GDT: 2024-25 season game 29 LA Kings vs New Jersey Devils @4:00pm 12/12/24

[Schmooley]

They gave too much respect to the Devils speed. Dmen backed off the offensive blueline early and it stopped them from generating offensive zone time.
Its similar to the playoffs last year when they cowered to Edmontons game plan instead of just going out and doing their thing.
When they play to the opposition like they are inferior they lose.
If you wanna give special assignments to cover Mcdavid or Hughes thats fine but you dont need to back off cause Haula is out there.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

They gave too much respect to the Devils speed. Dmen backed off the offensive blueline early and it stopped them from generating offensive zone time.
Its similar to the playoffs last year when they cowered to Edmontons game plan instead of just going out and doing their thing.
When they play to the opposition like they are inferior they lose.
If you wanna give special assignments to cover Mcdavid or Hughes thats fine but you dont need to back off cause Haula is out there.

Was definitely thinking that at points last night, reminded me of when we were behind vs Edmonton then decided to 1-3-1

That was not the same Kings team we’ve seen the last few weeks…and it was partly the opponent being very good but partly VERY self inflicted trouble

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

He’s reminding me a lot of Craig Johnson. He’s a f***ing loser!

YEAH!!! **** THAT F***ING LOSER!!

 

[shuchukfan]

The fly-bys in the offensive zone frustrate me so much, not just in this game. Guys are perfectly lined up to hit, but then they just peel off to, I presume, get back defensively. I really wish we had a team that hits consistently.

As for Byfield, maybe PLD rubbed off on him in the worst way.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I just don't see anything that Byfield does that proves he'll one day become a top line center. This is why Kopitar will never lose his spot so long as he's a King, there is absolutely nobody threatening him for his role.

As for Byfield, he's going to wind up like Adrian Kempe, a player the Kings tried to force to play the middle of the ice, despite him being better suited to play on his wing. QB is simply not a play driver.

 

[chris kontos]

f*** the sopranos and the horse they rode in on

 

[chris kontos]

future of this team in 24-25 will be dictated by the play of kuemper and rittich.
dont bullshit yourselves- no amount of defense played in front of them is going to change this.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

QB has been snakebitten af all year. It's definitely starting to get concerning. But it feels like this guy gets/creates at least 2-3 chances a game that justttttttt barely don't go in.

I still think there's a chance the floodgates start to open once a few of these bounces start to go his way.

It's all about confidence for QB - and he clearly doesn't have a ton of it right now because he consistently hasn't been rewarded for his efforts on the ice.

Does he need to be more assertive? Yes. Does he need to start driving the net more? Yes. Does he need to start taking control and dictating play more? Definitely.

But I really think this is a player who looks night & day different when he's playing with confidence vs when he's snake-bitten and starts second guessing every play.

It's frustrating. And again, even I'm starting to get a bit concerned. But it can be VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY detrimental to write off a player before they turn 23/24 (regardless of draft position). We've seen plenty of examples of that around the league historically.

 

[The Butcher]

Regarding Q, have the Kings scratched a player making over 2 million dollars under the current regime? I can't think of an example.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Regarding Q, have the Kings scratched a player making over 2 million dollars under the current regime? I can't think of an example.

Kovalchuk a "healthy scratch," per Blake, but future murky - LA Kings Insider

LA Kings General Manager Rob Blake met with members of the media at the start of warm-ups prior to Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, which followed Elliotte Friedman’s afternoon report that the team had informed Ilya Kovalchuk of an intent to withhold him from the lineup “for the...

lakingsinsider.com

More recently, Kevin Fiala was a healthy scratch earlier this season.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Kovalchuk a "healthy scratch," per Blake, but future murky - LA Kings Insider

LA Kings General Manager Rob Blake met with members of the media at the start of warm-ups prior to Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, which followed Elliotte Friedman’s afternoon report that the team had informed Ilya Kovalchuk of an intent to withhold him from the lineup “for the...

lakingsinsider.com

More recently, Kevin Fiala was a healthy scratch earlier this season.

QB has a confidence issue. Scratching him will do nothing to help that, in fact it would probably make it worse. Folks, this is not Xbox.

 

[The Butcher]

Kovalchuk a "healthy scratch," per Blake, but future murky - LA Kings Insider

LA Kings General Manager Rob Blake met with members of the media at the start of warm-ups prior to Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, which followed Elliotte Friedman’s afternoon report that the team had informed Ilya Kovalchuk of an intent to withhold him from the lineup “for the...

lakingsinsider.com

More recently, Kevin Fiala was a healthy scratch earlier this season.

Oh shit forgot about Kevin, nvm.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Here are the stats for Byfield since scoring his highlight reel goal in February against Columbus:

57 Games
5 Goals
19 Assists
24 Points

That is .42 points per game in that stretch.

This season he has dropped to .38 points per game.

Also, looking exclusively at the performance of others from the 2020 draft class, Byfield ranks 15th overall in points per game at .48. Brock Faber has performed better than him at .55 points per game, which ranks him 5th overall in his draft class.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Damn maybe they should just scratch him for a game or two.

There's probably a way to go about it that doesn't hurt his confidence and just allows him to use the 1-2 game break as a mental reset.

Take a game or two and just focus on Danault and Kopitar from the press box. Watch how they constantly support the play. Watch what decisions Kopitar makes to open up plays offensively. I'm sure he's already watching film but sometimes seeing the game live from the press box actually can benefit a player.

And it's pretty low risk / high reward. If it doesn't work you just slightly disadvantaged your team for 1-2 games. If it works, you basically turn Byfield into an impact player.

 

[Sol]

I don’t see how the Kings can scratch Fiala when he sucks and now is a lot better. But we can’t scratch Byfield when he hasn’t done anything for an eternity.

They should scratch him and take him to a sports psychologist so he can stop being a p***y already. He’s 22 and 6’5. Stop being a giant p***y.

 

[BigKing]

Just came to check the thread and was wondering if it was going to be a rag on Byfield thread and here we are. He was pretty bad last night.

Been thinking about it last season and a lot this year so far that, like @Ziggy Stardust said above, this might be a Kempe situation where he's going to have to wind up at wing.

Blake drafted like 100 centers and it is looking more and more like he can't find an answer to replace a Dave Taylor draft pick. Rough times.

 

[redcard]

Fiala was scratched because he missed a team meeting

 

[johnjm22]

Was definitely thinking that at points last night, reminded me of when we were behind vs Edmonton then decided to 1-3-1

That was not the same Kings team we’ve seen the last few weeks…and it was partly the opponent being very good but partly VERY self inflicted trouble

They were in 1-2-2 a lot. It was pointed out on the Devils broadcast.

 

[johnjm22]

If I was trying to maximize the current forward group, I would go with:

Byfield-Kopitar-Kempe
Foegele-Turcotte-Laferriere
Moore-Danault-Fiala
Lee-Helenius-Jeannot

If I was more focused on the long term, I'd keep QB at center.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Too early to give up on QB until a new regime gets a look at him. as a quick example, PLD a 40 pt player (.5 ppg) as a King, is back onto his normal pace (2 seasons right before LAK at .75 ppg) for the Caps. This org stunts players - my guess because they are always running some strict system. Im sure that is also reinforced by Kopi and DD having been students of Terry Murray. Its also telling that line combo changes have no negative effects on the outcomes. its socialism applied to hockey strategy.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

One thing that really stuck out to me last night was how differently Kopi and Byfield seem to play the game stylistically.

Kopi is very efficient in his movements and uses well planned/timed routes to break up plays / make plays.

Byfield on the other hand seems VERY straight line in all of his movements.

• The Kings get the puck and he immediately turns up the ice and skates straight up the ice as fast as possible
• The opposing team has the puck and often times Byfield just immediately B-lines it straight toward the puck carrier

Maybe this is just an indication that he's better suited on the wing. But I wonder if this could also just be a scenario where he's stylistically a VERY different player from Kopitar and maybe that's part of where things are going wrong.... He's watching Kopitar film and watching Kopi at practice trying to emulate Kopitar's style of hockey - Maybe that style just really doesn't suit him / isn't clicking for him and that's part of the reason he's second guessing a lot out there. He's in his head trying to play a style that just doesn't come naturally to him.

Honestly similar to PLD last year, where he was being asked to play a role/style that just really didn't work for him and his on ice performance was impacted negatively as a result.

Not trying to make excuses for the guy, just an interesting thought/observation from last night's game.