Around the League Thread Part III: Free Agent Frenzy Hangover

[kovacro]

Dunno how reliable this is...Like Cizikas but that's too much cash.



Tough injury news for Vegas.

 

[head eyes]

Dunno how reliable this is...Like Cizikas but that's too much cash.



Tough injury news for Vegas.

Taking a page from Tampa Bay? 4.75 million off the books now. Wonder if they'll take a run at Tarasenko or Eichel.

 

[Reclamation Project]

^ They got Dadonov to replace Tuch until he returns.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Cizikas has earned it imo, he'd be getting MORE than that anywhere else

 

[raswilliam]

couldnt resist

 

[Reclamation Project]

NHL radio GM report cards today. Show opened with the Ducks getting a big fat F, haha! Not a single compliment.

Sounds like the Kings are getting a much better grade (probably something like a C or C+).

if it an offseason grade? I would think Rob has done much better than a C or C+. I say B+ or A-. Only thing he was unable to do was get that LHD this offseason, but he had a great draft, added two top 6 forwards, a serviceable LHD and only spent a 2nd and 3rd rounder to do it.

Kings got a B- and B! All positive (including VA and PD) except culture concerns (Carter and Toffoli moving on and being very strong). RR jersey got bonus points too!

 

[BringTheReign]

Kings got a B- and B! All positive (including VA and PD) except culture concerns (Carter and Toffoli moving on and being very strong). RR jersey got bonus points too!

I’m happy with the direction of our team, but I do think about this. I think the reason I’m not worried is that you see similar things with other rebuilding teams (e.g. Palmieri this deadline). It’s hard to do anything when you’re just losing game after game, shit I’m sure we all feel similarly when things aren’t going well at work.

 

[Reclamation Project]

I’m happy with the direction of our team, but I do think about this. I think the reason I’m not worried is that you see similar things with other rebuilding teams (e.g. Palmieri this deadline). It’s hard to do anything when you’re just losing game after game, shit I’m sure we all feel similarly when things aren’t going well at work.

At a certain point the Kings need to start winning more, being in games late, and competing more. This season it should happen. Blake knows this, you can only be a lottery team for so long before it fries your entire organization. Kings never won the lottery, but they've had a number of high picks and the last couple seasons have been among the worst teams in the league in When that happens you start rebuilding the rebuild like Buffalo or Arizona. Look at Buffalo - they did everything possible to win the lottery, didn't win, and now because of their culture of losing that player wants out. Kings were rebuilding, won 2 championships (should have won at least another 1), went through the retool which clearly went nowhere and damaged the team, then did as much of a rebuild as possible. Long term the Kings will be in better shape by not trading Kopitar, Doughty, or Quick. Deepest prospect pool in the entire league and the mentorship these three (all Hall of Fame players) provide is worth more than any additional picks or prospects. You need pros helping the kids otherwise you have a bunch of high prospects being thrown in the deep and ruined like Edmonton. Kings and Blackhawks are very similar given their success, but the Kings are set up for the next 15 years and the Blackhawks are not. One will be a contender with a stacked roster in 5 years and the other will still be a fringe playoff team. It's pretty remarkable the arch the Kings have made in the last 12 years. Top prospect pool with a second and fifth overall pick for franchise players, a few playoff years, Stanley Cup/WCF/Stanley Cup, and now back to the beginning - top prospect pool with a fifth and second overall pick for franchise players in consecutive years.

 

[deeshamrock]

Tatar to the Devils, should fit nice in the bottom six

 

[kingsholygrail]

The only Toffoli stat that really spiked was his shooting percentage(17%). In a normal season he may have had career numbers last season. Of course, in a normal season he wouldn't have played only six teams the whole season too. 2021 is going to be a statistical anomally for a lot of players. That's not to say Toffoli isn't a quality player. Of course he is. That's why we got something for him.

 

[Brodeur]

Tatar to the Devils, should fit nice in the bottom six

I imagine he'll replace Kuokkanen on the 2nd line, although somebody's going to be playing on their off wing. The number of left shot wingers on the Devils is reminding me of the late 90's rosters.

Left: Zacha-Bratt-Tatar-Sharangovich-Kuokkanen-Wood-Johnsson-Boqvist

Right: Thompson?

 

[EbonyRaptor]

At a certain point the Kings need to start winning more, being in games late, and competing more. This season it should happen. Blake knows this, you can only be a lottery team for so long before it fries your entire organization. Kings never won the lottery, but they've had a number of high picks and the last couple seasons have been among the worst teams in the league in When that happens you start rebuilding the rebuild like Buffalo or Arizona. Look at Buffalo - they did everything possible to win the lottery, didn't win, and now because of their culture of losing that player wants out. Kings were rebuilding, won 2 championships (should have won at least another 1), went through the retool which clearly went nowhere and damaged the team, then did as much of a rebuild as possible. Long term the Kings will be in better shape by not trading Kopitar, Doughty, or Quick. Deepest prospect pool in the entire league and the mentorship these three (all Hall of Fame players) provide is worth more than any additional picks or prospects. You need pros helping the kids otherwise you have a bunch of high prospects being thrown in the deep and ruined like Edmonton. Kings and Blackhawks are very similar given their success, but the Kings are set up for the next 15 years and the Blackhawks are not. One will be a contender with a stacked roster in 5 years and the other will still be a fringe playoff team. It's pretty remarkable the arch the Kings have made in the last 12 years. Top prospect pool with a second and fifth overall pick for franchise players, a few playoff years, Stanley Cup/WCF/Stanley Cup, and now back to the beginning - top prospect pool with a fifth and second overall pick for franchise players in consecutive years.

Funny, I was just coming to the Kings sight to discuss the common track the Kings and Hawks have been on over the past decade and where things stand now. I've dropped in a few times over the last few years and always enjoyed the discussion we've had.

Both teams seemed to have transitioned from rebuild to win-now going into the 2021/22 season - an unsurprising step for the Kings versus a somewhat surprising change of direction by the Hawks. Another common situation for both teams is the glut of forwards and how to go about paring it down to a group of 13/14 to best win-now and get the season off to a good start.

One area the Kings are in better shape than the Hawks is the fantastic prospect pool the Kings have versus the much more pedestrian Hawks group. Both teams have the aging Cup champs still on the roster who can play at a high level, but even there the Kings have their two main studs with Kopitar and Doughty while the Hawks still have Kane but we're not sure if Toews is capable of playing a full season, much less at the high level he was playing when last seen in the 2020 "Bubble" playoffs.

I'm encouraged we were able to get Seth Jones who should anchor the top-pair through the (hopeful) window of being Cup competitive somewhere in the next 5-7 years - so that's both a win-now and rebuild move that should work well for us.

I'm more encouraged for this season than I have been in a few years, but realistically, even with the additions of MAF and Jones, the Hawks are not in the conversation as a Cup contender and are at best still 2-3 years away.

I'm sure Kings fans are excited to be transitioning from rebuild to win-now. What are your expectations?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Tatar is a good add.

His only knock is physicality and disappearing in the playoffs, but as some of the comments mentioned, "our whole team disappears in April"--cross that bridge when you get there!

If we wouldn't have snagged Danault I would have pressed for Tatar.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Funny, I was just coming to the Kings sight to discuss the common track the Kings and Hawks have been on over the past decade and where things stand now. I've dropped in a few times over the last few years and always enjoyed the discussion we've had.

Both teams seemed to have transitioned from rebuild to win-now going into the 2021/22 season - an unsurprising step for the Kings versus a somewhat surprising change of direction by the Hawks. Another common situation for both teams is the glut of forwards and how to go about paring it down to a group of 13/14 to best win-now and get the season off to a good start.

One area the Kings are in better shape than the Hawks is the fantastic prospect pool the Kings have versus the much more pedestrian Hawks group. Both teams have the aging Cup champs still on the roster who can play at a high level, but even there the Kings have their two main studs with Kopitar and Doughty while the Hawks still have Kane but we're not sure if Toews is capable of playing a full season, much less at the high level he was playing when last seen in the 2020 "Bubble" playoffs.

I'm encouraged we were able to get Seth Jones who should anchor the top-pair through the (hopeful) window of being Cup competitive somewhere in the next 5-7 years - so that's both a win-now and rebuild move that should work well for us.

I'm more encouraged for this season than I have been in a few years, but realistically, even with the additions of MAF and Jones, the Hawks are not in the conversation as a Cup contender and are at best still 2-3 years away.

I'm sure Kings fans are excited to be transitioning from rebuild to win-now. What are your expectations?

I think the major difference on that note was Doughty's age vs. Keith--so swap out an aging Keith for a younger Jones at market value and we're in essentially the same boat as far as that goes

For this team I expect to see a sizeable jump. It might not be the 100 point 2010 Kings, but if they aren't fighting like hell for the last wildcard spot, it'll be a massive disappointment, and would likely mean either Kopitar or Doughty just completely fell off while none of the kids grew and Arvidsson and Danault busted. Lots of things have to go right to be a playoff team--but lots of things have to go utterly wrong for them to not hover over 90 points.

 

[Lt Dan]

Funny, I was just coming to the Kings sight to discuss the common track the Kings and Hawks have been on over the past decade and where things stand now. I've dropped in a few times over the last few years and always enjoyed the discussion we've had.

Both teams seemed to have transitioned from rebuild to win-now going into the 2021/22 season - an unsurprising step for the Kings versus a somewhat surprising change of direction by the Hawks. Another common situation for both teams is the glut of forwards and how to go about paring it down to a group of 13/14 to best win-now and get the season off to a good start.

One area the Kings are in better shape than the Hawks is the fantastic prospect pool the Kings have versus the much more pedestrian Hawks group. Both teams have the aging Cup champs still on the roster who can play at a high level, but even there the Kings have their two main studs with Kopitar and Doughty while the Hawks still have Kane but we're not sure if Toews is capable of playing a full season, much less at the high level he was playing when last seen in the 2020 "Bubble" playoffs.

I'm encouraged we were able to get Seth Jones who should anchor the top-pair through the (hopeful) window of being Cup competitive somewhere in the next 5-7 years - so that's both a win-now and rebuild move that should work well for us.

I'm more encouraged for this season than I have been in a few years, but realistically, even with the additions of MAF and Jones, the Hawks are not in the conversation as a Cup contender and are at best still 2-3 years away.

I'm sure Kings fans are excited to be transitioning from rebuild to win-now. What are your expectations?

great post

I have much more faith in your management that I do in Bluc here tho. Bowman has made some incredible moves. Jones and Johnson are going to both be huge and one can never count out Kane and Mr Intangibles

 

[EbonyRaptor]

I think the major difference on that note was Doughty's age vs. Keith--so swap out an aging Keith for a younger Jones at market value and we're in essentially the same boat as far as that goes

For this team I expect to see a sizeable jump. It might not be the 100 point 2010 Kings, but if they aren't fighting like hell for the last wildcard spot, it'll be a massive disappointment, and would likely mean either Kopitar or Doughty just completely fell off while none of the kids grew and Arvidsson and Danault busted. Lots of things have to go right to be a playoff team--but lots of things have to go utterly wrong for them to not hover over 90 points.

Yeah, making the playoffs will be a big challenge. The Hawks can be greatly improved and still not be top-3 in the division or top-8 in the conference. I'm not immune from the emotional upheaval of a poorly played game but I recover quickly and back on the edge of my seat in time for the next puck drop. My expectations are that they will be improved from last season and that might have to be enough for the coming season and that's OK.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

great post

I have much more faith in your management that I do in Bluc here tho. Bowman has made some incredible moves. Jones and Johnson are going to both be huge and one can never count out Kane and Mr Intangibles

It's funny how fanbases view their own management team versus others. I think it's fair to say a majority of Hawk fans who post on hockey message boards have wanted to run Bowman out of town for at least several years and to make sure he takes his peewee Euro coach with him. I'm not part of the anti-Bowman mob and believe, on balance, he's made some good moves to at least offset if not exceed the not-so-good moves he's made over the years.

I'm not sure I would go so far as to say I have faith in him because the reality is there is a financial aspect to the strategic decisions he makes and it would be naive to think he has total carte blanche to wheel and deal, especially when considering possible loss of playoff revenue in upcoming seasons.

 

[BigKing]

Funny, I was just coming to the Kings sight to discuss the common track the Kings and Hawks have been on over the past decade and where things stand now. I've dropped in a few times over the last few years and always enjoyed the discussion we've had.

Both teams seemed to have transitioned from rebuild to win-now going into the 2021/22 season - an unsurprising step for the Kings versus a somewhat surprising change of direction by the Hawks. Another common situation for both teams is the glut of forwards and how to go about paring it down to a group of 13/14 to best win-now and get the season off to a good start.

One area the Kings are in better shape than the Hawks is the fantastic prospect pool the Kings have versus the much more pedestrian Hawks group. Both teams have the aging Cup champs still on the roster who can play at a high level, but even there the Kings have their two main studs with Kopitar and Doughty while the Hawks still have Kane but we're not sure if Toews is capable of playing a full season, much less at the high level he was playing when last seen in the 2020 "Bubble" playoffs.

I'm encouraged we were able to get Seth Jones who should anchor the top-pair through the (hopeful) window of being Cup competitive somewhere in the next 5-7 years - so that's both a win-now and rebuild move that should work well for us.

I'm more encouraged for this season than I have been in a few years, but realistically, even with the additions of MAF and Jones, the Hawks are not in the conversation as a Cup contender and are at best still 2-3 years away.

I'm sure Kings fans are excited to be transitioning from rebuild to win-now. What are your expectations?

I think the Hawks are definitely in "win-now" mode but the Kings are in more of a "compete-now" mode. I say this because the Hawks seemed to really change course on rebuilding while the Kings didn't go big game hunting even with the Danault signing. Hawks gave up youth and significant futures in order to sign Jones to the big contract whereas the Kings gave up less valuable picks for Arvidsson and just went UFA route on Danault.

It could be semantics when talking about "win-now" since making the playoffs means that you are winning games. Might be better to say that I think Hawks management has higher expectations for this upcoming season than Kings management.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

great post

I have much more faith in your management that I do in Bluc here tho. Bowman has made some incredible moves. Jones and Johnson are going to both be huge and one can never count out Kane and Mr Intangibles

That’s funny, given what EbonyRaptor has stated. Tons of Hawks fans want Bowman gone, for numerous reasons. There’s a bit of an off-ice mess that was going on under Bowman’s nose that seem to implicate his organization of being aware of a well known sex offender that they employed and did nothing to stop him.

And in addition to that, the Hawks are already capped out. Seth Jones is quite overrated, and then you look at the rest of the mess on their blueline… Fleury sure is going to have a heavy workload in net this season.

 

[Lt Dan]

That’s funny, given what EbonyRaptor has stated. Tons of Hawks fans want Bowman gone, for numerous reasons. There’s a bit of an off-ice mess that was going on under Bowman’s nose that seem to implicate his organization of being aware of a well known sex offender that they employed and did nothing to stop him.

And in addition to that, the Hawks are already capped out. Seth Jones is quite overrated, and then you look at the rest of the mess on their blueline… Fleury sure is going to have a heavy workload in net this season.

I have a weird feeling that the flower ends up back in Pittsburgh

 

[EbonyRaptor]

I think the Hawks are definitely in "win-now" mode but the Kings are in more of a "compete-now" mode. I say this because the Hawks seemed to really change course on rebuilding while the Kings didn't go big game hunting even with the Danault signing. Hawks gave up youth and significant futures in order to sign Jones to the big contract whereas the Kings gave up less valuable picks for Arvidsson and just went UFA route on Danault.

It could be semantics when talking about "win-now" since making the playoffs means that you are winning games. Might be better to say that I think Hawks management has higher expectations for this upcoming season than Kings management.

Yeah, I would agree that it's more of a semantics thing where I use the term "win-now" where "make the playoffs" is probably a better way to put it. I also agree with the notion Hawks management feel more pressure to make the playoffs than the Kings probably do although I'm not sure I can put my finger on the reason for that. Possibly Kings management can see the rebuilding process done over the past several years is closer to bearing fruit so it's more a matter of staying the slow and steady course than the Hawks can see at this point. The fact that Seth Jones became available was not foreseen so it couldn't have been part of any master plan, but acquiring a #1 d-man has been the biggest need for the past several years and looked to be the biggest challenge so when Jones was there to be had the Hawks may have changed gears a bit and decided to speed up the rebuild process. Just my guess.

 

[KINGS17]

Funny, I was just coming to the Kings sight to discuss the common track the Kings and Hawks have been on over the past decade and where things stand now. I've dropped in a few times over the last few years and always enjoyed the discussion we've had.

Both teams seemed to have transitioned from rebuild to win-now going into the 2021/22 season - an unsurprising step for the Kings versus a somewhat surprising change of direction by the Hawks. Another common situation for both teams is the glut of forwards and how to go about paring it down to a group of 13/14 to best win-now and get the season off to a good start.

One area the Kings are in better shape than the Hawks is the fantastic prospect pool the Kings have versus the much more pedestrian Hawks group. Both teams have the aging Cup champs still on the roster who can play at a high level, but even there the Kings have their two main studs with Kopitar and Doughty while the Hawks still have Kane but we're not sure if Toews is capable of playing a full season, much less at the high level he was playing when last seen in the 2020 "Bubble" playoffs.

I'm encouraged we were able to get Seth Jones who should anchor the top-pair through the (hopeful) window of being Cup competitive somewhere in the next 5-7 years - so that's both a win-now and rebuild move that should work well for us.

I'm more encouraged for this season than I have been in a few years, but realistically, even with the additions of MAF and Jones, the Hawks are not in the conversation as a Cup contender and are at best still 2-3 years away.

I'm sure Kings fans are excited to be transitioning from rebuild to win-now. What are your expectations?

See you in the 2024 WCF!

 

[EbonyRaptor]

That’s funny, given what EbonyRaptor has stated. Tons of Hawks fans want Bowman gone, for numerous reasons. There’s a bit of an off-ice mess that was going on under Bowman’s nose that seem to implicate his organization of being aware of a well known sex offender that they employed and did nothing to stop him.

And in addition to that, the Hawks are already capped out. Seth Jones is quite overrated, and then you look at the rest of the mess on their blueline… Fleury sure is going to have a heavy workload in net this season.

I wouldn't put S.Jones in the same class as Hedman, Josi and probably another dozen #1 d-men around the league, but I think he's good enough to be a #1 minute cruncher in all situations d-man and able to be the anchor on a winning team. The thing about S.Jones that I hang my hat on is that #1 d-man is arguably the most difficult position to fill in building a team, especially when you're not drafting in the top-3 picks and happen to have a sure-fire stud d-man there for you to draft and cultivate. Therefore, as a Hawks' fan, I'm very happy the Hawks acquired Jones because it means the biggest need has been checked off the list which makes the domino effect much easier to manage.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I wouldn't put S.Jones in the same class as Hedman, Josi and probably another dozen #1 d-men around the league, but I think he's good enough to be a #1 minute cruncher in all situations d-man and able to be the anchor on a winning team. The thing about S.Jones that I hang my hat on is that #1 d-man is arguably the most difficult position to fill in building a team, especially when you're not drafting in the top-3 picks and happen to have a sure-fire stud d-man there for you to draft and cultivate. Therefore, as a Hawks' fan, I'm very happy the Hawks acquired Jones because it means the biggest need has been checked off the list which makes the domino effect much easier to manage.

There’s just a monumental drop off after Jones. It seems like a blueline full of fillers, which we as Kings fans know what that’s like the past couple of seasons with Doughty and the rest of the blueline.

 

[AlphaBravo]

I think one big difference between the Hawks and Kings is that the Hawks have sure things in some young players, such as Debrincat and Kubalik. The Kings only have potentially good young players in the deep prospect pool, but no one guaranteed to be scoring beasts like Debrincat and Kubalik. That said, I am optimistic about our prospects.