GDT: 2024-25 season game 31 LA Kings vs Pittsburgh Penguins @ 4:00pm 12/17/24

[Lt Dan]

Not that mods are beyond reproach, but it always says a lot about someone when they try to absolve themselves of responsibilities for their actions when they accuse mods of supporting "the old boys club".

There are plenty of people who disagree passionately, and maybe even crossed lines. A lot of people get into it with GBH but he doesn't get punished by mods.

But it's unsurprising that people who can't discuss issues honestly want to blame everybody else for their inability to get along.

I would attribute it to the change of hormones that go along with a pregnancy

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Ok. Byfield does more then play offense. He is like a baby Kopitar. Turcotte reminds me of Williams. No offense to one of the greatest player we ever had.

Yah, but he hasn’t proven to be a 80+ point player at the age of 22. HE’S GOT TO GO.

 

[Maynard]

I would attribute it to the change of hormones that go along with a pregnancy

Wow so I’ve been ignoring a pregnant girl?

Wish I’d done that with my first wife. Heyyoooo…

 

[Herby]

Come on, Byfield is nowhere close to what Kopitar was defensively. Even at that age, Kopitar was already one of the best defensive centers in the NHL, in addition to being by far the teams best offensive player.

 

[King'sPawn]

Ok. Byfield does more then play offense. He is like a baby Kopitar. Turcotte reminds me of Williams. No offense to one of the greatest player we ever had.

I think it's fair to say Byfield is nowhere close to Kopitar was at the same age, offensively or defensively. But that's okay. Kopitar was and is a special player.

Byfield doesn't have to be Kopitar-good. Those aren't fair expectations. He just needs to be consistently good.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Kopitar wasn’t blocked by Craig Conroy, so we have the benefit of seeing him as top C since day 1. Stop comparing QB to Kopitar.

 

[Sol]

Byfield is blocking himself and people have the nerve to say he is a game breaking talent…

If you want to see game breaking talent then you look at Kopitar smoking Pronger game 1 in the NHL and never looking back.

Byfield is how many years in the NHL and all he has to his name is the rare flashy goal or producing next to Kopitar, which Iafallo did as well and people thought he sucked. I don’t get the reason to use such extreme descriptors and pretend he’s a great player when he’s only consistent at being disappointing.


It’s no shock that once Byfield is left to his own devices that he is back to being an offensive black hole while Kopitar and Kempe have not even seen a drop in production with him gone.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Not that mods are beyond reproach, but it always says a lot about someone when they try to absolve themselves of responsibilities for their actions when they accuse mods of supporting "the old boys club".

There are plenty of people who disagree passionately, and maybe even crossed lines. A lot of people get into it with GBH but he doesn't get punished by mods.

But it's unsurprising that people who can't discuss issues honestly want to blame everybody else for their inability to get along.

It's because I am always right bud, you know that.......just saying, I wish that was the reason, but it's more because I've probably calmed down, all the people who want to bitch and moan, even now...will bitch and moan...I saw a post earlier that I had made back in 2014 about the Kings Offense....and there were people in January of 2014, bitching and whining about how THAT team wasn't a contender wouldn't do anything, etc etc....

So sure.....most of the times people just talk to hear themselves talk.

Come on, Byfield is nowhere close to what Kopitar was defensively. Even at that age, Kopitar was already one of the best defensive centers in the NHL, in addition to being by far the teams best offensive player.

No, he isn't, but he's getting there, Kopitar is a 1st ballot HHOF, no doubt of anyone in the league, not sure if trying to compare Byfield to Kopitar...is fair to Byfield...at all.

 

[Choralone]

Kopitar had the benefit of playing a men's league in Sweden iirc. I think that helped him hit the ground running.

 

[The Butcher]

I think it's fair to say Byfield is nowhere close to Kopitar was at the same age, offensively or defensively. But that's okay. Kopitar was and is a special player.

Byfield doesn't have to be Kopitar-good. Those aren't fair expectations. He just needs to be consistently good.

I want to say Kopitar is a first ballot hall of famer in any sane and rational world but we all know the NHL will likely continue to disrespect him post retirement.

QB isn't in this category but I still think he will be a special player in his own right once the dust has settled.

 

[SherVaughn30]

I think the difference is Byfield struggles because he cares. PLD struggles because he doesn't.

There was a point last night where they missed the same open net three times...kinda felt like the writing was on the wall there.

The Kings have been great lately about getting just enough offense to win and shutting it down...I DO think that their style of defense wins in the playoffs, but I 100% agree that they don't have the scoring to overcome the inevitable powerhouse teams that have guys you literally cannot shut down for a whole series, especially as they just cannot handle a situation that is not 5v5 offensively. PP sucks, 4v4 sucks, 3v3 sucks. PK is great but gets eviscerated by top PPs. We have seen this entire damn movie before.

I gonna have to wear a fire suit after a saying this. PLD in 31 games with the Caps, he cares and likes playing for the team he's on now. Coach Carbery is even using PLD's line to match-up against the opponents top lines. He could shoot more, but he's recording assists(primary), and he's playing smart along the boards.

its obvious you didnt watch the game and who gives a f*** what happens to washington and pld?

Bitterness too much, I sense in you.

 

[SherVaughn30]

..

This team has a pattern of only giving guys a shot after injuries...color me not impressed w the self-reflection

An outside coach would do this team some good...

 

[AbsentMojo]

..

I gonna have to wear a fire suit after a saying this. PLD in 31 games with the Caps, he cares and likes playing for the team he's on now. Coach Carbery is even using PLD's line to match-up against the opponents top lines. He could shoot more, but he's recording assists(primary), and he's playing smart along the boards.

Not too surprised he's playing better there. No one excels here offensively... Still we wont soon forget what a gutless lazy bum he was here. Sounds like Carbery is a good coach if he can get that bum to buy in...That contract will not age well tho. Ill put money on that.

 

[SherVaughn30]

..

Not too surprised he's playing better there. No one excels here offensively... Still we wont soon forget what a gutless lazy bum he was here. Sounds like Carbery is a good coach if he can get that bum to buy in...That contract will not age well tho. Ill put money on that.

A good deal of 8 year contract extensions don't age well. Right now in year 2 of his contract, he's on a much better point pace than with what he did in one year with the Kings. The bottom line is PLD has been put in a far more suitable situation with the Caps, than he was with the Kings. Blake had a knee jerk reaction to how the Kings got bounced by the Oilers, so he thought a more offensive skilled guy would make the team better. Blake was terribly wrong, as a #1 goalie, top 4 d-man and a goal scorer were the more important priorities.

 

[AbsentMojo]

A good deal of 8 year contract extensions don't age well. Right now in year 2 of his contract, he's on a much better point pace than with what he did in one year with the Kings. The bottom line is PLD has been put in a far more suitable situation with the Caps, than he was with the Kings. Blake had a knee jerk reaction to how the Kings got bounced by the Oilers, so he thought a more offensive skilled guy would make the team better. Blake was terribly wrong, as a #1 goalie, top 4 d-man and a goal scorer were the more important priorities.

All true... esp that he blew out the cap to sign him and got lucky that RV went on LTIR and Laf turned out to be serviceable...bad eval/asset management, bad cap management from the confederate of dunces running the show (wont just blame Blake)

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I think it's fair to say Byfield is nowhere close to Kopitar was at the same age, offensively or defensively. But that's okay. Kopitar was and is a special player.

Byfield doesn't have to be Kopitar-good. Those aren't fair expectations. He just needs to be consistently good.

I get a pretty good laugh out of the whole two-decade chain really

For a long, long time Kopitar was underappreciated here. Still is by a pretty vocal subsection.

Now that he (should be) is a first ballot hall of famer, he's being used as a measuring stick for Byfield

There's really nothing Byfield could ever do to 1. fill those shoes 2. gain the appreciation of an audience who was pretty tough on Kopitar for 18 years, even now.

Kid is doomed in LA regardless of how you feel about him. Imagine having to fill the shoes of the greatest LA king in history...especially with questionable confidence to begin with.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I gonna have to wear a fire suit after a saying this. PLD in 31 games with the Caps, he cares and likes playing for the team he's on now

I can't even make sense of that last part. So, he didn't 'care; when he was with the Kings? The 8-mil/8-year contract that Blake gifted him didn't inspire him enough to 'care' or like the team he was signing to?

OR....maybe being booted after the first year of an 8 year contract cause he SUCKED ASS so bad, finally inspired him to get his shit together?

I guess we should be thankful that Kuemper cares as he did more for this team in the first 10 games than PLD did in 87....and he still looks great (when he's not injured).

 

[Bandit]

You really SHOULD be having more sex with Scarlett Johansson. Failure.

I said things I HAVE control over. Can’t do anything about that restraining order…

 

[Sol]

Most of the negative comments about Kopitar are about his leadership qualities and lack of success as captain. Nothing about his quality as a player. I can’t even remember a criticism about his ability. He’s slow? The measuring stick is fair when you compare player to player, center, draft position, and organizational importance. How one can see it as unfair is crazy. The only reason the Kings got out of the dark ages was on the back of Kopitar. Kopitar came into the NHL in his first game by undressing Pronger. These soft expectations of Byfield is frankly pathetic. We know he is disappointing but has the very rare moment where he scores a nice goal. Is it too much to ask him to be a difference maker consistently? If it is, then I hope most of you guys stop fantasizing about this ceiling as a player that we’ve never seen but you’re sure it exists.

 

[bland]

A good deal of 8 year contract extensions don't age well. Right now in year 2 of his contract, he's on a much better point pace than with what he did in one year with the Kings. The bottom line is PLD has been put in a far more suitable situation with the Caps, than he was with the Kings. Blake had a knee jerk reaction to how the Kings got bounced by the Oilers, so he thought a more offensive skilled guy would make the team better. Blake was terribly wrong, as a #1 goalie, top 4 d-man and a goal scorer were the more important priorities.

I would disagree with this assessment.

The singular missing element here is an offensively creative center. We have the backbone in place, but we don't have a playmaker that can create time and space for his linemates or add quick puck movement and deception to the PP.

Kopitar does so damn many of the other things that his relatively average first-line center production has been excused by our fan base. Having a secondary scoring line would have been a massive boost, so I get the desire to lock in a young center for that spot. Unfortunately they have decided that the LA model is going to be two-way pivots where Danaults 50 points are the best we can expect while the players drafted for that role have their sharp edges pounded down to dull curves to fit that expectation.

 

[tigermask48]

Most of the negative comments about Kopitar are about his leadership qualities and lack of success as captain. Nothing about his quality as a player. I can’t even remember a criticism about his ability. He’s slow? The measuring stick is fair when you compare player to player, center, draft position, and organizational importance. How one can see it as unfair is crazy. The only reason the Kings got out of the dark ages was on the back of Kopitar. Kopitar came into the NHL in his first game by undressing Pronger. These soft expectations of Byfield is frankly pathetic. We know he is disappointing but has the very rare moment where he scores a nice goal. Is it too much to ask him to be a difference maker consistently? If it is, then I hope most of you guys stop fantasizing about this ceiling as a player that we’ve never seen but you’re sure it exists.

I'm probably one of the biggest Kopitar critics here, and this is 100% true.

I'd never question his skill as a player and his importance to the Kings as an organization. I do feel like there are legitimate questions that can be asked about his time as captain, and leadership qualities that are valid.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

A good deal of 8 year contract extensions don't age well. Right now in year 2 of his contract, he's on a much better point pace than with what he did in one year with the Kings. The bottom line is PLD has been put in a far more suitable situation with the Caps, than he was with the Kings. Blake had a knee jerk reaction to how the Kings got bounced by the Oilers, so he thought a more offensive skilled guy would make the team better. Blake was terribly wrong, as a #1 goalie, top 4 d-man and a goal scorer were the more important priorities.

I do not even dislike PLD like most but even this is too much for me.

On pace for 13 goals.

He is just as average with the Caps, as with LA.
What the heck are You talking about.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Let's be honest, comparing Byfield to Kopitar is borderline cruel.

Kopitar is a truly special player. One of the greatest 2 way centers to ever pick up a hockey stick. The guy should easily be considered a top 50 NHL player of all time.

19 season straight (!!!!!!) this guy has consistently been a ~70+ point center who plays 20 mins a night in all situations while very rarely taking penalties and consistently shutting down opposing stars. He's led the Kings in scoring like 17 of his 19 seasons.

Who does that???? No seriously..... Who tf else in this league does that??? Virtually no one. He's a borderline generational talent.

Byfield has a ton of potential and he was a 2nd overall pick but even then..... Expecting Byfield to turn into a Kopitar replacement is a recipe for failure. You're basically saying "well, Byfield was a 2nd overall pick!!! He should be one of the best centers to ever play hockey!!!!" .... Obviously it doesn't work like that lol.

Edit: The fact that this is even a conversation makes me question whether or not Kopi is underappreciated even by Kings fans themselves. The Kings could've drafted the most hyped up prospect ever at 1st overall and we would STILL be lucky if that player ever turned out to be on the same level as #11.

 

[tigermask48]

The singular missing element here is an offensively creative center. We have the backbone in place, but we don't have a playmaker that can create time and space for his linemates or add quick puck movement and deception to the PP.

My opinion, the Kings have enough skill to win, they just don't use it well. Like at all.
We used to joke around about the Kings Tax cutting every players production to 75% of what is was previously and it's not a joke anymore.
That's part of way the last few years I've been of the opinion this team is better with no structure playing pond hockey.

 

[FSL KINGS]

I get a pretty good laugh out of the whole two-decade chain really

For a long, long time Kopitar was underappreciated here. Still is by a pretty vocal subsection.

Now that he (should be) is a first ballot hall of famer, he's being used as a measuring stick for Byfield

There's really nothing Byfield could ever do to 1. fill those shoes 2. gain the appreciation of an audience who was pretty tough on Kopitar for 18 years, even now.

Kid is doomed in LA regardless of how you feel about him. Imagine having to fill the shoes of the greatest LA king in history...especially with questionable confidence to begin with.

Kopi was brutal coming out of the lockdown with extra weight. He's dropped it & is looking good now. Still a bit slow, but that's not his game.