Speculation: Another year of this Bluc **** (The 2024-25 season thread)

[johnjm22]

Kuemper Buyout:

Season	Savings	Cap Hit
2025-26	$1,791,667	$3,458,333
2026-27	$1,041,667	$4,208,333
2027-28	($708,333)	$708,333
2028-29	($708,333)	$708,333

Makes sense to do it this offseason.

 

[Omni Owl]

Totally forgot we still had Moverare. We sure have a plethora of #6-7 D-men. Interesting they chose Portillo over Copley, guess they want to see what he can do...

 

[Schrute farms]

soon we will go to an all 4 dman PK
maybe one day we'll get two goalies on the ice at once

 

[AbsentMojo]

soon we will go to an all 4 dman PK
maybe one day we'll get two goalies on the ice at once

That got me thinking.. but its not legal to have more than one.. Can u imagine, they could lay sideways one on top of the other and block all 4x6

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

OK just when i think they got it right w QB on PP1, I see they moved Clarke to PP2? File this under Make it make sense

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857496830994768091

I like that Hiller has proven he's not afraid to get creative with his lineup decisions...... But I reallllllly think he overdoes/overthinks it sometimes.

Clarke is very good at manning the point on a powerplay- He knows how to get pucks through defenses and either on net or to the front of the net for rebound opportunities. It's honestly one of the biggest strengths to his game IMO. He's also just an exceptional playmaker in general who sees the ice really well. He's not the issue with your struggling powerplay.

TBH, it's probably not a personnel issue to begin with... I definitely understand trying to change things up a bit but you have a powerplay with Clarke, Kempe, Kopitar, Fiala, and Laferriere.... As an NHL coach, you should be able to get at least decent production out of that group. There's plenty of offensive ability among those 5 players.

Maybe instead of jumping to "lets try 5 forwards on the PP" they should take a look at "lets try to get these guys cycling around the ice so we can generate some different looks for different players instead of constantly setting up the same 2-3 shot attempts"??

We don't need 5 forwards on the PP - we need a PP that isn't completely and totally predictable.

 

[Surf Nutz]

Totally forgot we still had Moverare. We sure have a plethora of #6-7 D-men. Interesting they chose Portillo over Copley, guess they want to see what he can do...

He's been better than Cops

 

[shuchukfan]

That got me thinking.. but its not legal to have more than one.. Can u imagine, they could lay sideways one on top of the other and block all 4x6

 

[King'sPawn]

OK just when i think they got it right w QB on PP1, I see they moved Clarke to PP2? File this under Make it make sense

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857496830994768091

My best guess (not defending) is they want a point shot/righty on the second unit.

 

[AbsentMojo]

My best guess (not defending) is they want a point shot/righty on the second unit.

OK understood - but for my money Clarke is the best play maker on the team and Id want him playing the most time on the PP.. not get some chump change 30 seconds

 

[funky]

I think Fiala can be fixed. I'm just not sure if this is the team that can rein him in. Do we have that kind of leadership in the locker room?

we had our dog fixed. Worked real well. It calmed him right down.

 

[lumbergh]

OK just when i think they got it right w QB on PP1, I see they moved Clarke to PP2? File this under Make it make sense

https://x.com/i/web/status/1857496830994768091

Glad to see Turcotte back on the ice and evidently ready for game action and on the power play. Stay safe, buddy.

My guess with this power play alignment is that Hiller thinks Spence isn't doing a good job of generating offense on PP2.

 

[Herby]

Happy to see Portillo get some NHL checks, and hopefully some game action.

Clarke off of the #1 PP is a puzzling decision, but par for the course.

 

[Johnny Utah]

A few good things from this year...

The Kings are the 8th youngest team and finally giving the kids a shot - Turcotte, Thomas, Lee, Clarke, and now Helenius and Portillo.

The Kings are tied with NJ for the league in fights - so they are finally not getting bullied.

The bad...

Danault, Byfield, and Spence look terrible.

Also, the Kings need a scorer to play with Kopitar/Kempe. I was going thru the league leaders in goals and a few guys intrigued me - McCann and Palmeri. Also, bummer the Kings didn't make a run at Jack Roslovic - he's having a great center and can play C/RW.

The D without Doughty has been a mess. Gavrikov and Anderson have been awesome, Clarke is having a solid year, Spence has been terrible and the rotation of Englund/Burroughs/Jones hasn't done much. Englund looks worse than last year, Jones is hurt and barely plays, even though he has the best Corsi of the three. I thought Burroughs was playing the best of the three, but he's out of the line up again.