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

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No Name The Nameless said:
That isn’t true either. He was pretty good post Kings.
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He started okay but would then tail off because he was too old. He had a nice pop in Montreal because he didn't play for two months but he declined once the games started to pile up.

And when I say "ok", I mean he was better offensively. He was a complete wreck defensively regardless and the offense wasn't even "ok" for a $6MM player.

But the guy had back injuries and was old. It wasn't surprising.
 
bland said:
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.
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Lombardi went hard after Brad Richards and Kovy. He also thought bringing in Dan Cloutier was a good idea.

The man had flaws, no doubt, but he's the best we've ever had so...
 
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The Butcher said:
Lombardi went hard after Brad Richards and Kovy. He also thought bringing in Dan Cloutier was a good idea.

The man had flaws, no doubt, but he's the best we've ever had so...
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Yeah, dodged a couple of bullets. Went for the Richards and Richards combo plate in the offseason but substituted in a trade for Carter at the deadline.
 
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The Butcher said:
Lombardi went hard after Brad Richards and Kovy. He also thought bringing in Dan Cloutier was a good idea.

The man had flaws, no doubt, but he's the best we've ever had so...
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No, Lombardi wanted NO part of Kovalchuk. Lieweke desperately wanted him - Dean used the experience to see how far ownership was willing to go to sign a major free agent and sabotaged the deal to prevent it from happening.

He did want Brad Richards and pursued him heavily, Chara too - but most definitely not Kovalchuk.
 
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bland said:
No, Lombardi wanted NO part of Kovalchuk. Lieweke desperately wanted him - Dean used the experience to see how far ownership was willing to go to sign a major free agent and sabotaged the deal to prevent it from happening.

He did want Brad Richards and pursued him heavily, Chara too - but most definitely not Kovalchuk.
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This is true...and Stacia Robitaille took Kovy's wife out to Rodeo Drive to shop....Luc was part of this.
 
In the spirt of keeping things positive, how much on Brown's new contract?
2 X 3? :skeptic:


Also Blake's trading buddy is back.
 
So, the Kings PK is 27th in the league, and if you watch the structure of it...it is no surprise.

It seems like they are keeping one guy in the middle of the ice to defend against anything coming into the slot, but they are willing to let the puck go to the top of the circles and the side of the net without much pressure. Almost like an I-formation, with the top of the I strafing between points depending on where the puck is. Very passive and not a lot of pressure on the puck. They've been doing this all season and it doesn't work.
 
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tbrown33 said:
So, the Kings PK is 27th in the league, and if you watch the structure of it...it is no surprise.

It seems like they are keeping one guy in the middle of the ice to defend against anything coming into the slot, but they are willing to let the puck go to the top of the circles and the side of the net without much pressure. Almost like an I-formation, with the top of the I strafing between points depending on where the puck is. Very passive and not a lot of pressure on the puck. They've been doing this all season and it doesn't work.
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This maybe only works if you've got 2 Kopitars out there at the forward slots. But if you've got Danault or Lizotte or even Kupari who have the speed and energy to attack the puck, then you use that to your advantage to put pressure on the puck handlers. I hate the passive bend but don't break PK strategy. And guess what? It breaks. A lot.
 
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cyclones22 said:
This maybe only works if you've got 2 Kopitars out there at the forward slots. But if you've got Danault or Lizotte or even Kupari who have the speed and energy to attack the puck, then you use that to your advantage to put pressure on the puck handlers. I hate the passive bend but don't break PK strategy. And guess what? It breaks. A lot.
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No, you're incorrect. That's the whole point of using it. It doesn't break. It just bends. Specifically, it bends over.
 
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bland said:
No, Lombardi wanted NO part of Kovalchuk. Lieweke desperately wanted him - Dean used the experience to see how far ownership was willing to go to sign a major free agent and sabotaged the deal to prevent it from happening.

He did want Brad Richards and pursued him heavily, Chara too - but most definitely not Kovalchuk.
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Oh no I remember this much differently. Do you have any links to sources regarding this?
 
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lumbergh said:
If I were coaching the Kings I would bring Frk up and play him every night just on the power play. He could sit in the left circle and not even move for 2 minutes. Every time he gets fed, just have him tag the puck. That’d be fun to watch.
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People said the same shit about Kaliyev but he’s just a grinder now.
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
There should be upside surprises.

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





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.
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Sakic built his team through the draft. Blake is doing the same but he's building it on the backs of veterans. One day the young guys will take over and will succeed.
 
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lumbergh said:
If I were coaching the Kings I would bring Frk up and play him every night just on the power play. He could sit in the left circle and not even move for 2 minutes. Every time he gets fed, just have him tag the puck. That’d be fun to watch.
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You could scheme it up with Frk and Kaliyev both out there on their off wings as trigger men. Doughty up top quarterbacking with Kopitar and Kempe down low.
 
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bland said:
Take it or leave it, either way is fine by me.
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Wait a sec... it's this just your thoughts or... was there any kind of article or story anywhere? I'm not trying to give you a hard time but the Kovalchuk/ Kings negotiations were a drawn out and well documented event. There were even stories published that he had actually signed with the Kings the day before he signed in NJ.

I absolutely believe what you are saying could be true, just looking for any kind of confirmation because that's all news to me. Lombardi was upset with Kovalchuk because he didn't sign, I think that was about it.
 
The Butcher said:
Wait a sec... it's this just your thoughts or... was there any kind of article or story anywhere? I'm not trying to give you a hard time but the Kovalchuk/ Kings negotiations were a drawn out and well documented event. There were even stories published that he had actually signed with the Kings the day before he signed in NJ.

I absolutely believe what you are saying could be true, just looking for any kind of confirmation because that's all news to me. Lombardi was upset with Kovalchuk because he didn't sign, I think that was about it.
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Kovalchuk was a Leiweke/AEG big ticket name to sign.

Edit: personally, he made an offhanded exasperated comment to me and a friend where he seemed less than interested in signing Kovalchuk but that he needed to go through the process.

It's some tea leaf reading. But here's an article to help discuss his mood: Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi talks about missing out on Ilya Kovalchuk

I was dissapointed having gone through the process. There is so much that one goes through these days in having to put together a deal like this. This was a process that started 15 days ago. A lot of hard work. I have no regrets. It was worth the time and effort.
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That was the number that was out there since Day 1. We didn't want to go there. We were trying to figure out how close we could get. We were in the $80 million territory. We put together a contract that would see him play 'til he was 40. We looked at guys like Luc (Robitaille), Yzerman, Messier and took a look at how old they were when they were still productive. We felt 40 was pretty accurate. We didn't want a contract that would go beyond his "true" playing years.
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This was the first time I felt we as an organization were ready to bring on a player of this caliber. We as an organization are at the point where I hoped we would be entering this season. Would a player like this potentially bring us to the next level? Yes. So if you want to call it a setback, I understand, but I am comfortable where we are and where we are going. This team has superstars in the making in Doughty and Kopitar. Yes, Kovalchuk could help to elevate their game, but I also believe that both these guys are ready to take their game to a new level.
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Can you imagine if the Kings had signed him? His contract would still be on the books for another season or two.
 
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