Originally Posted by HolyShot View Post
How would trading toffoli create a hole? He doesn't even play in our top 6 right now. He doesn't fit unless you trade williams or carter which we wouldn't do.
trading Toffoli creates a hole, because after JW's contract exprires after next season. TTT will likely slot into the #2RW spot after Carter. no reason to fill a current hole, only to create one in another season. poor asset management
You can't just break up a team into separate components like that. A lot goes into a team like chemistry and team defense.
very true, but this how teams (GMs, coaches and scouts) break down an opponent. TG is doing what he has done for years. break down and compare match ups, so you know how to play them. does this give you a 100% true picture, not by any means but it is an objective way to compare team v. team and player v. player.
I read your message carelessly and misunderstood it. Sorry, my fault.
In my mind Brown-Stoll-Williams -line should stay together, just like King-Kopitar-Carter -line. Missing component is a LW "Mister X", who can play with Richards-Toffoli.
Dwight King would be an ideal "Mister X", but unfortunately we have only one Dwight King in our team. I think that Dwight is our team's Unsung Hero and I appreciate him a lot.
Jordan Nolan can score goals now and then and he can skate and hit and fight, but he is a poor puckhandler and can't protect the puck at all, why he is a pretty bad along boards (unlike D. King). And in my mind Nolan is below average passer, because he has a "tunnelvision". Maybye it's because he is so inexperienced. But I gladly admit that Nolan's hockey IQ is higher than Clifford's hockey IQ.
I definitely want to keep Nolan in LA, because I love his size and guts and I think he is a better hockeyplayer than average 4th liners are. As you said "Guys like him and King don't grow on trees and he is a solid player for us."
Tanner Pearson. Sorry, but I think that he is too - how can I say it - small or soft or something like that. Too much babyfat, not enough muscle or mean streak.
as stated earlier i want to see Pearson on a 10-game call up, playing exclusively with MR and Toff. Dean and Darryl were willing to roll the dice and inject some youth into the lineup in 2012, i hope they try this again with Pearson. LA has the depth, experience and defense to help cover up Pearson for 10 games. hell they were more than willing to do it with Muzz, why not Pearson?
i think you underestimate Nolan. yes he isn't the most adept puck handler, but the kid's skating and hands have improved tremendously in the past two years. from 10-feet out i think he has some damn good hands. hey it could be worse, he could have Lewis' hands. his skating has improved greatly to the point he is far more effective on the forecheck than he was when he first got called up. as of now i think Nolan is a solid 4th liner with good upside.
I did enjoy your long player by player breakdown and all the thought and effort that went into it.
However, I guess maybe I'm a fan too long and have seen too many playoff series. Speed and skill can be lethal and has and will cost teams playoff games and series. You can't hit what you can't catch. And the Hawks, much as I don't like them much, possess more speed and skill and it showed in the playoffs. We have nobody that is as fast or skilled as Kane, for example, and that shows up vs lots of big, physical teams like the Kings. That speed and skill and goal scoring is winning them games despite Crawford looking like the average goalie he was before the big contract .
In 7 games, head to head, unless the Kings upgrade to add a more skilled LW for that 2nd line, they can't match that.
As for your comment on Lewis, the Kings are winning games despite him being on the the Richards line, not with him and there is a big difference. That line has a hole in it and DL knows it. Reg season wins are not the same as the playoffs. And if that line had a real LW, it would produce more and take pressure off the team. They'd have 3 balanced lines, not 2.
The Kings have too much grit and not enough skill on their wings as a whole and some of those gritty players are redundant.
And don't forget that the Kings thru the first 2 series last playoffs, were outplayed and were lucky to get past the Blues and Sharks. Without an upgrade, that path won't get any easier.
i agree with you to the point that i coach "speed kills". i tell my kids to always keep their feet moving.
i go back to what i've said now for the past few losses to the BH's. the Kings need to tighten up the F- D gap, be forward in their skates and play up ice further. in other words, stop playing on their heels. with the current roster the only way they win is by totally shutting off the ice.
they've let CHI open seams and make transitional passes with speed in gaps, because they've got to much space between the forwards and defense. they are so worried about getting burned, they let CHI push LA's F3 and D back. instead of doing the instinctive thing and 'play back', i think LA needs to push forward to contain. it is the same as a football team sitting back in a zone defense. total fail.
if i had the tape on games go back and look a few seasons ago, when LA kept beating CHI. i bet you see this taking place. last season and to date it has turned the other way.
another way of looking at this scenario is how Seal teams and other military units will handle, counter and overcome an opponent. when they are faced with superior numbers, they will actually work towards and move forward against the opponent. they will become the aggressor and overwhelm them with by essentially attacking the attacker.
i think the Kings need to adopt a similar mindset against the BH's. to attack them rather than passively sit back and try to counter attack them.