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

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Gotta say looking at the Draisaitl deal again it's a great 2nd contract.

Possibly better than the one the Kings signed with Kopitar on his 2nd deal. Two very similar players in terms of size and ability.
 
KINGS17 said:
Wow, you're right. So, I guess they should just stop trying and revert to the old ways of just hoping to make the playoffs, because once there anything can happen.

Or, they can take a look at the model which actually worked once for them and use that approach.
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I'm not saying don't try. I'm saying I don't think they're going to voluntarily rebuild, at least while they have Doughty. Should he go, then at that point anyone with value should also be gone one way or another.

You're saying they're unlikely to make the WCF anytime soon thanks to at least the Oilers, if not 9 other teams as well. Should they not bother trying when they're on the ice, because all hope is lost for the next 8 years before they even start camp in a month? I'm saying the same thing about rebuilding. It doesn't guarantee anything. You can try doing it, and you might never get to the 3rd round with your exciting new core. Just because it worked before doesn't mean it works again(see the various examples over the last 40 years). It's unlikely to work, at least the same way. Maybe you luck out in a decade or two and things fall into place again. Is there another McDavid coming along soon? Who are the Kings supposed to tank for, in order to beat McDavid as he wins scoring title after scoring title, and cements himself as one of the best players in the last 10, 20, 40, or 80 years?
 
KINGS17 said:
Gotta say looking at the Draisaitl deal again it's a great 2nd contract.

Possibly better than the one the Kings signed with Kopitar on his 2nd deal. Two very similar players in terms of size and ability.
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Somehow, some Kings fans scoffed at the idea of trading Kopitar for Draisaitl when I brought it up on these very boards, just to test how biased some of these homers are on here. And this was back in the early stages of last season.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
I don't know why, but somehow, some Kings fans scoffed at the idea of trading Kopitar for Draisaitl when I brought it up on these very boards, just to test how biased some of these homers are on here.
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I think people were just uncomfortable because of his lack of experience. Value wise, they'd need to add a little because Kopitar helps them more now, and Draisaitl is still uncertain to his trajectory
 
Sol said:
I think people were just uncomfortable because of his lack of experience. Value wise, they'd need to add a little because Kopitar helps them more now, and Draisaitl is still uncertain to his trajectory
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Given the difference in age and contracts, there's no ****ing way the Oilers add anything, nor would they even entertain the thought.

Go ahead and post that suggestion on the trade forum if you want to see exactly what others think of that idea.

Hell, I participated in a fantasy hockey mock draft yesterday and nobody would touch Kopitar until the later rounds. Although I anticipate his numbers to go up a bit this season, he is still someone who is on the decline, and his inability to perform consistently from October through April has been hampering him for more than just one, isolated season.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Given the difference in age and contracts, there's no ****ing way the Oilers add anything, nor would they even entertain the thought.

Go ahead and post that suggestion on the trade forum if you want to see exactly what others think of that idea.

Hell, I participated in a fantasy hockey mock draft yesterday and nobody would touch Kopitar until the later rounds. Although I anticipate his numbers to go up a bit this season, he is still someone who is on the decline, and his inability to perform consistently from October through April has been hampering him for more than just one, isolated season.
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Personally, I think Kopitar has a lot left in his tank because of his build and ability. Holy **** Draisaitl is 21. I don't know man, I think you can make a case for keeping each player on the team. Who knows how Draisaitl will play without McDavid. Draisaitl reminds of when Wolski first broke out.

If everyone thinks the Kings out then I must be in the wrong here.
 
Sacha Baron Corbin said:
There is no way the Oilers would add in a Kopitar-Draisaitl deal. If anything, the Kings would be the ones adding
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The Oilers won't be trading Draisaitl, esp not for Kopitar, whose 9 yrs older and past his prime. I've watched Draisaitl since he arrived in the NHL, he's a stud and he's only going to get better. He's got a pretty complete game and give that team a steel-like backbone for the next 8 yrs.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Somehow, some Kings fans scoffed at the idea of trading Kopitar for Draisaitl when I brought it up on these very boards, just to test how biased some of these homers are on here. And this was back in the early stages of last season.
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It's almost as if player value isn't in a vacuum.

Kopitar is the experienced vet leader of an older fading Stanley Cup team.

Draisaitl is a stud emerging center on a young emerging team where everyone is around his age.

In what world does it makes sense for the oilers to trade a guy who can barely drink in California for ANY forward nearing 30? Would they trade McDavid/Matthews/Eichel for Crosby?

Ziggy Stardust said:
Given the difference in age and contracts, there's no ****ing way the Oilers add anything, nor would they even entertain the thought.

Go ahead and post that suggestion on the trade forum if you want to see exactly what others think of that idea.

Hell, I participated in a fantasy hockey mock draft yesterday and nobody would touch Kopitar until the later rounds. Although I anticipate his numbers to go up a bit this season, he is still someone who is on the decline, and his inability to perform consistently from October through April has been hampering him for more than just one, isolated season.
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Buddy, if you EVER drafted Kopitar early in fantasy hockey, you were a non-playoff team ;) :laugh: Now we've gone full nuthouse in player evaluation.
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
Buddy, if you EVER drafted Kopitar early in fantasy hockey, you were a non-playoff team ;) :laugh: Now we've gone full nuthouse in player evaluation.
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You mean YOU don't use fantasy hockey to evaluate a player's worth?

Between this and "Gaborik is ready to start the season, I saw on Instagram," I think we've pretty much encompassed some of the best Kings fans logic of Summer, 2017.
 
A center who is about to turn 30 coming off a career worst performance in two of his previous three seasons is going to explode offensively.

I'm just pointing out that public opinion is that he's not expected to be a very productive player anymore, and I also included the disclaimer that I do think he will be better this season.

But let's just ignore that and go on to be narrow minded, blind homers who cry at any sign of critique.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
A center who is about to turn 30 coming off a career worst performance in two of his previous three seasons is going to explode offensively.

I'm just pointing out that public opinion is that he's not expected to be a very productive player anymore, and I also included the disclaimer that I do think he will be better this season.

But let's just ignore that and go on to be narrow minded, blind homers who cry at any sign of critique.
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You just used fantasy hockey to critique Kopitar, and I pointed out that that's a fallacy every season. If you want to talk about crying about critique, it starts with a mirror.

I recognize I'm more optimistic about Kopitar than practically everyone, but there are valid criticisms and there are absolute Pacific Ocean wide reaches.

Even the trade value point has a grain of truth, but you're being dishonest by omitting pretty crucial details. You don't need to do that. People are smarter than you're giving them credit for around here, which is why you're getting shot at for it. Draisaitl is a younger player on a younger team; Kopitar an older player on an older team. One is emerging, one is declining. Edmonton would never do that trade even for prime guaranteed Kopitar simply because they have potentially 15 years of Draisaitl. It's pretty simple.
 
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Oh I know Edmonton wouldn't do it, I was using that as an example of how emotionally tied fans can be to a player. Kopitar is my favorite King, I have a jersey of his that is personally autographed from him, but let's not fool ourselves that he's been one of the most disappointing Kings in two of the last three years, and it's going to be extremely difficult for him to replicate his numbers from 2015-16 due to the quality of his wingers. Kopitar used to be a driving force on offense, but as the years add up, he's becoming less of that.

And I was also in favor of doing anything to retain him before he turned UFA. Unfortunately, he's not holding up his end of the deal, which is to perform like he's the best player and offensive catalyst on this squad that badly needs him to step up.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Oh I know Edmonton wouldn't do it, I was using that as an example of how emotionally tied fans can be to a player. Kopitar is my favorite King, I have a jersey of his that is personally autographed from him, but let's not fool ourselves that he's been one of the most disappointing Kings in two of the last three years, and it's going to be extremely difficult for him to replicate his numbers from 2015-16 due to the quality of his wingers. Kopitar used to be a driving force on offense, but as the years add up, he's becoming less of that.

And I was also in favor of doing anything to retain him before he turned UFA. Unfortunately, he's not holding up his end of the deal, which is to perform like he's the best player and offensive catalyst on this squad that badly needs him to step up.
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I am still one of the people that is optimistic Kopitar is going to have a much better year. Last year was bad, no question about it, but the guy hit a ton of posts to start out the year, then got hurt, all while the whole team played completely uninspired hockey. He's a guy that should be able to put it back together. We'll see soon enough, without him at his best the Kings are in trouble.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Oh I know Edmonton wouldn't do it, I was using that as an example of how emotionally tied fans can be to a player. Kopitar is my favorite King, I have a jersey of his that is personally autographed from him, but let's not fool ourselves that he's been one of the most disappointing Kings in two of the last three years, and it's going to be extremely difficult for him to replicate his numbers from 2015-16 due to the quality of his wingers. Kopitar used to be a driving force on offense, but as the years add up, he's becoming less of that.

And I was also in favor of doing anything to retain him before he turned UFA. Unfortunately, he's not holding up his end of the deal, which is to perform like he's the best player and offensive catalyst on this squad that badly needs him to step up.
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Still don't understand this. Why anyone was in favor of doing anything to retain Kopitar just escapes me. The odds were very high this is exactly what we were going to get somewhere down the line. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon.

Kind of hard to say do anything to keep him then be upset when the Kings are stuck with him due to his contract.
 
KINGS17 said:
Still don't understand this. Why anyone was in favor of doing anything to retain Kopitar just escapes me. The odds were very high this is exactly what we were going to get somewhere down the line. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon.

Kind of hard to say do anything to keep him then be upset when the Kings are stuck with him due to his contract.
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He signed his extension when he enjoyed one of his most productive seasons of his career, plus he had led his team and the league in playoff scoring during both Cup runs.

Unfortunately he lost one of his most productive wingers, they never replaced him, and he couldn't carry his own weight. I really do think this season will be very telling as to what direction his career is headed in. I think it is foolish to suggest that he's done as a premier center in the league, but if he struggles to produce for months yet again, then I'm going to start to fret that his best years are behind him. Similar to what has transpired with Brown since he signed his extension, but not as drastic of a drop.

But make no mistake, Kopitar was easily the most disappointing player last season. Based on his contract and impact that is expected of him, in addition to him being looked upon as the leader and face of the franchise. He simply failed to deliver and did nothing to prove that he is worth his new extension. Now if he jumps back to scoring 70+ points while being a catalyst on special teams...

The fact that he scored 12 goals last season is just downright embarrassing. There is no other way to describe his play last season other than disappointing. He had the exact same number of goals as Trevor Lewis. That's just ****ing unacceptable.
 
I agree. The next season is going to be paramount for Kopitar. Either he sinks or he proves that last year was an anomaly.
 
Plenty of Kings players should return to career normal numbers. Last season was one disaster after another.

If you're expecting the Kings to be explosive all over the ice, probably setting yourself up for major disappointment.

It would really help if the Kings hit some home runs in the draft for the next three years.
 
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Sol said:
I agree. The next season is going to be paramount for Kopitar. Either he sinks or he proves that last year was an anomaly.
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I don't think it has to be either or. By his own words, (post GM/Coaching change) he has no intention of changing his style offensively, as he feels being a good 2 way center is more important. And he's 30 now, not 25 also, as he's one of the best shut down C's in the NHL, his 24 second shift (ES) will be against the top lines on most nights. Based on his last 4 yrs (games/points,) I'll go with 65 (his average is 67). He's got a tough job against some of the up and coming young stars and speedy lines. I do think he'll have a very good year, but I wish he had better wingers. I don't see any combination of Brown, Gabby and Cammy being as productive for him as having TT or TP on one wing.

From what he said, he feels by keeping pucks out of the net and scoring ops down, he is doing his primary job.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
He signed his extension when he enjoyed one of his most productive seasons of his career, plus he had led his team and the league in playoff scoring during both Cup runs.

Unfortunately he lost one of his most productive wingers, they never replaced him, and he couldn't carry his own weight. I really do think this season will be very telling as to what direction his career is headed in. I think it is foolish to suggest that he's done as a premier center in the league, but if he struggles to produce for months yet again, then I'm going to start to fret that his best years are behind him. Similar to what has transpired with Brown since he signed his extension, but not as drastic of a drop.

But make no mistake, Kopitar was easily the most disappointing player last season. Based on his contract and impact that is expected of him, in addition to him being looked upon as the leader and face of the franchise. He simply failed to deliver and did nothing to prove that he is worth his new extension. Now if he jumps back to scoring 70+ points while being a catalyst on special teams...

The fact that he scored 12 goals last season is just downright embarrassing. There is no other way to describe his play last season other than disappointing. He had the exact same number of goals as Trevor Lewis. That's just ****ing unacceptable.
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Realistically and statistically, his best years are behind him. He's not 25 anymore and the reality for most NHL forwards is that their best years are 18 - 24, with the pinnacle years being in the 26-27 area. There are and will be exceptions to the rule. But Kopitar is a 2 way center, his primary job is to defend and that will eat up time in his own end. Going into his 30's, that defense prowess wont' wane but the speed and skill (and age) of the players he's shutting down will eat more seconds from his shift.

And he's only had 70 or more points once in the last 5 years. I think you're asking too much to think he'll hit that range again. and even when he was younger, his usual M.O is taking a good chunk of games 'off'. He's not an 82 game player and that , esp in his 30's, will affect his PPG.

If he puts up 65 pts and had a great year defensively and that helps the Kings get those W's. That is a successful year. What I saw last year was lack of effort, lack of caring, disinterest. That should be gone this year.
 
King'sPawn said:
You mean YOU don't use fantasy hockey to evaluate a player's worth?

Between this and "Gaborik is ready to start the season, I saw on Instagram," I think we've pretty much encompassed some of the best Kings fans logic of Summer, 2017.
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When Gaborik is ready to play Game One I will be the happiest King fan on the planet.
 
The Tikkanen said:
When Gaborik is ready to play Game One I will be the happiest King fan on the planet.
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In the slim chance Gaborik actually plays, that doesn't take away the fact you called a poster Rosen's mouthpiece because you are judging someone's readiness to play in the NHL based off of Instagram.

That says plenty about you. The fact you care more about being right than how you were right and how you treated someone else in the process says more about you than anything else.
 
King'sPawn said:
In the slim chance Gaborik actually plays, that doesn't take away the fact you called a poster Rosen's mouthpiece because you are judging someone's readiness to play in the NHL based off of Instagram.

That says plenty about you. The fact you care more about being right than how you were right and how you treated someone else in the process says more about you than anything else.
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Typical backtracking, good attempt at deflecting but it won't work with me. By the way at the state of the franchise meeting Blake said Gaborik may miss the start of training camp.
 
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