2023 Free Agency Frenzy

[johnjm22]

Yeah but LA also ranked 24th in the NHL in hits. Vegas was near the top.

Vegas was middle of the pack in hits

 

[BigBrown]

Enforcers are near useless in my opinion. Team toughness is where it's at. Unfortunately the Kings have very little team toughness right now. I don't think adding a battleship to play 5 minutes on the fourth line changes much. You need guys that play regular minutes to step up, that kind of attitude can be infectious. Guys like Stoll, Richards, Mitchell, Greene... Not fighters but they'll get involved in scrums and if things get out of hand they'll drop the gloves. That's the kind of culture I miss, some warriors in the lineup. Don't know if Dubois is that kind of person, I guess time will tell.

 

[Reaper45]

I’ve been saying we need a rat more than a heavyweight. It would be nice to have a big tough guy but really we need someone who plays on that edge and is willing to go over it. Lemieux was that guy but he became unplayable. Even when he was in the right refs were calling shit against him. Ok McDavid concussed Anderson. Well our rat then pulls some on the line shit and takes out Crybaby. Or RNH.

 

[Schrute farms]

Enforcers are near useless in my opinion. Team toughness is where it's at. Unfortunately the Kings have very little team toughness right now. I don't think adding a battleship to play 5 minutes on the fourth line changes much. You need guys that play regular minutes to step up, that kind of attitude can be infectious. Guys like Stoll, Richards, Mitchell, Greene... Not fighters but they'll get involved in scrums and if things get out of hand they'll drop the gloves. That's the kind of culture I miss, some warriors in the lineup. Don't know if Dubois is that kind of person, I guess time will tell.

agreed. It's a team mentality that is needed -- along with size. A team wide mentality of not taking any crap; while also having size/toughness to lay big hits and push others around.

Right now we have too many small guys that get tossed around like dolls. the bigger guys we have are peace & love pacificists. 8 & 11 are fantastic -- but they need a ground of SOB solders around them. Unfortunately, they've built a team of small and/or no toughness around 8 & 11. Adding a random fighter or a PLD is not going to do any sea change. This is what we have until there is major roster (or GM) changes. This coming year and the 1-2+ after will be more of the same.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I think people are making the wrong argument, respectfully.

It's far less about a deterrant.

It's far MORE about a team attitude.

There has to be push back. you're not going to STOP the other team for being shitheads, you're going to rally yours.

you watched this team shrivel up every time one of these MANY incidents happened instead of joining the fight. Whether you sign a fighter or address team toughness or whatever route you go, the ultimate result isn't so much stopping a cogliano from being a f***head, it's about kicking the f***ing beehive when something like that happens and injecting red bull directly into the whole team.

Roy and Gavrikov are awesome together.

But I don't disagree with your premise. Pairing Clarke/Spence with Gavrikov and Bjornfot with Roy balances things out, and puts our young players in an optimal situation to succeed.

You could occasionally put Gav-Roy back together in specific situations when you really need it.

Todd won't do it.

Yeah I agree. Last minute of a game to protect a lead, sit Bjornfot and Clarke. Same with the penalty kill if the game is close.

I think Blake has assembled a very good versatile defense for this year that you could line up a number of ways depending on special teams and game situations

But Todd signs his checks with crayons so expect rigid deployment

 

[johnjm22]

I think Blake has assembled a very good versatile defense for this year that you could line up a number of ways depending on special teams and game situations

But Todd signs his checks with crayons so expect rigid deployment

Todd is a short term thinker. He doesn't invest for the long term.

He'll run his vets into the ground to win regular season games. In the playoffs they'll be spent, and when you need a young guy to step up he won't be ready because he didn't get sufficient playing time in the regular season to develop his game.

Playing Doughty less, and rolling with the defense pairs @kilowatt suggested might cost us a few regular season games, but it would make us better setup for the playoffs.

 

[YAYSAY]

I think the idea of "toughness" has changed a bit. Idea of old school enforcers is basically dead, there's very few pure enforcers left. But that doesn't mean teams play soft and speed and skill are the dominating factors. Now teams want big strong guys who can also play well. If you've played hockey before you know that playing against bigger guys is always more tiring. Like compare the size of Vegas' D-core to the Kings, Vegas is huge and they know it and they play with swagger, dumping the puck in against the Knights sucks for the other team, meanwhile teams have zero fear to dump the puck in against the Kings D.
I love Lizotte but his size was exploited in the playoffs, he's effective in the regular season, but in playoffs when things got tighter he was ineffective. It's all about striking the perfect balance, I think the Avs and Knights were two teams that had the perfect balance.

 

[FrozenKing18]

I think people are making the wrong argument, respectfully.

It's far less about a deterrant.

It's far MORE about a team attitude.

There has to be push back. you're not going to STOP the other team for being shitheads, you're going to rally yours.

Exactly this. One tough guy in our lineup isn't going to make a whole lot of difference. The whole team's attitude need to change. Part of why the 11-12 is my favorite lineup is most of those guys didn't take shit from the opposing team.

Brown, Clifford, Doughty (Chirping Hip-Checking Troll version), Fraser, Greene, King, Mitchell, Nolan, Penner, Richards, Scuderi, Stoll. Hell, even Williams. While not all of them were fighters, these were the guys you know will be in the scrums. THAT Kings identity was the one I wish we still had. We've lost it. Last guy who had that in them was Jonathan Quick.

 

[BigKing]

I think the idea of "toughness" has changed a bit. Idea of old school enforcers is basically dead, there's very few pure enforcers left. But that doesn't mean teams play soft and speed and skill are the dominating factors. Now teams want big strong guys who can also play well. If you've played hockey before you know that playing against bigger guys is always more tiring. Like compare the size of Vegas' D-core to the Kings, Vegas is huge and they know it and they play with swagger, dumping the puck in against the Knights sucks for the other team, meanwhile teams have zero fear to dump the puck in against the Kings D.
I love Lizotte but his size was exploited in the playoffs, he's effective in the regular season, but in playoffs when things got tighter he was ineffective. It's all about striking the perfect balance, I think the Avs and Knights were two teams that had the perfect balance.

Colorado just added a 16 goal/32 point 188 total hits guy and a 100 hit guy in Colton/Wood, respectively. The contending teams continue to add size in free agency or at the TDL. I keep being told on here that it is easy to do that and is something you can do at the very end of the roster build.

Hell, even the Ducks are ready to step out of the super tank a bit and add Killorn and Mr. 312 hits last season Gudas. Speaking of tanking, the Hawks surround their tanking youth with two legit vets in Foligno and Perry while the Kings have the two career fighting majors over ten years ago combo guiding the "rebuild".

Did Scott Thornton make a difference in W/L for the DL Kings? Maybe for losses but what he did do was fight Avery in the locker room for harassing Brown. Is it good to have locker room fights? Depends. In this case, you have a hard-nosed, play the right way veteran who lets everyone in the room know that, no, this is not okay. Having a Sean O'Donnell back there was also a fantastic move.

Blake's over here tanking with AA and Ben Hutton. Real culture setters, Then the rebuild is abandoned and the final result is an embarrassingly soft roster pretty much top-to-bottom.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Colorado just added a 16 goal/32 point 188 total hits guy and a 100 hit guy in Colton/Wood, respectively. The contending teams continue to add size in free agency or at the TDL. I keep being told on here that it is easy to do that and is something you can do at the very end of the roster build.

Hell, even the Ducks are ready to step out of the super tank a bit and add Killorn and Mr. 312 hits last season Gudas. Speaking of tanking, the Hawks surround their tanking youth with two legit vets in Foligno and Perry while the Kings have the two career fighting majors over ten years ago combo guiding the "rebuild".

Did Scott Thornton make a difference in W/L for the DL Kings? Maybe for losses but what he did do was fight Avery in the locker room for harassing Brown. Is it good to have locker room fights? Depends. In this case, you have a hard-nosed, play the right way veteran who lets everyone in the room know that, no, this is not okay. Having a Sean O'Donnell back there was also a fantastic move.

Blake's over here tanking with AA and Ben Hutton. Real culture setters, Then the rebuild is abandoned and the final result is an embarrassingly soft roster pretty much top-to-bottom.

Wow couldn't have said it any better.

Scott Thornton is a stud, and if you remember he fought Parros (then with Anaheim) and beat him.

Also, Colorado still have arguably the third toughest guy in the league in MacDermid (third to Lucic and Reaves) and Josh Manson. Also, Landeskog can throw, but he's hurt.

 

[BigKing]

Wow couldn't have said it any better.

Scott Thornton is a stud, and if you remember he fought Parros (then with Anaheim) and beat him.

Also, Colorado still have arguably the third toughest guy in the league in MacDermid (third to Lucic and Reaves) and Josh Manson. Also, Landeskog can throw, but he's hurt.

While I love having one of the toughest guys in the league, this team still didn't have the identity and attitude necessary even with MacD in the lineup. I think they played a little bigger since they knew they had a nuclear weapon on the bench but Fiala is still boarding Roy with no consequences. Stephenson is still boarding Bjornfot in the 3rd period of a blowout with no consequences.

Kopitar and Doughty are made men. I don't dislike them although I know I would rag on Doughty pretty hard if he wasn't a King. They just don't set the tone well at all: especially the latter. All bark, no bite.

That reminds me...that dipshit from Dallas legit kneed Doughty and knocked him out of the lineup for months and, again, NOTHING HAPPENED. Like, how does a team like this even exist and think they are a Cup contender?

 

[LilBallofHate]

Yeah, but its not fighting toughness, its "win that board battle and get the puck out of the zone so we can change and not get caught with kids against the best in the world" toughness that is missing, and it got worse by losing Iafallo.

I agree with you in that sense, there were a bunch times that it looked like they were getting a little manhandled, Kostin especially to me. I thought he was overlooked on his contributions. Maybe some penalties were taken because of that, but still feel like they should have had the series. Kill a few more penalties, win game 4 and we had it. We have way more depth, I know they got Jesus and all that, but it was very frustrating watching them sometimes

I’ve been saying we need a rat more than a heavyweight. It would be nice to have a big tough guy but really we need someone who plays on that edge and is willing to go over it. Lemieux was that guy but he became unplayable. Even when he was in the right refs were calling shit against him. Ok McDavid concussed Anderson. Well our rat then pulls some on the line shit and takes out Crybaby. Or RNH.

I think we will be surprised by PLD, and also Grundstrom needs to step up his shit, he does it sometimes I feel like.

 

[BigKing]

I agree with you in that sense, there were a bunch times that it looked like they were getting a little manhandled, Kostin especially to me. I thought he was overlooked on his contributions. Maybe some penalties were taken because of that, but still feel like they should have had the series. Kill a few more penalties, win game 4 and we had it. We have way more depth, I know they got Jesus and all that, but it was very frustrating watching them sometimes
I think we will be surprised by PLD, and also Grundstrom needs to step up his shit, he does it sometimes I feel like.

I was going to mention him in one of my earlier posts today about how he killed the Kings in this series.

As for the series, I think myself and everyone else in the building couldn't believe what was happening in Game 4 when they were up by so much. Problem is most of us had no problem believing what happened as we filed out of the arena. We also weren't shocked by Game 6 as we already saw Game 6 from the year prior.

That's the problem with thinking that they should have had the series. Yes, they should have had it if they are "that" team but they have proven not be "that" franchise since Martinez scored on Henrik in 2014. That said, they had no business winning Game 1 so Game 4 kind of evened that up.

I mean, all they had to do was score a couple of goals and they could have beat Vegas in 2018. They "should" of had that series with the way Quick played but they got swept. That type of thinking leads to running it back while adding Kovalchuk.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Kings need to go after Bertuzzi next year - his agent said no contending team made an offer they liked.

Fiala-PLD-Bertuzzi

 

[BaileyFan]

While I love having one of the toughest guys in the league, this team still didn't have the identity and attitude necessary even with MacD in the lineup. I think they played a little bigger since they knew they had a nuclear weapon on the bench but Fiala is still boarding Roy with no consequences. Stephenson is still boarding Bjornfot in the 3rd period of a blowout with no consequences.

Kopitar and Doughty are made men. I don't dislike them although I know I would rag on Doughty pretty hard if he wasn't a King. They just don't set the tone well at all: especially the latter. All bark, no bite.

That reminds me...that dipshit from Dallas legit kneed Doughty and knocked him out of the lineup for months and, again, NOTHING HAPPENED. Like, how does a team like this even exist and think they are a Cup contender?

Kempe trying to talk tough in the media after the Colorado game at the end of the season was just sad. Cogliano had just gone knee on knee with Fiala a few weeks prior and tried to headshot Kempe for the 2nd time in his career and instead of the team having literally any on-ice response he goes "Cogliano better watch out when we play them next season".

 

[robitaillefan]

I know he’s a glass man , but pacciorety would have been a solid gamble. Guy can light it up if he stays healthy ….

 

[BigKing]

Kempe trying to talk tough in the media after the Colorado game at the end of the season was just sad. Cogliano had just gone knee on knee with Fiala a few weeks prior and tried to headshot Kempe for the 2nd time in his career and instead of the team having literally any on-ice response he goes "Cogliano better watch out when we play them next season".

Any King besides Doughty saying that is a positive. I didn't know he said that.

Now comes actually following through on it. Home opener. October 11th. Set the tone, Kempe. Might be time to put a letter on that guy anyways.

*Edit*

Just watched the McDavid board on Kempe. The Captain is right there and is immediately looking around for the refs while the other team's captain who just boarded the team's leading goal scorer is right there to get dealt with. I mean, I don't expect Kopitar to fight him (he should) but he could at least start roughing him up a bit.

But that's this team's mindset. The power play is our enforcer and getting those two points in December is more important than team building and setting the tone against a division rival.

Imagine getting knocked out of the first round two years in a row by the same division rival with their captain, the best player in the world, twice picking up boarding majors against key players and doing nothing about it.

Cucks.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Exactly this. One tough guy in our lineup isn't going to make a whole lot of difference. The whole team's attitude need to change. Part of why the 11-12 is my favorite lineup is most of those guys didn't take shit from the opposing team.

Brown, Clifford, Doughty (Chirping Hip-Checking Troll version), Fraser, Greene, King, Mitchell, Nolan, Penner, Richards, Scuderi, Stoll. Hell, even Williams. While not all of them were fighters, these were the guys you know will be in the scrums. THAT Kings identity was the one I wish we still had. We've lost it. Last guy who had that in them was Jonathan Quick.

Don't forget Brad Richardson; loved that guy as a 4C.