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

[Raccoon Jesus]

We made the playoffs and took the Oilers to game 7 before ever trading for Fiala, Vilardi, Gavrikov, etc. That team had heart. We're undeniably in a better position and likely still a playoff team all three years if Blake had done nothing but sign free agents from that '21-'22 season on (even if we don't re-sign both of Roy and Durzi). We'd also have Liam Ohgren and Oliver Bonk in the pipeline. It's maddening to look back on how devastating Blake's trades have been.

This is my beef with all of it

every time they've had some energetic success, it's been on the back of kids...then the vets come back and its fall flat time as they bench the kids and overplay the vets.

That team had Durzi and spence playing up to 28 minutes a game...doughty et. al. come back and they have to overplay drew and the corpses of edler or whoever it was at that point

This team was humming along until literally the moment they got back Lewis and Moore and then Doughty, sitting Helenius, Lee, Thomas, Clarke/Spence, frequently benching Turcotte, and overplaying the vets...only this time with a shortened bench that for all intents and purposes is either 9/5 or 10/5 in the third periods.

Like how many times does this have to happen? All he had to do was stay put. How could you not see the inspiration and energy of new blood and go away from that, trade them off to get older and less hungry and worse? It's the most frustrating thing I've experienced as a hockey fan. Thanks for the great work kid, let me put in someone older and worse, they've earned it.

No one but the Kings think Trevor Lewis should be an everyday player, much less getting shifts on the 1st line on a shortened bench in the third period.

No one but the Kings think Joel Edmundson is a top pairing defenseman and Brandt Clarke bench and trade fodder.

No one but the Kings take a dominant line with an 85%! goals for percentage and splits them up to appease the vets.

I'll double check but I'm pretty sure no one but the Kings is playing a 37 year old + F nearly 20 minutes a game and a 35+ year old D near league leading minutes/game. (edit: nope not even close. Doughty is 4th in the league in TOI/GP. Everyone around him is in their EARLY 20s. Parayko, Toews are close-ish but a few minutes behind and they're 31 yo. Letang and Karlsson are the closest and theyre at 29th and 31st in TOI and don't play 'hard' minutes, and then Pietrangelo at 44th. Kopitar is at 51st in TOI amongst forwards, much better this year! Yet the only ones ahead of him even in their 30s are Kucherov, Stone, Brock Nelson all in their early 30s....)

Gonna stop myself there but jesus christ man...often we go yeah it's easy to manage from the forums but so much stuff we have said for the last 5 years has come to roost and it's not genius high-brain hockey IQ stuff, just common sense.

 

[Schmooley]

This is my beef with all of it

every time they've had some energetic success, it's been on the back of kids...then the vets come back and its fall flat time as they bench the kids and overplay the vets.

That team had Durzi and spence playing up to 28 minutes a game...doughty et. al. come back and they have to overplay drew and the corpses of edler or whoever it was at that point

This team was humming along until literally the moment they got back Lewis and Moore and then Doughty, sitting Helenius, Lee, Thomas, Clarke/Spence, frequently benching Turcotte, and overplaying the vets...only this time with a shortened bench that for all intents and purposes is either 9/5 or 10/5 in the third periods.

Like how many times does this have to happen? All he had to do was stay put. How could you not see the inspiration and energy of new blood and go away from that, trade them off to get older and less hungry and worse? It's the most frustrating thing I've experienced as a hockey fan. Thanks for the great work kid, let me put in someone older and worse, they've earned it.

No one but the Kings think Trevor Lewis should be an everyday player, much less getting shifts on the 1st line on a shortened bench in the third period.

No one but the Kings think Joel Edmundson is a top pairing defenseman and Brandt Clarke bench and trade fodder.

No one but the Kings take a dominant line with an 85%! goals for percentage and splits them up to appease the vets.

I'll double check but I'm pretty sure no one but the Kings is playing a 37 year old + F nearly 20 minutes a game and a 35+ year old D near league leading minutes/game. (edit: nope not even close. Doughty is 4th in the league in TOI/GP. Everyone around him is in their EARLY 20s. Parayko, Toews are close-ish but a few minutes behind and they're 31 yo. Letang and Karlsson are the closest and theyre at 29th and 31st in TOI and don't play 'hard' minutes, and then Pietrangelo at 44th. Kopitar is at 51st in TOI amongst forwards, much better this year! Yet the only ones ahead of him even in their 30s are Kucherov, Stone, Brock Nelson all in their early 30s....)

Gonna stop myself there but jesus christ man...often we go yeah it's easy to manage from the forums but so much stuff we have said for the last 5 years has come to roost and it's not genius high-brain hockey IQ stuff, just common sense.

Well said.

 

[tigermask48]

We made the playoffs and took the Oilers to game 7 before ever trading for Fiala, PLD*, Gavrikov, etc. That team had heart. We're undeniably in a better position and likely still a playoff team all three years if Blake had done nothing but sign free agents from that '21-'22 season on (even if we don't re-sign both of Roy and Durzi). We'd also have Liam Ohgren and Oliver Bonk in the pipeline. It's maddening to look back on how devastating Blake's trades have been.

This guy gets it... and he has great taste in jerseys.

 

[FSL KINGS]

This is my beef with all of it

every time they've had some energetic success, it's been on the back of kids...then the vets come back and its fall flat time as they bench the kids and overplay the vets.

That team had Durzi and spence playing up to 28 minutes a game...doughty et. al. come back and they have to overplay drew and the corpses of edler or whoever it was at that point

This team was humming along until literally the moment they got back Lewis and Moore and then Doughty, sitting Helenius, Lee, Thomas, Clarke/Spence, frequently benching Turcotte, and overplaying the vets...only this time with a shortened bench that for all intents and purposes is either 9/5 or 10/5 in the third periods.

Like how many times does this have to happen? All he had to do was stay put. How could you not see the inspiration and energy of new blood and go away from that, trade them off to get older and less hungry and worse? It's the most frustrating thing I've experienced as a hockey fan. Thanks for the great work kid, let me put in someone older and worse, they've earned it.

No one but the Kings think Trevor Lewis should be an everyday player, much less getting shifts on the 1st line on a shortened bench in the third period.

No one but the Kings think Joel Edmundson is a top pairing defenseman and Brandt Clarke bench and trade fodder.

No one but the Kings take a dominant line with an 85%! goals for percentage and splits them up to appease the vets.

I'll double check but I'm pretty sure no one but the Kings is playing a 37 year old + F nearly 20 minutes a game and a 35+ year old D near league leading minutes/game. (edit: nope not even close. Doughty is 4th in the league in TOI/GP. Everyone around him is in their EARLY 20s. Parayko, Toews are close-ish but a few minutes behind and they're 31 yo. Letang and Karlsson are the closest and theyre at 29th and 31st in TOI and don't play 'hard' minutes, and then Pietrangelo at 44th. Kopitar is at 51st in TOI amongst forwards, much better this year! Yet the only ones ahead of him even in their 30s are Kucherov, Stone, Brock Nelson all in their early 30s....)

Gonna stop myself there but jesus christ man...often we go yeah it's easy to manage from the forums but so much stuff we have said for the last 5 years has come to roost and it's not genius high-brain hockey IQ stuff, just common sense.

There's been the 12th forward spot open most the year so it isn't Lewis standing in guys way of getting a forward spot.

Plus, Lewis 1,000 game is going to be the only memorable thing from this season.

The game 7 they made it to had Doughty out injured. Also the PP was good that year. Partly due to Spence & Kaliyev on the second unit.

 

[tigermask48]

How is this real

This feels like one of those "pump up the player through the media" things. From everything I've seen and heard, Carbery is great at communicating with players and keeping them pushing themselves. Never heard a bad thing about the guy and every player that's played for him has nothing but good to say about the guy. He really seems like the perfect coach for a slug like PLD.

 

[AbsentMojo]

This feels like one of those "pump up the player through the media" things. From everything I've seen and heard, Carbery is great at communicating with players and keeping them pushing themselves. Never heard a bad thing about the guy and every player that's played for him has nothing but good to say about the guy. He really seems like the perfect coach for a slug like PLD.

I agree that must be the case. PLD seems to do this passive agressive thing where he tanks when he doesnt like the way he's being handled... getting all the $$ and still doesnt have the pride to play hard even when he's not getting his way. Carbery is a genious to get this guy to keep performing. He's had a great season.

 

[Herby]

Like how many times does this have to happen? All he had to do was stay put.

It's because they made the ridiculous decision to end the rebuild in 2021, everything gets back to that decision. Had he continued the accumulation part for 2-3 more years this team would be loaded. And even if they hadn't found a stud franchise forward in 2022, 2023 or 2024 there would have been enough depth to trade for any one that might have hit the market.

Danault and Arviddson ended the accumulation process (way to prematurely), goodbye to ever acquiring a true 1st line difference maker.

He couldn't stand pat after that because the "Contenders" BS was sold to the fans and ownership, despite the team being nowhere close to it.

He had to get Fiala because he didn't have the offense to win a Stanley Cup. (Goodbye best player he drafted)
He had to get PLD because everyone knew you couldn't win a SC with Danault as the 2C. (Goodbye 2nd best player he drafted)

In the end both deals blew up in his face, but he had to do something, because standing pat was not going to get them over the hump. Blake stupidly probably saw Fiala and PLD as being his Carter and Richards.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

As pertaining to the possible Gavrikov discussion where it sounds like Blake is gonna go max term.

Giving any player an 8 year contract that takes him past 35 is f***ing stupid. The rate at which dudes best years come after age 32 is probably less than 10%.

The Doughty contract and Kopitar contracts as far as Cap vs production are 3-4 years too long.

You go 8 years on the second contract max and 5 years on the 3rd contract as a rule with zero exceptions. It just doesn’t work out in the law of averages.

I agree that must be the case. PLD seems to do this passive agressive thing where he tanks when he doesnt like the way he's being handled... getting all the $$ and still doesnt have the pride to play hard even when he's not getting his way. Carbery is a genious to get this guy to keep performing. He's had a great season.

PLD is 100% a merc. You can handle mercs on your team if you culture is 2012-2014 strong. This Kings team culture couldn’t handle a selfish player. When PLD is performing he is a me first guy. When he is underperforming he is a me first guy.

Kopitar and Doughty were not the leaders on the cup teams they were exceptional players who were firing on all cylinders because Greene Williams Quick Dean scuds and Stoll were the rising tide lifting ALL of the boats!

 

[Trash Panda]

I agree that must be the case. PLD seems to do this passive agressive thing where he tanks when he doesnt like the way he's being handled... getting all the $$ and still doesnt have the pride to play hard even when he's not getting his way. Carbery is a genious to get this guy to keep performing. He's had a great season.

It’s a small miracle he has performed with PLD, because the guy really has played great for the caps this year.

Still, I maintain that you don’t win cups with moody millionaires who need their egos stroked, and gold stars left on their locker room stall. Hard to maintain that treatment when the going gets tough.

 

[kingsholygrail]

As pertaining to the possible Gabriela discussion where it sounds like Blake is gonna go max term.

Giving any player an 8 year contract that takes him past 35 is f***ing stupid. The rate it which dudes beat years are after age 32 is probably less than 10%.

The Doughty contract and Kopitar contracts as far as Cap vs production are 3-4 years too long.

You go 8 years on the second contract max and 5 years on the 3rd contract as a rule with zero exceptions. It just doesn’t work out in the law of averages.


PLD is 100% a merc. You can handle mercs on your team if you culture is 2012-2014 strong. This Kings team culture couldn’t handle a selfish player. When PLD is performing he is a me first guy. When he is underperforming he is a me first guy.

Kopitar and Doughty were not the leaders on the cup teams they were exceptional players who were firing on all cylinders because Greene Williams Quick Dean scuds and Stoll were the rising tide lifting ALL of the boats!

Brown was a big leader as well.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Starting to feel a bit bad for Gabe.

 

[FrozenKing18]

Oh damn, didn’t know Gabe was on the Getzlaf territory

 

[johnjm22]

PLD seems to do this passive agressive thing where he tanks when he doesnt like the way he's being handled... getting all the $$ and still doesnt have the pride to play hard even when he's not getting his way.

I get that vibe as well.

Maybe the trade woke him up now and he's finally matured.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I’ll never get over the Vilardi/Faber trades.

 

[VILARGOD]

I think I'll get over it if we draft another player as exceptional and gifted with stickwork, as entertaining to watch, and as productive as Vilardi, but who know's when that is IF ever

I guess another cup would help too as winning cures all. But I'm still massively salty about it and stop myself from complaining to it regularly lmao

 

[Soapdodger]

It's because they made the ridiculous decision to end the rebuild in 2021, everything gets back to that decision. Had he continued the accumulation part for 2-3 more years this team would be loaded. And even if they hadn't found a stud franchise forward in 2022, 2023 or 2024 there would have been enough depth to trade for any one that might have hit the market.

Danault and Arviddson ended the accumulation process (way to prematurely), goodbye to ever acquiring a true 1st line difference maker.

He couldn't stand pat after that because the "Contenders" BS was sold to the fans and ownership, despite the team being nowhere close to it.

He had to get Fiala because he didn't have the offense to win a Stanley Cup. (Goodbye best player he drafted)
He had to get PLD because everyone knew you couldn't win a SC with Danault as the 2C. (Goodbye 2nd best player he drafted)

In the end both deals blew up in his face, but he had to do something, because standing pat was not going to get them over the hump. Blake stupidly probably saw Fiala and PLD as being his Carter and Richards.

That change of strategy was the root of everything that went wrong.
The question is why was that done? Was it Blakes idea or was there pressure from above or did he change to appease the veterans?
That is really the question. And it should be the basis of how Blakes tenure should be judged.
If he had marching orders to contend ASAP, I think his work is not too bad.
I think most of his moves were okay - just the timing was awful.

As for Carbery, who I really like as a coach, he should get the Jacks Adams alone for turning around PLD.
The Caps ran a really high risk but the rewards (as of right now) are amazing.
They probably had a good strategy to get him going plus good leaders around him.
On every team you have mercenaries, egomaniacs, lazy players ... - you just need the right leaders to be successful in spite of that. Something the Kings are clearly lacking