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

[Reclamation Project]

So you think the team is sinking?

Kings are adrift and management is at peace.

 

[apocalypse]

Kings are adrift and management is at peace.

Let's step aside from metaphors for a second. Do you think this team is shit and will never amount to anything other than a perpetual bottom feeder?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Let's step aside from metaphors for a second. Do you think this team is shit and will never amount to anything other than a perpetual bottom feeder?

As is, with current admin, yeah. I think if they stumble into any success it will be because Byfield and Clarke and/or another surprise go full McDavid and drag them out of the lottery into getting murdered in the first round of the playoffs. I think the vets are on the way down, the youth are stagnating due to usage and development, and the middle class/age is good supporting cast but not enough cover the failures of the others, and I don't trust the development team or Blake/Tm and co with a coherent vision due to the dissonance I see.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Let's step aside from metaphors for a second. Do you think this team is shit and will never amount to anything other than a perpetual bottom feeder?

The current roster is not good enough to be a playoff team and not bad enough to get a top 3 pick, they will be around a point per game team, to me that’s the worst spot you could possibly be in. This team is not good at all and likely won’t be relevant for another 5 years and that’s relying on a prospect pool to actually succeed in the NHL which is a hope, not a guarantee. They could all flop. This was supposed to be a breakout year but the team still sucks and can’t score for shit. The complete failure of producing a team that can score goals at this point is a major concern. Nothing has changed.

 

[bland]

As is, with current admin, yeah. I think if they stumble into any success it will be because Byfield and Clarke and/or another surprise go full McDavid and drag them out of the lottery into getting murdered in the first round of the playoffs. I think the vets are on the way down, the youth are stagnating due to usage and development, and the middle class/age is good supporting cast but not enough cover the failures of the others, and I don't trust the development team or Blake/Tm and co with a coherent vision due to the dissonance I see.

They tried doing two things at once, get the heroes another shot at glory and stock the farm. Ambitious, naive, either way it isn't working. The pro team stinks, not playoff caliber and that is factually tangible. Theoretically the kids' development isn't working well. That part could change, but it hasn't happened yet. And there sure seems good reason for us to worry about that.

This was poised to be a progressive year. That's why it is so goddam frustrating to see no growth anywhere you look for it.

 

[apocalypse]

As is, with current admin, yeah. I think if they stumble into any success it will be because Byfield and Clarke and/or another surprise go full McDavid and drag them out of the lottery into getting murdered in the first round of the playoffs. I think the vets are on the way down, the youth are stagnating due to usage and development, and the middle class/age is good supporting cast but not enough cover the failures of the others, and I don't trust the development team or Blake/Tm and co with a coherent vision due to the dissonance I see.

I hold out hope that Vilardi will be a superstar in the NHL along with Byfield, Turcotte, and Kaliyev. If they all become stars then this team is sitting pretty, am I right? If only Byfield hits, well then we're screwed, I agree. Along with Clarke hitting as well.

 

[KingsHockey24]

The current roster is not good enough to be a playoff team and not bad enough to get a top 3 pick, they will be around a point per game team, to me that’s the worst spot you could possibly be in. This team is not good at all and likely won’t be relevant for another 5 years and that’s relying on a prospect pool to actually succeed in the NHL which is a hope, not a guarantee. They could all flop. This was supposed to be a breakout year but the team still sucks and can’t score for shit. The complete failure of producing a team that can score goals at this point is a major concern. Nothing has changed.

Oh no; the state of the Minnesota Wild pre-Kaprizov.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

I hold out hope that Vilardi will be a superstar in the NHL along with Byfield, Turcotte, and Kaliyev. If they all become stars then this team is sitting pretty, am I right? If only Byfield hits, well then we're screwed, I agree. Along with Clarke hitting as well.

Vilardi would have to have to have speed to ever become superstar. He may have skills, vision, good shot, but he lacks speed to become anything more than a good, 2C and nothing
wrong with that. Kopi is one of the few stars that does not have good speed, but I would not call him a superstar, at any point in his career.

I believe Byfield and Clarke have shots at becoming stars....and don't see anyone else hitting that level, with an outside chance for Kaliyev. He's truly come a long way in 2 years.
Better skating, board play, better 200 feet and getting quicker at making plays. He will never have top speed either and that is what it is. He has improved and he's going
to certainly make it. Just hard to say if he tops out at 3o goals, 60 points, or 40 goals, 80 points.

I just hope Turcotte and a few others become impact players: Durzi, Chromiak, Vilardi, Madden, Fagemo, Pinelli, Faber, Grans, Thomas, JAD, Simotaival, Helenius, Spence.
There's just so many. Some have to reach their potential.

Bizarre to think 2 that were not even supposed to make the team, have been bright spots: Lemieux and Durzi. So, should be some more upside surprises. I'll take them.

 

[apocalypse]

They tried doing two things at once, get the heroes another shot at glory and stock the farm. Ambitious, naive, either way it isn't working. The pro team stinks, not playoff caliber and that is factually tangible. Theoretically the kids' development isn't working well. That part could change, but it hasn't happened yet. And there sure seems good reason for us to worry about that.
This was poised to be a progressive year. That's why it is so goddam frustrating to see no growth anywhere you look for it.

This snippet is about Joe Sakic:

Executive Vice President/General Manager/Alternate Governor. Former Avalanche captain Joe Sakic completed his eighth season as Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations in 2020-21, his 10th year overall in the organization's front office. He was named to his current position on May 10, 2013.

Sometimes it just takes longer than expected. I would call the Avalanche a contender.

 

[Sol]

Nice argument.

It's fact. You'd have to pretty much not be watching the games.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Vilardi would have to have to have speed to ever become superstar. He may have skills, vision, good shot, but he lacks speed to become anything more than a good, 2C and nothing
wrong with that. Kopi is one of the few stars that does not have good speed, but I would not call him a superstar, at any point in his career.

I believe Byfield and Clarke have shots at becoming stars....and don't see anyone else hitting that level, with an outside chance for Kaliyev. He's truly come a long way in 2 years.
Better skating, board play, better 200 feet and getting quicker at making plays. He will never have top speed either and that is what it is. He has improved and he's going
to certainly make it. Just hard to say if he tops out at 3o goals, 60 points, or 40 goals, 80 points.

I just hope Turcotte and a few others become impact players: Durzi, Chromiak, Vilardi, Madden, Fagemo, Pinelli, Faber, Grans, Thomas, JAD, Simotaival, Helenius, Spence.
There's just so many. Some have to reach their potential.

Bizarre to think 2 that were not even supposed to make the team, have been bright spots: Lemieux and Durzi. So, should be some more upside surprises. I'll take them.

There should be upside surprises.

I'm not convinced this current ops team will ever give them a chance at the NHL level.

This snippet is about Joe Sakic:

Executive Vice President/General Manager/Alternate Governor. Former Avalanche captain Joe Sakic completed his eighth season as Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations in 2020-21, his 10th year overall in the organization's front office. He was named to his current position on May 10, 2013.

Sometimes it just takes longer than expected. I would call the Avalanche a contender.

The top 5 scorers on the 2014 avalanche were aged 23, 21, 22, 18, 28. only a handful of guys over 26 were even rostered, with only Jan Hedja / Benoit at D and Bordelau at F (big body protector) playing close to a full season. Within 4 years, they were consistently in the playoffs. He's in his 9th season because the last half of those years they've been a true contender.

Blake inherited an absolute mess, to be sure, but he misevaluated the roster before starting a rebuild. It is now Rob Blake's 4th season as GM--the current top TEN scorers on the Kings are 34, 28, 25, 28, 28, 32, 35, 37, 20, 24, yet they are not a playoff team. When does the future start to begin, and when is it fair to expect results, especially when they outright tell us their expectations?

My major qualm is 'longer than expected' is fine with youth growing into roles, but not with vets rotting out of theirs. based on age you would think a top-10 in scoring like that would be the Washington Capitals or even teh ST. Louis Blues but nope, just the lowly Kings, with a top six average age of 30 in the middle of a rebuild, not making the playoffs.

 

[lumbergh]

The current roster is not good enough to be a playoff team and not bad enough to get a top 3 pick, they will be around a point per game team, to me that’s the worst spot you could possibly be in. This team is not good at all and likely won’t be relevant for another 5 years and that’s relying on a prospect pool to actually succeed in the NHL which is a hope, not a guarantee. They could all flop. This was supposed to be a breakout year but the team still sucks and can’t score for shit. The complete failure of producing a team that can score goals at this point is a major concern. Nothing has changed.

I agree about the lack of scoring, but isn't a point per game pace about where most everyone figured they'd be right now? Few teams can jump from bottom feeding to contending over a summer. If the Kings finish the season with 82 points, that's not good, but that's better than the past three seasons. Playoffs were always an ambition and a hope. Rebuilds go through progressions, and this season is the climb up the side of the mountain.

 

[No Name The Nameless]

No he wasn't. His numbers in Montreal were no better than with the Kings and the Caps couldn't wait to get rid of him.

His goals went up and he was energized. When he was traded the whole NHL was buzzing about how Montreal re-energized him and capitalized by getting a high draft pick for him a month later.

 

[HookKing]

His goals went up and he was energized. When he was traded the whole NHL was buzzing about how Montreal re-energized him and capitalized by getting a high draft pick for him a month later.

Well, here some facts:
his performance with his final season with the Kings projected over 82 games: 43 points. his performance with Montreal projected over 82 games: 48 points.

Conclusion: he was amazingly better in Montreal.

 

[KingsFan7824]

They have a better pt% so far this year than the previous 3. A better GF. A better GA. PP is up. PK sucks. Better shot differential.

30th overall in 18-19.
29th overall in 19-20.
25th overall in 20-21.
23rd overall so far in 21-22.

DL started 28th in 06-07.
30th in 07-08.
25th in 08-09.
Then ramped things up from the day they knew they were getting Doughty, and shot up to 9th in 09-10.

DL opened up spots for Kopitar and Doughty by trading more veteran types. Although brought some in, with Stoll and Handzus doing a lot of the heavy stuff early on instead of Kopitar.

Each guy started in very different places, and that can't be discounted. One relatively early in the cap world. One well after every team has solidified all the bad contracts. DL was able to add cheap vets. Blake inherited a lot of expensive vets. And then had Kopitar have a league MVP level season. Has he just had a normal Kopitar year, and the team continues the trend it was on, there's probably no Kovalchuk.

This year is this year, however it plays out. What's done is done. What needs to happen next year is spots have to be opened up for the prospects. On both the Kings and Reign. Tynan, Sutter, Burke, Frk, Johnson, Wagner, that's all taking time from prospects.

 

[johnjm22]

I'm a pessimist. I was in favor of tanking this season because I thought it was hopeless and pointless to try and improve this roster.

But with that being said, I actually do think this team is better than what we've seen in previous years.

Since late October, the Kings have essentially had 2 games where they weren't competitive: Vancouver (4-0) and Toronto (6-2). Every other game in that span (18 games) is a game they were in an could have easily won or gotten points in.

 

[Lt Dan]

I'm a pessimist. I was in favor of tanking this season because I thought it was hopeless and pointless to try and improve this roster.

But with that being said, I actually do think this team is better than what we've seen in previous years.

Since late October, the Kings have essentially had 2 games where the weren't competitive: Vancouver (4-0) and Toronto (6-2). Every other game in that span (18 games) is a game they were in an could have easily won or gotten points in.

I have been frustrated recently and this post made me feel better.

Thank you

 

[BringTheReign]

I think hiring Wrobo was a sign that the organization understands it needs to improve its player development. I think having the Reign and the Kings both practicing in El Segundo will pay more dividends moving forward as well, as that's only been the case for ~3 seasons and 2 of which were obscured by C19.

I think it is pretty clear though that our amateur, college, and pro scouting staffs are much more effective than our player development staff is. It is tricky though because player development is probably the least public aspect of all of hockey ops. We hear about orgs like Tampa and their entire pipeline from Syracuse, and I feel that we're starting to see a similar org being built here. The Kings have also experimented with extra coaches like Pierre Turgeon (even if it wasn't successful). I think Blake has actually shown a pretty open mind when it comes to improving development, so hopefully we'll continue to see improvement even if it means our best young players cook a little longer in the minors/AHL.

I think this board often swings between "PLAY ALL THE KIDS" and "keep them in the minors to grow together (and away from our sagging NHL roster)." Our seesaw season thus far has made it hard to pick one, as we've looked more competitive but still inconsistent.

 

[Lt Dan]

I think hiring Wrobo was a sign that the organization understands it needs to improve its player development. I think having the Reign and the Kings both practicing in El Segundo will pay more dividends moving forward as well, as that's only been the case for ~3 seasons and 2 of which were obscured by C19.

I think it is pretty clear though that our amateur, college, and pro scouting departments are much more effective than our player development staff is. It is tricky though because player development is probably the least public aspect of all of hockey ops. We hear about orgs like Tampa and their entire pipeline from Syracuse, and I feel that we're starting to see a similar org being built here. The Kings have also experimented with extra coaches like Pierre Turgeon (even if it wasn't successful). I think Blake has actually shown a pretty open mind when it comes to improving development, so hopefully we'll continue to see improvement even if it means our best young players cook a little longer in the minors/AHL.

I think this board often swings between "PLAY ALL THE KIDS" and "keep them in the minors to grow together (and away from our sagging NHL roster)." Our seesaw season thus far has made it hard to pick one, as we've looked more competitive but still inconsistent.

This too! Especially the bolded

All of this positivity today makes me want to go rescue a panda or save a community center in danger of closing with a group of breakdancing friends

 

[kings11]

This too! Especially the bolded

All of this positivity today makes me want to go rescue a panda or save a community center in danger of closing with a group of breakdancing friends

All bring you back to reality…
You lost your legs in Nam! And your bestie is an idiot!!

 

[Lt Dan]

All bring you back to reality…
You lost your legs in Nam! And your bestie is an idiot!!

Someone didn't see Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo and it shows.

 

[bland]

His goals went up and he was energized. When he was traded the whole NHL was buzzing about how Montreal re-energized him and capitalized by getting a high draft pick for him a month later.

Just the Canadian media making it seem that way.

Truth is Kovalchuk only put in minimal work here, had a couple of big multi-point games early that made it seem like he was more productive than he really was, and wanted to be treated differently than the rest of the team in practice. He was done here well before they brought in Desjardins. Had nothing to do with his usage, he just wanted to float around and cherry pick on a defensively oriented team. It was never going to work, it was a glam signing from an organization that has proven it values past accomplishments over current ability. Blake should have known better - Lombardi did, and that was when Kovalchuk was in his prime.

 

[bland]

I think hiring Wrobo was a sign that the organization understands it needs to improve its player development. I think having the Reign and the Kings both practicing in El Segundo will pay more dividends moving forward as well, as that's only been the case for ~3 seasons and 2 of which were obscured by C19.

I think it is pretty clear though that our amateur, college, and pro scouting staffs are much more effective than our player development staff is. It is tricky though because player development is probably the least public aspect of all of hockey ops. We hear about orgs like Tampa and their entire pipeline from Syracuse, and I feel that we're starting to see a similar org being built here. The Kings have also experimented with extra coaches like Pierre Turgeon (even if it wasn't successful). I think Blake has actually shown a pretty open mind when it comes to improving development, so hopefully we'll continue to see improvement even if it means our best young players cook a little longer in the minors/AHL.

I think this board often swings between "PLAY ALL THE KIDS" and "keep them in the minors to grow together (and away from our sagging NHL roster)." Our seesaw season thus far has made it hard to pick one, as we've looked more competitive but still inconsistent.

Is it a see-saw, or is just two different groups holding two different philosophies?

I see an organization trying to do two things at once, weakening their ability to do either, and fans from both camps constantly arguing about it.

 

[kings11]

Someone didn't see Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo and it shows.

My gawd… I actually remember that lmfao
Pop N Taco

 

[David Lunch]

Kings are adrift and management is at peace.

I have to pause and give applause to anyone who pulls an obscure NIN reference — LOVE those original tracks from Still. Next up, Leaving Hope?