Speculation: 2021-21 LA Kings News, Rumors, Roster discussion part V

[Raccoon Jesus]

Yeah I recommend a close watching of even one single game of Turcotte to anyone that deems him expendable at this point. He's gonna be the glue that holds it all together, mark my words.

And re Mikey Anderson he looks like a young Willie Mitchell...who similarly took some years to become Willie Mitchell and not before some gave up on him.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Excited to see Turcotte play. Hope the kids does well!

 

[RonM11]

When you tank as hard as the Coyotes are, it takes years to recover. They'd be lucky to be competitive again in 3 year. 5 plus years is more likely, but no guarantee.

Makes you wonder what someone like Chychrun is thinking. Does he want to spend all his prime years on rebuilding team?

Can one spell "Houston Coyotes?" Maybe it might be "Houston Oilers." Oh, snap. Can't have two teams with the same name in the same league, right?

 

[King'sPawn]

You didn't see him single handedly blow the second st Louis game ?

Oh right, it wasn't on the stat sheet

Tiny sample < eye test

Muzzin used to get walked, too.

 

[kilowatt]

Tiny sample < eye test

Muzzin used to get walked, too.

For a good stretch of time, Muffin was our #1 whipping boy! Most people here hated him.

 

[Statto]

Anderson will end up somewhere between a #4-6 on a decent team, that doesn’t make him a bust. He will be a solid and dependable guy that can do occasional duty further up the lineup. He will be a valuable depth piece or a decent piece in a bigger trade. He was only ever going to be that so he’s right where we should be expecting him to be. His intangibles slightly increases his value but we have a slew of guys with good character in the system so it’s not something I worry about losing, in a deal but only for the right player. I like him but you have to give to get.

 

[Eagle Fang]

Turcotte? Called up? What do I do with my hands?

Pray.

I hope I'm wrong but I dont think hes ready physically especially for the type of game he plays.

 

[cyclones22]

For a good stretch of time, Muffin was our #1 whipping boy! Most people here hated him.

And for good reason, he handled the puck like a hand grenade early on. Thank goodness he finally developed composure on the puck. Mikey's big area for improvement is definitely stick handling and luckily that's something that can be improved with training and repetition. Just minor improvements there should help his overall game some. It's part of the reason that Bjornfot's ceiling is so much higher. Tobi is very good on the puck. Mikey will never be as good as Tobi in that regard but less fumbling with the puck should make him much more effective.

 

[Choralone]

On the Athletic, Lisa Dillman has a nice interview with Bill Ranford (Kings still waiting to see whether Cal Petersen will knock Jonathan Quick ‘off that throne’ as No. 1 goalie). I especially liked this bit about trying to map out a schedule when you have two goalies sharing a workload.

How far in advance do you map things out?
I learned a hard lesson that way a few years back. I think it was with Terry Murray. It might have been 2012 when we won the Cup.
We were like, ‘OK we’ve got to get this guy (Jonathan Bernier) more games.’ We started mapping it out and it’s just a disaster trying to do it that way. If a goalie gets really red hot, you’ve got to run with him. You’ve also got to look at the guy going too long without playing. Those things come into play.
If you say Jonathan is playing Dallas and Cal is playing St. Louis and Quickie stands on his head, it’s hard not to come right back with him. He’s earned it. Those are scenarios you run into.
We ran into a scenario where Quickie, under Terry (Murray) was on a roll, but we felt we had to play Bernier. Bernier went in and it was almost like the team took a breath and then we went on a slide. The thing you learn in this league – when things are going good — you ride that wave as long as you can.

What happened next?
We were mad afterward, and then Terry took the schedule that we tentatively put together for the next month and ripped it up, and said, ‘We’re not doing that.’ I said, ‘I totally agree.’

 

[riznat]

Dunno if its been discussed lately and ill probably get roasted but i think Roy has been pretty bad lately, specifically his puck handling, he flubs passes, rushes to get the puck off his stick ASAP, weak wrists passes etc. Ive noticed it a lot lately.

 

[kilowatt]

Dunno if its been discussed lately and ill probably get roasted but i think Roy has been pretty bad lately, specifically his puck handling, he flubs passes, rushes to get the puck off his stick ASAP, weak wrists passes etc. Ive noticed it a lot lately.

Unfortunately, Roy and Edler, our two "steady" guys, haven't been especially effective. They've done fine, but they certainly aren't excelling. They get beat often and make poor plays. I'd be surprised if Edler comes back next year. I really wonder if any rookies are going to force their hand in camp next year. Will we see Clarke or Faber run away with a job? I still kind of view Bjornfot and Anderson as rookies, but next season will be their 4th season each (counting the handful of games they both got in their first season). They're not rookies anymore. The expectations have to be higher, even if they're both still very young.

Do we see something like this?

Bjornfot - Doughty
Anderson - Clarke
Clague - Roy/Walker

 

[Lt Dan]

Dunno if its been discussed lately and ill probably get roasted but i think Roy has been pretty bad lately, specifically his puck handling, he flubs passes, rushes to get the puck off his stick ASAP, weak wrists passes etc. Ive noticed it a lot lately.

he's clearly trying to hard to fill Doughty's shoes.

 

[Mats26]

Dunno if its been discussed lately and ill probably get roasted but i think Roy has been pretty bad lately, specifically his puck handling, he flubs passes, rushes to get the puck off his stick ASAP, weak wrists passes etc. Ive noticed it a lot lately.

I think the Fiala hit changed his game completely. He's playing like a 7th round draft pick right now. I hope he gets back to being more assertive and opens up his offense a bit. Honestly Walker and Roy are just fillers. Glad they developed into players we need right now but we are going to need an upgrade on both of them to contend in 3 or so years.

 

[cyclones22]

He's getting all the toughest deployment assignments now that Drew is out and on top of that, TMc is giving him PP2 time which he's not suited for at all. Oh and he's paired him with Maatta, who is the most unpredictable defenseman on the squad in terms of knowing WTF he's going to do or Where TF he's going to be on the ice. A tough ask for anyone. Right now Roy and Maatta look like the 3rd pairing in terms of effectiveness. Tobi/Mikey play well together as do Clague/Edler.

 

[Steve Zissou]

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Re Roy, he certainly looks like a little more tentative of a player since coming back from his injuries. That said I'm willing to give him a bit of rope because he's miscast--almost no one in the league can masquerade as Drew Doughty and look good. I'm proud of him for staying afloat. It will probably help him grow so that when he moves back down to #3 in slightly reduced minutes/role he can be more confident again.

Re Mikey Anderson, this kind of confirms what I thought--overall he's playing very, very well but like young Muzzin he just has to dial back the catastrophic breakdowns (getting walked leading to GA).

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Good sign that he's going on the trip at least but ugh, get well soon Lias and put the injury fully behind you

 

[brakeyawself]

In the A, Durzi looks incredibly confident in the offensive zone. Skates well, passes well, shoots well and has a bit of nasty in him. Doesn't hesitate to scrum it up or jump in for team mates. Not really a fighter but will get in people's faces. In the D zone, he looks bad. Not Markus Phillips bad, but still pretty bad. All that being said, I think he deserves a chance with the Kings.

Quinn Hughes makes a career out of ^. I still laugh when people call him a top 10 or even top 5 Dman. Kid doesn't know what defense is.

So it seems like in today's NHL, defenders not defending isn't a huge problem for some teams. Which I think ultimately just hurts the overall roster. You have to pay top dollar for the "offensive Dman" and then, because they don't play defense, you have to pay again for a top defending Dman to make up for it. When really, it's best to get both of those things out of one player. Personally, that isn't something I would want my team getting caught up in. But that just means developing the "offensive" Dman's defensive capabilities further at a lower level. Which you can do with a guy like Durzi. But not so much with a guy like Hughes. Clague still has way to go as well.

 

[kingsfan]

Unfortunately, Roy and Edler, our two "steady" guys, haven't been especially effective. They've done fine, but they certainly aren't excelling. They get beat often and make poor plays. I'd be surprised if Edler comes back next year. I really wonder if any rookies are going to force their hand in camp next year. Will we see Clarke or Faber run away with a job? I still kind of view Bjornfot and Anderson as rookies, but next season will be their 4th season each (counting the handful of games they both got in their first season). They're not rookies anymore. The expectations have to be higher, even if they're both still very young.

Do we see something like this?

Bjornfot - Doughty
Anderson - Clarke
Clague - Roy/Walker

I still agree with a lot of other posters we'll be trading for/signing a top three defenseman at some point. I figure it'll happen after the season or at the draft. So someone will have to come off this for whoever that is.

I assume Lias just didn't feel right last game he played and they pulled him for precautionary reasons.

 

[brakeyawself]

See a lot of people putting Kupari on the 4th line once Byfield returns. Is that the best idea for Kupari's development? Would he be better off in Ontario? Danault has been a fantastic signing. No other way to put it. But that gives the team the "good" problem of not having room for all their young players who need reps and time to progress.

A lot of speculation that Turcotte "might" get traded at some point. But if he is going to play on the wing, he fits in the team better than Kupari will at that point. They going to have some tough decisions to make soon enough. Maybe they use this year to showcase some of the younger guys to trade?

It sucks for the individual players, but great for the team in general to have such overabundance.

Still think there's a trade to be made between the Rangers and Kings. Ranger have excess young defenders that Kings could use, Kings have excess young centers Rangers could use. Just not sure which particular players would be the most likely to change teams in such a scenario. D'Andre Miller isn't playing particularly well for the Rangers. But he still has the "raw tools" and size. Not sure if the Rangers would more likely move him or Jones. But likely one of those two from the way things have been going. Lundkvist has not looked great in the young season and while he's the most hyped of the Ranger prospects, he, as an offensive RD, has the least opportunity in front of him compared to some of their LD like Jones, Robertson and Miller. All though I doubt they'd move Lundkvist unless the return was top notch.

 

[kingsfan]

4th line minutes are not counterproductive to development when we're talking 11-14 minutes a night, which is the lowest forwards have been playing this season. They aren't riding the pine and seeing five minutes a game.

 

[Steve Zissou]

I still agree with a lot of other posters we'll be trading for/signing a top three defenseman at some point.

Our Eichel will be a defender. No doubt about it at this point.

Next year Edler, Maata, and Brown come off the books. Pray to the hockey Gods Edler and Maata are not re-signed.

Problem is that the only interesting UFA D's are Lindholm, Zodorov, Chiarot, and McNabb. Hard to imagine but McNabb will be 32 next year by mid season.

May have to part with some good offensive chips up to get a good young D at this point.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Option 1: Go for that Chychrun type D in a trade. Big cost to acquire & sign. Chychrun is relatively cheap. Bad example there. All the D that cashed in last summer are a better example.

Option 2: Grab a vet D, a younger Edler. McNabb, Lindholm Risto type to pair with Clarke.

Think we are looking at option 2 right now. Wait & see how guys develop & make moves when you know what you have. Also the more boring option.

 

[bland]

I still agree with a lot of other posters we'll be trading for/signing a top three defenseman at some point. I figure it'll happen after the season or at the draft. So someone will have to come off this for whoever that is.



I assume Lias just didn't feel right last game he played and they pulled him for precautionary reasons.

His last shift saw him along the wall coughing up the puck just inside the attacking blueline. Lemieux replaced him on the next shift. Unless he aggravated what was already ailing him it didn't look like much of anything, more like Lemieux was being rewarded and Lias was taking a late seat for the turnover. Hopefully it is just a nagging muscle problem.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Our Eichel will be a defender. No doubt about it at this point.

Next year Edler, Maata, and Brown come off the books. Pray to the hockey Gods Edler and Maata are not re-signed.

Problem is that the only interesting UFA D's are Lindholm, Zodorov, Chiarot, and McNabb. Hard to imagine but McNabb will be 32 next year by mid season.

May have to part with some good offensive chips up to get a good young D at this point.

Re-signed? Baby, we won't get that far, look for a Maatta 3-year extension by Christmas!