Danault is a warrior, love hearing his resolve, though I hope the Kings move him as he'd be worth a nice return, is on a nice contract, and they are nowhere close to competing right now. Having him in the middle 6 just takes a spot that could go to Turcotte, Thomas, etc...
I would, of course, get rid of PLD in any way possible unless they are going for the Oiler 1st overall rebuild strat and are intentionally tanking for like a decade
I would consider moving Fiala, Moore, and Danault while they are at max value. I would hesitate, as it would be quite painful, but you probably have to test the market on Kempe too for max value as he is literally in his prime right now just a year behind Fiala. I would also test the market for Gavrikov - fabulous teammate and decent defender, but he lost some luster after the injury this year, is going to be expensive to keep at an inflated price, and it is time to play all of our young defensemen.
We are pretty much at the worst cast scenario for the team. They burned through their picks and prospects, those that remain are stunted or struggling with the current roster and system. We have a couple of legends who are still good that want to stay, win, and retire with the team, but there is just no visible path forward to get there before they retire. I say Kopitar is close enough, but I would consider moving Doughty even though I am sure he is adamant that he wants to stay - but his answer that he just absolutely doesn't want to go down the road for even a retool let alone a rebuild means he is going to be cheerleading on pushing this group forward for as long as he can and that is just going to spin wheels, waste assets, and get nowhere... We all want to see Kopitar and Doughty retire as Kings, but if AEG bends and agrees to them to continue to push until they drop dead that isn't going to sit well with anyone in the fanbase unless they just don't care. They have to be on board for a retool/rebuild to stay. They earned loyalty more than any other players in Kings history, but it is what brought down the Lombardi era...
This is so dangerous right now... I am not panicking until we know more, I don't think that Blake not being fired on the first day is indicative that he is staying, I am still expecting him to be fired and I am hoping him not being available for the media is indicative of that. If he were told that he was supported and would be back next year then I see him going out there and taking his punches and shaking it off. But if this organization on any level thinks that the ship can be corrected as-is with only a few tweaks of a trade and acquiring a goaltender or so then we are in very serious trouble. We are going to end up in no man's land of either barely not making the playoffs or just getting ousted in many more first rounds by virtually anyone else, not just the Oilers.
The team is rudderless and literally no one knows what to do now, but if they had the cajones, got a smart GM, and were willing to trade a lot of these guys at their max value right now. With even a passing development program and some roster space, they could develop the team they should have had if they had waited instead of thinking Fiala and PLD were the saviors of the postseason.
