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

[Little Psycho]

Brown is back on the top unit with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, a line on which he’s shown chemistry and productivity in the past. The hope internally is that the floodgates will open a bit, and that Brown will play a bit more freely, now that he got one, as McLellan shared last night.

12/1 Practice Notes - Deflections, Fan Support, Brown's Goal, Shootout Strategy, Cleanout Day - LA Kings Insider

Oh Todd. He's not snakebitten or anything, he's just way past his prime.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Byfield, I love you, but for the love of god dump the awful Sherwood gear.

I use the Sherwood composite stick, but I'm also not pro, I just use it because it's like 150 bucks cheaper than the Bauer/Warrior stuff so when some hack rips it apart I can buy another one for the price of a single Bauer lol. But it's decent, it's certainly no Jetspeed but it's a killer value

12/1 Practice Notes - Deflections, Fan Support, Brown's Goal, Shootout Strategy, Cleanout Day - LA Kings Insider

Oh Todd. He's not snakebitten or anything, he's just way past his prime.

hahahahah called it

won't be able to get brown off the first line with the jaws of life now

The thing is it wasn't even about his scoring (or lack thereof), it was the absolute liability in play

 

[Statto]

Iafallo
Age / PPG
23 .32
24 .40
25 .61
26 .55
27 .71

Kempe
Age / PPG
19 .24
20 .46
21 .35
22 .46
23 .52
24 .62

In other words he’s great value. People forget what he’s paid, sometimes.

 

[unicornpig]

if kempe is your top winger you have problems.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

if kempe is your top winger you have problems.

Sure, but that's not Kempe's fault anymore than it is Derek Armstrong's when he was 2C.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

McLellan was clearly looking for any excuse/reason he could to put Brown back on the top line, and a rebound goal (despite being his usual 2021 awful self the entire rest of the game), gave him exactly what he needed. He's 37 years old, the writing is on the wall. The only floodgates being opened are even more bad play from Brown

 

[bland]

The other problem with that goal is that it validated a mistake Brown makes time and again, standing to the side of the net waiting for rebounds to fall onto his stick instead of trying to screen.

He and his lines would be so much more productive if he just put in that harder work. Waiting for fortunate bounces worked for a three week period last year before the luck dried up.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

The other problem with that goal is that it validated a mistake Brown makes time and again, standing to the side of the net waiting for rebounds to fall onto his stick instead of trying to screen.

He and his lines would be so much more productive if he just put in that harder work. Waiting for fortunate bounces worked for a three week period last year before the luck dried up.

That work becomes so much harder (or impossible) at 37. I honestly don't blame him at this point, the man has given everything to this franchise, he just can't do what's necessary anymore.

 

[johnjm22]

Brown screening the goalie has resulted in many goals over the years.

 

[bland]

Brown screening the goalie has resulted in many goals over the years.

You could count them on one hand over the past few seasons.

There has been one this year.

 

[Lt Dan]

Brown screening the goalie has resulted in many goals over the years.

There has been one this year.

Everything is better to musical lyrics


One goal , one screen
One Dustin, who shouldn't be there
One Dustin, on the top line
Demote, bench

One Dustin but he's not the same
They have to demote the Dustin, , demote the Dustin
One
One

 

[DoktorJeep]

I guess Brown should have been nut to butt with Kempe to double screen Gibson the other night.

 

[bmr]

Really happy to see that Ontario will be able to have Wolanin back in the lineup. That will really help round out the defense.

 

[johnjm22]

It wasn't even really a shot to screen.

Brown signaled to Roy that he was open, and Roy flicked it in his direction so he could deflect it.

Brown's deflection is what created the rebound in the first place. Brown then put the rebound home.

 

[YP44]

last two seasons have show me that brown still has decent hands. he skating is really the issue right now.

 

[kingsfan28]

Trading Kempe now makes you a farm team for another organization.

You draft him, put the time in to develop him, and as soon as he's hitting his prime you trade him away so another team can bear the fruits of your investment.

This is his 6th season [7 year since his draft], that's plenty of time to be better than what he is. He has yet to show he can do it over a season. Last year he went over 20 games between goals. You really think he's gonna get 5 mil plus next year from LA for 16 goal high? I want him to do well and be a regular consistent guy, but man, he's yet to do that.

 

[Lt Dan]

This is his 6th season [7 year since his draft], that's plenty of time to be better than what he is. He has yet to show he can do it over a season. Last year he went over 20 games between goals. You really think he's gonna get 5 mil plus next year from LA for 16 goal high? I want him to do well and be a regular consistent guy, but man, he's yet to do that.

 

[johnjm22]

This is his 6th season [7 year since his draft], that's plenty of time to be better than what he is. He has yet to show he can do it over a season. Last year he went over 20 games between goals. You really think he's gonna get 5 mil plus next year from LA for 16 goal high? I want him to do well and be a regular consistent guy, but man, he's yet to do that.

He's ahead of where Iaffalo was at offensively at the same age. This will be Kempe's second straight season scoring at a 20 goal pace.

Remember the center experiment really set him back for awhile.

But the past doesn't matter. It's only what he's going to be moving forward.

I see him as a 20 goal, 45 point winger for the next 4 years or so, who can play in any game situation. He's a solid piece to have.

If you think he projects out less than that, then trade him. His return will be extremely minimal.

I'm not sure what you're saying about a 5M + contract. I never said anything about it.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Need a game changer. PP is bad. PK is bad. Long term goalie out look is troubling. Stuck with Brown. If Kopi declines anymore, stuck with that. No prospects making a dent at the nhl level. Defense is a mess.

Kempe is so low on the list of things to be concerned about.

 

[bmr]

Need a game changer. PP is bad. PK is bad. Long term goalie out look is troubling. Stuck with Brown. If Kopi declines anymore, stuck with that. No prospects making a dent at the nhl level. Defense is a mess.

Kempe is so low on the list of things to be concerned about.

Jeez, so pessimistic. Our PP will continue to get better, especially with Durzi back there. PK will improve. Brown's last year. I'm hoping we get a taste of the playoffs this year and make some noise. Next couple of years should be pretty exciting watching the prospects duke it out for time on the big club.

Calgary will be a tough game tonight.

 

[lumbergh]

This is his 6th season [7 year since his draft], that's plenty of time to be better than what he is. He has yet to show he can do it over a season. Last year he went over 20 games between goals. You really think he's gonna get 5 mil plus next year from LA for 16 goal high? I want him to do well and be a regular consistent guy, but man, he's yet to do that.

Not sure what you’re expecting out of a late first round draft pick. I’d say he’s doing well and pretty consistent 30-40 points per season player.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Not sure what you’re expecting out of a late first round draft pick. I’d say he’s doing well and pretty consistent 30-40 points per season player.

Yep, he's exactly what every single team's 40 point players are--guys who you need and can come up big, but by definition are absolutely streaky. The big problem here is having to rely on him so much but you had better believe if he was on a team like TBL he'd be getting exalted.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Yep, he's exactly what every single team's 40 point players are--guys who you need and can come up big, but by definition are absolutely streaky. The big problem here is having to rely on him so much but you had better believe if he was on a team like TBL he'd be getting exalted.

We're a team full of depth without a big line to get behind.

 

[Statto]

I’m always trying to find the silver lining to every situation up these guys are making it tough. Speaking of tough… jeez. I don’t expect or want us to dress half a dozen knuckle draggers but a bit of team toughness should not be too much to expect. It’s also unrealistic (of the team) to expect Lemieux to carry the toughness load on his own, he needs help and we cannot be so exposed if he is out of the lineup.

I wouldn’t trade the veterans on the basis that they are there to support and nurture the younger players. Even if it just protects them from being put in situations they are not yet ready for. However the vets need to step up and be counted and their roles adjusted to reflect their performance. Brown, I love and there are many posts I’ve made to that effect but he’s now a bottom 6 player at best and no more than PP2. He shouldn’t be playing more than 10-12 minutes. Doughty is fine and we shouldn’t expect him to be at full speed for another couple of weeks. I’m mostly disappointed in Kopi as he just isn’t as engaged as he should be which is seriously irritating me atm. I wouldn’t move him as it would put one of the young centers in a position they aren’t yet ready for but he needs to get his head out of his rear end. Time to step up skipper.

Trevor Moore was a real positive last season but I’d sit him currently as he looks like someone very happy with his new contract.Kupari needs some AHL time, if just for a mental rest and the opportunity to score a few points. I know everyone likes Lizottes hustle but he doesn’t move the needle one little bit, so I’d move on from him immediately.

I’d keep Durzi in the lineup right now as he gives something different and helps offensively but he needs more work in Ontario ultimately. We can shelter him 5/5 to some degree for now with Walker injured but it’s a spot in the lineup where you can make a case for bringing someone in from the outside to bring some grit. Roy has been disappointing but let’s see if he can find his game now Doughty is back ahead of him, but he has to be better. The roster changes I’d make are:

- JAD in for Lizzotte (Waive because he has no trade value)
- Turcotte in for Kupari (Ontario)
- Vilardi in for Moore (Scratch)
- Kaliyev to Ontario for a few games to give him a break also, once Lemieux is back.

Not worrying about lines, but it freshens things up and brings some energy.

I’m not sure what we should do with Byfield but my gut says that once he’s fit he should play. We needs someone to spark things and he’s very capable of doing just that.

I’m not worried about goaltending as that’s the least of our issues. If we sort the garbage out in front of them they will be fine. I’m off to be grumpy somewhere else…

 

[lumbergh]

At the quarter season mark, some observations from stats:

Your best active forwards? Carl Grundstrom, Brendan Lemieux, Andreas Athanasiou, and Blake Lizotte. All are above 60%GF at even strength with PDO above water.

Your worst forwards? Lias Andersson and Adrian Kempe (at or below 40% ES GF and ugly PDO).

Your best D? Drew Doughty and Alex Edler.

Your worst D? Sean Durzi and Olli Maatta.

Basically the 4th line has been punching above its weight, but the top line is being regularly outplayed. People keep patting Lias Andersson and Sean Durzi on the back on this board, but they don't exactly deserve it right now. Durzi maybe on the power play, but he's not exactly earning the rest of his minutes.