Around the League '16-'17 Other Teams' Free Agent Frenzy

[Bandit]

Your expectations for this year were for the #1 overall pick in the draft, amirite?

I think you might be confusing me with someone else...

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Given how the season may end on a whimper, landing the #1 overall pick, which would net you a future #1 defenseman, would have been the best possible outcome for a team that was in desperate need for a retooling.

But Kopitar, Doughty, Quick and Brown doing the heavy lifting to carry this team into a playoff spot while Blake accumulated a number of free agent prospects is still a plus.

Failure to qualify for the playoffs and ending up with a pick in the 14th-16th range wouldn't necessarily be considered a step in the right direction, unless you turn that pick into a player who can make an impact in the not-so-distant future. Which is essentially what happened with a prospect like Barzal, who was taken at #16 in 2015, and made an immediate impact on his team in 2017-18.

That's the type of turnaround the Kings need in drafting and bringing up young players into the lineup. The last Kings prospect to make that quick of a transition from being drafted and making the jump to the NHL was Tanner Pearson, who was drafted in 2012 and played an important role in 2014, though he didn't produce quite at the level of a Mathew Barzal.

 

[King'sPawn]

Given how the season may end on a whimper, landing the #1 overall pick, which would net you a future #1 defenseman, would have been the best possible outcome for a team that was in desperate need for a retooling.

But Kopitar, Doughty, Quick and Brown doing the heavy lifting to carry this team into a playoff spot while Blake accumulated a number of free agent prospects is still a plus.

Failure to qualify for the playoffs and ending up with a pick in the 14th-16th range wouldn't necessarily be considered a step in the right direction, unless you turn that pick into a player who can make an impact in the not-so-distant future. Which is essentially what happened with a prospect like Barzal, who was taken at #16 in 2015, and made an immediate impact on his team in 2017-18.

That's the type of turnaround the Kings need in drafting and bringing up young players into the lineup. The last Kings prospect to make that quick of a transition from being drafted and making the jump to the NHL was Tanner Pearson, who was drafted in 2012 and played an important role in 2014, though he didn't produce quite at the level of a Mathew Barzal.

If the Kings continue to stay the course, they may not need a fast grower like Pearson to show up within two years. Players like Iafallo, Amadio, Vilardi, should hopefully show a bit of growth within a few years. Toffoli and Pearson SHOULD grow as well.

If the Kings bank on a mid-first making a near immediate impact, then they are in trouble.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

All that matters is the Sedin's retired as Canucks and played their entire career in Vancouver. Really? Why?

Which, by default, means they didn’t hoist the a Cup.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

 

[KINGS17]

Which, by default, means they didn’t hoist the a Cup.

Pretty much means the Canucks have been no where near contending for the last five seasons, but the Sedin boys are still there.

 

[yankeeking]

Pearson was an over age player when we draft him at 30 , so that helped his timeline, last year we drafted early age guys and villardi was one of the earliest so lets hope he comes on this year and is mentally ready, looks to be good physically and the others mention should be good with added exposure, playing important games down to the wire should help also

 

[johnjm22]

Boston and Nashville are both contenders, and they built their teams without tanking.

 

[KINGS17]

Boston and Nashville are both contenders, and they built their teams without tanking.

True, but in Boston's case they did make the following deals for futures:

Traded Dougie Hamilton for 2015 1st round pick, 2015 2nd round pick, 2015 2nd round pick

Traded Milan Lucic for Martin Jones, Colin Miller, 2015 1st round pick

Traded Martin Jones for Sean Kuraly, 2016 1st round pick

Somewhere in there are the trades similar to the ones the Kings should make for Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin, and Alec Martinez

Let's also see what happens come this July 1.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[johnjm22]

True, but in Boston's case they did make the following deals for futures:

Traded Dougie Hamilton for 2015 1st round pick, 2015 2nd round pick, 2015 2nd round pick

Traded Milan Lucic for Martin Jones, Colin Miller, 2015 1st round pick

Traded Martin Jones for Sean Kuraly, 2016 1st round pick

Somewhere in there are the trades similar to the ones the Kings should make for Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin, and Alec Martinez

Let's also see what happens come this July 1.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Yes, they made some smart moves. You have to know when you have guys that are over valued. Trading Toffoli for example would be similar to trading Dougie Hamilton.

Bruins also held on to Bergeron, Krejci, Chara, Marchand, Rask. They even have some bad contracts like Backes, Beleskey, Seidenberg

Most importantly they've nailed some draft picks. Donato, Pastrnak, Heinen, Mcavoy, DeBrusk all look good. And they've still got more coming.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Yes, they made some smart moves. You have to know when you have guys that are over valued. Trading Toffoli for example would be similar to trading Dougie Hamilton.

Bruins also held on to Bergeron, Krejci, Chara, Marchand, Rask. They even have some bad contracts like Backes, Beleskey, Seidenberg

Most importantly they've nailed some draft picks. Donato, Pastrnak, Heinen, Mcavoy, DeBrusk all look good. And they've still got more coming.

You both reiterated what many have said and why so many of us lamented so many of Lombardi's decisions post-2014.

The Bruins retooled. When did the Kings do that until Blake took over? Lombardi was on the receiving end of a series of bad decisions, which is why the team has struggled to bring up players from within the system over the years and why so many outcasts have had to come in and fill holes that otherwise couldn't be filled internally.

Boston benefited from having young players ready to step in. The Kings haven't had that luxury in a while, but it is starting to come together. Slowly.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

You both reiterated what many have said and why so many of us lamented so many of Lombardi's decisions post-2014.

The Bruins retooled. When did the Kings do that until Blake took over? Lombardi was on the receiving end of a series of bad decisions, which is why the team has struggled to bring up players from within the system over the years and why so many outcasts have had to come in and fill holes that otherwise couldn't be filled internally.

Boston benefited from having young players ready to step in. The Kings haven't had that luxury in a while, but it is starting to come together. Slowly.

The Bruins won the Cup in 2011. They didn't start making those moves until 2016.

5 years since our last cup would put us until 2019.

 

[funky]

Tired of people wanting to rebuild .

Core - Kopitar, Doughty, Quick and Carter. All still top players w playoff pedigrees. All these players on average lived up to and even exceeded expectations. If Carter was not hurt we would have already locked down a playoff spot.

Kopitar is having his best ever season and in the running for the Hart and Selke. Doughty purchased a double lot just off the ocean and is building a new house. Blake has set aside money to re-sign him and said it won't be an issue and I truly believe he will be back. Quick has been up-and-down this season but you have to remember he missed most of the season last year and it usually takes a player one full season to recover after a major injury. Carter is the oldest of the crew but also one of the best condition athletes I have ever seen. He has size, speed, and all of the skill in the world. Even if he starts to regress down the middle he would still be our top winger for years to come. His bottomed is probably Toffoli's high-end.

Expensive Positive Support - Brown, Phaneuf - neither can get moved due to contract, but at this point I love the resurgence and leadership they bring. I believe these two exceeded expectations.

Pricey neutral support- Muzzin, Toffoli, Pearson and Martinez. This grouping I have a lot of trouble with. I think everyone of these guys played below expectations this year. Toffoli and Pearson are young enough to snap out of it and sure show their reliance on Carter but the two Defence guys have not been good.

With the emergence of Forbert defensively it would make sense that Muzzin should be the one to be treated but I have seen Martinez regress for the last few years and can be a tire fire in our own end. Save the $4 million, trade them off or assets, and let Ladue take his spot on the power play and the third pairing as a puck mover. We need to break him in for good and he's not too much worse than Martinez in is on end and a lot younger and cheaper.

Up and coming - Kempe, Iafallo, Amadio, and even Forbort have taken great leaps this year and should only be better next year. And even if they didn't light the world on fire they should be young, cheap, controllable players that help with the salary cap. I did not include the rookies like the Vilardi , Cal P, etc as they have not proven anything yet but our pipeline is looking way better than it did the last few years.

Bottom 6 - Blake has done a wonderful job to strengthen her bottom six. It has gotten cheaper, faster, younger, and more skilled. Next year having an older Kempe, Amadio, and possible Vilardi or Iafallo in the bottom six brings up both the speed and skill. All will be cheap.

We also have to believe the cap will rise 3 to 5,000,000 next year and will rise again before Doughtys contract kicks in. Should a contract like Martinez and make a few quick tweaks this team is as strong as any other competing for the cup. Every 20 team has a flaw and for some reason this year we as a Fanbase seem to jump on every little crack or flaw our players have presented. I just hope people can see that there is hope for the future, Blake has done a wonderful job in adding youth speed and skill to the lineup and that we don't need to rebuild by gutting this team. For every team like Nashville there are teams like Edmonton and Buffalo that fail year to year.

The Kings are just like a resto mod vehicle where you add a few new shiny pieces to an old car and go take every trophy at the car show

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Bruins won the Cup in 2011. They didn't start making those moves until 2016.

5 years since our last cup would put us until 2019.

And the point still remains that their team got better with an influx of youth, which the Kings got away from.

Look at this cast of players who are under 22 who the Bruins have in their lineup...

David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, and their most recent addition making an immediate impact, Ryan Donato.

The Kings have two players in that age group in the lineup, Adrian Kempe and Michael Amadio.

What argument or suggestion are you trying to make here? That Lombardi should have been given a longer leash to make further mistakes?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

And the point still remains that their team got better with an influx of youth, which the Kings got away from.

Look at this cast of players who are under 22 who the Bruins have in their lineup...

David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, and their most recent addition making an immediate impact, Ryan Donato.

The Kings have two players in that age group in the lineup, Adrian Kempe and Michael Amadio.

What argument or suggestion are you trying to make here? That Lombardi should have been given a longer leash to make further mistakes?

I'm not disagreeing with you at all, just providing a time framework. This version of the bruins that had youth ready to step in is more akin to the next two years of the Kings than this year. I've been on board with retooling over rebuilding all along.

But also that their team got better with an influx of youth after meeting similar failures as we did--getting away from what made them successful, making some desperation moves, moving on to another GM. I think there are more parallels here than folks want to admit. It's why they have Backes, had to dump Beleksey, etc. They had some rough years in between as well.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Oh no doubt they did, they also had to fire their GM and head coach that brought a Cup to the team and took them to the SCF in 2013.

We just never saw this team take that bold approach that Lombardi used to make when he'd move a Demitra or Visnovsky and bring in younger players who could provide a long term impact. Not that I expected Blake to make such a move given what he had to work with, but after building a Cup winner and citing the New England Patriots as a model of success (and a team that would make bold moves), Lombardi skewed towards making patchwork additions who would be gone in mere months, which hurt the long term stability of this team.

He put the team back into that black hole that he dreaded being in, and the team was left without any quality draft selections or prospects who could contribute.

It's why I bring up the fact that this team hasn't had a prospect make an impact within two years of his draft class since Tanner Pearson. I think Vilardi will end that trend, but we'll see when his time comes. He's too good to be sent back to juniors.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Come on Caps. Get your shit together.

 

[kingsboy11]

Just imagine if the Bruins took Barzal and Connor with 2 of those 3 picks in 2015

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Just imagine if the Bruins took Barzal and Connor with 2 of those 3 picks in 2015

Akin to the Kings in 2003 with three first rounders and a 2nd in the deepest draft in NHL history, and one out of those four picks becomes a formidable player.

 

[Winger23]

Come on Caps. Get your **** together.

Need more posts like this. 3 to 1 caps! And damn what a move

 

[Moses Doughty]

Akin to the Kings in 2003 with three first rounders and a 2nd in the deepest draft in NHL history, and one out of those four picks becomes a formidable player.

Would likely mean no Drew but this team could've had 3 of Loui/Bergeron/Weber...and Perry (hurts my soul to even think of it) instead

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Blues Caps is a stressful watch right now, I can't do 6 hours of Kings-affecting hockey

 

[kingsfan28]

Akin to the Kings in 2003 with three first rounders and a 2nd in the deepest draft in NHL history, and one out of those four picks becomes a formidable player.

They looked so lost at the draft table after they took Brown. The thought of moving up to get a better pick never even crossed Taylors mind.

 

[Martyros]

well we ended up with Carter and Richards from that draft, so it's all a wash

 

[Ollie Weeks]

To the above, Muzzin has quietly had himself a career best season, or close to it. He isn’t deserving of blame for the secondary guys coming up short.