GDT: 2024-25 season game 47 LA Kings vs Detroit Red Wings @4:00pm 1/27/25

[Axl Rhoadz]

Currently 9th and trending downward unfortunately

Sure, after a .500 stretch in January - prior to that, they still had 37 games under their belt, all without Doughty. What am I missing here?

 

[Herby]

The last time the Kings finished top 5 in points % in a season George HW Bush was President, The Soviet Union still existed, Warren Moon led the NFL in passing yards, The Silence of the Lambs and Dances with Wolves was in theaters, Baby Baby by Amy Grant was the #1 song, Rob Blake was the same age as Brandt Clarke and @Lt Dan collected his first social security check.

But nobody loves to bring up the standings at Christmas more than Axl. It's almost like an older team that plays a grinding defensive style that wears on your body is prone to struggle in the second half of 82 game seasons. Maybe we can start the playoffs on December 1st next season..

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Who said they needed to trade for anyone locked down?

The Kings could have traded Moore for a draft pick, flipped the draft pick for Laine and just not gotten involved in the joke that is Jeannot and his bloated salary. Would you rather have Laine (at 1/3 retained) and Akil Thomas or Moore and Jeannot? Does Laine have his hiccups? Yes he does, and you will surely point it out like you do every single time there is a scorer available that might address the Kings woeful skill level. But he would have drastically helped our PP and his shortcomings at ES would have been masked by Kopitar and Kempe. Not everyone needs to be a good checker. The Kings are content with multiple offensive black holes (in scoring roles no less) but it's sacrilege to suggest bringing in a player who sucks defensively, why? Why can't we have players who aren't good defensively in scoring line roles, but it's ok to have guys like Danault and Turcotte who aren't good offensively in offensive roles? How does that make any sense?

They could have drafted Cole Caufield, but he wouldn't fit in their system and was to small and they probably never considered it
They could have traded for Jack Eichel but he came with to much risk and they didn't want to trade players they traded for Walmart Eichel shortly after.
They could have traded for DeBrincat but he's to small and wouldn't fit the system
They could have signed Patrick Kane but he isn't good defensively.

I'm sorry GBH, but it's ludicrous to suggest that the horrific state of this team when it comes to skill and finishers was unavoidable. The "How could Blake have known excuse" makes no sense. This GM had four picks in the Top 11 in his first 5 drafts and what was universally rated as a Top 3 (and in most publications #1) prospect pool when the guy who currently is on pace for 100 points for a division rival was on the market at 25 years old, instead we stupidly passed and then proceeded to trade the two best players he drafted for lesser players than the ones I listed above, who also happened to come with their own baggage and worse contracts than all of those guys.

Rob Blake has been GM of this team for 8 years, he has acquired every player on this roster except for Kempe, Doughty and Kopitar, which is funny because they are the three best players on the team. Whatever success or failure this roster has, it's all on his shoulders.



It's just absolutely incredible to me that you place almost no blame for the state of this roster on the man who has been the GM since April of 2017.

Earlier response was right before leaving for the dentist,

Yes, they could have traded for Laine, that would have cost Spence.
They could have drafted Caufield, but they also could have drafted a shit ton of other players, you have no idea where Caufield landed on their radar.
They could have traded for Eichel, injury history and that injury in and of itself was a major concern,
They could have signed Patrick Kane....IF he wanted to sign with them, do we know that he did? I'm guessing he probably wouldn't want to, I could be wrong.

It's not how could Blake have known, it's more, NOT ONE SINGLE GM, would trade a team controlled 30 goal scorer under 30 years old, for "futures" unless there was something major underlying circumstances. Now he could have been traded in a hockey deal, for sure, we just saw one big one go down. But trying to suggest they trade Moore this past off season for a pick is downright ludicrous.

 

[Lt Dan]

is downright ludicrous.

When you say Ludricrous, do you mean

or

 

[BaileyFan]

Currently 9th and trending downward unfortunately

He’s celebrating that the Kings are the back to back holiday freeze champions, just like they recently 3-peated as the NHL’s offseason champions.

This is hilarious.

 

[Herby]

Earlier response was right before leaving for the dentist,

Yes, they could have traded for Laine, that would have cost Spence.
They could have drafted Caufield, but they also could have drafted a shit ton of other players, you have no idea where Caufield landed on their radar.
They could have traded for Eichel, injury history and that injury in and of itself was a major concern,
They could have signed Patrick Kane....IF he wanted to sign with them, do we know that he did? I'm guessing he probably wouldn't want to, I could be wrong.

It's not how could Blake have known, it's more, NOT ONE SINGLE GM, would trade a team controlled 30 goal scorer under 30 years old, for "futures" unless there was something major underlying circumstances. Now he could have been traded in a hockey deal, for sure, we just saw one big one go down. But trying to suggest they trade Moore this past off season for a pick is downright ludicrous.

Laine was traded along with a 2nd for Harris with no salary retention. Why would he have cost the Kings Jordan Spence? Are you saying this because the Kings would have needed some salary retention (probably 25-30%) makes up that much of a difference? Spence is a way better player than Harris. Either way, it was another opportunity where the Kings could have addressed the biggest weakness the franchise has (right-shot goal-scorer) and once again sat it out, even knowing the lineup you see right now was very likely going to have huge issues scoring goals.

Do I know where Caufield was or wasn't on the Kings radar? No. But I am guessing that based on evidence and organizational philosophy he wasn't even under consideration. But guess what the discussion was before that draft about why he maybe should have been in play for the Kings. Because they lacked a right-shot goal-scorer, that was in the summer of 2019, Laine was traded in the summer of 2024 and the Kings still, five years later had that same hole. And actually the hole was even bigger because they moved Vilardi, who is kind of a poor-mans Caufield for another left-shot center who wasn't exactly known as a finisher.

I think the reason is the Kings place less value on offensive players (especially wingers) than just about any team in the league. In that same 2019 draft the Kings had a chance to draft Kaliyev with the #22 pick, which is about where he was projected to go, but decided to go with a vanilla defensive defenseman, despite having a similar player already in the system in Anderson and rolled the dice that Kaliyev would be there in the 2nd, which ultimately he was, but they had no way of knowing. I said before the draft I would have gone Caufield and Kaliyev, play the odds that one hits big and if both do you have two elite goal-scorers who shoot from the right and left. You fill an organizational need and draft guys that naturally do the one thing you haven't been able to develop and evaluate well for years. And even with Kaliyev busting, going with those two would have produced better results than the two vanilla safe picks the Kings made.

I know you always give me all the reasons why they never pulled the trigger on any of these offensive guys, but they needed to make a move on one of them, whether it was at the draft, in trades or in FA. They didn't, and well that is a reason why we are in the spot we are in now where they have to fight tooth and nail to try and score 3 goals in any given game.

Idk man, I just don't understand the organizational philosophy that makes it acceptable to have multiple players who may struggle to score 10-12 goals or 40 points in first and second line roles because they are "complete" but won't have incomplete players who are capable of 30+ goal production in scoring line roles. Helen Keller could have seen this coming from a mile away. Danault's offensive game had tailed off each season he was here, did they expect it not to continue in his age 31/32 season. Alex Turcotte a player who hasn't produced offensively since the USHL playing first line, how does that happen? Did they really think Moore was going to repeat his 31 goal-season? He had scored 45 goals in 263 career games before that season.

All of these concerns were discussed on this forum, if fans were skeptical of Moore reaching those levels again and of Danault's continued decline, how did management not account for it at all?

If it's this hard to acquire offensive players as you say, how do other teams do it? How come other playoff teams aren't this horrible offensively? And why hasn't Blake been able to fix it in 8 seasons as GM?

 

[Schmooley]

Earlier response was right before leaving for the dentist,

Yes, they could have traded for Laine, that would have cost Spence.

They gave Laine away with a second round pick attached. It would not have cost Spence. I was clamoring for the Kings to get him. Hes exactly what the team needs and they would have gotten compensated for taking his contract really it was an easy decision.

 

[Herby]

Yeah in post count. 27k is impressive….and frightening.

Ha. I've been here since the doors opened bud (actually well before it), pretty impressive for a "fake fan" right? But my posts per day numbers are a lot less than many people here, but good job insulting those people trying to take a shot at me

And hey, 23 years and somehow have managed to never get sent to timeout. I personally find it "frightening" that a grown man continues to get banned over and over again from a hockey messageboard.

 

[bouncesonly]

I was curious so I did a very unofficial check on LA's offense prowess. My unofficial research shows that since the 2001-2002 season, the highest the Kings offense (goals per game) has ever finished in a regular season is... 10th. Accomplished 3 times.

Please note I did this quickly and could be wrong but that's just... not acceptable.

2001-2002 season, Kings Goals For Per Games played was 2.61, which put them 16th for that season: NHL Stats

Their highest GF/GP was 88-89: NHL Stats

Ranked 1 for 88-89

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Ha. I've been here since the doors opened bud (actually well before it), pretty impressive for a "fake fan" right? But my posts per day numbers are a lot less than many people here, but good job insulting those people trying to take a shot at me

And hey, 23 years and somehow have managed to never get sent to timeout. I personally find it "frightening" that a grown man continues to get banned over and over again from a hockey messageboard.

Damn, what were your posts like back in say 04-07??

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

They gave Laine away with a second round pick attached. It would not have cost Spence. I was clamoring for the Kings to get him. Hes exactly what the team needs and they would have gotten compensated for taking his contract really it was an easy decision.

Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to get him as well, but at what cost? CBS traded him along with a 2nd for Harris, the only equivalence we have to that is Spence, and we would have needed retention, which I don't think CBS was willing to do, but I could be wrong...

I think you are right Laine would have been perfect, last year, LA rumours with Vancouver, JT Miller was the one people were talking about, Boeser is the one they need....100%.

No one is arguing that LA's offense is great, or doesn't need anything.

My entire argument, is that sports do not work the way certain people think they do. Teams do not trade 30 goal scorers under 30 years old that are under team control, unless something is out of whack, requested trade, or something.....

 

[Herby]

Damn, if you're miserable today, what were your posts like back in say 04-07??

Well there was no NHL in 04.

05-06 was not enjoyable, DT brought in a bunch of band-aid black hole players instead of committing to a proper rebuild (sound familiar) and the team fizzled.

06-07 was enjoyable because after spending my entire life seeing teams like Detroit, Colorado and Dallas draft franchise centers like Forsberg, Fedorov and Modano the Kings finally had their own franchise center pick that was a plug and play star, we didn't need excuses or cliches like "paying his dues" and "learning the system", he came right in and embarrassed a Hall-of-Fame defenseman in his first NHL game, and we could see the potential for something great. That was followed up two years later by drafting the best defenseman in franchise history, another plug and play star who was so good he made Team Canada at the Olympics his second year in the league even though he "wasn't old enough to buy a beer" (to steal one of your lame excuses) and later that year the greatest goaltender in franchise history came aboard. That is what it takes to win a championship, drafting players like those, or like Toews and Kane, or Malkin and Crosby, Kucherov and Hedman, MacKinnon and Makar, not by signing Phil Danault and trading for Kevin Fiala to try and chase another ring with players past their primes.

Watching Kopitar, Doughty and Quick develop into stars and take ownership of the team, even in the years they missed the playoffs was to me much more enjoyable than the black hole 1st round loser teams that BLuc have given us, or the black hole teams Taylor gave us.

You just continue to be unable to grasp that many fans here would rather miss the playoffs for five years if you come out of it with actual Stanley Cup building blocks than to make the playoffs and get bounced every year in Round 1 by properly constructed contenders. You can think differently, that is your opinion, but not everyone shares it (as you have insisted before), sorry to burst your bubble.

I would much rather be in the position Sharks fans are in right now than the position the Kings are in, that team will contend for a Stanley Cup before the Kings will because they are being constructed the right way, and they have their Batman and Robin already on the roster and contributing at 18 and 19. Pretty jealous what they ended up with out of their back to back top 5 picks, as opposed to what the Kings got.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I would much rather be in the position Sharks fans are in right now than the position the Kings are in, that team will contend for a Stanley Cup before the Kings will because they are being constructed the right way, and they have their Batman and Robin already on the roster and contributing at 18 and 19. Pretty jealous what they ended up with out of their back to back top 5 picks, as opposed to what the Kings got.

Sure, I've heard that same thing about the Ducks, prob a 1000 times over the past 5 years, and look at them.

 

[Lt Dan]

Watching Kopitar, Doughty and Quick develop into stars and take ownership of the team, even in the years they missed the playoffs was to me much more enjoyable than the black hole 1st round loser teams that BLuc have given us, or the black hole teams Taylor gave us.

You just continue to be unable to grasp that many fans here would rather miss the playoffs for five years if you come out of it with actual Stanley Cup building blocks than to make the playoffs for and get bounced every year in Round 1. You can think differently, that is your opinion, but not everyone shares it, sorry to burst your bubble.

I would much rather be in the position Sharks fans are in right now than the position the Kings are in, that team will contend for a Stanley Cup before the Kings will because they are being constructed the right way, and they have their Batman and Robin already on the roster and contributing at 18 and 19. Pretty jealous what they ended up with out of their back to back top 5 picks, as opposed to what the Kings got.

In DL's first press conference he described himself as a builder.

Kings hire Lombardi as prez, GM to help rebuild

Dean Lombardi was hired as president and general manager of the Los Angeles Kings on Friday after Dave Taylor was dismissed earlier in the week.

www.espn.com

"I chose the Kings for a number of reasons. First off, I'm a builder, and I see the foundation put in place by Dave Taylor," he said. "People sometimes come in and make things look as bad as possible, to paint themselves as heroes.

"But that's not the case here," he said.

We will never know what Blake's marching orders were from upstairs, we do all have bosses, but instead of describing Blake a builder I would describe him more as reactive. Every offseason it is a tweak they they think is going to push a team that clearly isn't ready to compete, over the top.

I occasionally think the 2012 team never having won a playoff series before winning the cup was one of the worst things that could have happen, because the context of those series is completely forgotten.

The Kings have fully reverted back to the Dave Taylor years.

 

[Herby]

Sure, I've heard that same thing about the Ducks, prob a 1000 times over the past 5 years, and look at them.

You are correct. It's not 100% success, not all teams that tank win a Stanley Cup, and some will be awful for 5-10 years. But I'd rather have a 20% chance of coming out of a rebuild as a true contender than to have a 0% chance of winning a SC with a blackhole roster.

I can list all the teams that built from the ashes to win SC's, it's all the best teams of the last 20 years (Pittsburgh, LA, Chicago, Washington, Colorado, Tampa, Florida). Now go ahead and list the teams that won being constructed the way BLuc have constructed this team.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I can list all the teams that built from the ashes to win SC's, it's all the best teams of the last 20 years (Pittsburgh, LA, Chicago, Washington, Colorado, Tampa, Florida). Now go ahead and list the teams that won being constructed the way BLuc have constructed this team.

That discussion is better suited for individuals better-versed on the topic like GBH. But haven't you had this argument like 874,098 times in the past with various posters? Never gets old?

 

[tny760]

this is a stunning lack of self-awareness

or absolute commitment to the character

 

[Herby]

That discussion is better suited for individuals better-versed on the topic like GBH. But haven't you had this argument like 874,098 times in the past with various posters? Never gets old?

I thought you were a passionate life-long hockey fan. Yet you can't tell me any teams that were constructed like your beloved BLuc era Kings that had sustained championship success?

I've asked GBH the same question and have yet to hear an answer back as to what team Blake used as a blue print. Maybe he's just an innovator and he's starting his own trend.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I thought you were a passionate life-long hockey fan. Yet you can't tell me any teams that were constructed like your beloved BLuc era Kings that had sustained championship success?

I've asked GBH the same question and have yet to hear an answer back as to what team Blake used as a blue print. Maybe he's just an innovator and he's starting his own trend.

Do the Florida Panthers count?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I thought you were a passionate life-long hockey fan. Yet you can't tell me any teams that were constructed like your beloved BLuc era Kings that had sustained championship success?

I've asked GBH the same question and have yet to hear an answer back as to what team Blake used as a blue print. Maybe he's just an innovator and he's starting his own trend.

Washington wasn't born of the ashes, neither was St. Louis,

Blake isn't a builder, definitely not an innovactor, I think LT Dan had him pegged correctly, a reactor, I was going to say a maintainer....but reactor makes more sense.

The funny thing is, you think I am defending Blake....

As far as your list of teams, as many as you can list that won, I can list 10x that didn't, in all of sports, the only people that want teams to "tank/lose" are the fans....that's it.

 

[Fripp]

This, is the worst game of the season. 6 unanswered goals. Spineless. All of them.

Agreed. Worst I can remember. They were bullied all night and no one answered the call. In the third period, Turcotte got hit high while he was engaged in a board battle with another player. When your teammate who has a history of concussions gets hit like that, you drop the gloves. I don't care if an instigator penalty loses them the game (ironically, if a fight had stopped the play, the fourth goal wouldn't have been scored), it's a message sent and a teammate defended. Doing nothing made them look soft as f***.

 

[Schrute farms]

A certain poster would have much more post counts if he didn't disappear annually at the end of the season thru the playoffs, etc. (kind of like the Kings the past few years). But oh boy does he love to post about the Kings standings and point percentage at the heights in early/mid season. I guess you can't blame him. Whatever works for the agenda. I admire the consistency at least.

 

[Magicman]

From a buddy....

Ran into Alfie, forgot he's the kids father.

He(Kpoitar) didn't look well last night, I somebody from the Kings before the game mentioned he has scored like only 1 or 2 goals in the last 15 or so games.

Just from my perspective but the team looks off. Maybe with Doughty coming back and needing to open up a space for him on D, a couple of the boys may be hearing rumors a little too much.

The big kid Byfield, I know he popped a goal, but he looks lost. I know those metrics guys love to shove that stuff in my face, but at times you need to pass the eye test.

3 in a row so maybe we can string together a couple of more and get back in it.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

A certain poster would have much more post counts if he didn't disappear annually at the end of the season thru the playoffs, etc. (kind of like the Kings the past few years). But oh boy does he love to post about the Kings standings and point percentage at the heights in early/mid season. I guess you can't blame him. Whatever works for the agenda. I admire the consistency at least.

What are you saying...you are against facts?

 

[tny760]

Agreed. Worst I can remember. They were bullied all night and no one answered the call. In the third period, Turcotte got hit high while he was engaged in a board battle with another player. When your teammate who has a history of concussions gets hit like that, you drop the gloves. I don't care if an instigator penalty loses them the game (ironically, if a fight had stopped the play, the fourth goal wouldn't have been scored), it's a message sent and a teammate defended. Doing nothing made them look soft as f***.

i'm so tired of that exact situation, getting bullied and not responding

like yeah, maybe taking a penalty loses them the game, well as it turned out they lost the game anyway and looked like p***yes doing it