Around the League '18-'19

[Reclamation Project]

Hawks are a desperate team trying to squeeze one more playoff run out of a core which probably isn't quite good enough to contend.

Fringe playoff team. 85-90 points next season.

 

[deeshamrock]

So Faulk, Skinner and Patches are the names rumored on the Hawks list. Even if they move out Seabrook or Keith for additional $$, that's a tight squeeze, even with the 9M they have. Kruger (if they don't move him) comes off the books in June, if he's still there.

The Habs and Canes both need centers, but the only C on their roster that they would have to move is Anisimov and I'm not sure that lands you either, without other player(s) involved.

Curious rumor....

 

[Kingspiracy]

Focusing solely on LW production throughout the NHL, Pearson's goals per game average of .018 ranked him 53rd among LWs. His points per game of .49 was 38th best among LWs.
Player Season Finder | Hockey-Reference.com

His 40 points ranked him 31st overall among LWs.

He scored 4 less points the season prior, but he also scored 9 less goals, and his shooting percentage dropped significantly as well, despite having close to the same amount of shots on goal from the season prior.

During the post season, Pearson was pointless and limited to only 8 shots in 4 games while averaging over 19 mins per game.

Some consistency out of Pearson could really help the Kings.

Im too scared to look where Iafallo ranks.

 

[KingsFan7824]

So Faulk, Skinner and Patches are the names rumored on the Hawks list. Even if they move out Seabrook or Keith for additional $$, that's a tight squeeze, even with the 9M they have. Kruger (if they don't move him) comes off the books in June, if he's still there.

The Habs and Canes both need centers, but the only C on their roster that they would have to move is Anisimov and I'm not sure that lands you either, without other player(s) involved.

Curious rumor....

Plus Anisimov has a NTC. Might go to Carolina, probably not Montreal. Outside of any young players that they would like to keep for various reasons, what do the Hawks have to trade? Saad coming of a career low season? Carolina wants to compete, and Montreal is trying to do...something? And of course, who in their right mind would take Seabrook or Keith with all their years left, not to mention they both have NMC's. They might go to good teams, but those teams don't have the space.

You figure Chicago has something going, because there's no rush to trade Hossa's contract today otherwise, since he's not going anywhere, but I don't get what they have to trade. Connor Murphy? He's younger and signed for a while though. Just have to wait and see.

 

[KINGS17]

The Blackhawks have had this guy in cryogenic suspension for 40 years. They now have the technology to fully repair his knee, and at a cap hit of only $3M (see Bobby still thinks it's 1978), the Hawks are ready to roll.

 

[kovacro]

Orr in a Hawks uniform just looks odd.

Kinda like when I saw Steve Shutt in a Kings uniform after all those seasons with that Habs or Borje Salming with the Wings after numerous seasons in Toronto.

It happened but it doesn’t seem right at all.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Hawks are a desperate team trying to squeeze one more playoff run out of a core which probably isn't quite good enough to contend.

Depending on how they use that cap space...they can make a helluva playoff run....if they pick up Faulk and Skinner from Carolina, that gives them an extremely balanced lineup

 

[kingsfan28]

While impressive, it's not enough just to get that far. Not when winning is what matters. Not when you're considered to be a true blue contender from day 1 of multiple seasons.

If that's all TB can accomplish with all that talent, if that's the ceiling, it's time for Yzerman to ask some tough questions about his roster. Might even be time to ask questions about Yzerman as a GM, and whether or not he has what it takes to get a team over the hump. It might be time to significantly retool, if not rebuild.

Yeah, they remind me of all those Blues or even the Sharks teams that were good, but not good enough to win it all. It's like the blackhole for playoff teams.

 

[kovacro]

If the Hawks want Skinner (signed extension) and Faulk, I’m asking for DeBrincat in return as part of a package.

Carolina is building a nice roster. I love Aho and Teravainen. Looking forward to seeing what Svechnikov can do.

Zykov will get a full NHL season surely. Exciting young group up front.

Big fan of Slavin on the back end. His game should continue to progress. Pesce is underrated as well, imo.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

If the Hawks want Skinner (signed extension) and Faulk, I’m asking for DeBrincat in return as part of a package.

Carolina is building a nice roster. I love Aho and Teravainen. Looking forward to seeing what Svechnikov can do.

Zykov will get a full NHL season surely. Exciting young group up front.

Big fan of Slavin on the back end. His game should continue to progress. Pesce is underrated as well, imo.

I don't know, I think they may want a Forsling back on D, Carolina is extremely tricky....on paper, solid team....on ice....freaking disaster.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Chicago's in an interesting bind because it's their big guys who haven't been performing. I'm optimistic Toews will return relatively to form, but I think Seabrook is toast, and Keith is a bit of a wild card. Crawford needs to stay healthy, but he's showing how good he is now that the team has struggled. Adding Skinner and Faulk to that group--if they perform--would make them a handful. But the central is a blender.

Carolina is a very strange team, and one that's been wholly undone--for years, not just last year--by mediocre-to-bad goaltending. At some point, you have to identify why EVERY goalie you trot through struggles. Now, I didn't think Darling was the answer, but if yet someone ELSE comes in and struggles this year? Need to address what's going on with the personnel or system. Because there are surely talented players back there and in the system and there have been. They're young, they're rising, and adding a few pieces using Skinner, Faulk, even Ward as chips would help them continue to add because they're surely not ready to compete yet.

 

[kovacro]

I don't know, I think they may want a Forsling back on D, Carolina is extremely tricky....on paper, solid team....on ice....freaking disaster.

They should be entertaining.

Maybe Forsling + Schmaltz +?

I like AD and that would be my initial ask but I wouldn’t mind a package with the above two pieces either.

 

[lumbergh]

Focusing solely on LW production throughout the NHL, Pearson's goals per game average of .018 ranked him 53rd among LWs. His points per game of .49 was 38th best among LWs.
Player Season Finder | Hockey-Reference.com

His 40 points ranked him 31st overall among LWs.

He scored 4 less points the season prior, but he also scored 9 less goals, and his shooting percentage dropped significantly as well, despite having close to the same amount of shots on goal from the season prior.

During the post season, Pearson was pointless and limited to only 8 shots in 4 games while averaging over 19 mins per game.

Some consistency out of Pearson could really help the Kings.

Your point is well taken, but I should mention that the position (LW, C, RW) classification is not strict (for example, Kempe is also on the list) and a number of players on the list did not play the whole season, so that’s why I went with points per 60 minutes played. You can compare Pearson with guys like Palat or Parise, but those guys didn’t play nearly the number of minutes that Pearson did last season.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Oh I was just throwing the numbers out there to illustrate how Pearson has performed compared to his peers. He's a player you hope to get more out of. The previous season in 2016-17 gave us hope because it seemed like he was going to step up and make strides and perhaps improve on those numbers, only to take a step back in terms of goal scoring production.

But realistically, he probably does top out as a 40+ point LW. By the time he's eligible to become a UFA, I wonder how much he'll command. He'll be turning 26 soon, so his peak production years might be within the next 2-4 seasons.

 

[lumbergh]

Im too scared to look where Iafallo ranks.

You won’t find him because he’s classified as a center. His 25 points puts him right near offensive powerhouses such as Trevor Lewis and Tobias Rieder, also misclassified as centers. His 1.32 points per 60 minutes played puts him at 9th on the list of Kings’ forwards, making him barely a third liner.

I am hopeful that Iafallo will improve like the player he most reminds me of, Justin Williams, who coincidentally also scored 25 points in his rookie season.

 

[lumbergh]

Oh I was just throwing the numbers out there to illustrate how Pearson has performed compared to his peers. He's a player you hope to get more out of. The previous season in 2016-17 gave us hope because it seemed like he was going to step up and make strides and perhaps improve on those numbers, only to take a step back in terms of goal scoring production.

But realistically, he probably does top out as a 40+ point LW. By the time he's eligible to become a UFA, I wonder how much he'll command. He'll be turning 26 soon, so his peak production years might be within the next 2-4 seasons.

I do think that Pearson did a much better job this season screening the goalie, which doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I do think that Pearson did a much better job this season screening the goalie, which doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

He did get better at becoming a net front presence this season, but his cold patches, which also hampered Kempe and Toffoli,is what concerned me most.

Tanner Pearson 2017-18 Game Log | Hockey-Reference.com

15 games without a goal, then to close out the season and playoffs he went 13 games without a goal.

9 games without a goal in December, and 8 games not long before that, and he started the first 11 games of the season with just 1 goal.

The lack of production for long stretches like that would make me hesitant to commit to any costly, long-term deal whenever Pearson's contract is up. He still has another three seasons to go at an AAV of $3.8M.

I'm hoping he can crack the 20+ goal mark again this season.

 

[The Tikkanen]

With Kovalchuk on the team and Carter healthy I'm expecting more from Pearson. Maybe the Kings can get a lead or score one of those pesky goals in the first period and not have to play catch up. Much happier with Iafallo on the 3rd line.

 

[King'sPawn]

Tampa looks good with their young players, but this was also a team who has just now tried to buy.

History of NHL trades by the Tampa Bay Lightning - NHL Trade Tracker

They haven't made any big deals to push them over the top yet. Granted, they have a talented young core, but Lombardi has traded several first round picks and talented young players to acquire the players to push the Kings over the edge.

Tampa's core IS younger, but they still have a narrow window to succeed due to the contracts handed out.

The grass is greener on the other side, but they have their own fertilizer they will have to deal with shortly.

 

[Herby]

With Kovalchuk on the team and Carter healthy I'm expecting more from Pearson. Maybe the Kings can get a lead or score one of those pesky goals in the first period and not have to play catch up. Much happier with Iafallo on the 3rd line.

For the first time since the trade deadline of the 2014 season the Kings have a forward group that is capable of making a run in the playoffs. There are obvious question marks. Can Brown repeat his performance? Will Kovalchuk be a capable 1st line winger? Can Vilardi produce in whatever role is asked of him?


Kovalchuk- Kopitar - Brown
Pearson - Carter - Toffoli
Iafallo - Kempe - Vilardi
Clifford - Amadio - Lewis

You can go very far with this group, and the one area of weakness, which could be the 2nd line could be addressed at the deadline by picking up a more impactful winger than Pearson or Toffoli. You could even get a center and slide Carter over to the RW. Blake has a lot of flexibility with the current forward group, very happy with the moves he has made.

 

[YP44]

If the Hawks want Skinner (signed extension) and Faulk, I’m asking for DeBrincat in return as part of a package.

Carolina is building a nice roster. I love Aho and Teravainen. Looking forward to seeing what Svechnikov can do.

Zykov will get a full NHL season surely. Exciting young group up front.

Big fan of Slavin on the back end. His game should continue to progress. Pesce is underrated as well, imo.

Don't forget Necas looks to be a great prospect

 

[KopitarFAN]

Another piece of what I was talking about, success gets expensive really fast. They are already committed to ~$53M for 13 players in 19-20 (and they probably commit another $12M Karlsson & Schmidt) , obviously that includes David Clarkson, but they can't put him on LTIR until day 2 of the season, and you have to be compliant on day 1.

 

[Little Psycho]

I think it's a risk if the Hawks go after Patches since their vets are already underperforming. Maybe a new environment will kickstart his game or he can become another overpaid average vet on their team.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Solid deal for Fleury, I don't even know why I bother going to that cesspool known as the main board.

3 years is the right term for both parties. Given his career, last season, and how much he means to that team 7 million is fair. I'd bet the average for a goalie combo in the NHL is right in that range, probably 5-7 for a primary and 825-2 for that backup. Subban and Legace combined make 1.3.

Look for Engelland to get another 3 year deal, probably in the 5 per range. Those guys are the face of the team.

 

[KINGS17]

Orr in a Hawks uniform just looks odd.

Kinda like when I saw Steve Shutt in a Kings uniform after all those seasons with that Habs or Borje Salming with the Wings after numerous seasons in Toronto.

It happened but it doesn’t seem right at all.

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