Around the League 2024-25 season

[Raccoon Jesus]

Vilardi was going to arbitration in WPG, signed a 2 year bridge deal to avoid it. I;m pretty sure he wasn't looking for just a 2 year bridge deal in LA. Hell, for all we know, they didn't even get very far knowing he was part of a trade.

IIRC one of the things he was miffed about was the Kings didn't even talk contract with him

 

[BigKing]

This makes no sense.

Scared of a 2 year contract?

He got one good season out of him and was selling high, except he bought a counterfeit.

IIRC one of the things he was miffed about was the Kings didn't even talk contract with him

If true, pretty good fuel for the fire of my take on the situation.

 

[AbsentMojo]

IIRC one of the things he was miffed about was the Kings didn't even talk contract with him

Apparently his agent could not parles vous... seriously how the hell do u not have a dialog with your top prospect. Is the buried lede that Gabe wanted out of here?

 

[johnjm22]

He got one good season out of him and was selling high, except he bought a counterfeit.

Trading him might have been the right call, (especially if he gets injured again), but it's what we traded him for that's the problem. So I agree with this statement. But you said Blake was scared to give him contract, which is silly because he didn't require a large contract.

 

[BigKing]

Trading him might have been the right call, (especially if he gets injured again), but it's what we traded him for that's the problem. So I agree with this statement. But you said Blake was scared to give him contract, which is silly because he didn't require a large contract.

But if he didn't even discuss an extension, then it seems like he wouldn't want to give him a contract.

Blake has PTSD from the Vilardi injuries. I think he was scared of even a one year deal because he wanted to sell him before he possibly became damaged goods again.

Pretty sure Blake touted PLDs "availability" when the trade was made. Can read into that like I have or think it is a toss away line, but it is my theory.

 

[YP44]

Man, the crying on this board every time Vilardi steps on the ice is getting a bit much. I hated the trade too and really liked Vilardi but at some point you mourn and move on with your life. It's like obsessing over an ex. Wasn't there a "former Kings players" thread for this purpose?

I think to properly move on we have to lay the body to rest. in this case that is in the form of Blake being fired.

 

[tigermask48]

I think to properly move on we have to lay the body to rest. in this case that is in the form of Blake being fired.

And Luc, they both have to go. If it's just Blake, Bergevin is the next GM in LA.

 

[Sol]

This team wasn't and isn't an Eichel away. I don't see how that was a costly mistake, especially since since a package of Vilardi, Faber, and/or Byfield would have to go the other way.

Kings needed to rebuild around a younger core. Eichel's just as old as Fiala. So at best, we'd replace Fiala with Eichel in the current lineup.

This team was an Eichel away from being a pretty good team. Many of you were not happy with the idea of trading for him since everyone here became a surgeon over night and thought that Eichel was going to be wheelchair bound for some mindnumbing reason. You don't get Eichel because of the team direction, the Kings had to see at that point in time that our centers were lacking to say the least. He would have been great to fix the glaring center problem the Kings still have.

You're confused because I said the Kings needed a center. That doesn't mean I thought the trade was a good idea.

I thought losing Vilardi and Iaffalo for PLD was an overall downgrade:

LINK: Line Combos: - Which Kings Lineup is Better?


I posted many times that Vilardi had been better than PLD:

LINK: Confirmed with Link: - Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kuapri, Gabe Vilardi + 2024 2nd round pick to Winnipeg for Pierre-Luc Dubois

LINK: Confirmed with Link: - Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kuapri, Gabe Vilardi + 2024 2nd round pick to Winnipeg for Pierre-Luc Dubois

LINK: Confirmed with Link: - Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kuapri, Gabe Vilardi + 2024 2nd round pick to Winnipeg for Pierre-Luc Dubois

I thought because PLD was an up and down player he'd probably be good for us initially but not necessarily after that. I didn't expect him to be trash immediately like he was.

I apologize, I could have swore you were the one who stated something along the lines that after the trade was done that Vilardi was injury prone so that he wouldn't likely pan out. I'll take a look just to make sure but I am sorry if it misquoted you.

Man, the crying on this board every time Vilardi steps on the ice is getting a bit much. I hated the trade too and really liked Vilardi but at some point you mourn and move on with your life. It's like obsessing over an ex. Wasn't there a "former Kings players" thread for this purpose?

What a bizarre comment. Funny that the guy with Sutter in his PFP and a corny quote from a decade ago is the one saying "move on". Also, the bitching about Vilardi is emblematic of where this team has gone. We objectively traded our best player from the rebuild, indisputable fact. We got NOTHING in return. We skipped out on Eichel for PLD. And now we have players like Byfield who was our top flight pick of the entire rebuild, and the guy objectively would be lucky to be a star in a league. He's Jeff Carter without the shot. Thats what the rebuild brought us. We're not bitching about Vilardi alone, because I guarantee you no one would really give a f*** about Vilardi if Byfield was a superstar, and the other draftees were showing some elite potential. None of that has happened.

Maybe get off the Around the League section of this thread and consider updating your decade old picture since you're concerned about people not moving on.

 

[King'sPawn]

This team was an Eichel away from being a pretty good team. Many of you were not happy with the idea of trading for him since everyone here became a surgeon over night and thought that Eichel was going to be wheelchair bound for some mindnumbing reason. You don't get Eichel because of the team direction, the Kings had to see at that point in time that our centers were lacking to say the least. He would have been great to fix the glaring center problem the Kings still have.

Nobody was being a surgeon. He wanted a procedure done that was never done on a professional hockey player before. It worked on MMA, but it's still a different sport and impact. It's not unreasonable to be apprehensive about paying a huge price tag on a player who had frequent neck problems.

It woukd be like trading for Vilardi before he showed he was healthy.

And even with the "Center" problem you see addressed, the Kings still have holes. Defense. Goaltending. And even if the PLD trade never occurred, you still would still have to trade the equivalent or better package of Krebs (former first), Tuch (former first), a first, and a second.

The Kings, who needed to rebuild, could not afford trading three firsts and a second for a player recovering from a never-before done neck surgery. Implying people are pretending to be surgeons is the most inane and reductive argument that it almost feels like trolling.

 

[bland]

An Eichel trade would have made no difference whatsoever, provided contention was the goal. If its just about icing a somewhat competitive team without any legitimate aspirations, sure the team would be easier on the eyes with Eichel.

 

[johnjm22]

I apologize, I could have swore you were the one who stated something along the lines that after the trade was done that Vilardi was injury prone so that he wouldn't likely pan out. I'll take a look just to make sure but I am sorry if it misquoted you.

I might have said that something similar to that. I don't know.

I tend to see both sides of things, so my opinions can seem contradictory.

My opinion at the time of the trade was that I understood it because we needed a center, but PLD might be a downgrade.

I also thought PLD would be good initially because that often happens with mercurial players when get a change of scenery. Open to the idea that he could be good, but also skeptical.

I certainly didn't expect him to shit the bed immediately.

 

[johnjm22]

An Eichel trade would have made no difference whatsoever, provided contention was the goal. If its just about icing a somewhat competitive team without any legitimate aspirations, sure the team would be easier on the eyes with Eichel.

It would have prevented Vegas from getting a Stanley Cup!