Speculation: 2021-21 LA Kings News/Rumors/Roster discussion

[KingsFan7824]

It’s embarrassing that the Kings keep elevating these local amateur bloggers and podcasters. The only reason these hacks are allowed anywhere near a pro sports team is because nobody cares about hockey in LA. If this were a hockey town, these clowns wouldn’t even get so much as a retweet. It’d be like the Flyers giving Eklund a press pass.

If you can't do much about the fact that nobody cares about the Kings, then is it embarrassing? It's better than nothing.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

If he really does have an anonymous source you can bet he's being fed some bull shit. Why would a real Kings rep tell a blogger anything except to fulfill an internal agenda?

The way he structures his writing or style just seem like he’s ranting. It’s just a tough read, personally because it doesn’t need to be drawn out like that.

It’s almost like he pretends he is the Kings GM. There’s plenty of that on here.

 

[DoktorJeep]

The mayor isn’t a professional journalist, so he’ll never be more than a media mouthpiece for the organization. I think DB is more credible because he has journalist credentials beyond the Mayor (IMO) and he tends to be more evenhanded in his opinions about the team.

I don’t think the Kings will ever have a true insider covering the team, but those guys are all in Canada anyway. NY has Larry Brooks, but he’s a slight improvement as far as having access to confidential info over Hellene Elliot, who hasn’t covered the Kings in like a decade.

 

[bland]

Hoven is nowhere near the embarrassment of Carrlyn Bathe being third up in every presser trying to hug every Kings fan:

"Todd, you may have lost 72-1 but what positives can you take out of this one?"

 

[DoktorJeep]

Hoven is nowhere near the embarrassment of Carrlyn Bathe being third up in every presser trying to hug every Kings fan:

"Todd, you may have lost 72-1 but what positives can you take out of this one?"

I think Carrlyn is working a paid position, so I’m not surprised when she lobs softballs. What’s the Mayors excuse?

 

[ibleedkings]

Hoven is nowhere near the embarrassment of Carrlyn Bathe being third up in every presser trying to hug every Kings fan:

"Todd, you may have lost 72-1 but what positives can you take out of this one?"

You can tell Todd is pissed when they say "next up is Carrlyn Bathe" haha

 

[Maynard]

If you can't do much about the fact that nobody cares about the Kings, then is it embarrassing? It's better than nothing.

I’m curious if teams in other non-hockey markets do this. Like…do the Coyotes and Ducks just hand out credentials to whatever podbloggers are hanging around? Does the assistant GM of the Stars give interviews to people that run a fan blog? Do they give TV time to unreliable rumor hacks?

Perhaps they’re all good at their little hobby but why does a pro sports team keep them around? It just seems weird.

 

[RossLonsberryFan]

Why would the Kings protect Athanasiou? I don’t even think he’s gonna sign a new contract with the Kings.

Yeah. I wouldn’t protect him either. But he seems to appear on the list of many speculative hockey writers. Point is, the Kings don’t really have 7 forwards worth protecting.

 

[johnjm22]

Hoven is nowhere near the embarrassment of Carrlyn Bathe being third up in every presser trying to hug every Kings fan:

"Todd, you may have lost 72-1 but what positives can you take out of this one?"

She's a nice a girl. A sweetheart. So were Heidi and Alex. It doesn't exactly make for a good reporter though.

I wish we had a skeptical, pessimistic, old curmudgeon reporter, asking PITA questions all the time. That would be much more interesting.

 

[Statto]

I think Carrlyn is working a paid position, so I’m not surprised when she lobs softballs. What’s the Mayors excuse?

I think he works with DB on the interviews, so between them it’s fairly balanced. That way he keeps guys on side to appear on his podcast, to get info etc, whilst DB plays the bad cop role. Between them it seems fairly balanced but I’ve seen Hoven throw the odd tough one.

I think Hoven gets a bad rap from some on here, he never pretends to know more than he does. When he’s giving his opinion, it’s fairly clear and when he quotes sources he’s equally clear. The Iaffalo stick people use to beat him with is weak as something clearly changed in negotiations, otherwise it would have been done much sooner. He doesn’t always call trades but I wouldn’t expect him to when the circle on such things is very tight. If he got trades right constantly then something would be very wrong in the front office.

He’s a decent guy and helped me out when I had issues with ordering a product from one of his advertisers. He doesn’t know me, had zero reason to help me and got nothing out of it, but helped me anyway. Decent bloke end of story.

 

[Piston]

She's a nice a girl. A sweetheart. So were Heidi and Alex. It doesn't exactly make for a good reporter though.

I wish we had a skeptical, pessimistic, old curmudgeon reporter, asking PITA questions all the time. That would be much more interesting.

Sounds like you're describing Helene Elliot

 

[RossLonsberryFan]

Yeah I understand the thesis behind his proposal. Me personally though, I don't see the point in trying to improve the roster right now for this upcoming season.

I know others disagree, but I think if the Kings do nothing, they'll be in the running for Wright / Savoie / Lambert in the 2022 draft. I'd rather have that than a black hole season.

So what about prospects? You want them to improve right? Vilardi, Andersson, JAD and Byfield? You don’t want to waste Iafallo and Kempe either right? So why not add another top 6 veteran to play top line with Kopitar and give them a solid 1st line to play with or behind now? Tanking makes zero sense.

 

[Reaper45]

I think he works with DB on the interviews, so between them it’s fairly balanced. That way he keeps guys on side to appear on his podcast, to get info etc, whilst DB plays the bad cop role. Between them it seems fairly balanced but I’ve seen Hoven throw the odd tough one.

I think Hoven gets a bad rap from some on here, he never pretends to know more than he does. When he’s giving his opinion, it’s fairly clear and when he quotes sources he’s equally clear. The Iaffalo stick people use to beat him with is weak as something clearly changed in negotiations, otherwise it would have been done much sooner. He doesn’t always call trades but I wouldn’t expect him to when the circle on such things is very tight. If he got trades right constantly then something would be very wrong in the front office.

He’s a decent guy and helped me out when I had issues with ordering a product from one of his advertisers. He doesn’t know me, had zero reason to help me and got nothing out of it, but helped me anyway. Decent bloke end of story.

I don’t know, Hoven throws stuff out there with the expectation it’s reality, not his opinion, and then gets pissed when people call him on it. He should just say wow sources got that one wrong or whatever and go with the flow. Instead he blocks people on Twitter and whatnot. It’s childish.

 

[Kingnut]

Sounds like you're describing Helene Elliot

Piston, good to see you are still around. Got your info from JT awhile back but lost the info.

 

[legitarita19]

Tarasenko is on the block and has 2 years left at $7.5 million. I think you might be able to get him as a stop gap. 29 years old (a little on the old side) but salary is right and if he is healthy (which he looked against Colorado 1st round), he could be helpful. May be able to mentor Kaliyev.

As far as D-men go, Werenski or Sanheim is fine. LA has the cupboard to land one of those guys. Still think a top 4 LD within the 22-25 year age range is the most important piece missing right now. If you can get Werenski for the 8th overall (knowing full well that Cbus is probably going into tank mode) and Nousiaenen and a roster player then you do the deal. Sanheim would probably cost a similar price but he has less upside.

Free agency wise, don't love Schwartz but it's not terrible either.

 

[SFKingshomer]

Werenski is Detroit bound if he doesn't stay in Columbus. They may pay him a ton to stay with Jones headed out. In other words, Werenski is a pipe dream.

 

[Kingnut]

Tarasenko is on the block and has 2 years left at $7.5 million. I think you might be able to get him as a stop gap. 29 years old (a little on the old side) but salary is right and if he is healthy (which he looked against Colorado 1st round), he could be helpful. May be able to mentor Kaliyev.

As far as D-men go, Werenski or Sanheim is fine. LA has the cupboard to land one of those guys. Still think a top 4 LD within the 22-25 year age range is the most important piece missing right now. If you can get Werenski for the 8th overall (knowing full well that Cbus is probably going into tank mode) and Nousiaenen and a roster player then you do the deal. Sanheim would probably cost a similar price but he has less upside.

Free agency wise, don't love Schwartz but it's not terrible either.

Heard somewhere that Tarasenko not 100% healthy

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

We all know Hoven has insiders in the Kings that were set on trading Iafallo. Once Drew found out he eighty-sixed them and held Blake's surfboard collection hostage until the deal was done. #RP5

Might as well shoot Blake's mother.

I think Carrlyn is working a paid position, so I’m not surprised when she lobs softballs. What’s the Mayors excuse?

Access, presumably.

But he's not all sunshine and rainbows, he's an optimist but he's not an idiot, he goes in pretty hard sometimes, albeit without character assassination.

 

[legitarita19]

He missed most of the last season except for the playoffs. Played 24 games and had 14 points. Coming off a shoulder injury so he won't cost a tremendous amount and is only signed two more years. I think he would be a great fit with Kopitar. I think it's low risk high reward. If he bounces back and the team is still not playing well, could trade him and get a decent return.

 

[Sol]

My tacobell source is more of an insider than Hoven.

If the Kings can get Eichel at a good price they should. But it's Blakey we are talking about so his stupidity isn't out of the question.

 

[Docgonzo]

It’s embarrassing that the Kings keep elevating these local amateur bloggers and podcasters. The only reason these hacks are allowed anywhere near a pro sports team is because nobody cares about hockey in LA. If this were a hockey town, these clowns wouldn’t even get so much as a retweet. It’d be like the Flyers giving Eklund a press pass.

Plenty of major markets have hacks. Toronto has Steve Dangle and Steve Simmons. Philadelphia is notorious for their sports hack journalism. Boston has a few as well.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Fan 'reporters' (non-team-employed) or whatever euphemism/pejoration you want to use for them exist heavily in every market and in even greater quantities than in LA. I assumed this was common knowledge.

 

[HookKing]

It’s embarrassing that the Kings keep elevating these local amateur bloggers and podcasters. The only reason these hacks are allowed anywhere near a pro sports team is because nobody cares about hockey in LA. If this were a hockey town, these clowns wouldn’t even get so much as a retweet. It’d be like the Flyers giving Eklund a press pass.

The only thing embarrassing is people actually thinking they're going to get anything more than "We need to get better" from a presser.

 

[AzKing]

My tacobell source is more of an insider than Hoven.

If the Kings can get Eichel at a good price they should. But it's Blakey we are talking about so his stupidity isn't out of the question.

I don't have any confidence in Blake being able to orchestrate a blockbuster deal that is favorable to the Kings. He has absolutely no experience in that regard and Luc is dumber than dirt so he can't provide any sort of assistance. Both of these guys haven't had to really dig in and make a major/defining move that would shape this franchise for years yet. It's been mostly unloading guys in a contract year, picking up assets and drafting players where the heavy lifting has already been done for them by the scouting department.

 

[bland]

He missed most of the last season except for the playoffs. Played 24 games and had 14 points. Coming off a shoulder injury so he won't cost a tremendous amount and is only signed two more years. I think he would be a great fit with Kopitar. I think it's low risk high reward. If he bounces back and the team is still not playing well, could trade him and get a decent return.

No, its definitely high risk. He has had multiple surgeries on the same shoulder and his NHL career is in constant jeopardy. Its the wrong move for a team like the Kings, maybe you take that risk if you are a player or two away from contending, but the Kings are a whole team away from that point.