Not sure who you can put with Kopitar....Moore, Danault, Foegle seemed to have gelled, Byfield, Fiala, Kempe are complienting each other nicely,
So that leaves, Lewis, Turcotte, Laferriere, Jeannot, Thomas.......or name an AHL callup etc....
Kopitar is no longer a finisher, I think he can still somewhat effectively be a distributor (like late-stage Getzlaf and Thornton), but he is not even getting chances anymore, he has 9 total shots in 9 games since the start of last month, with three consecutive games where he didn't register a single shot. If he is still going to be expected to produce offense as a passer (and he has to be for the Kings to have a prayer), he needs to have two guys that are a threat to score. Laf makes sense, nobody is going to mistake him for Ovechkin but he has some finish, but Turcotte does not, his finishing ability has been non-existent across three levels of hockey since being drafted, him playing with Kopitar a lot this season is a poor look for management and/or the coaching staff. It's horrible for a player who could be effective as a bottom six character guy if actually used in that role, and it's horrible for Kopitar because there is zero offensive chemistry between the two. The results have been a complete disaster, but they somehow keep going back to it.
Try Moore with Kopitar and Laf as the 2nd line, and see what Foegele/Danault/Turcotte can do as the third line, I think it might work out.
Too bad he didnt really do it. Youd think they start that line and set the tone for the game. Instead he treated them as a 4th line and they had 1 shift in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Lewis line got more shifts.
I think it was by the end of the second or for the third when he went back to Kopitar and Kempe together.
The broadcast before the game has Carlyn going over the starting lineup with Kopitar as the 1c every night no matter who his wingers are and that line was listed as the third line.
They arent serious about winning. Its about Kopitar and Doughty jerseys hanging next to Blakes at the practice center in El Segundo.
Yeah, I also thought it was funny to see the lines listed by the team and they have Turcotte/Kopitar/Laf as the 1st line and Foegele/Danault/Moore as the 2nd line, like it's written in stone that whatever line Kopitar is on is the 1st line and whatever line Danault on is the 2nd. Kempe is without question the best forward (and player) on the team, and whatever line he is on should be recognized as the first line, especially true when the second best offensive player on the team is also on that line, and honestly at this point probably the third best too.
I think we all appreciate what 11 and 8 did for this franchise, they did what nobody thought we'd ever see as Kings fans and reached the top of the mountain, but having every decision revolve around these guys at the expense of the next generation of players is going to result in this team having a lost decade.
