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

[Johnny Utah]

Greentree, George, and Woolley - picks from this past year, are the future of LA.

Greentree is a big skilled power forward.

Woolley is a tough physical D man who also has silky hands and can fight.

George - we all know about him - amazing leadership qualities and already proved he can play in the pros.

Possibly, our last pick, Reeder could be a steal also.

If they re-drafted Greentree would have gone top 5 especially with his 119 point performance last season. Some of the forwards picked between him and Celebrini barely cracked 80 points in either the WHL or OHL.

 

[AbsentMojo]

I get wanting to trade Kempe instead of handing him a massive contract & watching him decline after a couple of years, but what are we going to watch with Kempe gone?

What to do with Kempe starts w an overall plan by the new GM. To say trade Kempe for X on its own makes no sense without the dang plan.

 

[Johnny Utah]

My summer dream…

Kings sign Marchand, re-sign Jeannot, let Gavrikov go and either sign Ekblad or trade for Bowen Byram or Vince Dunn.

 

[Statto]

Kempe scored a lot this year, but I felt his overall game was significantly worse than the previous 3-4 years.

He is exactly the type of player you trade instead of extending. His value will never be higher than this summer. The Kings need an impact mobile defenseman more than anything, and this is the time to act.

I’m a huge Kempe fan. I’ve backed him throughout his teething troubles as he tried to establish himself. I never doubted he’d make it, even when they put him at C.

However, I agree 100%. They would get a great return and would be able bring in a younger roster player to fit more with the Byfield/Clarke group. I’d prefer picks but that won’t happen so they need to supplement the new core.

It may then provide cap space to make a run at a bigger a free agent. Same applies for Danault. It’s not about his play it’s about making cap space and evolving the roster.

Kopitar won’t get moved but a GM with balls would try with DD also. They are the three guys to try and move. If we retained on DD someone will give us assets back.

 

[deaderhead28]

 

[deaderhead28]

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Elliotte touches on the latest in the LA Kings' GM search (1:00.56)

32 Thoughts: The Podcast

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

www.sportsnet.ca

 

[BringTheReign]

View attachment 1033255

Didn't have him in mind, but this is kind of disappointing. Former agents have pretty good track records as GMs (see: Kent Hughes, Bill Zito, Pierre LaCroix).

 

[Piston]

Ken Holland should be Luc's boss, not the other way around. Hopefully, they are looking at Holland for a more senior role.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Ken Holland could only come here as GM otherwise he would be taking Lucas’s role.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I’m a huge Kempe fan. I’ve backed him throughout his teething troubles as he tried to establish himself. I never doubted he’d make it, even when they put him at C.

However, I agree 100%. They would get a great return and would be able bring in a younger roster player to fit more with the Byfield/Clarke group. I’d prefer picks but that won’t happen so they need to supplement the new core.

It may then provide cap space to make a run at a bigger a free agent. Same applies for Danault. It’s not about his play it’s about making cap space and evolving the roster.

Kopitar won’t get moved but a GM with balls would try with DD also. They are the three guys to try and move. If we retained on DD someone will give us assets back.

First homegrown 40-goal scorer since Luc Robitaille. Hell, even the kind of player you might want to make the next captain....but yah, HFBoards wants to trade him. Pure gold everyday around here....

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I get wanting to trade Kempe instead of handing him a massive contract & watching him decline after a couple of years, but what are we going to watch with Kempe gone?

Our draft lottery % increase?

Won't that be awesome?!

 

[Telos]

Unpopular opinion but Kempe was trash after game 4

I love the dude and he's usually nails but he totally wilted

Agreed. Though, the obvious problem with Kempe that we all know is that while he is an elite player and borderline star, he isn't able to take over a game himself and still needs a high end center to activate, which is what made him his career in the first place when he was no longer utilized as and stopped trying to be a center and worked on his shot and speed. The fact that he is anchored to a wilting Kopitar is his greatest weakness.

It is going to be tough to address having one not quite there top center and two expensive third line centers moving forward.

 

[Telos]

If Ken Holland gets the job then the Kings become the ultimate joke, laughing stock, and bitch of the Oilers for all eternity.

 

[Statto]

First homegrown 40-goal scorer since Luc Robitaille. Hell, even the kind of player you might want to make the next captain....but yah, HFBoards wants to trade him. Pure gold everyday around here....

It’s not about Kempe. He’s about to leave his prime and we are more than 2 pieces away from a deep play-off run. Kopi and DD will be another year older. It’s about using assets wisely and the right trade, with a team ready to contend, might get us a future 40 goal scorer, or player that has a similar impact. It’s better for the franchise to get an assets that fit around the future in Byfield and Clarke than pursue the current sunken cost fallacy.

Sure if this team is one piece away from contention then extend Kempe for 6-8 years but the age of Kopi and Drew just digs the hole deeper.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

It’s not about Kempe. He’s about to leave his prime and we are more than 2 pieces away from a deep play-off run. Kopi and DD will be another year older. It’s about using assets wisely and the right trade, with a team ready to contend, might get us a future 40 goal scorer, or player that has a similar impact. It’s better for the franchise to get an assets that fit around the future in Byfield and Clarke than pursue the current sunken cost fallacy.

Sure if this team is one piece away from contention then extend Kempe for 6-8 years but the age of Kopi and Drew just digs the hole deeper.

In what fantasy world does that ever happen? I mean seriously, can we just start talking as if we live in reality?

This team had a 105 points last year, they aren't trading away their best player. FFS

 

[FSL KINGS]

Our draft lottery % increase?

Won't that be awesome?!

King's can bottom out just fine with Kempe on the roster.

You keep throwing around 105 point season like it was a success. King's got out coached & out played in 6 games. Turned a great season into a complete failure.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Where are we at now?
???, Kopi, Kempe
Fiala, Byfield, Laferriere
Foegele, Danault, Moore
Turcotte, Helenius, ???

Mikey, Doughty
Edmundson, Clarke
Burroughs, Spence
Moverare

Next GM is most likely going to spend to the cap & go for it because that's where Luc is.

Marner seems perfect for Hiller hockey. Not a fan myself.

Doughty & Moore are the biggest underperformers. Both should be moved.
Burroughs isn't an NHL level player.
Edmundson should be on the 3rd pair
Turcotte is cheap I guess

The lazy GM move would be, get best wing you can sign in FA, might be Kuzmenko. Get a 4th line or Lee & grab a 3rd pair D to bump Burroughs to Ontario.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Here are some things I would explore if I was Gm.

Throw money at Marner. If not, go after Marchand or Benn.

Shake up the D, I would go after Ekblad. Let Gavrikov walk.

Re-sign Jeannot.

Sign Cuylle to an offer sheet.

 

[King'sPawn]

I would be shocked if Kempe's traded.

Kings seemingly wanted to keep Blake. They won't move a core player for futures. Even if they did, I doubt Kempe would be the one they move they make. At most, someone like Danault, whose role is diminishing. Maybe Moore.

But even then, I just don't see it this year.

Only way I see Kempe gone is if the team performs so poorly next season where they're at risk of missing the playoffs and the Kings deviate from the status quo like in 2018-19 season.

 

[funky]

We have a perfect bottom 6 and 2 extras if Jeannot is re-signed

3rd Foegele - Danault - Laf. - makes Moore expendable, 4.2 mil gained
4th. Jeannot- Helenius - Turcotte

Xtra. Malott and Lee. Thomas is not trusted so move on. Malott showed well and either can take Turcotte role if he is injured or moves to a second line role.

As for top 6 we know Kopi will retire a King so one more yer of him. He is your second line center with Kempe on his flank. Maybe Turc gets a second chance to grow and prove himself.

Marner makes a ton of sense. He would drag Byfields production way up, and is strong defensively to cover Fiala’ s flaws. All 3 move the puck fast, can skate and have great instincts. Byfields shot improved dramatically and having an over ppg wing replace Laf on the line makes it a true 1st line. This is pp 1 w Kempe at the point w Clarke.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

King's can bottom out just fine with Kempe on the roster.

You keep throwing around 105 point season like it was a success. King's got out coached & out played in 6 games. Turned a great season into a complete failure.

So then what you are really saying is they need a new coach.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Not an Andre Lee fan. He can’t score or fight. If Kings think they can replace Jeannot with Lee, they need their heads examined.

 

[FSL KINGS]

So then what you are really saying is they need a new coach.

Might as well keep Hiller at this point. It'll be fun to see what he comes up with next year. Maybe we can shift Kempe to D full time? Doughty back on PP1? Burroughs over/under 33 games?

 

[Statto]

In what fantasy world does that ever happen? I mean seriously, can we just start talking as if we live in reality?

This team had a 105 points last year, they aren't trading away their best player. FFS

Depends on the GM and if they think 1 or 2 moves can take them to the next step. The evidence strongly suggest they won’t.

Kopitar, Doughty, Danault and Edmundson (who I think exceeded expectations) area year older. Doughty struggled after injury and he’s really going to struggle to get range back in that ankle because that work 100% has to be done as early as possible. Getting back for the international stuff, whilst understandable, wasn’t the best idea.

The fact Kempe is arguably our best player actually highlights the issue and as I say, I’ve always been a fan. Despite Luc’s delusion, he’s not a superstar (or whatever his exact words were).. Nobody is close to being an Elite D on the roster and Byfield only surpasses Kopitar at this point because Kopi has dropped off to 2C level (that’s impressive at his age). QB has lots of growth ahead still but between the two next year it’s probably not a net gain.

So realistically where is the improvement coming from? I’m just advocating a step back and retool. They can move Kempe and still make the playoffs if they get a young ger guy with upside back. The right deal is how you make a jump, you have to gamble with a big swing that makes sense in the longer term also.

 

[Statto]

I would be shocked if Kempe's traded.

Kings seemingly wanted to keep Blake. They won't move a core player for futures. Even if they did, I doubt Kempe would be the one they move they make. At most, someone like Danault, whose role is diminishing. Maybe Moore.

But even then, I just don't see it this year.

Only way I see Kempe gone is if the team performs so poorly next season where they're at risk of missing the playoffs and the Kings deviate from the status quo like in 2018-19 season.

I don’t think they will trade him, but if the right deal is there (not picks) I would.