Speculation: 2025 TDL Discussion

[Raccoon Jesus]

He's been playing on a line with Crosby all season.

His shooting % is 17.5 against a career average of 11.5. He's getting 2:45 of PP TOI per game.

So we'd be buying high.

When we acquired guys like Stoll, Williams, Gaborik we were buying low.

Cozens might be a guy you'd be buying low on. But of course it's risky.

They've definitely been juicing his value, I agree he's a buy high and I think someone regrets it as soon as next year

But he does have history of being very very good when healthy, I don't think he's a typical "oh he's just shooting the lights out this year" guy

I like Cozens as a target absolutely but I don't think he comes cheap even as a 'buy low'

 

[CarlSneep]

Wouldn't mind going after Kirby Dach. He's a large, right shot player. Had a big knee injury last year. Those take a year to come back from. He's failing currently at the 2C position. Getting him healthy & playing wing in a more sheltered position could get him to pop. Something less than a first might be a good gamble.

Kings should trade for Dach & Cozens and run a Dach-Byfield-Cozens line. Call it the Disappointment Line

 

[tigermask48]

Josh Anderson would be the most Kongs pick up imaginable (derogatory).

He has a $5.5m cap hit (!!!!!) for this season and the next two seasons and he's on pace for 26 points this year.

Like 6 years ago he put up a 27 goal, 47 point season but other than that he's been consistently a ~30 point forward.

Unless the price is dirt cheap and MTL is retaining 50%, it's a terrible use of assets and cap space.

Kings need a top 6 scorer, not an overpaid bottom 6er.

I'd rather overpay for a legit top 6 winger than acquire a forward like Anderson.

Looks at Jeannot... I bet Blake and Luc could fix him! Nevermind that all evidence says otherwise.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

I like Cozens as a target absolutely but I don't think he comes cheap even as a 'buy low'

Yeah this is exactly the problem with Cozens. The price honestly shouldn't be that high for Cozens - he's a borderline reclamation project at this point.

31 goals in a year where the entire team was great offensively and Cozens shooting % was at 15% when his standard outside of that career year is ~9%.

Sabres are expecting a haul for him. But his numbers outside of the 22/23 season are very pedestrian. I've also seen Sabres fans talking about how bad he's been - I think we can take stuff like that with a grain of salt but it speaks to how fans who watch him every night are evaluating the player.

And then you have his $7.1m cap hit for the next 6 years - very risky to take on if he never gets back to that 30g, 60+ point form.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of potential there with Cozens.. But he's also just turned 24 years old, still young but that's usually around the time you should be establishing consistency at the NHL level. Seems pretty clear at this point he's not a 1C you can build around. Still could be a great complimentary piece though.

He's a super tough player to assess and I definitely wouldn't be willing to match what Buffalo's asking price seems to be.

 

[Magicman]

Yeah this is exactly the problem with Cozens. The price honestly shouldn't be that high for Cozens - he's a borderline reclamation project at this point.

31 goals in a year where the entire team was great offensively and Cozens shooting % was at 15% when his standard outside of that career year is ~9%.

Sabres are expecting a haul for him. But his numbers outside of the 22/23 season are very pedestrian. I've also seen Sabres fans talking about how bad he's been - I think we can take stuff like that with a grain of salt but it speaks to how fans who watch him every night are evaluating the player.

And then you have his $7.1m cap hit for the next 6 years - very risky to take on if he never gets back to that 30g, 60+ point form.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of potential there with Cozens.. But he's also just turned 24 years old, still young but that's usually around the time you should be establishing consistency at the NHL level. Seems pretty clear at this point he's not a 1C you can build around. Still could be a great complimentary piece though.

He's a super tough player to assess and I definitely wouldn't be willing to match what Buffalo's asking price seems to be.

My old GM buddy used to say, smart players at certain times in a season start to make personal decisions. The question is how smart do you want your players.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

My old GM buddy used to say, smart players at certain times in a season start to make personal decisions. The question is how smart do you want your players.

What this means??

Are you implying Cozens is making a personal decision to phone it in and not give 100% effort because he wants to get traded / doesn't want to get hurt??

I guess that could be true. If it is I certainly don't want him on my team lol. Also doesn't explain why he was super mid last year but yeah I guess it could explain this year.

Regardless, my point still stands - There's risk in trading for him and he's probably overvalued right now as a result of his 22/23 season.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I don't like that either but it certainly wouldn't be the first time. Some guys just rot in such environments, I guess. I hated it when ROR and co did it though, even Carter (though at least he was traded, didn't just sign there and bitch). Plus, something is really rotten in Buffalo, so I get it.

 

[johnjm22]

That 2nd round pick Blake squandered on Jeannot would probably have come in handy right now.

I'd rather give up a mid round pick and mediocre prospect for Anderson than give up prime assets for Rakell. Buy low.

Since the Kings aren't contenders, they should be looking at low risk high reward type deals. Fredric Modin. Vincent Lecavalier.

I think it's a seller's market though.

I also think there's a better chance of Spence/Clarke getting traded than we might realize.

 

[Lt Dan]

That 2nd round pick Blake squandered on Jeannot would probably have come in handy right now.

I'd rather give up a mid round pick and mediocre prospect for Anderson than give up prime assets for Rakell. Buy low.

Since the Kings aren't contenders, they should be looking at low risk high reward type deals. Fredric Modin. Vincent Lecavalier.

I think it's a seller's market though.

I also think there's a better chance of Spence/Clarke getting traded than we might realize.

Indeed my friend

And if they trade Clarke it had better be one heck of a deal with a long term piece coming back, not an expiring contract.

I'll put this is Valentine's day terms. If we trade Clarke, we want a long term commitment and not a wham bam than you ma'am

 

[Johnny Utah]

Brayden Schenn is the player to get right now.

 

[Herby]

Yeah this is exactly the problem with Cozens. The price honestly shouldn't be that high for Cozens - he's a borderline reclamation project at this point.

His value would be about the same as Byfield's, a lot of similarity between those players. Byfield is younger which adds a bit of value to him, but Cozens has reached a higher peak, which probably cancels it out. Would you say QB's value is low and he's a reclamation project?

I'm generally not in favor of paying any kind of premium, based on where a guy was projected years ago when he was 17. Cozens is a solid player, nothing more nothing less, he's probably going to be a 25G/55P type of guy most of his career, the Kings are already full of guys like this, and he's paid based on him improving on his age 20 season, which he may never reach again.

On the flip side, he could just be another guy has fallen victim of the Buffalo curse, and could be a championship level 2C in LA, but I doubt it

 

[MonkeysUncle]

Indeed my friend

And if they trade Clarke it had better be one heck of a deal with a long term piece coming back, not an expiring contract.

I'll put this is Valentine's day terms. If we trade Clarke, we want a long term commitment and not a wham bam than you ma'am

Only way I trade Clarke is of it's a straight up swap for Cozens especially since it doesn't look like kings will play to Clarkes strengths

 

[Lt Dan]

Only way I trade Clarke is of it's a straight up swap for Cozens especially since it doesn't look like kings will play to Clarkes strengths

Indeed

Your nephew the primate is a lucky one. He's got a cool smart Uncle!

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

His value would be about the same as Byfield's, a lot of similarity between those players. Byfield is younger which adds a bit of value to him, but Cozens has reached a higher peak, which probably cancels it out. Would you say QB's value is low and he's a reclamation project?

I'm generally not in favor of paying any kind of premium, based on where a guy was projected years ago when he was 17. Cozens is a solid player, nothing more nothing less, he's probably going to be a 25G/55P type of guy most of his career, the Kings are already full of guys like this, and he's paid based on his age 20 season, which he may never reach again.

On the flip side, he could just be another guy has fallen victim of the Buffalo curse, and could be a championship level 2C in LA.

Hello Herby - I would say QBs value is low right now compared to his potential because he's been underwhelming and now has a $6.25m cap hit - part of the reason I'm very against trading QB.

Cozens is about 18 months older than QB - that's pretty significant at this point in their careers. Also, other than Cozens' 22/23 season his totals are fairly similar to what we've seen from QB.

So I agree that they probably have similar values right now - But personally, I think QB has a decently higher ceiling, so I wouldn't be in favor of a QB/Cozens swap (even though it would benefit the Kings in the short term since they need a right shot scoring top 6 forward).

I also agree with your point on Cozens likely being a 25G/55P player most of his career - I guess with the cap going up that's probably worth $7.1m these days and he certainly might have more upside than that but I honestly don't love the cap hit if that's all Cozens is going to be. So it's tricky.

Only way I trade Clarke is of it's a straight up swap for Cozens especially since it doesn't look like kings will play to Clarkes strengths

Clarke is going to be a much better player IMO. But to your point, he may only be as good as the Kings let him be - which is exceptionally frustrating. Hopefully the Kings let him play his game eventually.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Only way I trade Clarke is of it's a straight up swap for Cozens especially since it doesn't look like kings will play to Clarkes strengths

I'd want something significantly better than Cozens. Dealing Clarke in a package for a huge improvement would be less disappointing.

Keeping Doughty & trading Clarke would seriously get me to question canceling the TV package to watch hockey.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

I'd want something significantly better than Cozens. Dealing Clarke in a package for a huge improvement would be less disappointing.

Keeping Doughty & trading Clarke would seriously get me to question canceling the TV package to watch hockey.

Completely agree,

Re: Doughty, with how he's looking - I keep going back to my idea of trading him in the offseason at 25% retained. I hate to say that because it's Drew Doughty we're talking about and he's an absolute legend but it might be the most savvy move for the franchise. Kings would be able to completely rebuild their blue line and it would give Clarke the ability to step up and be 'the guy'.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The biggest difference between Byfield and Cozens right this moment is that Byfield can look flashy doing it.

Make no mistakes about their trade values right now. Which means yes, as foolish as it feels to trade Byfield right now, it should feel that way trading Cozens, too.

 

[KingsOfCali25]

I was talking to a beer league teammate about the Kings upcoming moves for the TDL and he said he read on "hockey buzz" that the Kings were looking into trading for Rantanen if they can't get an extension done. I told him to stop reading that site ASAP.

My thing is could you imagine what LA would have to give up for Rantanen if it was true! A 28 year old (29 in October) left handed winger that's looking for an 8 year $11m+ deal. Blake would doom this franchise even more.