Speculation: 2021-22 LA Kings News, Rumors, Roster Thread Part VI

[Axl Rhoadz]

Fun facts -- Unless I looked at it wrong, Kings with a 5-point increase from last year after 33 games. Also on pace for 92-points. Wouldn't that be something....

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Fun facts -- Unless I looked at it wrong, Kings with a 5-point increase from last year after 33 games. Also on pace for 92-points. Wouldn't that be something....

Musta looked at it wrong, Kings are a bottom 3 PRO SPORTS franchise, not just NHL..... hell the Kings make the Detroit Lions look functional.....right?

 

[SufferingSelfCreated]

Musta looked at it wrong, Kings are a bottom 3 PRO SPORTS franchise, not just NHL..... hell the Kings make the Detroit Lions look functional.....right?

haha I'm a 30 years Lions fan. This is not funny

I haven't watched a Lions game since Suh & Calvin left. But I will admit, I like Dan Kneecap Campbell (MCDC). He has the team playing HARD. Which you have to do when you basically zero elite talent on the roster.

 

[Mats26]

The vets that were brought in are doing a great job, they should only get better down the stretch. Sucks we lost Edler, he was playing good hockey, hopefully we get him back, we really miss him back there.

The team seems well balanced now that the "bridge players" are slowly taking over the team from Brown and eventually Kopitar. Ice time aside, any line can win us a game. We also see the depth this team has, losing 3 dmen and still competing and winning games. The D core has impressed me the most even with it's flaws ie Size, Scoring etc...

The prospects and younger players are getting on the roster, even if it is congested. Kaliyev-Kupari-Durzi-Turcotte-Andersson-Grundstrom and we'll see Byfield and hopefully Vilardi back soon. Tough decisions will have to be made on who stays and who goes but hopefully that next year some roster spots will open for a few more kids so they can take on bigger roles.

I see it as a transition year to new leadership and acclimate a few kids for bigger roles next year. If we can do that while winning games and maybe make the playoffs that would be great for this organization and fans.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I’m one of those awful people that likes Blake and think he’s doing a solid job as he builds this thing. Many of the anti Blake people say DL was awesome (I essentially agree), so if that’s the case as he picked Blake as his heir perhaps we should back that play. I’m being tongue in cheek before anyone has a tantrum.

There is definitely some impatience as the prospects are so close we can taste it and we all want to turn the page. The reality is that Blake has taken his time and it remains to be seen if he’s gotten it right. He’s made some decent moves, a strong draft pedigree and he gives his team the trust they need to do a good job. I love the Lemieux trade and the return on Muzzin was great also. He also quickly got rid of Kovi once the rebuild started so he’s perfectly able to adjust/change/fix things as needed. The Wrobo hire was inspired. He needs to make a big move or two before next season and that will ultimately determine how good he really is.

That’s not to say he’s not done things I don’t like. I hate the signing of AA as it does little to help other than serve as a blocker to development (his lack of availability has been fortunate) and I don’t like Lizzote being in the NHL lineup nightly because he’s just a place holder IMO, despite him being great this season. I just think we’d be better served with JAD getting more NHL minutes and stretches of games before going down to work on things, with Lizotte then filling in. Lizotte is someone that should be our 13th forward. I’m OK with the development of AK34, so far, as he needed to improve in various areas to allow him to play higher up in the lineup but for me he’s very close to being ready. I’m fine with Kupari getting a long look but it’s time for someone else to get a shot.

How, I assess the season (not that it matters) won’t be based on if we make the play-offs or not. It’ll be purely down to development. Arty definitely needs a long look further up the lineup at some point and I want to see Turcotte with 15 games +. Vilardi needs a recall before the TDL and 10-15 games to see if he’s learned what he needed to and if he can be here long term. We need to see Byfield get 30+ games to get him ready for a big role next season. JAD has been good in the AHL and certainly needs more time on the big club. They need to decide the fate of Andersson because that’s a worthwhile gamble that appears it may not pay off. However he’s also not played enough to really know if he can fit in, but I think his chance may have gone. The problem becomes finding the space to give these guys the needed games and opportunity but I’m not going to get jumpy at this point. There needs to be some moves made at the TDL and that’ll be when things start to take shape. I hope…. but there’s still time this year for things to fall into place as it was never going to happen quickly.

If we make the play-offs that a great bonus but they big picture needs to be the focus.

That's the thing, this is getting painted as a binary love blake/hate blake, play the kids/play the vets and it's not. I agree with damn near everything you've said and I doubt anyone would call me 'pro blake.'

All I'm asking is when kids perform, move them up a bit! Kopitar has 20 minutes to give; even Brown wasn't next to him all of those. Give Arty 3-4 next to Kopitar or Danault once in a while. If you're gong to call up Turcotte, give him more than 9. If you're going to keep them in Ontario, make them THE guys, dress them for the roles you WANT them to have. And hold vets accountable when they suck, not just when they get sick.

That's it! The difference is just in perception--look at just the snark on the top of this page for an example, as if those of us who have been more critical want the Kings to fail, like it hurts us somehow to see them doing better, which is lolworthy.

All I wanted this year was improvement and an infusion of youth. So far it's trending towards the first one more and more--not just in results, but in habits--and the 2nd is mostly trending up as well with major exceptions like the other night.

 

[KingsFan7824]

All I'm asking is when kids perform, move them up a bit! Kopitar has 20 minutes to give; even Brown wasn't next to him all of those. Give Arty 3-4 next to Kopitar or Danault once in a while. If you're gong to call up Turcotte, give him more than 9. If you're going to keep them in Ontario, make them THE guys, dress them for the roles you WANT them to have. And hold vets accountable when they suck, not just when they get sick.

Which was another bad add by Blake. Don't sign Tynan if you want your top C prospects to be the top guys in Ontario. Same as Danault, Arvidsson, and Edler. The Reign seem to be pretty good, but who is leading the way? Frk and Tynan. Winning environment, but it's guys with no future doing the winning.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

A throwback to when Quick had to repeatedly face Datsyuk, Kovalchuk, Malkin

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Which was another bad add by Blake. Don't sign Tynan if you want your top C prospects to be the top guys in Ontario. Same as Danault, Arvidsson, and Edler. The Reign seem to be pretty good, but who is leading the way? Frk and Tynan. Winning environment, but it's guys with no future doing the winning.

I think that's where he shot himself in the foot--in a vacuum, the Reign adds were good. However, it's the training camp roster spillover that's hurting. Frk, Tkachev, JAD...I mean we pushed what, 5-6 guys down to begin with before injuries?

Then I look at the injuries we've had and it's almost worked out, the optimist in me says Blake was hedging against Covid, the pessimist in me says it was in case the kids didn't take a step (Vilardi last year, etc.). It's probably in the middle, it's just so many bodies.

 

[All The Kings Men]

I don't think the issue is in adding an AHL veteran or two.

The issue is in having 8 or 9 forwards on your developmental team that aren't there to be "developed".

 

[All The Kings Men]

I think that's where he shot himself in the foot--in a vacuum, the Reign adds were good. However, it's the training camp roster spillover that's hurting. Frk, Tkachev, JAD...I mean we pushed what, 5-6 guys down to begin with before injuries?

Then I look at the injuries we've had and it's almost worked out, the optimist in me says Blake was hedging against Covid, the pessimist in me says it was in case the kids didn't take a step (Vilardi last year, etc.). It's probably in the middle, it's just so many bodies.

I'm willing to give everybody a pass on this issue because it's still early. Heading into the season I said "somethings gotta give by November 1st" then injuries started piling up, then covid cases started popping... so I pushed it back to December 1st. Well now Taxi Squads are back.

The Kings are contending for a wild card spot and the Reign are among the best teams in the AHL so while EDIT: Onatrio doesn't have a roster full of high scoring 20-22 year olds /EDIT as all the overhyping optimists wanted and Byfield hasn't buried Stutzle in the hollywood hills yet... it seems premature to complain about any of these moves being clear spectacular missteps.

Plenty of other recent complaints on the board have there merits so I'm not joining the "dont you say anything bad" chorus but on the "too many guys" front (a front I like to think I helped establish) I'm actually willing to continue being patient.

 

[Schmooley]

I'm willing to give everybody a pass on this issue because it's still early. Heading into the season I said "somethings gotta give by November 1st" then injuries started piling up, then covid cases started popping... so I pushed it back to December 1st. Well now Taxi Squads are back.

The Kings are contending for a wild card spot and the Reign are among the best teams in the AHL so while Fagemo isn't as good as all the overhyping optimists wanted and Byfield hasn't buried Stutzle in the hollywood hills yet... it seems premature to complain about any of these moves being clear spectacular missteps.

Plenty of other recent complaints on the board have there merits so I'm not joining the "dont you say anything bad" chorus but on the "too many guys" front (a front I like to think I helped establish) I'm actually willing to continue being patient.

Ive seen zero people here overhype Fagemo and all I see is excitement for Byfield. The argument I see is these guys were drafted years ago now and should be getting the powerplay time in the AHL. Not Fagemo would be the Kings leading scorer if you put him in the NHL overhyping.
If the Kings go on a run all the depth that have will be really beneficial. They have a lot of bodies in case of injuries and a depth player is sure to step up in the playoffs like Smith Pelley did for Washington and Coleman did for Tampa. Grundstrom or Lias Andersson may be that guy so that could be a fun surprise.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I think that's where he shot himself in the foot--in a vacuum, the Reign adds were good. However, it's the training camp roster spillover that's hurting. Frk, Tkachev, JAD...I mean we pushed what, 5-6 guys down to begin with before injuries?

Then I look at the injuries we've had and it's almost worked out, the optimist in me says Blake was hedging against Covid, the pessimist in me says it was in case the kids didn't take a step (Vilardi last year, etc.). It's probably in the middle, it's just so many bodies.

I would guess somewhere in the middle. Also, a lot of ELC guys exempt from waivers. I believe Tkachev, Vilardi, and JAD are not exempt next year. If for some reason Tkachev re-signs here, he'd likely be on the team to stay, simply because of the new contract. Although that didn't save Wagner.

 

[King'sPawn]

I change my mind. **** it.

 

[All The Kings Men]

Ive seen zero people here overhype Fagemo and all I see is excitement for Byfield. The argument I see is these guys were drafted years ago now and should be getting the powerplay time in the AHL. Not Fagemo would be the Kings leading scorer if you put him in the NHL overhyping.
If the Kings go on a run all the depth that have will be really beneficial. They have a lot of bodies in case of injuries and a depth player is sure to step up in the playoffs like Smith Pelley did for Washington and Coleman did for Tampa. Grundstrom or Lias Andersson may be that guy so that could be a fun surprise.

Yea I didn't mean to single out Fagemo. I was just suggesting that Ontario was never going to "graduate" every single forward prospect into a high scoring NHL player. It was lazy on my part.

 

[cyclones22]

The Fagemo hype was from The Athletic. Pronman I believe was his #1 fan and I think Lisa Dillman bought into that. Many of us here hope that he becomes a good double-digit goal scoring middle sixer. He's certainly not afraid to shoot and has a good motor so maybe Arvidsson-lite.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The Fagemo hype was from The Athletic. Pronman I believe was his #1 fan and I think Lisa Dillman bought into that. Many of us here hope that he becomes a good double-digit goal scoring middle sixer. He's certainly not afraid to shoot and has a good motor so maybe Arvidsson-lite.

I always liked the Arvidsson comp so thought it was funny when we went out and got the real thing, heh.

High work rate, good hands in front, skate skate skate. Certainly less puckhandling than Arvidsson, he's not going to challenge guys in the same manner, but same general thoughts--up and down the rink quickly and funnel to the net.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I change my mind. **** it.

Confidence is important...in both, absolutely, the difference is, it's imperative in offense, it's the mindset, it's the confidence to keep going, keep doing the move, not revert to the safe move etc, that isn't gonna happen on the 1st line your first year in the NHL while playing against top defensive teams, while a team is trying to make the playoffs....there's nothing else to say on that, it's not how the NHL works, you know why it worked with Zegras? A. he has a ton more talent than Kaliyev, but there's no pressure from ANA to make the playoffs, not only that, their talent pool to begin with, is less, as a whole, than LA. But Zegras, when it stopped working, was sent back down to the AHL.... I'm not saying ANA is handling Zegras wrong, I don't think they are, I think they carved out a spot for him, and are letting him do his thing, because they know/don't care about making the playoffs this season, LA is different, for better or worse.

EACH prospect is different, again, not sure why I have to explain this, Kaliyev DID play with Kopitar, DID play with Danault, just not as long as people wanted....the horror....

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I always liked the Arvidsson comp so thought it was funny when we went out and got the real thing, heh.

High work rate, good hands in front, skate skate skate. Certainly less puckhandling than Arvidsson, he's not going to challenge guys in the same manner, but same general thoughts--up and down the rink quickly and funnel to the net.

From what I remember, Fagemo was close to making the squad this year out of training camp....

 

[cyclones22]

I always liked the Arvidsson comp so thought it was funny when we went out and got the real thing, heh.

High work rate, good hands in front, skate skate skate. Certainly less puckhandling than Arvidsson, he's not going to challenge guys in the same manner, but same general thoughts--up and down the rink quickly and funnel to the net.

I agree, I don't think Fagemo has the hard east-west skating that Arvidsson does, but Arvidsson doesn't half the time as he's now taken the falling down most on the team lead from Brown.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I'm willing to give everybody a pass on this issue because it's still early. Heading into the season I said "somethings gotta give by November 1st" then injuries started piling up, then covid cases started popping... so I pushed it back to December 1st. Well now Taxi Squads are back.

The Kings are contending for a wild card spot and the Reign are among the best teams in the AHL so while EDIT: Onatrio doesn't have a roster full of high scoring 20-22 year olds /EDIT as all the overhyping optimists wanted and Byfield hasn't buried Stutzle in the hollywood hills yet... it seems premature to complain about any of these moves being clear spectacular missteps.

Plenty of other recent complaints on the board have there merits so I'm not joining the "dont you say anything bad" chorus but on the "too many guys" front (a front I like to think I helped establish) I'm actually willing to continue being patient.

Yeah I'm pretty sure you had some tweets that said that verbatim

I generally agree. Like I said above, in some ways, with the injuries and illnesses--Blake looks really smart to have had what, 12 guys out between LA and Ontario, and for the most part, the LA roster was intact + blue chip youth come up and while Ontario had to PTO guys it wasn't a cataclysm like some of the east coast and canadian teams had where they couldn't even field real teams. That being said--unlikely, of course--but can you imagine if the Kings had been relatively healthy? What a personnel nightmare.

Ultimately my complaint comes down to developmental playing time which I think is a big issue and others disagree, which is fine, but you're absolutely right that things can change going forward including towards the deadline. The things I don't like could change overnight, we've just seen no evidence it's heading that way quite yet.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

From what I remember, Fagemo was close to making the squad this year out of training camp....

I thought that was last year, I remember Dillman, Pronman, and a few others being shocked he was cut, but I don't remember the same fanfare this year? Either way, he's right on the cusp, being a little older too. I'd be surprised if he got NO NHL games this year.

 

[Mats26]

I thought that was last year, I remember Dillman, Pronman, and a few others being shocked he was cut, but I don't remember the same fanfare this year? Either way, he's right on the cusp, being a little older too. I'd be surprised if he got NO NHL games this year.

He started last season on the taxi squad and stayed there until he was sent down to the AHL. This year no news that I heard of about Fagemo coming close to making the team. They had Kupari, Kaliyev, Vilardi, and Byfield on the roster.

 

[Steve Zissou]

 

[Kudelski37]

Were some of the forwards signed before the OHL/CHL announced that players like Byfield and Kaliyev that played in the AHL last season could do the same this year? If so, you have to think that played a part in signing more forwards.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Were some of the forwards signed before the OHL/CHL announced that players like Byfield and Kaliyev that played in the AHL last season could do the same this year? If so, you have to think that played a part in signing more forwards.

Interesting question so I had to look, but I couldn't find the 'official' announcement.

Dreger reported it on July 22nd, so teams had to be aware of it:



The Kings/UFA signings really started on July 28th

On October 6th, teams started assigning training camp cuts to the AHL: AHL exception appears to be in play for CHL players

I'm sure someone can find the 'official' announcement but would be interesting to know when it was official. I have to assume teams knew before the UFA period because that's a big deal.