Doughty out for the year after wrist surgery

[Peter James Bond II]

Going to be some great material to look back on here if the Kings make the playoffs...

It's going to take some extraordinary things....like 3 or 4, 2 goal games by Kempe....5 goals from Arvy the final 8, Lizotte back to his early year play, no more than 2 -2 (or worse) games from Durzi, Byfield, Vilardi, Kupari all playing their best NHL level yet...Roy taking full charge of the D, Danault leading the team, Moore, being more of Moore...and no more than 2 soft goals given up the rest of the year. Oh, and no more than 3 penalties taken in any game. Would help if Kopitar shows up. Keep Iafallo less than 12 minutes and Brown on the sidelines.

Mark Stone may be coming back tomorrow.

 

[YAYSAY]

How many GMs/coaches in the league say that winning the cup is the goal for the season...and how many of those teams actually do it?

Who cares what Blake says, he's trying to sell tickets....this is a BUSINESS. Show me where the majority of 'experts' or even the loyal, miserable fans on this board we're claiming playoffs before game 1.

Of course he said that, but then he went and made additions which backed up his claim proving that it wasn't just empty words.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Where do you get this "wasn't expected to make the playoffs" line from? Didn't Blake say he had hoped we would be in playoff contention this season? What was the point of getting Danault and Arvidsson if not to battle for a playoff spot?

And they're in the race for a spot, despite Doughty missing half the year. I guarantee, if in Sept you said Doughty would miss 40 games, there's not a single chance in hell anyone would've thought this team is higher than bottom 5 as of 4/11/22.

 

[Gjwrams]

I had the feeling it was going towards this result. It sucks that he went down for the year.

 

[DoktorJeep]

This team is so good at pissing backwards that the official loss of Doughty will mark them going on a hot streak.

 

[kingskring]

And they're in the race for a spot, despite Doughty missing half the year. I guarantee, if in Sept you said Doughty would miss 40 games, there's not a single chance in hell anyone would've thought this team is higher than bottom 5 as of 4/11/22.

Yes. This. It’s amazing the kings are currently on the cusp of the playoffs given the amount of injuries we have had.

 

[King'sPawn]

It’s cool, remember our big TDL acquisition was the return of Edler.

Yeah, because surely the problem with the organization is not enough vets to lean on to chase a playoff appearance.

 

[King'sPawn]

Where do you get this "wasn't expected to make the playoffs" line from? Didn't Blake say he had hoped we would be in playoff contention this season? What was the point of getting Danault and Arvidsson if not to battle for a playoff spot?

Sorry. I'll catch you up.

There's a small subset of people here who think they are better fans than everyone else, yet ignored the organizational expectations and messages from the start of the season which justifies our expectations of accountability.

 

[tny760]

i'll always go back to blake's (paraphrased) quote from preseason that "this is the best roster he's had to date"

and how tmac said tkachev was the "biggest surprise out of camp" before burying him after 4 games

suffice to say it's all lip service from the top no matter how you want to slice it

 

[Steve Zissou]

I was worried when he finished the Boston game with one arm basically. I tore ligaments in my wrist and it turned my shot into a super muffin.

This sounds like an injury on a porn set.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Yes. This. It’s amazing the kings are currently on the cusp of the playoffs given the amount of injuries we have had.

3 of their pre-season top 6 on D have missed at least 40+ games, with a 4th missing almost 30. They are certainly running out of gas, and that's no excuse for falling apart against the Wild, but for a team that wasnt a pre-season favorite to make the playoffs like the Knights were, considering the circumstances, a chance for the last spot is a pretty decent showing. Playing themselves out of one would be disappointing though.

 

[KingsFan7824]

i'll always go back to blake's (paraphrased) quote from preseason that "this is the best roster he's had to date"

and how tmac said tkachev was the "biggest surprise out of camp" before burying him after 4 games

suffice to say it's all lip service from the top no matter how you want to slice it

How is it lip service? Doughty missed half the year and they're still playing for something. How is that not the best team Blake's had? And that's without an MVP season from Kopitar.

 

[BringTheReign]

Where do you get this "wasn't expected to make the playoffs" line from? Didn't Blake say he had hoped we would be in playoff contention this season? What was the point of getting Danault and Arvidsson if not to battle for a playoff spot?

The only thing Blake said was that it was time to get better and that selling off veterans to accrue picks and prospects was over. No one in the organization publicly said playoffs were the expectation before the season except Doughty.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Going to be some great material to look back on here if the Kings make the playoffs...

This team is so good at pissing backwards that the official loss of Doughty will mark them going on a hot streak.

Right after Axl's post my first thought was "you know what, these mother f***ers are going to win out"

because hockey.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

3 of their pre-season top 6 on D have missed at least 40+ games, with a 4th missing almost 30. They are certainly running out of gas, and that's no excuse for falling apart against the Wild, but for a team that wasnt a pre-season favorite to make the playoffs like the Knights were, considering the circumstances, a chance for the last spot is a pretty decent showing. Playing themselves out of one would be disappointing though.

I got 6+ months of being interested in watching games from one night to the next. That’s a huge improvement from 2-3 months. I take that as a win.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

How is it lip service? Doughty missed half the year and they're still playing for something. How is that not the best team Blake's had? And that's without an MVP season from Kopitar.

I'll be proud of what they accomplished pretty much no matter what but I'll damn sure be bitter about HOW we didn't make the playoffs...and really the problem is they're going into next year with far more question marks than answers. I've said in the past this is like the 2010 kings but that was a team on the way up--this team is just as liable to flatline before the handoff.

-What does Doughty look like coming off (amazingly) the first major injury of his career, and with no Olympics to play for?
-Is this the beginning of the end of Kopitar?
-Both Danault and Moore (and Kempe) had career years, what do they do for an encore?
-ESPECIALLY with the concerns above--does Byfield take a step forward, along with Vilardi and Kupari and Kaliyev? Who bursts onto the scene?
-Can any goalie string together a few weeks of solid starts? Can we get even league average goaltending?
-Is Turcotte having an open casket funeral?
-Can we ice 12 RHDs?
-Will the Kings hire anyone to assist Dr. Nick in the medical tent?

 

[Little Psycho]

 

[lumbergh]

What a gut punch. In retrospect it's clear Blake should have gone out and gotten some help on D, given the injuries. If the Kings miss the playoffs it's gonna be a lot of navel gazing.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

 

[AlphaBravo]

My biggest concern is how DD recovers. Will he be the same next season?

 

[apocalypse]

Good grief. It comes in 3's. All RHD too and in 48 hours, no less.
1. Brandt Clarke twists knee. unknown at the moment, at least to the world, how bad it is.
2. Faber *may be lost
3. Doughty surgey

Why would you be depending on the other two? Neither are nhl ready.

 

[All The Kings Men]

I am not hearing any of this Faber nonsense.

I saw it on twitter now I'm seeing it in here. The deadline for Faber is 2024.

AUGUST OF 2024.

 

[BigKing]

I don't think it was playoffs or bust but rather being in the position they are currently in: firmly in the race with 10 games or so left which is a far cry from the last few seasons.

Strictly going off of results, it is a win for Management. This is not how they expected to get here though. Management would be lying if they told you they didn't expect any of the highly touted forward prospects to be a key contributor by now. Kudos to Durzi and Spence for taking their chance and running with it but the forwards--outside of Kaliyev--have been disappointing and it was supposed to be the strength of the prospect pool.

Even if they make the playoffs, it is going to be near impossible to win a series with this current group on defense unless one of the goaltenders goes on an insane tear.

Blake wanted/needed clarity going into this offseason and now he has a bunch of "what do I really have" when it comes to the forward prospects and, perhaps frighteningly, he has a "maybe we are a 100 point team as-is if these injuries didn't hit" similar to 2018 and "we just need to score some more goals and we are a Cup contender".

 

[AbsentMojo]

This blows. is it too late to tank? Craig McTavish would even at this point... jk.. its a bad blow, but as others have said, hockey. Team could sack up, squeak in, then in the playoffs JQ puts on some eminem, channels 2012 and away we go.

 

[AbsentMojo]

I am not hearing any of this Faber nonsense.

I saw it on twitter now I'm seeing it in here. The deadline for Faber is 2024.

AUGUST OF 2024.

Faber probably met some hockey groupie and is having way too much fun - doesnt want to miss out on college years altogether.. cant blame the kid.