Blake Extended for 3 Years

[Statto]

I still don’t understand why they never gave Tkachev a chance

He didn’t exactly crush it in the AHL, he scored but was inconsistent and managed to be a healthy scratch there. I think Frk probably earned the right as a specialist call up over him BUT given the poor pp it may have been worth a punt.

That’s my frustration (not only mine) with the pp, they kept doing the same things whilst expecting it to improve.

 

[cyclones22]

Some people seem to be forgetting that the prospects are also Blake's responsibility. He hired the people who scouted them, who drafted them, who are to develop them. So if you claim that they don't deserve to play or are not good enough to play, that is squarely on Blake's shoulders. Otherwise who is accountable? It's part of the job description.

The "reward" for sucking during the rebuild is higher draft picks. It behooves you to actually cultivate the lottery pick draft choices. That is draft capital, you do not treat them the same as a lower round pick because the picks used to select them are more valuable. Again the Kings are being the outlier with how they choose to develop top forward draft choices. Most other teams know the value and role of the player and pick and do what they can to make sure they have the best chance of reaching their potential.

You might be able to get rich quick with a free agent signing or trade. But without drafting and developing your own core you are never going to stay wealthy. If the Kings do not markedly increase the playing time and opportunity of their young forwards, they're going to be in the lottery again in a year or two when Kopi completely craters.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Some people seem to be forgetting that the prospects are also Blake's responsibility. He hired the people who scouted them, who drafted them, who are to develop them. So if you claim that they don't deserve to play or are not good enough to play, that is squarely on Blake's shoulders. Otherwise who is accountable? It's part of the job description.

The "reward" for sucking during the rebuild is higher draft picks. It behooves you to actually cultivate the lottery pick draft choices. That is draft capital, you do not treat them the same as a lower round pick because the picks used to select them are more valuable. Again the Kings are being the outlier with how they choose to develop top forward draft choices. Most other teams know the value and role of the player and pick and do what they can to make sure they have the best chance of reaching their potential.

You might be able to get rich quick with a free agent signing or trade. But without drafting and developing your own core you are never going to stay wealthy. If the Kings do not markedly increase the playing time and opportunity of their young forwards, they're going to be in the lottery again in a year or two when Kopi completely craters.

Curious....how many of "your own" core do you have to draft and develop to...."stay wealthy"

Ballpark, as we all know there's no exact number, but how many in general? 3? 10? 15? 7?

 

[Statto]

Jesse made a great point on All the Kings Men, which is bound to split opinion. He said that the Kings can take a step forward next year, but actually miss the play-offs. I completely agree with him on that, it’s a great point he made.

 

[Maynard]

Jesse made a great point on All the Kings Men, which is bound to split opinion. He said that the Kings can take a step forward next year, but actually miss the play-offs. I completely agree with him on that, it’s a great point he made.

Have you considered joining the street team?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I wouldn't describe missing the playoffs as progress. That is completely delusional. Those are the games that matter most. If the Kings aren't one of the top 3 teams in the Pacific Division, or a top 8 team in the Western Conference, then how would that be a step forward? Individuals can take a step forward in their performances, but as a team, that isn't making progress.

 

[King'sPawn]

Jesse made a great point on All the Kings Men, which is bound to split opinion. He said that the Kings can take a step forward next year, but actually miss the play-offs. I completely agree with him on that, it’s a great point he made.

I disagree. I actually think it's the opposite. Merely making the playoffs isn't enough.

If the Kings wanted to make progress without playoffs, they could have attempted that this year.

 

[Fishhead]

What he may be implying is that if the Kings end up in the mid 90's point-wise and Byfield, Kaliyev, etc. are in the 50 point range and are improving rather than being carried by the vets, it could bode well for the future, even if they miss because three teams hit 100 points.

 

[tomd]

I wouldn't describe missing the playoffs as progress. That is completely delusional. Those are the games that matter most. If the Kings aren't one of the top 3 teams in the Pacific Division, or a top 8 team in the Western Conference, then how would that be a step forward? Individuals can take a step forward in their performances, but as a team, that isn't making progress.

I agree. If the Kings miss the playoffs in 22-23 that means probably all 3 of the following happened:
1. Veterans like Kopitar, Doughty, and Denault all fell off a cliff
2. Rookies like Byfield and Kaliyev failed to take the necessary step forward
3. Blake did nothing positive in the off season to make the team better.

That doesn't seem like progress to me.

 

[BringTheReign]

I see what Jesse is saying, but I agree that it's an unlikely edge case. Let's say Vegas returns to form next year, and the Kings are fighting for a wildcard spot given the strength of the Knights, Oilers, and Flames. I wouldn't be happy about it, but if, say, Byfield, Kaliyev, and another kid pop and hit 40-50 points each but we finished 9th, I'd feel better about our future than if we made the playoffs on the backs of Danault, Doughty, and Quick alone.

The latter would be a pyhrric victory, whereas the former would bode well for our future as a legit contender.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The Pacific is gonna be a competitive warzone next year, honestly.
VGK--will have health and a full season of Eichel, hate them but they'll be in the mix. I believe Logan Thompson is their long term answer in goal.
Vancouver played at like a 100 pt pace under Boudreau, don't think they keep that up necessarily but they're a challenger
Oilers are all-in
Flames--will depend on what happens with free agents but this is their window as well

5 teams should be in the battle, I'm not sure the Ducks are ready for a big step forward without Getzlaf and maybe Gibson, SJS SHOULD tank if they know what's good for them but they'll hang around the black hole too. Seattle should be towards the bottom but they play hard.

 

[KINGS17]

I disagree. I actually think it's the opposite. Merely making the playoffs isn't enough.

If the Kings wanted to make progress without playoffs, they could have attempted that this year.

Well, maybe next year the Kings will do what they should have done this past season. Could be they get forced to do it depending on the performance of the vets on which they rely so heavily.

 

[King'sPawn]

I see what Jesse is saying, but I agree that it's an unlikely edge case. Let's say Vegas returns to form next year, and the Kings are fighting for a wildcard spot given the strength of the Knights, Oilers, and Flames. I wouldn't be happy about it, but if, say, Byfield, Kaliyev, and another kid pop and hit 40-50 points each but we finished 9th, I'd feel better about our future than if we made the playoffs on the backs of Danault, Doughty, and Quick alone.

The latter would be a pyhrric victory, whereas the former would bode well for our future as a legit contender.

I'm not sure I agree still. If the Kings have three role players this season double their points and they still miss the playoffs, that means the big contracts they are tied to for the next few years are weighing the Kings down so much it would be mediocrity for a couple years.

I'm sure that's what Jesse is alluding to, but if you're losing more than you're gaining to the point that you completely miss the playoffs, after making it this year, then that's a huge loss and waste of time.

This was the year for the moral victory if people wanted to lean on that.

 

[bland]

I disagree. I actually think it's the opposite. Merely making the playoffs isn't enough.

If the Kings wanted to make progress without playoffs, they could have attempted that this year.

That's exactly what they should have done, and most definitely should do next year.

There is a lull coming. Most likely scenario sees no King cracks the 60 point mark next year. Chasing the playoffs does far more harm than good to a team in this flux. This team isn't ready to succeed, nor is it built for a playoff run. Just making the playoffs is the absolute best they could hope for, unless they bring in MORE vets and dig their holes even deeper.

Progress is seeing young players given the rope they need to move forward, not burying them deeper behind middle of the lineup veteran acquisitions. If that means missing the playoffs, fine.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

That's exactly what they should have done, and most definitely should do next year.

There is a lull coming. Most likely scenario sees no King cracks the 60 point mark next year. Chasing the playoffs does far more harm than good to a team in this flux. This team isn't ready to succeed, nor is it built for a playoff run. Just making the playoffs is the absolute best they could hope for, unless they bring in MORE vets and dig their holes even deeper.

Progress is seeing young players given the rope they need to move forward, not burying them deeper behind middle of the lineup veteran acquisitions. If that means missing the playoffs, fine.

You guys keep talking about this, but it's a pipe dream. The Kings, as proven last year, will try and do both -- be competitive AND develop the prospects. Why? Because ultimately they still need to win games in order to sell tickets -- some of you keep forgetting about that aspect. So, get used to it.

 

[All The Kings Men]

Have you considered joining the street team?

We're not currently accepting applications.

HOWEVER

to all those saying that missing the playoffs next season should neccessarily be viewed as regression I say open your minds\

EDIT: I'm far more interested in HOW next season plays out and less interested in where it finished (standings wise)

 

[tomd]

We're not currently accepting applications.

HOWEVER

to all those saying that missing the playoffs next season should neccessarily be viewed as regression I say open your minds\

EDIT: I'm far more interested in HOW next season plays out and less interested in where it finished (standings wise)

That's a little too vague for all of us common folk. Can you be a bit more specific? What I think you'll say is that if the kids progress it's ok to miss the playoffs. And that is nonsense.

The simple answer is if they miss the playoffs with 100 points that can still be considered a successful (albeit disappointing) season. If they miss the playoffs with 85 points that is not good result under any circumstances.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

We're not currently accepting applications.

HOWEVER

to all those saying that missing the playoffs next season should neccessarily be viewed as regression I say open your minds\

EDIT: I'm far more interested in HOW next season plays out and less interested in where it finished (standings wise)

I'm not buying any of this -- if we miss the playoffs, that means we are losing more games than we are winning. If we are losing games, we are doing something wrong and most likely the players aren't performing. You can't have one without the other.

 

[Steve Zissou]

I say open your minds\

This immediately comes to mind...

 

[Fishhead]

Remember it happened with the Avalanche. They had vets and young guys both producing when they first hired Roy, they had a fantastic season. By Roy's third season that had imploded, leading to his firing as they had lost 30 points in the standings. They really went in the crapper the next season and finally started turning it around in Bednar's 2nd year.

MacKinnon was in this 6th season and Landeskog was in his 8th before they made it past the first round. Some of that has to do with Bednar finally getting them to move away from that flying style into a system with more emphasis on their own end, Roy couldn't have cared less about that shit.

The equivalent of that for the Kings would be making it past the first round in 25-26, and they didn't have nearly the top picks Colorado did. They had 6 top 10 picks in 9 years, including a 1, a 2, a 3, and a 5. So a step back isn't an uncommon thing when trying to build a contender.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

And that's why the bandaid should have been ripped off this year.

There are almost certainly going to be growing pains next year as Kopitar wanes and youth start to take more important roles.

 

[KINGS17]

You guys keep talking about this, but it's a pipe dream. The Kings, as proven last year, will try and do both -- be competitive AND develop the prospects. Why? Because ultimately they still need to win games in order to sell tickets -- some of you keep forgetting about that aspect. So, get used to it.

I don't really care what they are trying to do, because that is not the purpose of the comments. We are discussing what they should be doing to advance the rebuild to contention as quickly as possible.

We're not currently accepting applications.

HOWEVER

to all those saying that missing the playoffs next season should neccessarily be viewed as regression I say open your minds\

EDIT: I'm far more interested in HOW next season plays out and less interested in where it finished (standings wise)

As it was with this season, how they make the playoffs is more important than if they make the playoffs.

 

[DoktorJeep]

How likely is it that all of Kopitar, Doughty and Quick play the majority of next seasons games? Quick is the oldest, has the track record of injuries and plays the position with the least depth. Making or missing the playoffs will come down to health and how good the competition plays.

Moves to round out the vet group are high cost, low reward. The upside of adding a Forsberg is offset by the risk of Kopitar being even worse due to age but still sucking up outsized cap space plus minutes.

The only way to move the needle forward is the kids scoring enough to replace a guy who plays top 1-3 minutes at their position. The best bet is Kaliyev. Which isn’t much to pin your hopes on for what is supposedly the best pipeline in the league.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I don't really care what they are trying to do, because that is not the purpose of the comments. We are discussing what they should be doing to advance the rebuild to contention as quickly as possible.

Great, but it's pointless because it's not reality.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Great, but it's pointless because it's not reality.

Reality is the vets are about to run out of racetrack so any attempt to 'run it back' next year are going to brickwall and some people are going to wonder why.