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

[Peter James Bond III]

Blake's biggest issue appears to be a lack of a scouting background. He can't evaluate players skill levels. Doesn't understand how they will fit or how much he should pay on a contract. Next GM should have some scouting experience.

Just look at the 22 draft. The following 3 should have had growth and putting up big numbers: Hughes, Kenny Connors and Jared Wright.
Hughes was small and not that talented. Has not progressed or added any muscle - unless he has in the last few months. 0 goals in 12 games. His Sr year, too. Connors. 0 goals in 14. (12 assists) if you can’t score more goals than Carter George, in your 3rd yr of NCAA, you don’t deserve a contact.

Wright, 4 goals, 1 assist, 14 games. 2024 draftee James Reeder outscoring him there as a Freshman
4 G, 5 A.

The Kings need to contact all 3 of their agents and tell them their client is not getting an NHL contract , unless they can score 10 goals. Advise your client to study the 54 goal Zach Hyman video, in which all 54 goals are shown…apx 40 of them 8 feet or closer to the goal. How a perennial 20-25 goal scorer netted 54 goals. Oh, make all the Kings and Reign players study it.

The Kings need to start drafting talent that can score. They don’t need a bunch of JADS that can’t score goals.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

The epitome of the 2024-25 Los Angeles Kings:

Byfield and Fogele on a clean, 2 on 0 breakaway.
They manage to barely get a weak shot off.

 

[tbrown33]

The Kings need to start drafting talent that can score. They don’t need a bunch of JADS that can’t score goals.

They did that one time they drafted Gabe Vilardi.

 

[MonkeysUncle]

Mr. Anschutz it's been 8 years since you had Luc and Rob take over and we are in worse shape now, than just 3 years ago. How many kick at the can do you allow? Do you allow this much failure in your other businesses, I don't think so, if you did you'd be broke.

 

[Johnny Utah]

They did that one time they drafted Gabe Vilardi.

Greentree is a stud. They better not trade him. He's averaging 1.6 points per game.

 

[FSL KINGS]

They did that one time they drafted Gabe Vilardi.

Necas, Suzuki

Blake gambled on the injured kid who continued to have injury issues throughout his time with the King's.

Turcotte, gambled on the injured kid.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Necas, Suzuki

Blake gambled on the injured kid who continued to have injury issues throughout his time with the King's.

Turcotte, gambled on the injured kid.

Yannetti on the 2019 draft: “Bjornfot and one other F were on our tier, but we knew Bjornfot would go before our #32 pick, so we took him”
I wonder if that was Conner McMichael.
Probably. Oh well.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Greentree is a stud. They better not trade him. He's averaging 1.6 points per game.

Agree. And he sees the ice well and makes plays. A new report says he’s improved his acceleration.

Ziemmer 19 goals in 17 games.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

Agree. And he sees the ice well and makes plays. A new report says he’s improved his acceleration.

Ziemmer 19 goals in 17 games.

Yet Borya Valis has 33pts in 22gp on that same team as a 20 yr and is undrafted

Born in LA too

 

[Johnny Utah]

I think Danault gets moved - something is off with him.

Also, he fired his agent and hired Alan Walsh. Russell Morgan was speculating something also.

Danault and Turcotte for Norris?

 

[Herby]

Blake's biggest issue appears to be a lack of a scouting background. He can't evaluate players skill levels. Doesn't understand how they will fit or how much he should pay on a contract. Next GM should have some scouting experience.

I feel weird defending Blake, but the struggles with evaluating top end talent pre-dates his arrival as GM. People have blamed everything from poor development, cup veterans blocking players from ascending and even bad luck, but the results and some of the players they took with high picks are tough to ignore.

Ziemmer 19 goals in 17 games.

I know people defended the move at the time, but this is another one of these moves that just isn't happening with other franchises. The Kings have a 20 year old kid scoring at better than a goal-per-game in major junior when their top scorers at the AHL level are a bunch of never-will-be guys like Gawdin, Fagemo and Ward. If someone had 40 goals in their age 18 season, it seems pretty ridiculous that the same player is in that same league at 20.

 

[King'sPawn]

Yet Borya Valis has 33pts in 22gp on that same team as a 20 yr and is undrafted

Born in LA too

Valis had 25 points in 57 games as an 18 year-old, 6-foot-2 forward. I'm wondering if the Kings invite him to dev camp next offseason.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Wow, just think of it. If we drafted Stutzle, Blake wouldn't have felt the need to trade for a C in PLD.

We could have had Stutzle AND Vilardi right now.

Going to unalive myself

In some future, we have Stutzle, Vilardi, Faber, and Clarke, PLUS whatever we got in a Doughty trade on top.

 

[FSL KINGS]

King's are 1 point from dropping out of the wildcard spot currently. Team is trending down hard. They probably need a 1C, 1G & new coach to compete.

Gavrikov is 29, UFA, is Blake desperate enough to throw 8 AAV at him? How long? 6-8 years?

If this team continues to trend down,

Danault 32 in February signed two more years, no point in keeping him through a rebuild.

Kopi, 37 one more year. Got to ask if he wants to chase a cup, cause it isn't happening here.

Kempe 28, one more year. Really impressed with how his game has grown. What's the point of keeping him through a rebuild? He'll be slowing down by the time it turns around.

Moore, 30 in March. Should have traded when he hit 30 goals. Include in trade for a high AAV player that's cheap asset wise.

Fiala, 28, NMC, if his wife likes LA, guess we're keeping him.

Doughty 35 in Dec, signed 2 more years. No point in keeping him.

Either Blake finds a way fast to fix goal & the offense (D may be better when healthy), or the rebuild is going to be fast approaching & brutal.

 

[Sol]

This team deserves everything it gets. I have zero loyalty to any player and neither of you guys. Fiala has been ass but it’s nice to see at least a few of the Byfield sympathizers finally come around to the fact there isn’t anything special there

 

[SettlementRichie10]

King's are 1 point from dropping out of the wildcard spot currently. Team is trending down hard. They probably need a 1C, 1G & new coach to compete.

Gavrikov is 29, UFA, is Blake desperate enough to throw 8 AAV at him? How long? 6-8 years?

If this team continues to trend down,

Danault 32 in February signed two more years, no point in keeping him through a rebuild.

Kopi, 37 one more year. Got to ask if he wants to chase a cup, cause it isn't happening here.

Kempe 28, one more year. Really impressed with how his game has grown. What's the point of keeping him through a rebuild? He'll be slowing down by the time it turns around.

Moore, 30 in March. Should have traded when he hit 30 goals. Include in trade for a high AAV player that's cheap asset wise.

Fiala, 28, NMC, if his wife likes LA, guess we're keeping him.

Doughty 35 in Dec, signed 2 more years. No point in keeping him.

Either Blake finds a way fast to fix goal & the offense (D may be better when healthy), or the rebuild is going to be fast approaching & brutal.

As other posters have pointed out, the franchise is making a lot of money right now so there is very little motivation to change.

Is anyone above Robitaille even paying attention to actual results? Probably not.

This is one of the reasons Lombardi made so many enemies when he came here. The culture of the LA Kings is eternal complacency and mediocrity. The Kings you see right now are the real LA Kings, replete with two GED ex-players who never won a damn thing for the franchise.