardi and Turcotte.

I think many of our projections see Turcotte sliding over to wing in a future top six because of his speed and forechecking tenacity. I think regardless of that fact we all definitely see him having the skillset to be a top six center, it's just more of the reality we're in with our center depth (plus the fact that Kopitar will probably be pretty damn effective as a middle six center later into his career). There are also awesome middle and bottom six center prospects in the pipeline like Thomas and Anderson-Dolan, where they'd be better fits for 3C/4C and would allow Turcotte to stay in our top six.

As for a deal for Byram, I would say as painful as it would be, I would definitely listen to a deal that used any of those three as a centerpiece. If it were Byfield, I feel it would have to be straight 1 for 1. If it were Vilardi, hell, it might also be a 1 for 1 value-wise on our end, but I could understand if Colorado didn't like that. As for Turcotte, I could see a deal around Turcotte + a late 1st round pick or a contributing roster player like Kempe/Anderson. I think the Turcotte centerpiece deal would be similar to what it would've cost us to move up from 5th to 4th on draft day in 2019, and I don't think Colorado does that unless they're getting value akin to another first round pick later on.

Do you think the Avs would actually entertain moving Byram? I know they just traded for him, but I feel like they'd rather move Toews or Girard before Byram.

I appreciate the insight and agree with most of your analysis. I think value wise we’re still a bit off as I have Byram ahead of Byfield in value, but obviously that’s a difference of opinion at this point.

I think the potential to move Byram is there for sure. I personally don’t think it’s the right route, but if it were to win the Avs a cup it would be hard to complain. I do think Toews is the most likely of the three to get moved given he’s the oldest and least valuable, not to mention he’s been lights out for us so far. No way Girard gets moved unless it’s for a king ransom IMO. He’s played like a high end #2 this year and is signed for 6 more years at $5mil. Byram is currently the worst of the three, but has the potential to be our best all around defenseman.

 

[No Name The Nameless]

Byfield, Lafallo and a first for Eichel. Let's play

 

[AzKing]

I assume it starts at Byfield or Turcotte.

I think that anyone worth a damn is going to require the Kings to part with one of those two guys.

I don't think that the Kings will trade Vilardi for anyone right now. Too much time and resources invested in him and he looks like his ceiling is going to be really high. Byfield and Turcotte may be the more sexy names due to their high draft pick status but Vilardi is doing it at the NHL level and he is making others better. He just needs to keep refining his game, work on faceoffs and other things but he plays both ends already and has elite vision.

I see it mentioned elsewhere that Vilardi should be moved to the Wing. Can I ask those who have that opinion to state why they feel this way?