GDT: 2020-21 season game 38 LA Kings vs Arizona Coyotes @7:00pm 4/7/21

[Lt Dan]

Most teams develop several NHL forwards and have a bitch of a time developing defensemen....the Kings are the opposite.

There are teams with #1 D picks, Brannstrom, Zboril, Fabbro, Stanley, Cal Foote, Lilegren...that can't make it and the Kings
are making their 7th rd (ROY) Free agent College (WALKER) and free agent juniors (Strand) into NHL defensemen.
It's impressive.

Indeed now we need to do that with forwards

 

[Schmooley]

Most teams develop several NHL forwards and have a bitch of a time developing defensemen....the Kings are the opposite.

There are teams with #1 D picks, Brannstrom, Zboril, Fabbro, Stanley, Cal Foote, Lilegren...that can't make it and the Kings
are making their 7th rd (ROY) Free agent College (WALKER) and free agent juniors (Strand) into NHL defensemen.
It's impressive.

I think its because they preach defense first. So when the forwards come up they are always worried about positioning and system play and creating offense is secondary. Like they try and make every center like Kopitar. Two way play every shift and stretching the ice in the offensive zone is hard if you dont have the skillset of Kopitar. Like Vilardi cant cover the ice like Kopitar and hold onto pucks in the offensive zone to create as much space and time. Hes shifty in tight and can dish heady quick passes to a shooter like Frk and Kaliyev. Let him play to his strengths. They need to develop forwards on a player to player basis and not mold them into an ideal prototype Kings forward that worked last decade and takes a very specific kind of player to pull off.
Funny enough I think Turcotte is the type of Kings forward they love and he wasnt even their guy in that draft.

 

[kovacro]

Most teams develop several NHL forwards and have a bitch of a time developing defensemen....the Kings are the opposite.

There are teams with #1 D picks, Brannstrom, Zboril, Fabbro, Stanley, Cal Foote, Lilegren...that can't make it and the Kings
are making their 7th rd (ROY) Free agent College (WALKER) and free agent juniors (Strand) into NHL defensemen.
It's impressive.

To be fair, Stanley has made it and he's going to be good. Jets like him a bunch.

 

[Jason Squirties]

Just FYI, there is a poster out there masquerading as "Troll Stomper" trying to shame you into a certain type of posting style by giving you warnings via private messages. Yet you can't respond and he has no posts to bump an old thread. Please forward to everyone you know and pay your respects by typing "F". This stuff will NOT be tolerated here at our blessed HF boards.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

There was a farmer had a dog and BINGO was his name-o


Are you really sure that you want to use these guys are examples of breaking through?
2 of the these 3 were waived and unclaimed and the third is a Ginger war criminal who is likely next to be waived

100%, they are NHL players that broke through.....

The reason why there aren't as many F's as D, take a look at the draft,

2015 - 3 forwards taken, no 1st, Wagner broke through, Dergaychov I believe refused to come over,
2016 - 1 forward taken, 5th round
2017 - 3 forwards taken, JAD, and Vilardi, Vilardi has had major injury issues that he's finally recovering from, JAD has broken through
2018 - 4 forwars taken, Kupari, Thomas, Bufalgin, and Dudas....from the 2018 forwards, SIX have broken through.....
2019 - Turcotte, Kaliyev, Fagemo - from 2019 forwards 3 have broken through...

But I guess the Kings suck at developing forwards that they haven't drafted.....

 

[King'sPawn]

Lacking intensity. Must be that Kopitar inspiring and mentoring the youth I've heard so much about.

You know JAD, who everyone loves, lives with Kopitar?

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Unless they bribe Seattle, he's a goner. I'm not opposed to that depending on the draft choice. And the worst part is they trotted sorry ass MacDermid out there game after game and undoubtedly cost the team wins in the standings because of it. Just bungled the situation all together because in the end Clague is still a prime target for Seattle.

I'd be offering quite a bit to keep Clague and others...Vilardi anyone?Strand,Frk...and Seattle Kraken select Dusty Brown! His nick-name is not Browner is it?Thought Dusty would be about right! For a numero 13th overall he was about the 20th best player in that 2003 draft! I shouldn't say bad things about Brownie he's been a decent player,who had better years and downer years...this is a little better than average

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

100%, they are NHL players that broke through.....

The reason why there aren't as many F's as D, take a look at the draft,

2015 - 3 forwards taken, no 1st, Wagner broke through, Dergaychov I believe refused to come over,
2016 - 1 forward taken, 5th round
2017 - 3 forwards taken, JAD, and Vilardi, Vilardi has had major injury issues that he's finally recovering from, JAD has broken through
2018 - 4 forwars taken, Kupari, Thomas, Bufalgin, and Dudas....from the 2018 forwards, SIX have broken through.....
2019 - Turcotte, Kaliyev, Fagemo - from 2019 forwards 3 have broken through...

But I guess the Kings suck at developing forwards that they haven't drafted.....

Kings are developing present tense...they haven't developed fully or even half way right?

 

[Bandit]

You know JAD, who everyone loves, lives with Kopitar?

Yeah, but in the South Wing. They never see each other.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

You know JAD, who everyone loves, lives with Kopitar?

JAD's work ethic is superb!

 

[kovacro]

I'd be offering quite a bit to keep Clague and others...Vilardi anyone?Strand,Frk...and Seattle Kraken select Dusty Brown! His nick-name is not Browner is it?Thought Dusty would be about right! For a numero 13th overall he was about the 20th best player in that 2003 draft! I shouldn't say bad things about Brownie he's been a decent player,who had better years and downer years...this is a little better than average

I would not offer anything additional to Seattle. Protect Clague if he continues to impress and expose Walker if need be.

Vegas took advantage of several teams last time around. I think teams will be better prepared this time and will not give in.

"Here's our list of available players, take your guy and be done with it"

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Kings are developing present tense...they haven't developed fully or even half way right?

Exactly....so the complaint that they don't develop forwards...is misguided at best.....

 

[Schmooley]

Exactly....so the complaint that they don't develop forwards...is misguided at best.....

They develop many forwards. For every JAD there are a bunch of guys like Mersch, Shore, Amadio, Luff and Wagner that get worse with every game they play in the NHL. Just look at how much better Kempe looks this season after they realized they couldnt Kopitarize him. He can go out there and be himself and is carving out a role that he can contribute to the team in instead of being a two way responsible forward that plays by the books.
Though I will say the tough development has made him a smarter player and hes better off for going through that phase.

 

[Mats26]

Clague is an example that more time in the AHL never hurts. He looks great this year. Voynov spent 4 years in the minors. Tobi, Vilardi and Mikey are up on the roster in big roles already. If we didn't have the mass influx of prospects in the AHL and better bridge players on the Kings, another year or 2 on the farm for 20 year olds would be massive for their development.

I get the sense that some of them are rushed to move this rebuild forward. I hope I am wrong and they fully develop and we maximize their potential.

 

[All The Kings Men]

It's not unusual for goalies and defenseman to look better at the NHL level than the AHL level as the quality of play increases and teammates are "where they're supposed to be" and plays break down less frequently.

EDIT: for SOME defensemen and goalies

 

[Matt13]

Is it possible Clauge is getting less of a look to keep him off of Seattle’s radar?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

They develop many forwards. For every JAD there are a bunch of guys like Mersch, Shore, Amadio, Luff and Wagner that get worse with every game they play in the NHL. Just look at how much better Kempe looks this season after they realized they couldnt Kopitarize him. He can go out there and be himself and is carving out a role that he can contribute to the team in instead of being a two way responsible forward that plays by the books.
Though I will say the tough development has made him a smarter player and hes better off for going through that phase.

Depends on what your expecations are, if you think and expect Wagner to come in and score 40 goals, then yea, you are gonna be disappointed. Wagner is a 3rd/4th liner on just about every team in the league, he's got speed, he hits, he's tenacious on the puck....and he can flash some hands occasionally, but not consistently enough to be a 2nd liner etc...

Name me one team that Wagner would not be a solid 3rd/4th liner.

 

[Schmooley]

Depends on what your expecations are, if you think and expect Wagner to come in and score 40 goals, then yea, you are gonna be disappointed. Wagner is a 3rd/4th liner on just about every team in the league, he's got speed, he hits, he's tenacious on the puck....and he can flash some hands occasionally, but not consistently enough to be a 2nd liner etc...

Name me one team that Wagner would not be a solid 3rd/4th liner.

I agree I like Wagner. But he has gotten worse offensively and has less breakaways but has been better defensively since he first arrived in the NHL. Allowing him to cheat a little bit may help spark some offense. Like why make every line a shutdown line when even your top line with Kopitar and Iafallo is kind of a shut down line.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Clague is an example that more time in the AHL never hurts. He looks great this year. Voynov spent 4 years in the minors. Tobi, Vilardi and Mikey are up on the roster in big roles already. If we didn't have the mass influx of prospects in the AHL and better bridge players on the Kings, another year or 2 on the farm for 20 year olds would be massive for their development.

I get the sense that some of them are rushed to move this rebuild forward. I hope I am wrong and they fully develop and we maximize their potential.

I'd keep Clague in LA he's ready now! He brings Offense and the player can skate

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I agree I like Wagner. But he has gotten worse offensively and has less breakaways but has been better defensively since he first arrived in the NHL. Allowing him to cheat a little bit may help spark some offense. Like why make every line a shutdown line when even your top line with Kopitar and Iafallo is kind of a shut down line.

I see he's gotten better offensively, he's made some moves that make you go, WTF did that come from...he wasn't doing that when he first came in.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Is it possible Clauge is getting less of a look to keep him off of Seattle’s radar?

I think Seattle has been mulling over LA's prospects since we're the only team in the league that hasn't traded like 2-3,4 of them or made a trade of significance in the last year or two

 

[Mats26]

Is it possible Clauge is getting less of a look to keep him off of Seattle’s radar?

Clague was always the wildcard for me to got 8+1 or 7-3-1 with the protection list. He is making a case for 8+1 and exposing a better forward and Strand.

 

[Sol]

You know JAD, who everyone loves, lives with Kopitar?

So...?

 

[King'sPawn]

So...?

You really can't connect the dots that Kopitar has had a positive impact on JAD? You just want to gloss over it to make a flippant and ignorant remark?

 

[Eagle Fang]

It's not unusual for goalies and defenseman to look better at the NHL level than the AHL level as the quality of play increases and teammates are "where they're supposed to be" and plays break down less frequently.

EDIT: for SOME defensemen and goalies

Durzi is going to be f***ing all-star then!