GDT: 2020-21 season game 24 LA Kings vs Anaheim Ducks @7:00pm 3/8/21

[Raccoon Jesus]

Turcotte is going to get better, Zegras is going to get better too.

Elite players are much closer to finished products now at 20 than they were in the past, I think it's very wishful thinking to think that the gap is ever going to close.

Turcotte is a valuable asset, I don't know how many times I have to say that. But you can't just continue to excuse away the lack of offensive production at higher levels of hockey unless you are writing him off as a scorer at the NHL level? If a guy is going to be a scorer at the NHL level he probably should be producing at lower levels, that continues to be my biggest concern, which for some reason you for some reason continue to construe as thinking he's a bust.

Wouldn't you rather talk about how well he is doing in college or the AHL rather than make excuses for why he's not?

He has produced at lower levels, you're just looking past it because you don't like how. He thrashed the WJC, he was second in PPG to only Caufield at Wisco (who was deployed how you would expect). Obviously the stuff with the development program.

And regardless of how we disagree about that, you're ignoring the most important and major point--he's played 6 f***ing AHL games. Calling it 'struggles' at this point is about as premature as it gets. Can we at least finish the AHL season before calling him a 'mistake?'

 

[tny760]

He has produced at lower levels, you're just looking past it because you don't like how. He thrashed the WJC, he was second in PPG to only Caufield at Wisco (who was deployed how you would expect). Obviously the stuff with the development program.

And regardless of how we disagree about that, you're ignoring the most important and major point--he's played 6 f***ing AHL games. Calling it 'struggles' at this point is about as premature as it gets. Can we at least finish the AHL season before calling him a 'mistake?'

on a booty-ass team after missing camps and a tough WJC

like herby, i f***in love zegras and i've made no mystery of that but cmon man turcotte is barely getting started

 

[Eagle Fang]

He has produced at lower levels, you're just looking past it because you don't like how. He thrashed the WJC, he was second in PPG to only Caufield at Wisco (who was deployed how you would expect). Obviously the stuff with the development program.

And regardless of how we disagree about that, you're ignoring the most important and major point--he's played 6 f***ing AHL games. Calling it 'struggles' at this point is about as premature as it gets. Can we at least finish the AHL season before calling him a 'mistake?'

Well, the team as a whole is a heaping pile of shit, so I wouldn't expect much in terms of scoring points. I think Turcotte's been good / decent in the games he's played. He at least generates chances... maybe not between the legs pin point passes, but he creates. My only concern about him is that he's hurt all the time.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

on a booty-ass team after missing camps and a tough WJC

like herby, i f***in love zegras and i've made no mystery of that but cmon man turcotte is barely getting started

I just think it's f***ing stupid that it's seen as a badge of honor to like another team's prospect but to shit on your own while it's seen as unrestrained homerism to like both and suggest patience. That's what it boils down to.

@Sol was coming after me for Stutzle too in similar manner, which is also f***ing stupid. He scored a phenomenal goal tonight too, and he's going to be a killer player for years to come. But suggest that Byfield isn't dead, and man, the pitchforks and torches come out to burn the homer witch

The mere existence of Kopitar and Doughty on this roster shows what the org thinks about insulation and patience. If guys break in, great, they earned it, they didn't get Edmonton Oilers-ed into the 1C spot.

 

[Herby]

He has produced at lower levels, you're just looking past it because you don't like how. He thrashed the WJC, he was second in PPG to only Caufield at Wisco (who was deployed how you would expect). Obviously the stuff with the development program.

And regardless of how we disagree about that, you're ignoring the most important and major point--he's played 6 f***ing AHL games. Calling it 'struggles' at this point is about as premature as it gets. Can we at least finish the AHL season before calling him a 'mistake?'

You and I just have a completely different idea of what good production and good play for a freshman in the NCAA is. Especially for someone who was considered an elite prospect and was essentially the #1 recruit in the NCAA going into last year, which Turcotte was.

I expected to see similar play that I saw from Jonathan Toews, Clayton Keller, Kyle Connor, Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar. High NHL draft picks who were very good players as freshman.

Maybe my expectations were to high. I expected someone who was going to be the Kings #1 center one day.

And as far as Caufield, I was very critical of Caufield too, he was not impactful last season 5 on 5. Both players were a disaster in the defensive zone and failed to live up to their hype as recruits. I said that neither player was ready to graduate to pro hockey and I stand by that. Caufield has been much better in all facets this year and will leave UW with a dominant Hobey Baker winning season under his belt growing tremendously as a player. I wish Turcotte had been able to do the same.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Next up for the Ducks, Drysdale. I can just see Drysdale and Zegras killing it on the PP. But I don't want to see that.
I'd rather see Byfield and Kaliyev destroy the Ducks. I want to see Bjornfot and Faber shutting the Ducks down.
And Cal outplaying Gibson. Who thought Kempe would score a hatty on Gibson? Now, there's something to talk about.
The 29th overall 2014 pick, hitting his stride. Many wanted to run Kempe out of town and thought his brother Mario
was better....patience. patience. patience.

 

[Herby]

Next up for the Ducks, Drysdale. I can just see Drysdale and Zegras killing it on the PP. But I don't want to see that.
I'd rather see Byfield and Kaliyev destroy the Ducks. I want to see Bjornfot and Faber shutting the Ducks down.
And Cal outplaying Gibson. Who thought Kempe would score a hatty on Gibson? Now, there's something to talk about.
The 29th overall 2014 pick, hitting his stride. Many wanted to run Kempe out of town and thought his brother Mario
was better....patience. patience. patience.

Long time supporter of Kempe here, I always thought he was going to eventually break through, he's a valuable swiss-army knife type player that can do a lot throughout the roster. His most valuable ability for the Kings right now is carrying the puck into the zone on the PP. Kopitar was the only player on the roster who was able to do that in the past, now they have two guys (and sometimes 3 with Doughty) who can do that.

You won't see many complaints about Drysdale, no one wanted him over Byfield and it's very unlikely that he becomes a better NHL'er.

And patience, patience patience, ok. But when? This is D+2, when do we get returns that look like the pick was warranted? Is it D+3, D+4? When.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

You and I just have a completely different idea of what good production and good play for a freshman in the NCAA is. Especially for someone who was considered an elite prospect and was essentially the #1 recruit in the NCAA going into last year, which Turcotte was.

I expected to see similar play that I saw from Jonathan Toews, Clayton Keller, Kyle Connor, Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar. High NHL draft picks who were very good players as freshman.

Maybe my expectations were to high. I expected someone who was going to be the Kings #1 center one day.

Well, that just highlights our discrepancy, right?

Because if you take the 25 points in 19 games Turcotte had around the injury, that extrapolates to 47 in 33, BETTER than both Toews' freshman and sophomore years, better than Keller, and so on, and without the benefit of a superstar squadron around him like Toews had Oshie and Keller had McAvoy, Fabbro, Greenaway, etc (though of course he had Miller, Holloway, Caufield--so the talent was there but the team was shit). It's just our two different views on what happened last year--I'm willing to give him a pass for that, you're not only willing to NOT give him a pass for that, you only want league games to count. Now I don't think that's totally fair to give him credit for what didn't happen--but to me it shows the latent offensive ability when healthy, and that jives with everything he's done at other levels. I really don't think you're wrong here to hold last year against him--it's a disagreement and I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority because I don't think his year was as shit as it's being painted--but I DO ABSOLUTELY think you're wrong to hold this current year against him right now, and I think you're wrong to suggest that he hasn't scored at any level.

I think he has 60-70 point upside to go with an all around game hence the Richards/Toews comps. What happens next matters most. It may be more of a Vilardi path than we're all comfortable with given his continued lower body injuries.

 

[Herby]

Well, that just highlights our discrepancy, right?

Because if you take the 25 points in 19 games Turcotte had around the injury, that extrapolates to 47 in 33, BETTER than both Toews' freshman and sophomore years, better than Keller, and so on, and without the benefit of a superstar squadron around him like Toews had Oshie and Keller had McAvoy, Fabbro, Greenaway, etc (though of course he had Miller, Holloway, Caufield--so the talent was there but the team was shit). It's just our two different views on what happened last year--I'm willing to give him a pass for that, you're not only willing to NOT give him a pass for that, you only want league games. Now I don't think that's totally fair to give him credit for what didn't happen--but to me it shows the latent offensive ability when healthy, and that jives with everything he's done at other levels. I really don't think you're wrong here to hold last year against him--it's a disagreement and I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority because I don't think his year was as shit as it's being painted--but I DO ABSOLUTELY think you're wrong to hold this current year against him right now.

I think he has 60-70 point upside to go with an all around game hence the Richards/Toews comps. What happens next matters most.

Where are you coming up with this information?

I just looked at his game logs, his first 19 games resulted in 16 points, not 25. He had 7 multi-point games, 6 of them came vs. non-conference opponents (Arizona St x2. Omaha x2, Merrimack, UMD and Notre Dame). 8 of his 9 goals and 16 of his 26 points on the season game vs. non-conf opponents.

He missed 2 games vs. Clarkson in November, then returned to have a 4 point weekend vs. Omaha (severe injury?). He was then injured again in South Bend and missed 5 games vs. ND, Michigan and Minnesota. Was this the injury you speak of? At this point he had already played 15 conference games and had a 0-5-5 -11 line before the injury.

I don't know man, just seems like it's quite a stretch to blame the massive egg laid in conference play on an injury that happened after most of the conference play had already happened.

 

[KingsFan7824]

That's one more point they have to find somewhere else now. 1 out of 4 pts against the Ducks.

 

[SFKingshomer]

Happy to see the fight in this team to come back but they really need to get off to better starts. I'd be fine with making the playoffs or slightly missing as it's a good growing experience for the kids. The prospect comparison is valid but still a bit early. I said before the draft that Zegras had potential to be the best player because of his high skill level. He's looking very good but I think we are a little too premature to say it was a mistake. Turcotte was every bit as important not even a few short months ago against his peers. He does all the little things while producing. The small sample size this year doesn't concern me. What worries me is his injury history due to being fearless to the point of being reckless. I think both will be good pros...

 

[Bandit]

1 OT loss to the ducks and our prospect pool went from hit to shit. Who would have guessed?

 

[volcom92886]

On if he feels he has to protect some players from getting frustrated by their lack of production
Nope. If you’re not playing well, you can still find a way to contribute. You can bring energy to the bench, especially in these empty buildings. You can’t sit on the bench like a house plant and not contribute. Whether you’re getting your minutes or not, there’s some guys that play a lot of minutes and they need a little uplift every now and then. Recognize a block shot, recognize a big hit, a face off, a good line change. If you’re not getting your minutes because it’s not going really well, you can still find ways to contribute. We’re learning that as we go, especially playing in front of empty buildings where there’s not a lot of energy. If it really affected our team dramatically and I have to protect them, even the good guys wouldn’t have played well tonight. I don’t think that’s an issue.


Who is Todd referring to as a house plant? Curious if there are issues behind the scenes to make such a comment.

 

[YP44]

1 OT loss to the ducks and our prospect pool went from hit to shit. Who would have guessed?

wasn't our prospects that looks like shit last night. Sloppier than a drunk prom date.

I'm a big Petersen fan but he looked asleep through the first period and a half. Not blaming him for all the goals but when that dump in bounced off the boards and then went between his legs out to the slot, I thought "we're screwed tonight".

This team better show the f*** up on Wednesday.

 

[Mats26]

Kings drafting philosophy is to draft players with character and leadership skills as primary attributes. They stick with it, right or wrong. They want to build a contender and feel those are the type of players that will help the team succeed to win a cup. As a fan that is what I want...this team needs to win, contend.

But... the question is, can we win with the players they passed up on while also providing a better product(entertainment value) on the ice? It is a business right? I mean we will pay for tickets to see Kings games live eventually, would u rather pay to see Stutzle\Zegras or Turcotte\Byfield?

At the end of the day if the prospects they drafted don't help us contend and win the cup, they failed. Jobs will be lost and our day goes on while a new rebuild will re-start.

 

[kings11]

Where are you coming up with this information?

I just looked at his game logs, his first 19 games resulted in 16 points, not 25. He had 7 multi-point games, 6 of them came vs. non-conference opponents (Arizona St x2. Omaha x2, Merrimack, UMD and Notre Dame). 8 of his 9 goals and 16 of his 26 points on the season game vs. non-conf opponents.

He missed 2 games vs. Clarkson in November, then returned to have a 4 point weekend vs. Omaha (severe injury?). He was then injured again in South Bend and missed 5 games vs. ND, Michigan and Minnesota. Was this the injury you speak of? At this point he had already played 15 conference games and had a 0-5-5 -11 line before the injury.

I don't know man, just seems like it's quite a stretch to blame the massive egg laid in conference play on an injury that happened after most of the conference play had already happened.

Its obvious you're nothing more than a stat monger and didnt bother to actually watch the games.. with taht said, you're thinking the little injury that he had towards the end of the season but completely forgot about his upper respiratory infection that literally sapped him and started his downward production trend. Of course you probably think he should have been able to overcome a months long layoff, not like he needs his lungs to breath of anything.

On to the stats, he produced at near a ppg which is what was epxected though he would have likley scored more if not for that infection that actually hit the whole team but he got it the worse.. Just an FYI, that infection was before the Clarkson series in the beginning of the season so he still played damn good until it finally took a toll on him... Oct 25... now go back, check his stats and tell me he wasn't impressive at Wisconsin.

 

[Herby]

Its obvious you're nothing more than a stat monger and didnt bother to actually watch the games.. with taht said, you're thinking the little injury that he had towards the end of the season but completely forgot about his upper respiratory infection that literally sapped him and started his downward production trend. Of course you probably think he should have been able to overcome a months long layoff, not like he needs his lungs to breath of anything.

On to the stats, he produced at near a ppg which is what was epxected though he would have likley scored more if not for that infection that actually hit the whole team but he got it the worse.. Just an FYI, that infection was before the Clarkson series in the beginning of the season so he still played damn good until it finally took a toll on him... Oct 25... now go back, check his stats and tell me he wasn't impressive at Wisconsin.
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It's obvious that you're nothing more than an uninformed clown, look at my location buddy. I can guarantee you with 100% certainty that I watched more of their games last year than you did. Both on TV and in person. I play in 2 men's leagues where basically my entire team are alumni or followers of the team, with many being ST holders, hockey is huge here and they are most hockey peoples team of choice with the lack of an NHL team, you don't think I have an idea of what is going on with that program? You think I didn't go see the highest draft pick the team I religiously follow has had in a decade when he was playing an hour away?

And good to know the Mike Richards viral infection of 2014 has returned as an excuse, that one proved to be so valid the last time it was used. It was such a bad viral infection that 2 weeks after it he was able to have a big weekend vs. Omaha, how is that possible if he "couldn't breath for 2 months"

But I'll ask you the same thing I asked others, if 21 months is to soon to expect production and domination that warrants a Top 5 pick then when should it be expected? When does Turcotte show us something similar to Bjornfot has shown us since basically the moment he was drafted?

 

[kings11]

It's obvious that you're nothing more than an uninformed clown, look at my location buddy. I can guarantee you with 100% certainty that I watched more of their games last year than you did. Both on TV and in person. I play in 2 men's leagues where basically my entire team are alumni or followers of the team, with many being ST holders, hockey is huge here and they are most hockey peoples team of choice with the lack of an NHL team, you don't think I have an idea of what is going on with that program?

And good to know the Mike Richards viral infection of 2014 has returned as an excuse of choice on this board. It was such a bad viral infection that 2 weeks after it he was able to have a big weekend vs. Omaha, how is that possible if he "couldn't breath for 2 months"

But I'll ask you the same thing I asked others, if 21 months is to soon to expect production and domination that warrants a Top 5 pick then when should it be expected?

Hence my comment ass hat...

 

[Herby]

Hence my comment ass hat...

What, your comments that I didn't watch the games, when I watched multiple games in person? Again, you think I didn't drive an hour to see the Kings #1 prospect and highest draft pick in a decade, when I have multiple friends who have season seats?

It's funny, you're the one pulling up box scores and then accusing me of doing it when I actually watched him play in person and you didn't, quite hilarious.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Cant we all just be friends.

 

[tny760]

Cant we all just be friends.

no, screw you buddy!

 

[Frolov 6'3]

no, screw you buddy!

**** you too !

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Kempe has taken his play to another level.


Nice to see, who knows he might score 30 goals once.

 

[tbrown33]

Who is Todd referring to as a house plant? Curious if there are issues behind the scenes to make such a comment.

Amadio definitely gives me houseplant vibes. Probably the best way to describe how he plays actually.

 

[Matt13]

Its obvious you're nothing more than a stat monger and didnt bother to actually watch the games.. with taht said, you're thinking the little injury that he had towards the end of the season but completely forgot about his upper respiratory infection that literally sapped him and started his downward production trend. Of course you probably think he should have been able to overcome a months long layoff, not like he needs his lungs to breath of anything.

On to the stats, he produced at near a ppg which is what was epxected though he would have likley scored more if not for that infection that actually hit the whole team but he got it the worse.. Just an FYI, that infection was before the Clarkson series in the beginning of the season so he still played damn good until it finally took a toll on him... Oct 25... now go back, check his stats and tell me he wasn't impressive at Wisconsin.
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