Confirmed with Link: Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kuapri, Gabe Vilardi + 2024 2nd round pick to Winnipeg for Pierre-Luc Dubois

[The Drew]

We are literally in cap hell, with no depth upcoming to fill the holes. Blake emptied the cabinet and forgot to buy half the grocery list. The holes are gonna become more and more numerous every year as contracts come up because we can’t develop players to play in the top 6 to save our lives. Blake signs a player to a top 6 contract than shuffles them down to the 3rd and 4th line regularly. Then has to trade 1st round picks or ripening talent to cover his ass on his failed signings.

Depth (especially on wing) on ELC is still one of our strengths. Fagemo, Chromiac, Laferrrier, Pinelli, Helenius, and Lee can all play NHL games this year. These kids can come in and give you what any cavalcade of recycled 4th liners can give you at 2/3 the price and twice the effort. f*** roll with Portillo and leave the net in Ontario empty for all I care. The Kings now have 3 lines that can match up with almost anyone and the 4th line still has Grundstrom, Lizotte and JAD.

 

[King'sPawn]

I don’t disagree in theory all I’m saying is if they showed some real prowess they would have forced some peoples hands.

They weren’t given a good shot but they didn’t really give someone a reason to believe in them either. Maybe that clarifies things.

I get your point - but I'm still looking at the dude who has been an executive with the Kings for half of Byfield's life as the one who should have a better idea of how to run and build a team, instead of the one where management decided he will need some time no matter what he does.

 

[FSL KINGS]

1) After work adult beverages did not improve the situation.

2) Kids can't get ice time! Todd won't play them over these mid range vets!!!

3) We need to get bigger & harder to play against!!!

4) Trade mid range vets for strong center depth so kids will get a shot.

5) target larger players Gavrikov, PLD & probably Nolan & Clifford types soon because of cap crunch

6) completely lose $#!π

I like where Blake's head is at. Going after guys that are big & can be buttholes. PLD has question marks. If he didn't he wouldn't be available.

You have to grab guys like Fiala & PLD when they hit the market. Would it be better to have grabbed a center with 1 cheap year left so it wouldn't effect the cap as much? Yup. It wasn't there now & if you wait & hope, that piece may not be there when it's easy to add from the cap.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Depth (especially on wing) on ELC is still one of our strengths. Fagemo, Chromiac, Laferrrier, Pinelli, Helenius, and Lee can all play NHL games this year. These kids can come in and give you what any cavalcade of recycled 4th liners can give you at 2/3 the price and twice the effort. f*** roll with Portillo and leave the net in Ontario empty for all I care. The Kings now have 3 lines that can match up with almost anyone and the 4th line still has Grundstrom, Lizotte and JAD.

Yeah but we've been saying this for years and the one consistent thing is that approximately ZERO of those kids will get important develpment minutes, they'll bring them along at 4th line minutes then bemoan their lack of development and go trade for a vet, rinse, repeat, here we are

How many years in a row have we created lineups where it would be easy to plop a kid in even for a cup of coffee/string of games only to see Kopitar get cooked for 22 minutes a game while the kid rots on the bench or 8 minutes

I don't expect that to be any different this year, better start organizing the lines by age

 

[Surf Nutz]

people have gone bat shit insane from this trade.

Seems like they just leave lines one and 2 together and now they have a good L3 that gives Kaliyev no excuse linemates.
Fiala - PLD - Kaliyev

Fiala and PLD might be a very good fit.
Fiala is the alpha play driver from the wing because PLD has been described as they player who does not do that.

 

[The Drew]

Yeah but we've been saying this for years and the one consistent thing is that approximately ZERO of those kids will get important develpment minutes, they'll bring them along at 4th line minutes then bemoan their lack of development and go trade for a vet, rinse, repeat, here we are

How many years in a row have we created lineups where it would be easy to plop a kid in even for a cup of coffee/string of games only to see Kopitar get cooked for 22 minutes a game while the kid rots on the bench or 8 minutes

I don't expect that to be any different this year, better start organizing the lines by age

Well in this case yeah. Those folks will get 4th line minutes encause lines 1-3 are stacked. I’m sure they all will want to be on a roster with Kopitar-Byfield-Kempe
Dubois-Fiala-Kaliev
Danault-Moore-Arvidson
Lizotte-Grundstrom-JAD
The lines aren’t getting 15 minutes each, so if Kopi plays 20 a night because talent isn’t divided equally. With the top 3 lines the 4th line shouldn’t get more than 10-12 minutes a night.

 

[Pucknut50]

I personally think the whole bad attitude thing is overblown. No one wants to be in Winnipeg or Columbus, see Jeff Carter.

I am just mad about losing Vilardi. I really think he was on the verge of exploding. The ONLY player on the Kings beside Fiala who could make any and every situation a legitimate scoring opportunity. Those players are hard to find.

PLD there found one.

 

[Surf Nutz]

Funny thing the post trade sentiment is the worst I have seen since Visnovsky was traded.
And how that turned out.

 

[Herby]

I mean the really shitty thing is going to be losing ANOTHER middle six forward to make room for a dman and goalie, there goes the depth

I think there's a case to be made Winnipeg is a better team today than they were yesterday.

Im not certain that when the dust actually settles that the Kings will be

That's one part not seeing what you've got in guys like fagemo/kaliyev at top 6, one part weird myopic focus on collecting upper-middle-class non-cost-controlled forwards, one part complete neglect of goaltending pipeline, one part "oops i guess they cant ALL be RHDs," one part putting together an offensive/speed/forechecking team with a coach that wants a passive 1-3-1.

I mean what the f*** are we doing here chasing a top-6 C, yes I get the reasons why, but again that points to the lack of long-term vision and development until you run into a wall and have to burn assets

And please stop calling it prospect worship, again, people are conflating trade VALUE with team needs. We could easily have walked into next year with the same forwards, we can NOT walk into next season with Copley, Portillo, Ingham as literally the only goalies in the system, i can't be the only one seeing this

What does it matter where the 25 and 24 year old guys were drafted? Talking about mortgaging the future when you are trading 2 forwards who are similar age and also trading a 23 and 30 year old is a bit hyperbolic, right?

Going into next year with 36 year old Kopitar and 30 year old Danault with as many minutes that they have logged was not going to result in winning a championship. Do I think the Kings are closer? Yes, because the only way they were winning a cup was when they either developed or traded for a better center than Danault. Danault is in a great spot now for the Kings, as a 2C he wasn’t the answer as a 3C he’s elite.

I don’t think they are contenders but they have at least solved the C issue, which was a big one. We can all disagree on Byfield and his long-term potential but they don’t trust him as a C going into a year where they are clearly going for it.

Look at the C’s in the Pacific, you think we are getting through with 36 year old Kopitar, Danault, Lizotte and Kupari?

Now when we see EDM again next season we can match Danault up with McDavid and still have 2 offensively capable centers.

Kopitar and Danault seeing less minutes than the previous 2 years is one aspect of this trade that is overlooked.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Depth (especially on wing) on ELC is still one of our strengths. Fagemo, Chromiac, Laferrrier, Pinelli, Helenius, and Lee can all play NHL games this year. These kids can come in and give you what any cavalcade of recycled 4th liners can give you at 2/3 the price and twice the effort. f*** roll with Portillo and leave the net in Ontario empty for all I care. The Kings now have 3 lines that can match up with almost anyone and the 4th line still has Grundstrom, Lizotte and JAD.

What top 6 talent have we developed that Blake has drafted ? Not that might play. He has traded for Fiala, Moore, Arvidson, Danault, and Dubois. Dean drafted kempe so that doesn’t count and kopitar was 20 years ago when Blake was still playing on the team as a defenseman.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Anybody else see Luc getting really nervous when that reporter was trying to get him to admit to tampering with Brisson.

We are gonna be wide open for an offer sheet if arty blows up this season.

 

[Herby]

Maybe Stephane Fiset is available. He fits in perfectly for this era of the Kings.

Surprised he doesn’t have a role in the organization, TBH.

Maybe he preferred the mountains over the beach.

 

[The Drew]

What top 6 talent have we developed that Blake has drafted ? Not that might play. He has traded for Fiala, Moore, Arvidson, Danault, and Dubois. Dean drafted kempe so that doesn’t count and kopitar was 20 years ago when Blake was still playing on the team as a defenseman.

Who said anything about them being top 6 contributors? The top 9 is stacked with players from Kings drafts, trades and signings. The bottom 3 round out nicely with Lizotte, Grundstand any number of 2-7th rounders

 

[Gurglesons]

I seriously can not believe how many Kings fans are freaking out about losing Gabe Vilardi.

And this idea that the Kings do not have cheap ELC talent for the next few years is just bizarre.

 

[Herby]

Anybody else see Luc getting really nervous when that reporter was trying to get him to admit to tampering with Brisson.

We are gonna be wide open for an offer sheet if arty blows up this season.

No they aren’t. If Arty blows up and has a 35 goal season and Kopitar wants to make $8m a year on his contract the Kings will let him walk before they lose Kaliyev.

Another reason I like this trade, if Kopitar falls off, retires or still wants big money as a 37 year old the Kings atleast have a younger player capable of being the 1C.

Someone else said it earlier, but without this trade the Kings are looking at a Derek Armstrong situation at 1C if Kopitar retires.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Who said anything about them being top 6 contributors? The top 9 is stacked with players from Kings drafts, trades and signings. The bottom 3 round out nicely with Lizotte, Grundstand any number of 2-7th rounders

No the top 9 has zero drafted players by Blake as well. Byfield doesn’t count because he doesn’t score goals

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I’ve said it elsewhere but yeah I’m fully on the PLD bandwagon at this point.

Everyone here needs to stop pretending that Blake ever had any clue or intention to rebuild. This team was always going to fail a rebuild under Blake and Luc. Slowly cultivating a new core and culture around Byfield, Vilardi, and co. was never in the cards because Blake is bad at his job. Period.

At least now they’re full mask off and wheeling and dealing prospects like Pokemon cards.

f*** it. Let them.

I’m all out of f***s to give with the Blake regime. Let him ride this fiery train straight to hell. We’ll get a proper rebuild after it crashes, and we’ll have fun along the way.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I seriously can not believe how many Kings fans are freaking out about losing Gabe Vilardi.

And this idea that the Kings do not have cheap ELC talent for the next few years is just bizarre.

Amen on the overrating of Vilardi.

I like the kid too but he scored 8 goals in 11 games to start the season. Then he potted a pedestrian 15 goals in 52 games to close out the year. All on 18.9% shooting percentage, nearly 4% higher than his career average.

And he still didn’t play a full injury free year.

Vilardi has WAY more unknowns at this point than PLD.

 

[All The Kings Men]

Surprised he doesn’t have a role in the organization, TBH.

Maybe he preferred the mountains over the beach.

He's Danault's agent.

 

[ru4reals]

Wow just found out about the trade not even sure what to think. Kinda sad to see Vilardi as part of the deal. Honestly haven't paid much attention to Dubois since being traded to the Jets is he even worth all that. Not too upset with what we gave up just a bit sad to see a young player like Vilardi go.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Who said anything about them being top 6 contributors? The top 9 is stacked with players from Kings drafts, trades and signings. The bottom 3 round out nicely with Lizotte, Grundstand any number of 2-7th rounders

We were f***ed before this trade and we are still f***ed after it. That’s the point. We are not building towards cup contention we are building towards black hole for 5 years after this season or best case scenario first round exits.

Anaheim is gonna pound our shit in watch within 2 years when their rebuild done correct starts cresting.

Blake said he was gonna rebuild; he nutted his top picks than said f*** it and started trading prospect depth and 1st rounders without a good plan on how to build a team.

He is not the architect Lombardi was and honestly lacks a concise plan let alone the ability to stick to it. He’s a Dog chasing cars that drive by. Not to mention the numb nuts number 2 Luc Robitaille.

 

[Herby]

Wow just found out about the trade not even sure what to think. Kinda sad to see Vilardi as part of the deal. Honestly haven't paid much attention to Dubois since being traded to the Jets is he even worth all that. Not too upset with what we gave up just a bit sad to see a young player like Vilardi go.

Good news though.

PLD is only a year older. So he’s a young player too.

 

[Gurglesons]

Amen on the overrating of Vilardi.

I like the kid too but he scored 8 goals in 11 games to start the season. Then he potted a pedestrian 15 goals in 52 games to close out the year. All on 18.9% shooting percentage, nearly 4% higher than his career average.

And he still didn’t play a full injury free year.

Vilardi has WAY more unknowns at this point than PLD.

Saw this on the Athletic…

“But the real star of this deal is Vilardi. As long as he stays healthy, he looks to have a bright future at both ends of the ice. Already he’s shown some solid defensive play, and he’s starting to blossom offensively. There’s potential for him to become a key part of the next era of Jets hockey, if the rest of the team can be adequately retooled around him.”

Vilardi being the center piece of the next era of Jets history is hilarious.

 

[Herby]

Saw this on the Athletic…

“But the real star of this deal is Vilardi. As long as he stays healthy, he looks to have a bright future at both ends of the ice. Already he’s shown some solid defensive play, and he’s starting to blossom offensively. There’s potential for him to become a key part of the next era of Jets hockey, if the rest of the team can be adequately retooled around him.”

Vilardi being the center piece of the next era of Jets history is hilarious.

I was a bit surprised to see the discussion on the Jets forum has him playing C.

He was just so much better on the wing.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I was a bit surprised to see the discussion on the Jets forum has him playing C.

He was just so much better on the wing.

They are in for a rude awakening. Vilardi is completely invisible at C.