GDT: 2022-23 season game 50 LA Kings vs Philadelphia Flyers @4:00pm 1/24/23

[Sol]

In a way, TM redeemed himself by putting Fiala out there with Kopi. He saw that both guys were flying and adapted to the situation. Sorta makes up for that non timeout call against the Hawks. Hopefully Copley is returning to earlier form and was just thrown off by the break. We definitely don't win that game with Quick or Petersen in net, though I do want to see Quick win a game, its been too long...

Is that thought? You don’t think if Kopitar was the worst player on the ice that he wouldn’t be the first one over the boards in OT?

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I agree something is clicking for Byfield psychologically on Kopitar’s wing, so just keep him there for the time being. However, it creates a logjam (on Rob Blake’s Kings? No way) all throughout the wings.

With a fully healthy lineup, why not:

Kempe-Kopitar-Kaliyev
Moore-Danault-Arvidsson
Fiala-Byfield-Vilardi
Iafallo-Lizotte-JAD
Lemieux, Grundstrom

I just don’t see a spot for Turcotte this year unless he outplays JAD. And JAD seems to be coming into his own as a bottom six winger right now.

With Vilardi, Byfield, and Kaliyev all emerging as legitimate top six forwards, we’re going to need to move on from one of Arvidsson or Kempe. We just happened to luck out that Fiala is a machine who can produce on any line.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Okay, but this is arguing FOR me, not against me, haha.

Which of those draft picks was supposed to take over? They were all deep pick lotto tickets. None of them were panning out. the draft picks NOT face planting would have been more surprising.

Quick is/was heading for retirement, they placed all their hopes on Petersen. Behind him they just keep churning replacement-level or worse goaltending and have no notable prospects in the system.

"Most teams" don't do this, teams that are floundering do. Even teams like Colorado have Annunen marinating in the minors, Vegas was comfortable moving Thompson up post-Lehner and Fleury, Boston has Ullmark AND Swayman, and so on...the only teams with f***around goaltending with huge age gaps and no discernable succession plans are in the same boat as us, eminently flawed wildcard/low seed/blackhole teams or worse. No offense but "goalies are too finicky to do anything different" sounds like an apologetic level of comfort with the lack of near-future and succession plans.

All we need to do is look back a few years when LA was a serious team in legitimate contention. Even after Quick was the clear future, we held onto Bernier, and then Jones, Scrivens, etc. We always had multiple NHL caliber goaltenders in the system. Far cry from “Peterson’s good enough, right?”

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I just don’t see a spot for Turcotte this year unless he outplays JAD.

And adds 20lbs...