Blake Extended for 3 Years

[bmr]

Blake just signed a three-year contract extension with the Kings, but won't be announced for another week or two. I'm all for this - I think he has proven us all wrong so far.

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[Axl Rhoadz]

Blake just signed a three-year contract extension with the Kings, but won't be announced for another week or two. I'm all for this - I think he has proven us all wrong so far.

Didn't the Mayor say this same exact thing like 6 months ago?

 

[cyclones22]

I'm fine with it. But don't you dare sign TMc to an extension and how is Marco Sturm still employed?

 

[KingPuckChoo]

 

[KINGS17]

Meh, I don't think Blake has done anything yet that any average GM could have accomplished.

Holding onto to your draft picks is not a skill. Picking the correct players and the right people to develop those players, now that is far more valuable.

 

[Lt Dan]

Meh, I don't think Blake has done anything yet that any average GM could have accomplished.

Holding onto to your draft picks is not a skill. Picking the correct players and the right people to develop those players, now that is far more valuable.

I am mostly in agreement, but he did trade for Trevor "Thousand Oaks" Moore

 

[BigBrown]

No manager is perfect, overall I've been mostly happy with his choices so far. Petersen is looking like a potentially big blunder though.

 

[Bandit]

His signings/trades have been mostly excellent, Petersen being the one exception. The rest has been a dick sandwich. Drafting, development, coaching... a lot to be desired there.

 

[jgs]

Kings have to do a much better job developing their prospects much faster than they are. Hell the whole team will be old before those prsopects are ready.

 

[johnjm22]

Meh, I don't think Blake has done anything yet that any average GM could have accomplished.

Holding onto to your draft picks is not a skill. Picking the correct players and the right people to develop those players, now that is far more valuable.

I think you're undervaluing discipline and patience in a manager.

Holding onto picks and making decisions for the long term isn't a skill, but it does require discipline. It's an important attribute of a good GM.

 

[lumbergh]

Results mean something,.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Given what he started with and where the team is at today, I’d say the rebuild is starting to payoff. This is probably going to be his biggest offseason however in terms of elevating the team to get to the next level. People forget how the Kings were in cap hell with the worst pipeline in the NHL when Blake stepped in.

I think everyone here would’ve laughed at anyone who thought this was going to be a playoff team that will be playing in a Game 7 if that prediction was made a year ago.

The team also has a better idea now of exactly what needs they’ll have to address, and they have the assets and cap space to make some significant additions.

 

[Lt Dan]

Given what he started with and where the team is at today, I’d say the rebuild is starting to payoff. This is probably going to be his biggest offseason however in terms of elevating the team to get to the next level. People forget how the Kings were in cap hell with the worst pipeline in the NHL when Blake stepped in.

I think everyone here would’ve laughed at anyone who thought this was going to be a playoff team that will be playing in a Game 7 if that prediction was made a year ago.

The team also has a better idea now of exactly what needs they’ll have to address, and they have the assets and cap space to make some significant additions.

 

[kingsholygrail]

I forgot his contract was even up.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

This is the equivalent of signing a UFA like Forsberg to a huge deal after a career year

Not that i'm really against it but of course Blake looks like a genius right this minute even though the bulk of his work is a big fat 'incomplete'

 

[BigKing]

Given what he started with and where the team is at today, I’d say the rebuild is starting to payoff. This is probably going to be his biggest offseason however in terms of elevating the team to get to the next level. People forget how the Kings were in cap hell with the worst pipeline in the NHL when Blake stepped in.

I think everyone here would’ve laughed at anyone who thought this was going to be a playoff team that will be playing in a Game 7 if that prediction was made a year ago.

The team also has a better idea now of exactly what needs they’ll have to address, and they have the assets and cap space to make some significant additions.

Do people forget that or do people forget he went all-in with DL's roster by running it back and then adding to it with Kovy?

You get out of cap hell by trading valuable NHL'ers while the sands through the hourglass take care of the rest. The former also allows you to ice a shit team and accumulate prospects and picks to fix the pipeline issue. That's the easy thing with the hard thing being picking/trading for the right prospects and developing them properly.

I'm not a Blake guy but his best results-based moves are Danault/Arvi, the Muzzin trade and the Anderson selection. Sweet moves and credit where credit is due but the pipeline thing is actually frightening because there are grave concerns over all of his first round picks from 2017 - '20. Maybe not a grave concern with Bjornfot but, still, he couldn't keep his spot in the lineup this year and that was even with Anderson out.

There are positives in the pipeline, no doubt, but it isn't as promising as it once was. Agree with you and I've been saying it for awhile now: this is the off season where the tough calls need to be made.

He's getting the extension under the premise of "okay...we like where this is going so here is three years to finish the job" but he's still sitting here with serious questions in goal and at the forward positions while riding off of a miraculous 99 point season where they somehow kept finding ways to get points. I think they are in a pretty precarious position and he's going to need to make some sort of impact move plus have Byfield and others take a leap.

It's just a lot different after making the playoffs the first time with Lombardi and you want to extend him since he is sitting on the 11/23/8/32 from 12 years ago while Blake is sitting on the current versions of 11/8/32 while not having a replacement for 32 or--depending on Byfield--11.

Lot of work to be done. I'm encouraged by his--IMO--low risk/high reward moves last Summer but the time to be cautious has now passed and we don't know how well he'll do at taking a home run swing. Can he part with his beloved draft picks and, if he can, will he move the right prospects or will it bite him in the ass?

 

[The Lukeman]

While not adding any super stars to this team, he has created the best 2nd line in the nhl. Wasn't able to get us over the hump this year, but its time to build on it.

 

[King'sPawn]

I'm cool with it. I just hope he starts making some more difficult decisions and fixes the biggest organizational flaw, which at this point I think is development.

His trades and signings are fantastic though.

 

[Schrute farms]

It could be worse than Blake.....much worse. Look around at the league. Heck, it could be the fool from Montreal that was brought in as a consultant.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Meh. He’s had some stellar trades with Toronto etc and ok ufa signings (Kovy bombed out). However the rebuild was dependent on good drafting and developing talent with coaching. That gets a D, if not an F. He’s on his 3rd HC, top prospect pool isn’t living up to the hype, two first round exits in five seasons.

Just meh, but the extension length is appropriate to see if he can build off the playoff appearance.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Do people forget that or do people forget he went all-in with DL's roster by running it back and then adding to it with Kovy?

Was that really going all-in though? What future assets did he deal to go all-in? He bet on the veterans, who did deliver in his first season as GM, and then they added an offensive weapon in Kovalchuk who cost $6.25M. I don't know if I'd describe that as going all-in. He didn't even have an arsenal of prospects to trade to go all-in, and he didn't do it after one season of regular season success his first year on the job. He probably knew in the back of his mind this could blow up, and that's exactly what happened.

I just find it funny that people knock Blake for doing what he should've done, which is to hang onto picks. He could have just as easily started trading them away early in his tenure, like his predecessor had done repeatedly in chasing something that was already beyond approach.

I guess he's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. And I've been vocal and critical about wasting a high first round pick on someone like Turcotte, but given that seven of the players on the roster were drafted under his watch, three were undrafted prospects he signed, and 10 others were players he acquired via trade/free agency, he deserves quite a bit of credit for turning things around.

I ask again, how many of you expected this team to be playing in a Game 7 in the playoffs this year?

 

[johnjm22]

Do people forget that or do people forget he went all-in with DL's roster by running it back and then adding to it with Kovy?

He wasn't going all in.

It was a low risk move.

You give the roster another try without having to give up any assets. Meanwhile you bide your time hoarding picks/prospects.

 

[tomd]

If Blake has proven anything over his tenure, it is that he is cautious and risk-averse. To keep improving the roster, he is going to have to be aggressive and bold. We'll see if he has it in him.

 

[HookKing]

I think you're undervaluing discipline and patience in a manager.

Holding onto picks and making decisions for the long term isn't a skill, but it does require discipline. It's an important attribute of a good GM.

Yep, remember when that idiot Sakic that kept holding out for unrealistic deals.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

He wasn't going all in.

It was a low risk move.

You give the roster another try without having to give up any assets. Meanwhile you bide your time hoarding picks/prospects.

Going all in is subjective, up for interpretation, but one can see it that way if you look at the regimes actions and comments. Their introduction presser stated they felt the roster DL constructed was primed for more cup runs. Just needed a different culture/style.

That contradicts Ziggy’s contention that the current regime was handed a steaming pile and was in cap hell. Especially when we know Luc/AEG overruled DL on the Kopi extension and they gave Kovy 3 years when everyone else was offering 1 year deals.