GDT: 2022-23 season game 79 LA Kings vs Vegas Golden Knights @7:00pm 4/6/23

[tny760]

that byfield/iafallo/lizotte line... wasn't awful in the 3rd period last night, he probably should be playing in depth like that to get used to the game

i'm still looking at byfield comparisons in the "what will he look like in 6+ months" lens because he's simply younger and less experienced in the professional game. if 6 months from now he still looks like a baby gazelle getting nothing done, i'm on the train

i think last night todd just simply outsmarted himself, he tried to make a place for byfield in the 3rd period and in doing so killed an effective kopitar/kempe/kaliyev line to preserve his only effective defensive line(danault). they clawed 2 goals back then he decided during intermission he needed to blow it up for what?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Byfield is only 20 yrs old

That might be the first thing you said correct today

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I’m not fishing anything from you. I’m disappointed in him a lot. I really don’t have hope in him however I think the one thing he NEEDS to do that could really make him take a massive leap forward is just put on a ton of muscle and really strengthen. Passivity and weakness is so rampant in his game. I think the best way to take that out is him just having an insane camp where he works only on his size and shot.

If I were able to suggest one thing for him to do to save himself and progress potentially a lot quicker. It’s just weight and strength. He needs to add a lot.

I agree wholeheartedly. and he needs to work hard on his release. He's got a good shot, but he's so used to having so much time and space it's hurting him now.

But I would also argue that's what he's missed most from his season-starting injuries the last two years.

Agreed. But also, Byfield is not the only one who is struggling down the stretch too. Bunch of guys on that list right now. I think it's wrong for others (not you RJ obviously) to continually single out the 20 year old -- when there are plenty of veterans (& coaches) that are playing like poo-poo.

Oh for sure, that's why I don't engage that haha. Everyone sucks right now and QB is eating the brunt of it. He deserves some of it since he's on the 1st line and that comes with expectations, but there are guys with far more preferential deployment doing much worse nightly right now.

 

[The Butcher]

Yes, that is clear.

Stutzle would have been the better choice. I don't think that's a controversial statement anymore.

Idk everyone assumes Ottawa would've passed on Byfield for stutzle of given the opportunity but I'm giving Blake the benefit of the doubt on this one.

 

[Herby]

In about 8min of ice-time, MacEwen was a -2, and had 10 PIMs.

He's not an NHL player. Get him off the ice.

Yeah, at this point I'd rather have a Johnny Utah type guy like Boko or MacD than MacEwen. He reminds me of the guys that we would have during the darkest years of Kings hockey. John Tripp, Jeff Cowan, Jason Ward.

I don't really give a crap about Lemieux, but why did we trade a 5th rounder for this guy?

Agree, I think Nolan Patrick got shafted by injuries....but there's no guarantees of anything....anywhere....

He was never going to warrant where he was drafted, the next 3 players taken are potential Hall of Famers. Mistakes like that can potentially torpedo an entire rebuild.

And yeah, nobody knows the future, I agree. But people just always automatically that a disappointing first few years is going to mean Tage Thompson or Blake Wheeler, it certainly could, but it could also mean Nolan Patrick or Ryan Strome (or anything in between).

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

In about 8min of ice-time, MacEwen was a -2, and had 10 PIMs.

He's not an NHL player. Get him off the ice.

i...kind of think this owuld make an excellent playoff avatar

 

[johnjm22]

I love Lizotte, but the way he plays isn't sustainable with higher ice time.

It's wearing him down.

That's why he's a 4th line center, not a 3rd line center.

The Kings are really struggling offensively up the middle right now with Kopitar/Danault/Lizotte/Kupari.

How many goals have those guys collectively scored in the last month?

 

[johnjm22]

Idk everyone assumes Ottawa would've passed on Byfield for stutzle of given the opportunity but I'm giving Blake the benefit of the doubt on this one.

To be clear, me saying Stutzle would have been the better pick, doesn't mean I'm critical of the Kings selecting QB.

I think picking Byfield made perfect sense.

 

[Herby]

Byfield is only 20 yrs old

True. But there are still plenty of kids producing at that age (guys of all sizes).

If you are a #2OA pick usually the expectation is there will be more immediate results in the first 3 years. I am not throwing in the towel by any stretch, I still see a potential PLD type player. But I don't buy the whole huge project excuse, if you are taking a player with a pick that high there should be some expectation you get results pretty quickly. Especially if your plan was to try and contend before your older players retired.

Either the Kings misjudged how quickly Byfield would be an impact player or they are just mashing buttons.

To be clear, me saying Stutzle would have been the better pick, doesn't mean I'm critical of the Kings selecting QB.

I think picking Byfield made perfect sense.

It's amazing, but simply saying that Stutzle has clearly been the better player will have you being accused of being a MMQB or a QB hater.

I also wanted the Kings to draft QB, any of us who wanted that were very clearly wrong. You don't have to be Scotty Bowman to realize that.

 

[The Butcher]

To be clear, me saying Stutzle would have been the better pick, doesn't mean I'm critical of the Kings selecting QB.

I think picking Byfield made perfect sense.

I wasn't pointing in your direction necessarily.

Byfield was selected exactly where he was ranked so I don't see this as the egg on Blake's face that people make it out to be.

Kid can't even get a beer yet, I don't see him as a player who needs to prove anything at this point.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

To be clear, me saying Stutzle would have been the better pick, doesn't mean I'm critical of the Kings selecting QB.

I think picking Byfield made perfect sense.

No matter how I feel about Clarke/Byfield/Turcotte, based on the KINGS' expectations of competing immediately, they absolutely blew those picks.

I mean I'm all in on these three but for a team that's trying to go for it immediately with little regard for the future...

This is why I question the organizational vision. Can't have your cake and eat it too. That tears a hole in space/time and leads directly to the black hole.

 

[Sol]

I love Lizotte, but the way he plays isn't sustainable with higher ice time.

It's wearing him down.

That's why he's a 4th line center, not a 3rd line center.

The Kings are really struggling offensively up the middle right now with Kopitar/Danault/Lizotte/Kupari.

How many goals have those guys collectively scored in the last month?

I will beat that same tired drum again..

It’s inexcusable how Tmac is deploying these guys. Look it’s borderline impossible for a team to be white hot and to be ice cold next moment.

I think Todd just wore out Kopitar. I think he plays him like a 28 year old way too comfortably with no concern of the toll it would take on his older body. I think Kopitar was moving well when the team was white hot and now he’s slow as f***. He’s obviously worn out.

I think the lack of balance in deployment we saw from Todd last year in the playoffs where Kopitar played 26 minutes a night is showing its ugly head yet again. There’s a lack of trust and fear in Todd’s head where he breaks the first line, and the other lines lose sync with his roster composition. It just snowballs with his deployment and line ups.


I’m not taking blame from the players but Todd has done this before. There’s a reason why the players look so beat near the playoffs. It’s Todd’s deployment.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I will beat that same tired drum again..

It’s inexcusable how Tmac is deploying these guys. Look it’s borderline impossible for a team to be white hot and to be ice cold next moment.

I think Todd just wore out Kopitar. I think he plays him like a 28 year old way too comfortably with no concern of the toll it would take on his older body. I think Kopitar was moving well when the team was white hot and now he’s slow as f***. He’s obviously worn out.

I think the lack of balance in deployment we saw from Todd last year in the playoffs where Kopitar played 26 minutes a night is showing its ugly head yet again. There’s a lack of trust and fear in Todd’s head where he breaks the first line, and the other lines lose sync with his roster composition. It just snowballs with his deployment and line ups.


I’m not taking blame from the players but Todd has done this before. There’s a reason why the players look so beat near the playoffs. It’s Todd’s deployment.

It's bad enough that he made DeBoer look like a genius with a 'resurgent' joe thornton simply by managing his minutes better the very next year and going to the Final.

 

[tny760]

How many goals have those guys collectively scored in the last month?

7!

7 goals!

mwa ha ha !

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Funniest shit in the world would be Seattle passing us

 

[Sol]

It's bad enough that he made DeBoer look like a genius with a 'resurgent' joe thornton simply by managing his minutes better the very next year and going to the Final.

Yup. I really don’t mind blaming the players but there’s a clear pattern here.

Todd is breaking the team and the scary part is they will extend him. I don’t think management cares that he will bomb in the playoffs as long as they look pretty on their path there.


This team has been brutal this year. Absolutely brutal. However Todd seems like he has this leash that will never end.

I wasn't pointing in your direction necessarily.

Byfield was selected exactly where he was ranked so I don't see this as the egg on Blake's face that people make it out to be.

Kid can't even get a beer yet, I don't see him as a player who needs to prove anything at this point.

Kopitar was shitting on Pronger at 19 and had 61 points in his first year with 20 goals.

Byfield was drafted second overall. You can use his age as an excuse but it’s not a good one. He’s been extremely underwhelming.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Are we shitty because we are injured or are we injured because we are softer than baby shit?

 

[AbsentMojo]

Funniest shit in the world would be Seattle passing us

Makar-less Colorado is probably same challenge as EDM or VGK.. could match up OK with them... still its very Kings to fade into the playoffs. Edit: im wondering if this is some kind of gamesmanship by Col saying he's out indefinitely Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar injured without return timetable

 

[Sol]

Are we shitty because we are injured or are we injured because we are softer than baby shit?

Bit of both.

Since I was at the oilers game I gotta ask if on the broadcast if they caught Draisaitl swinging his stick behind Gavrikovs leg that made him hobble? Or if they caught on camera Draisaitl just chopping Kempes hands hard?

 

[The Butcher]

Danault needs to be much better. Lots of blind passes turning into turnovers. I'm not hearing his name a lot lately but we need more from him, Kempe, Doughty, Kopi not QB.

I've seen some pretty crazy stuff in this game and I'm not ready to panic on this team yet. Things are never as good or bad as they seem when you are streaking wins or loses. If the team can get all their horses back I'm still pretty high on this group.

These games are frustrating but ultimately pretty meaningless in the grand scheme. Yes seeding can be important but what's most important is how you play in a few weeks.

 

[chris kontos]

Byfield has even grown into his full muscle mass yet and theres lots of screaming. I think he will be a great fit as he gains his man strength

 

[Sol]

Danault needs to be much better. Lots of blind passes turning into turnovers. I'm not hearing his name a lot lately but we need more from him, Kempe, Doughty, Kopi not QB.

I've seen some pretty crazy stuff in this game and I'm not ready to panic on this team yet. Things are never as good or bad as they seem when you are streaking wins or loses. If the team can get all their horses back I'm still pretty high on this group.

These games are frustrating but ultimately pretty meaningless in the grand scheme. Yes seeding can be important but what's most important is how you play in a few weeks.

Unfortunately this isn’t true with Todd at helm. With Sutter Kings yes they turned it on when the playoffs started. With Todd they go into the playoffs the same way they left off at the regular season. If not, worse than they ended the season.

 

[Little Psycho]

Can’t believe I fell for that false sense of hope only to be reminded that TM is still the f***ing coach.

 

[Matt13]

Has "Fake Good" made this thread?

It really should.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I think Byfield will be a quality NHL player.

The big question is whether or not he'll be the star player we need him to be. The more time that passes without him putting it together, the lower the probability becomes.

His passing skill is already evident, but he still needs to fill out more(with muscle) and work on shooting the puck. To go 30+ games w/out scoring a goal is crazy, even for his young age. When the goals are not coming, then he needs to get some ugly goals in front of the net to get going! The more he goes to the net, more likely he scores some goals.