Confirmed with Link: Changes Incoming

[Cook24]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the last time our PP was awesome wasn't thanx to Coach Tippett??

Yes, our PP was amazing when Tippett was assistant coach. I believe he coached Blake actually too.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Sucks for Stevens to pay his dues, avoid two coaching changing where the other assistant gets axed and he doesn't and still not get the coaching job. I am fine with him. If it doesn't work out then Stothers is next.

 

[KingsFan7824]

not in a million years. the onus is on the GMs to control themselves. the players union will never agree to non-guaranteed contracts

That's why the players wanted free agency. They know GM's cant do that. Their jobs are on the line, and talent is scarce every year.

 

[Kingjin]

Going back a couple of pages ago talking about the players and coaching, what about Lappy? I know he is in Philly, but would he want a Head Coach job? Would he be any good? I don't watch enough Flyer games to know how he is doing as an Assistant Coach.

 

[AlphaBravo]

Tippett is the last coach the Kings need. His style is to play shell defense, and counter with odd man rushes or breakaways. He is not a puck possession coach and is not the right person to make us more offensively dynamic.

The best option now is John Stevens, with an offensive specialist as an assistant. This team needs continuity and should not all of a sudden completely dump what they have built.

Personally, I think 70% of why we suddenly tanked the last three years is because of our roster, which is DL's responsibility. Losing Richards, Stoll, Voynov, Michell, good Scuderi, Williams etc. was a huge blow to this team and never replaced with other players. The other 30% of the blame lays on Sutter for not bringing the most out of players like Gaborik, Kopitar, Brown and Toffoli.

If Blake can address the roster needs, then we may suddenly see offense through that change alone. If Stevens can keep our defense in tact, and make a few tweaks to further enhance our production from Kopitar, Brown and Toffoli, we will be significantly better.

 

[Reaper45]

Tippett is the last coach the Kings need. His style is to play shell defense, and counter with odd man rushes or breakaways. He is not a puck possession coach and is not the right person to make us more offensively dynamic.

The best option now is John Stevens, with an offensive specialist as an assistant. This team needs continuity and should not all of a sudden completely dump what they have built.

Personally, I think 70% of why we suddenly tanked the last three years is because of our roster, which is DL's responsibility. Losing Richards, Stoll, Voynov, Michell, good Scuderi, Williams etc. was a huge blow to this team and never replaced with other players. The other 30% of the blame lays on Sutter for not bringing the most out of players like Gaborik, Kopitar, Brown and Toffoli.

If Blake can address the roster needs, then we may suddenly see offense through that change alone. If Stevens can keep our defense in tact, and make a few tweaks to further enhance our production from Kopitar, Brown and Toffoli, we will be significantly better.

How do you expect Lombardi to have replaced players of that caliber? He tried by adding Lucic and Sekera and people crap on those deals constantly. Free Agency is never going to land the Kings the big name. Never has, never will. All that leaves is trades to replace the players the Kings lost which is an unrealistic expectation.

 

[head eyes]

How do you expect Lombardi to have replaced players of that caliber? He tried by adding Lucic and Sekera and people crap on those deals constantly. Free Agency is never going to land the Kings the big name. Never has, never will. All that leaves is trades to replace the players the Kings lost which is an unrealistic expectation.

What's funny is no free agent ever wants to sign here but if they get traded here they always say what a great team, city and experience they had here.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Personally, I think 70% of why we suddenly tanked the last three years is because of our roster, which is DL's responsibility. Losing Richards, Stoll, Voynov, Michell, good Scuderi, Williams etc. was a huge blow to this team and never replaced with other players. The other 30% of the blame lays on Sutter for not bringing the most out of players like Gaborik, Kopitar, Brown and Toffoli.

Can't blame Lombardi for Voynov, or not replacing him. He was a young, signed, right handed, top 4 defenseman. Nobody is giving you that guy. Muzzin and Martinez has their cap hits quadruple after 2014, which is one reason Mitchell couldn't come back. Is he coming back for 1 year? He got a 2 year, $8.5m deal from Florida. Plus they still had Regehr. That's 3 LD. Re-signed Greene because he's right handed.

Richards, Stoll, Williams, all on the 14-15 team that couldn't even make the playoffs. Mr. Game 7 had 3 goals in the last 30 games of that season.

They never did replace those grizzled vets that had been there and done that, but that's why Lombardi always said that eventually, Kopitar, and Doughty, and those guys were going to have to be the been there done that players on this team that would lead the next iteration. They were going to take up the cap space, and they were going to have to carry the team. Of course I don't think Lombardi thought he would get only 2.5 years out of Richards either. Not when he traded for him at the age of 26.

 

[KINGS17]

Can't blame Lombardi for Voynov, or not replacing him. He was a young, signed, right handed, top 4 defenseman. Nobody is giving you that guy. Muzzin and Martinez has their cap hits quadruple after 2014, which is one reason Mitchell couldn't come back. Is he coming back for 1 year? He got a 2 year, $8.5m deal from Florida. Plus they still had Regehr. That's 3 LD. Re-signed Greene because he's right handed.

Richards, Stoll, Williams, all on the 14-15 team that couldn't even make the playoffs. Mr. Game 7 had 3 goals in the last 30 games of that season.

They never did replace those grizzled vets that had been there and done that, but that's why Lombardi always said that eventually, Kopitar, and Doughty, and those guys were going to have to be the been there done that players on this team that would lead the next iteration. They were going to take up the cap space, and they were going to have to carry the team. Of course I don't think Lombardi thought he would get only 2.5 years out of Richards either. Not when he traded for him at the age of 26.

Not an unreasonable expectation at all, but the next generation has failed to take on that role for the most part.

 

[deeshamrock]

Going back a couple of pages ago talking about the players and coaching, what about Lappy? I know he is in Philly, but would he want a Head Coach job? Would he be any good? I don't watch enough Flyer games to know how he is doing as an Assistant Coach.

I can't see him (now anyway) as a head coach, I think he needs more experience . And he loves working closely with the players, and the bond that forms. That's something you can't take when you wear the chief cap. But he loves coaching, esp working with the young players and perhaps one day, he will get that shot.
But I think he'd need more years in, maybe even do an AHL stint as head coach for a bit to get his feet wet.

Great guy, players love him. And I can tell you first hand from watching him he'was 100% warrior, leadership in spades.

 

[AlphaBravo]

I don't buy the notion that it is impossible for the Kings to sign a free agent in the summer. That is pretty ridiculous. Free agents sign to play in some pretty horrible cities compared to LA, and we are not in a rebuild mode for competitors to automatically scratch us off their list of teams.

After the 2014 run, DL was not looking for a big name UFA to sign because his plan was to keep the team together as is and replicate the prior success. After we did not qualify for the playoffs in the 2014-2015 season, DL, again, had no reason to sign a UFA. He had traded for Lucic for salary retained.

For the 2016-2017 season, DL couldn't resign Lucic because of the term that he wanted and also because there was hesitation in him after the Brown and Gaborik contracts. Otherwise, all indications showed that Lucic wanted to play here.

The only UFA that I can think of that did not want to play here was Sekera, and part of that was because he did not like Sutter's system and also the Kings waited too long to see what would happen with Voynov to sign Sekera. Otherwise, I think the Kings could have signed Sekera as well.

 

[AlphaBravo]

Can't blame Lombardi for Voynov, or not replacing him. He was a young, signed, right handed, top 4 defenseman. Nobody is giving you that guy. Muzzin and Martinez has their cap hits quadruple after 2014, which is one reason Mitchell couldn't come back. Is he coming back for 1 year? He got a 2 year, $8.5m deal from Florida. Plus they still had Regehr. That's 3 LD. Re-signed Greene because he's right handed.

Richards, Stoll, Williams, all on the 14-15 team that couldn't even make the playoffs. Mr. Game 7 had 3 goals in the last 30 games of that season.

They never did replace those grizzled vets that had been there and done that, but that's why Lombardi always said that eventually, Kopitar, and Doughty, and those guys were going to have to be the been there done that players on this team that would lead the next iteration. They were going to take up the cap space, and they were going to have to carry the team. Of course I don't think Lombardi thought he would get only 2.5 years out of Richards either. Not when he traded for him at the age of 26.

I agree that there are excuses for what happened to our roster that may have been out of DL's control. And I am not a DL hater like most on this board. By saying 70% of the blame goes to DL, I am simply referring to things that are in his control.

 

[head eyes]

I don't buy the notion that it is impossible for the Kings to sign a free agent in the summer. That is pretty ridiculous. Free agents sign to play in some pretty horrible cities compared to LA, and we are not in a rebuild mode for competitors to automatically scratch us off their list of teams.

After the 2014 run, DL was not looking for a big name UFA to sign because his plan was to keep the team together as is and replicate the prior success. After we did not qualify for the playoffs in the 2014-2015 season, DL, again, had no reason to sign a UFA. He had traded for Lucic for salary retained.

For the 2016-2017 season, DL couldn't resign Lucic because of the term that he wanted and also because there was hesitation in him after the Brown and Gaborik contracts. Otherwise, all indications showed that Lucic wanted to play here.

The only UFA that I can think of that did not want to play here was Sekera, and part of that was because he did not like Sutter's system and also the Kings waited too long to see what would happen with Voynov to sign Sekera. Otherwise, I think the Kings could have signed Sekera as well.

Do you still think Lucic would've wanted to play here had he not just spent a whole season with the team? I highly doubt it.

Fact is the Kings have only ever been able to sign veteran D-men on their last leg and dumpster diver forwards since forever.

Who has been the Kings most notable free agent signing in the past 10 years? Handzus? W. Mitchell? That should tell you a lot.

 

[kingsholygrail]

John Stevens? Ah well the more things change the more they stay the same.

 

[KingsFan7824]

You look at free agency, and there's pre and post cap. Pre-cap, different world. When the Leafs and Rangers could spend whatever, everybody went there. Post-cap, the only example we really have is Lombardi. One summer with Taylor, and he did get Demitra. Conroy wasn't a bad player, and they did sign him before the 05 lockout.

Lombardi might have tried to get some guys over the years, but at the time the Kings weren't great, or even good. The first couple years, Lombardi basically had to settle for the warm bodies while doing a complete rebuilding of the entire organization. By the time Scuderi signed, Lombardi was getting more specific in his attempts. It wasn't just whoever the best player was, but who fit a role, which is really the best way to use free agency.

The issue today is that there aren't too many guys out there, because everyone signs these huge contracts now.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

And here's the first player transaction under the Blake era:
https://www.nhl.com/news/c-288764884

 

[Butch 19]

And here's the first player transaction under the Blake era:
https://www.nhl.com/news/c-288764884

looking forward to getting my first Reddekopp jersey

 

[Kingjin]

I can't see him (now anyway) as a head coach, I think he needs more experience . And he loves working closely with the players, and the bond that forms. That's something you can't take when you wear the chief cap. But he loves coaching, esp working with the young players and perhaps one day, he will get that shot.
But I think he'd need more years in, maybe even do an AHL stint as head coach for a bit to get his feet wet.

Great guy, players love him. And I can tell you first hand from watching him he'was 100% warrior, leadership in spades.

Thank you Dee for the response! I loved Lappy when he was here.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

And here's the first player transaction under the Blake era:
https://www.nhl.com/news/c-288764884

Nothing to see here; move along?

ETA: Never mind. I googled it and found Chaz Reddekopp signed to a 3-year entry-level contract. So 2 7th-rounders from 2015 got ELCs. Not bad.

 

[AlphaBravo]

Do you still think Lucic would've wanted to play here had he not just spent a whole season with the team? I highly doubt it.

Fact is the Kings have only ever been able to sign veteran D-men on their last leg and dumpster diver forwards since forever.

Who has been the Kings most notable free agent signing in the past 10 years? Handzus? W. Mitchell? That should tell you a lot.

That's just pure speculation on your part. If LA never traded for Lucic, and matched dollar for dollar what Edmonton paid him, he would have just as likely signed with the Kings. Remember, it is only after this season that everyone is raving about Edmonton. At the start of the season, they were perceived by the NHL as a dumpster fire (except for McDavid). If Lucic at that time was willing to sign with such a team, he would have signed with LA as well, which was a year removed from winning the cup.

You can't go back and look at the Kings history from 1967 to 2010 to claim that no UFA will ever sign here. Even though we have not had much success from 2014-2017, NHL players realize that we have some of the ingredients in place to be a playoff team, and potentially again a contender in a few years. If LA matches the money, we can sign good UFAs.

Take a look at Louie Ericsson. He signed with freakin Vancouver, which everyone knew would be garbage this season. If LA matched money, I am sure he would be more than happy to play for LA instead of Vancouver.

 

[Herby]

How do you expect Lombardi to have replaced players of that caliber?

The way he said he was going to do it when he first got here, through the draft.

But the Kings ceased being a draft team a long time ago, as evidenced with all the picks traded for veterans.

It's impossible in a cap league to build a team that contends for a long time if you don't draft well, and that is why the Kings had a three year window and now it's over. Just not enough talent added to the organization.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Nothing to see here; move along?

ETA: Never mind. I googled it and found Chaz Reddekopp signed to a 3-year entry-level contract. So 2 7th-rounders from 2015 got ELCs. Not bad.

Don't know what happened to the link, doesn't appear to be on their page now, but the news of Reddekopp signing was up on the NHL app.

 

[BigKing]

They only got Lucic by giving up valuable assets to get him AND salary retention.

They couldn't sign a big name that summer if they wanted to which is why most everyone knew the Sekera deal was a pure rental unless they went on another deep run and he decided winning while making less money was better than cashing in as much as possible.

RE: Lappy, I would love for him to be back in the Kings organization in some capacity. Maybe Blake/Luc could poach him. Feel like it would be hard to half-ass it out there and then come back to the bench and look him in the face.

 

[head eyes]

That's just pure speculation on your part. If LA never traded for Lucic, and matched dollar for dollar what Edmonton paid him, he would have just as likely signed with the Kings. Remember, it is only after this season that everyone is raving about Edmonton. At the start of the season, they were perceived by the NHL as a dumpster fire (except for McDavid). If Lucic at that time was willing to sign with such a team, he would have signed with LA as well, which was a year removed from winning the cup.

You can't go back and look at the Kings history from 1967 to 2010 to claim that no UFA will ever sign here. Even though we have not had much success from 2014-2017, NHL players realize that we have some of the ingredients in place to be a playoff team, and potentially again a contender in a few years. If LA matches the money, we can sign good UFAs.

It is speculation but it's speculation backed up with years of evidence. No impact players sign here because the Kings don't have the cap space to match bottom feeder teams.

Take a look at Louie Ericsson. He signed with freakin Vancouver, which everyone knew would be garbage this season. If LA matched money, I am sure he would be more than happy to play for LA instead of Vancouver.

Oh so you can speculate but I can't?

 

[Herby]

Lucic was looking for the most money. He did LA a favor by letting them match EDM offer, but he was going to whoever offered the most and the Kings just couldn't even come close.