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

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Fiala is a net negative player. In fact, he has the worst +/- on the team.
He is prone to bad penalty and even worse blunders.
Compare him to Kempe , who is a complete player and team player and also leads the team in +/-
The chaos makes the games fun! Hiller probably has nightmares about Fiala.

Saw something about Hawks getting calls on S. Jones. Anyone else here think that's Blake?
 
Blah blah blah, +/-, blah blah blah....zzzzzzzz.

Other high profile forwards across the league with questionable +/-:

David Pastrak (-8)
Sidney Crosby (-17)
William Nylander (-4)
Artemi Panarin (-6)
Clayton Keller (-6)
Sebastian Aho (-4)
Dylan Larkin (-6)
Matthew Tkachuk (-8)
Connor Bedar (-19)
Rickard Rakell (-12)

Move on fellas, this isn't the hot take you think it is.
Lol

Facts are facts. Choose to be an ostrich and ignore them all you want.
There are only a handful of other - players on this team and look who they are rookies and plugs.
The Kings play a team game. They are the top defensive team in the league.

One of these "star" players is not like the others.
 

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Plus/Minus is an almost entirely useless stat when it stands on its own, but it is a very good stat when used as a comparative tool.

It shows that comparatively to the other highly paid players on the roster, Fiala is dog water at preventing even strength goals against, and is even a detriment to the teams chances of preventing goals against. It’s irrefutable.
 
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Plus/Minus is an almost entirely useless stat when it stands on its own, but it is a very good stat when used as a comparative tool.

It shows that comparatively to the other highly paid players on the roster, Fiala is dog water at preventing even strength goals against, and is even a detriment to the teams chances of preventing goals against. It’s irrefutable.
It's very clear that the front office did not do their homework about the player they were given. They fell in love with the sizzle and didn't look at the rest of the plate
 
It's very clear that the front office did not do their homework about the player they were given. They fell in love with the sizzle and didn't look at the rest of the plate
No, but it is very clear you have no idea what you are talking about. Fiala’s (+/-) stats are pretty consistent with where they are always at….the issue this year is the scoring has dried up a bit. If his scoring was on pace as previous years, (+/-) would be status quo.
 
No, but it is very clear you have no idea what you are talking about. Fiala’s (+/-) stats are pretty consistent with where they are always at….the issue this year is the scoring has dried up a bit. If his scoring was on pace as previous years, (+/-) would be status quo.
So...you just confirmed the point that you quoted that the front office fell in love with the sizzle and ignored the rest of his game.
Lol
 
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It's very clear that the front office did not do their homework about the player they were given. They fell in love with the sizzle and didn't look at the rest of the plate
Disagree that they fell in love with Fiala. Blake has been trying to get a forward for a while. Pacioretty, Buchnevich, Laine, PLD (CBJ). Might be missing some. They all fell through for one reason or another. When Fiala became available Blake had a D that didn't sign a contract & had more value than Kupari. He just jumped at the first forward he could get.

Not overly worried about this year. More focused on a year or two from now. Byfield & Fiala might be a good match in the future. King's will need another center brought in that may also work better for Fiala than Danault.
 
The point is ….WHY DO YOU GIVE A SHIT? The team is winning, how about YOU get your head out of the sand and check the standings?
Some of us see the forest for the trees, and could give a shit less about yet another 2nd/3rd place division finish, and losing to the oilers in the exact same fashion as they previously have for the last 3 years.

Winning happens in the spring time, the rest is window dressing.
 
Maybe they consulted YOU before the trade??

View attachment 962999

lol, you just can't make this shit up!
Unlike you I can admit I was wrong about something.
I also had more faith in our front office back then.

But it's also very telling that instead of looking for any stats to support whatever point you are trying to make that your immediate inclination is to search someone's post history rather than construct any kind of meaningful debate beyond "nuh-uh"
 
Some of us see the forest for the trees, and could give a shit less about yet another 2nd/3rd place division finish, and losing to the oilers in the exact same fashion as they previously have for the last 3 years.

Winning happens in the spring time, the rest is window dressing.
Yes - what happened to the DL/DS mentality where the regular season was almost held in contempt? That ethos is long gone within the current org.
 
Unlike you I can admit I was wrong about something.
I also had more faith in our front office back then.

But it's also very telling that instead of looking for any stats to support whatever point you are trying to make that your immediate inclination is to search someone's post history rather than construct any kind of meaningful debate beyond "nuh-uh"
It's cool bruh, you obvioulsly didn't do your 'homework' either...it happens.
 
But it's also very telling that instead of looking for any stats to support whatever point you are trying to make that your immediate inclination is to search someone's post history rather than construct any kind of meaningful debate beyond "nuh-uh"
I provided you poor (+/-) stats across the league to prove this point you are trying to make isn't what you think it is -- you ignored that post, shocking.
 
It would be interesting to see Fiala's brainwaves as compared to say someone like Kopi while playing...His mind is dominated by instinct pushing thought and structure far into the background. What kind of linemates would work with that? You would have to find guys that adapt to his creativity vs play w structure. But then who is going to be defensively responsible on his line? Thats why I think there has never been a line combo containing Fiala that seems like it should stick. Fiala might fit well on a less structured team like the Avs.
 
I provided you poor (+/-) stats across the league to prove this point you are trying to make isn't what you think it is -- you ignored that post, shocking.
Ok et's dissect that.

David Pastrak (-8) - Pasta has been called out his captain for shit play

Sidney Crosby (-17)-
Sid is on a team that is about to go full rebuild and the GM has announced that everyone is avaiabke but him


William Nylander (-4) - not the worst on his team and he isn't the star highest paid forward. Matthews is , then


Artemi Panarin (-6)- the rangers are a tire fire this year and are looking to clean house


Clayton Keller (-6)- lol. Picking someone from a rebuilding team that hasn't made the playoffs in years and is not in compete mode is a giant stretch. He +/- is better than Fiala'sand he is far from the worst on his team


Sebastian Aho (-4) this is the one example that might actually be applicable and his +/- is half of Fiala's and he's second worst on the team.

Dylan Larkin (-6) see Keller. Also not the worst +/- on his team

Matthew Tkachuk (-8)-not the worst on his team and not even close to the worst. There is a -20 on his team


Connor Bedar (-19) - see Keller. Also not the worst +/- on the team

Rickard Rakell (-12)- In what world is Rakell a star player? Or the highest paid forward? Lol
 
Ok et's dissect that.

David Pastrak (-8) - Pasta has been called out his captain for shit play

Sidney Crosby (-17)-
Sid is on a team that is about to go full rebuild and the GM has announced that everyone is avaiabke but him


William Nylander (-4) - not the worst on his team and he isn't the star highest paid forward. Matthews is , then


Artemi Panarin (-6)- the rangers are a tire fire this year and are looking to clean house


Clayton Keller (-6)- lol. Picking someone from a rebuilding team that hasn't made the playoffs in years and is not in compete mode is a giant stretch. He +/- is better than Fiala'sand he is far from the worst on his team


Sebastian Aho (-4) this is the one example that might actually be applicable and his +/- is half of Fiala's and he's second worst on the team.

Dylan Larkin (-6) see Keller. Also not the worst +/- on his team

Matthew Tkachuk (-8)-not the worst on his team and not even close to the worst. There is a -20 on his team


Connor Bedar (-19) - see Keller. Also not the worst +/- on the team

Rickard Rakell (-12)- In what world is Rakell a star player? Or the highest paid forward? Lol

Also worth mentioning that a ton of these guys are #1 options on their team, top line forwards with the hardest matchups, as opposed to the softest minutes in the NHL and double PP deployment, and most of them aer STILL far better than Fiala ESPECIALLY relative to team
 
Plus/Minus is an almost entirely useless stat when it stands on its own, but it is a very good stat when used as a comparative tool.

It shows that comparatively to the other highly paid players on the roster, Fiala is dog water at preventing even strength goals against, and is even a detriment to the teams chances of preventing goals against. It’s irrefutable.

Nope, doesn't even shows that, the only thing it shows is that he is on the ice when more goals are scored against than for.

Says nothing about his involvement, he could be coming off of serving a two minute men penalty that he had nothing to do with, gets out of the box, goal is scored, boom, minus.

Tells you absolutely f***ing nothing about players or their play.
 
Nope, doesn't even shows that, the only thing it shows is that he is on the ice when more goals are scored against than for.

Says nothing about his involvement, he could be coming off of serving a two minute men penalty that he had nothing to do with, gets out of the box, goal is scored, boom, minus.

Tells you absolutely f***ing nothing about players or their play.
Sure there are exceptions, like you listed.
But when someone is the worst in their team on the most defensive team in the league, its a very telling sign.

Then bring up the eye test. We have all seen him make bonehead. plays

Also note his +/-doesn't include goals scored on his bad penalties
 
Rickard Rakell (-12)- In what world is Rakell a star player? Or the highest paid forward? Lol
Never used the word 'star', I said high-profile. If 39 points in 47 games doesn't do that for you, ok. He would be the 3rd highest scorer on the Kings right now.
 
Lol

Facts are facts. Choose to be an ostrich and ignore them all you want.
There are only a handful of other - players on this team and look who they are rookies and plugs.
The Kings play a team game. They are the top defensive team in the league.

One of these "star" players is not like the others.
2nd on the team in goals.
 
A goal is a goal. Do I care if it's on the powerplay or at even strength?

Yes, because of the opportunity cost.

Maybe someone is scoring the same or less at even strength but isn’t bleeding goals and maybe some of our other offensive players can take better advantage of his pillow soft minutes

And that goes double for the PP time…you can point to the bad PP and say how bad wold it be without him but keep in mind he’s tanking BOTH UNITS
 
Lol

Facts are facts. Choose to be an ostrich and ignore them all you want.
There are only a handful of other - players on this team and look who they are rookies and plugs.
The Kings play a team game. They are the top defensive team in the league.

One of these "star" players is not like the others.
+/- is such a unique stat, and frankly any use of the stat without context has me question the knowledge or motives of the person behind it.

Like when it was declared Brandt Clarke had a bad game defensively anytime he had a minus game in juniors.

Even if you want to forgive the disparity of plus/minus within a team, Fiala's still been the highest paid player and he's producing at nearly half the pace of the top scorers, despite favorable deployments.

To be fair, Thursday was one of Fiala's best games in a while, as his play with the puck was more disciplined.

Not to get into the weeds of every questionable player brought up:
- Bedard leads his team in scoring. And his team's highest +/- is plus-0
- Sebastian Aho is 7 points behind team lead in scoring. But he's also used as a defensive forward; while PK can't contribute to minus, he's still multidimensional.
- Dylan Larkin. 8 points behind team lead. His minus-6 is closer to the middle, and team lead is plus-8. Also used on the PK/shutdown
- Tkachuck. 11 points behind team lead in scoring. If he was on the Kings, his 40 points would be 1 behind Kempe and Kopitar. He also draws about as many penalties as he takes.
- Panarin leads his team in scoring. And his minus-6 isn't bad on the team considering the best of players still on the team is plus-6.

Etc.

WIth Fiala, the composition of his metrics aren't favorable. The argument can be made this year especially that the Kings are winning in spite of him more than because of him. At least in previous seasons in LA, he either led the team in scoring or was at least in a close contest.

Nope, doesn't even shows that, the only thing it shows is that he is on the ice when more goals are scored against than for.

Says nothing about his involvement, he could be coming off of serving a two minute men penalty that he had nothing to do with, gets out of the box, goal is scored, boom, minus.

Tells you absolutely f***ing nothing about players or their play.
Which is why the stat is very contextual. It also shouldn't be used in single game sample sizes.

Players get minuses when they come out of the box, sure. Players also get it coming off the bench. But it usually doesn't happen 10 or 20 more times over the season compared to your even strength production.

Fiala has 12 even strength points and is a minus-9. He was on the ice for a shorthanded goal against. Which means at even strength, he has literally been on the ice for 20 goals against. The Kings have had a total of 68 even strength goals against (60 5-on5, 4 4-on4, and 4 3-on-3).

So what does it say when one player is on the ice for nearly 1/3 (20 out of 68) even strength goals against? Let's also add in, again, he gets among the highest of offensive zone faceoffs compared to any other forward on the team?
 
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