GDT: 2023-24 season game 29 LA Kings vs Seattle Kraken @7:00pm 12/20/23

[SherVaughn30]

Blake big over reaction mistake after the debacle playoff series against the Oilers was acquiring PLD. Vilardi is what you need playoff time for net front presence goal scoring and Blake gave it way. PLD is talent but he's the type of player that doesn't give 100% effort. There is the hockey trade saying, "you have give up something good to get something good". PLD hasn't been as good as his talent suggests he could be, but also you don't give up something good unless you have replacement depth for it. When Vilardi was traded, Blake had nothing on the roster or depth chart to replace the type of player Vilardi can be!

The sad thing is when Doughty uses his wrist shot from the point and Kopitar gets into the slot and receives a pass, good things generally happen on the PP for the Kings. They just don't do it often enough. Kopitar on the half-wall has always been a terrible idea.

Yeah from the wall Kopitar is ineffective as a passer. He aint have the Nick Backstrom(when he was good) touch passing ability.

 

[johnjm22]

smoke and mirrors team

It's the Todd McLellan special, a team that looks like a regular season juggernaut but is just a first round wet fart.

Is it that? Or is it that he gets more out of the team than what they actually are?

If it's smoke and mirrors, then that actually means he's doing a great job.

I don't think many guys could coach this roster to the 5th best record in the NHL. Most coaches also couldn't have got the 21-22 team to the playoffs.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

PLD is a complementary player not a line driver and we're seeing the issues with and results of that. He can amplify great lines but won't elevate players around him otherwise.

That's the problem with the paycheck and why his teams have been comfortable letting him walk, it's not a quality you want in a top-6 C. They need to drive.

He'd be great if he were the 2nd best player on his line. That's a good quality, but not an 8x8.5 let's hope he figures out C quality.

Blake just signed his death warrant (hopefully) and the next GMs biggest problem.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Blake big over reaction mistake after the debacle playoff series against the Oilers was acquiring PLD. Vilardi is what you need playoff time for net front presence goal scoring and Blake gave it way. PLD is talent but he's the type of player that doesn't give 100% effort. There is the hockey trade saying, "you have give up something good to get something good". PLD hasn't been as good as his talent suggests he could be, but also you don't give up something good unless you have replacement depth for it. When Vilardi was traded, Blake had nothing on the roster or depth chart to replace the type of player Vilardi can be!

Yeah from the wall Kopitar is ineffective as a passer. He aint have the Nick Backstrom(when he was good) touch passing ability.

He went left when we should have went right! He better hope Kopitar and PD and the leadership group can get this guy engaged! Given his past history I imagine nobody wants to confront the guy!

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Is it that? Or is it that he gets more out of the team than what they actually are?

If it's smoke and mirrors, then that actually means he's doing a great job.

I don't think many guys could coach this roster to the 5th best record in the NHL. Most coaches also couldn't have got the 21-22 team to the playoffs.

I think it’s they found the counter and are executing it. Paper tiger! Just check them and they get stuck in the perimeter. RJ nailed it earlier !

 

[johnjm22]

The Fiala and PLD trades aren't necessarily the wrong approaches. But they probably are the wrong players.

Like we needed those positions, but these two guys might just suck.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

The Fiala and PLD trades aren't necessarily the wrong approaches. But they probably are the wrong players.

Like we needed those positions, but these two guys might just suck.

Fiala is Pavel Bure we needed Shanahan

 

[kingsholygrail]

Kings seem to always have ugly games against the Kraken. They're like the new Wild.

 

[Shellz]

Also wtf happened to Twitter

 

[BaileyFan]

There is the hockey trade saying, "you have give up something good to get something good".

Kevin Cheveldayoff disagrees with this statement.

The thought that Dubois and Fiala are likely the next faces of the franchise in a few years is absolutely terrifying.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Also wtf happened to Twitter

what u mean it seems fine to me

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Also wtf happened to Twitter

Last thing on my feed

 

[FrozenKing18]

Last thing on my feed

Vilardi broke Twitter

 

[Schmooley]

Is it that? Or is it that he gets more out of the team than what they actually are?

If it's smoke and mirrors, then that actually means he's doing a great job.

I don't think many guys could coach this roster to the 5th best record in the NHL. Most coaches also couldn't have got the 21-22 team to the playoffs.

This is a really good roster. A lot of coaches would have them playing as good if not better.
He is a great coach for a team like 21-22. Not much talent at all but he gets them to buy in, play hard, and stick to the system and fundamentals. Tortorella has a different demeanor but also coaches better when there are less stars and more lunch pail type hard workers.
I remember thinking how great Maclellan was that he squeezed every inch of juice from that 21-22 team. But these last couple years I keep thinking why is he so stubborn in his ways when he clearly needs to change.

 

[Shellz]

what u mean it seems fine to me

Oh weird. I can’t see anything. I was bitching about PLD and then all my tweets disappeared.

Last thing on my feed

Those jerseys are so nice

 

[VILARGOD]

Lizotte is scoring at a similar rate to PLD alongside worse linemates, harder minutes, and fewer favorable offensive zone starts. You can keep saying PLD will score more with better linemates, but he's not getting better linemates with how he's playing.

But if it will make you feel better, he wasn't the worst or most underwhelming player on the ice tonight. Hooray for progress.

Here's a tidbit though - I know he'd score more with better linemates. Want to know how I know? Because he put up good numbers when everything was aligned in his favor in Columbus and Winnipeg. Your statement about better linemates isn't ground-breaking. But maybe getting a guy who needs the best linemates to boost his numbers isn't the guy to pay a large price for, both in assets and finances.

He would put up better numbers with better players = true
He doesn't deserve better linemates with how he plays = also true

Crazy concept.

You're right, my statement about better linemates ISN'T groundbreaking. It's why I was surprised for anybody including you to get defensive about the statement in the first place. Remember, You've initiated this argument with me twice. No it is not groundbreaking, not controversial, but slightly mentioning it draws pushback. This is my whole point.

And when did anybody say he undoubtedly deserved better linemates? That's a new topic to our ongoing discussion. Because with his play lately no, he does NOT. But is that even meaningful to discuss when we know Arvy will be stapled on his line upon return irregardless?

Lizotte is scoring at a similar rate, sure, we can cherry pick stats all day. The powerplay is killing PLD, because 5 on 5 he's scoring at an extremely similar rate to Kopitar. We can draw conclusions from many different things. But two things can be true at once, and if you want to have a more nuanced discussion about if he deserves better linemates that's a different topic

It doesn't change the fact that you can't say something thats "not groundbreaking" without getting pushback and it's rather annoying. Constant driveling and complaining it is

 

[King'sPawn]

Oh weird. I can’t see anything. I was bitching about PLD and then all my tweets disappeared.

I was having issues too. Seems to be fixed now.

 

[Shellz]

I was having issues too. Seems to be fixed now.

That it is. Thanks for fixing it!

 

[SherVaughn30]

The Fiala and PLD trades aren't necessarily the wrong approaches. But they probably are the wrong players.

Like we needed those positions, but these two guys might just suck.

Fiala is somewhat tolerable bcuz he actually puts up production points, while PLD is getting just pure F*CKING ANNOYING! Regarding both players, TMac does not know how to get the best from those two. Some coaches know how to push the right buttons of the players and others don't. TMac is not the first coach in NHL to not be able to do it and he won't be the last. If this Kings team wants to take the next level(which is to make the playoffs year after years and do damage in the playoffs) they need to fire TMac(they do this eventually by finding out the hard way) and hiring a coach that's about playoff success. This coach doesn't have to have already won a Cup(bcuz to me a Cup winning coach is hard to win it again and they kind of already reached their peak), but a coach with playoff success.

 

[The Butcher]

Things are never really as bad as they seem during slumps and they're never as good as they seem during streaks. Just as I knew what the team was doing 2 weeks ago wasn't really sustainable I know know now that the overall defensive play and shot volume will start getting them some wins again at some point.

It's hard to say what the issue is at home, but it something they must clean up or RC is right this team is going nowhere. I remember when Sutter came in his first order of business was to make sure they were better prepared for home games.

I don't think the boys played that bad tonight overall. There's inevitable ups and downs to an 82 game season. You want to be peaking going into the playoffs, not in December and very few teams can sustain dominant hockey for 9 months.

 

[bland]

The Fiala and PLD trades aren't necessarily the wrong approaches. But they probably are the wrong players.

Like we needed those positions, but these two guys might just suck.

It was too early to go for it. You can get Fiala level production every off-season. Dubois was the wrong choice no matter the return.

They needed to let the top kids break in together, see what they really needed, then move the next round of assets to fill in the holes at that point. Instead they traded too many too early, had decent results too early to amass more quality assets, and locked in the wrong guys to long-term deals.

Its guaranteed mediocrity bought early that reduces the incredibly high potential of the back end had they shown patience.

 

[King'sPawn]

You're right, my statement about better linemates ISN'T groundbreaking. It's why I was surprised for anybody including you to get defensive about the statement in the first place. Remember, You've initiated this argument with me twice. No it is not groundbreaking, not controversial, but slightly mentioning it draws pushback. This is my whole point.

And when did anybody say he undoubtedly deserved better linemates? That's a new topic to our ongoing discussion. Because with his play lately no, he does NOT. But is that even meaningful to discuss when we know Arvy will be stapled on his line upon return irregardless?

Lizotte is scoring at a similar rate, sure, we can cherry pick stats all day. The powerplay is killing PLD, because 5 on 5 he's scoring at an extremely similar rate to Kopitar. We can draw conclusions from many different things. But two things can be true at once, and if you want to have a more nuanced discussion about if he deserves better linemates that's a different topic

It doesn't change the fact that you can't say something thats "not groundbreaking" without getting pushback and it's rather annoying.

You're getting pushback because it doesn't fix the issue.

It's like having a buddy who can't keep a girlfriend because he sleeps around. And your solution would be to find him a girlfriend with low self-esteem and who won't leave him for being unfaithful. Yes, you've addressed the issue of him keeping a girlfriend, but it's more important to address the self-sabotaging behavior first.

If PLD was more consistently engaged, we wouldn't be having this discussion. He'd also be scoring more. And much like the conversation we're having now, his linemates wouldn't matter.

As far as comparing PLD's 5-on-5 to Kopitar, go for it. PLD starts in the offensive zone 63% of the time to Kopitar's 50%. Kopitar has had 63 defensive zone starts to PLD's 39. Kopitar is carrying a chunk of defensive responsibilities while PLD is mostly starting in the other team's zone.

He's losing in a game of chess to a player playing without his queen. But if only he could start with TWO queens...

 

[VILARGOD]

You're getting pushback because it doesn't fix the issue.

It's like having a buddy who can't keep a girlfriend because he sleeps around. And your solution would be to find him a girlfriend with low self-esteem and who won't leave him for being unfaithful. Yes, you've addressed the issue of him keeping a girlfriend, but it's more important to address the self-sabotaging behavior first.

If PLD was more consistently engaged, we wouldn't be having this discussion. He'd also be scoring more. And much like the conversation we're having now, his linemates wouldn't matter.

As far as comparing PLD's 5-on-5 to Kopitar, go for it. PLD starts in the offensive zone 63% of the time to Kopitar's 50%. Kopitar has had 63 defensive zone starts to PLD's 39. Kopitar is carrying a chunk of defensive responsibilities while PLD is mostly starting in the other team's zone.

He's losing in a game of chess to a player playing without his queen. But if only he could start with TWO queens...

Again, I never once said it would fix the issue. I even reiterated it again. Better linemates would not fix PLD himself and I never once stated that, In fact I've been very clear on that. Has anybody even stated that here? And yet somehow it's an argument on this board with specific posters. Goes back to what I was saying is annoying. Meaningless arguments over simple statements followed up by more random cheeky statements on the topic

"You're getting pushback because it doesn't fix the issue" basically just confirms my point that I'm getting pushback for no reason and it's annoying.

It's like the friend that misses the point of your statements and just wants to argue anyways because why? Who knows, the need to complain on this board is always rather high

 

[BigKing]

You all might be too generous by chalking it up to lack of drive with PLD: he fumbles the puck and appears to have zero creativity.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I don't think the boys played that bad tonight overall. There's inevitable ups and downs to an 82 game season. You want to be peaking going into the playoffs, not in December and very few teams can sustain dominant hockey for 9 months.

if i trusted our coach to adjust i'd be satisfied with that.

But when a team says 'hey we're going to play boring defense and not leave our slot, we dare you to beat us' the Kings haven't done anything but flail and falter. Doubly so if the team plays physical. The Caps game, the Isles game, both games vs. the Kraken. The last few weeks have seen tighter checking and fewer free goals and so it's no wonder the only teams they're beating are the near-lottery teams. and they're getting f***ing CRUSHED by the playoff teams.

Yeah there's peaks and valleys but thus far they're just proving to be who we thought they were, not some darkhorse juggernaut in waiting, they're just a bug on a real contender's windshield mostly because their entire playbook fits on a napkin written in crayon so when another team turns a page we just run into a wall hoping for a better result, running up the shot counter with effortless bad-angle floaters for Sutteresque moral corsi victories.