Speculation: Fire Rob Blake Blow it Up Offseason Thread (update: Robitaille, Blake and Hiller stay)

[GoldenBearHockey]

"We have a long way to go before training camp, but we’re proposing something similar to this:

Dubois – Byfield – Fiala
UFA – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Laferriere
Lewis – Thomas – Turcotte"






lol ok

Where is that from? It's intriguing

 

[King'sPawn]

This is some high test gaslighting.

Mayor McCheese says that fans have less patience for Blake than Lombardi.

I have no idea how you got to that conclusion in that opinion piece, but okay.

Hoven should've probably waited a few more days for this article because everything is still fresh. This is a yikes

Everyone's clamoring for action to be taken. He's setting expectations.

 

[Reaper45]

"We have a long way to go before training camp, but we’re proposing something similar to this:

Dubois – Byfield – Fiala
UFA – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Laferriere
Lewis – Thomas – Turcotte"






lol ok

How many contenders have trotted out a 38 year old second line center? He shouldn’t be relied on like in years past.

Hell how many “playoff” teams have done that?

 

[Herby]

Hoven's opinion article: OPINION: Rob Blake Will Return as Kings GM Next Season

Tl;dr version: more likely than not Blake will stay. Also thinks Hiller has a good chance to stay.

This organization doesn’t care about winning or what the fans think. What a total slap in the face.

I could never cheer for a different team, but staying up 82 times a year already started taking hits this season, and I figure next season it will be even less, why bother following a team run by a collection of losers, that has no chance of any kind of success. I never in a million years thought my interest in the Kings could reach these levels.

Also, someone on here mentioned trading QB and Clarke and were heavily criticized. But another year of pushing back the inevitable means the rebuild begins when Byfield is 23 and Clarke is 22, and considering that Blake made mostly terrible picks and traded away the good ones he did make leaving basically nothing from the 18-23 drafts outside of those 2, you are looking at QB being 5,6,7 and 8 years older than the players who will hopefully contribute to the next successful era of Kings hockey. I feel terrible for QB and Clarke, because the cupboard is drier than McDavid's personality and the team is going to be God awful for a few years while the next guys cleans up Blake and Luc's mess.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I have no idea how you got to that conclusion in that opinion piece, but okay.

Blake hasn’t been GM nearly as long as Lombardi, it just feels like it. And he inherited the chair after the organization’s most successful run ever. So, there’s less patience and a greater desire to get back to the Stanley Cup Final.

What many fans are likely sick of is that the Kings haven’t won a playoff series in a decade and the big moves they’ve made don’t appear to have gotten them any closer to ending that streak.

This is a complete spin on the decision making by management. Fans weren’t impatient when management decided to start signing and trading futures for vets. And it is no coincidence that the line about no playoff series wins in a decade is linked to BLuc only being in charge for 7 years.

Once again these hacks are pointing the fingers at the previous regime to defend their terrible record. Mayor goes on several times on that article to point out DL’s “horrific” mistakes. This guy has zero credibility.

 

[Lt Dan]

This is some high test gaslighting.

Mayor McCheese says that fans have less patience for Blake than Lombardi.

What a joke. Fans aren’t the one who asked to end the rebuild early. That was Blake and Kopitar and Doughty.

You won the internet today with Mayor McCheese.

But wit like this is how you earned your doktorate

 

[CarlSneep]

That article could not be more finely crafted to piss me off. It’s impressive, really.

 

[King'sPawn]

This is a complete spin on the decision making by management. Fans weren’t impatient when management decided to start signing and trading futures for vets. And it is no coincidence that the line about no playoff series wins in a decade is linked to BLuc only being in charge for 7 years.

Once again these hacks are pointing the fingers at the previous regime to defend their terrible record. Mayor goes on several times on that article to point out DL’s “horrific” mistakes. This guy has zero credibility.

I read it as the cause and effect of Lombardi's championships giving fans a greater sense of urgency and having understandably higher accountability of management. Is that not true?

 

[DoktorJeep]

I read it as the cause and effect of Lombardi's championships giving fans a greater sense of urgency and having understandably higher accountability of management. Is that not true?

There is no evidence for it. But it is convenient to bring it out as a factor now. I guess anyone can speak for the fan base at large without any proof.

 

[Herby]

One of the worst written articles I've ever seen about a team I follow.

For those who absolutely feel the need to argue the point, we’ll engage — although only briefly. There’s something to be said for consistency. Hockey is a sport, and it’s also a business. Consistency and continuity often lead to greater results than constantly changing with the wind. NHL success is not a linear equation either. With only one Stanley Cup winner each year, there are at least 15 other teams who are disappointed, perhaps even as many as 31.

He begins by spewing BS. Vegas won the SC last year with their 3rd coach in their 6 year existence. Their roster that won the Cup in 2023 had only 5 players from their roster that made the finals in 2018. How many teams in NHL since the 1967 expansion have hired a GM, had that GM win 0 playoff series in 7 years and then went on to success?

Dean Lombardi had an extended run as GM. He came away with two Cups for his efforts. He also joined a team that had never experienced that type of success before, so he had more forgiveness when he made grave errors. Many fans have argued he should have had an even longer tenure with the club, in spite of some rather horrific blunders. That’s not a slight directed at Lombardi in any way. He will forever be a legend in LA and he more than earned all the praise he’s given. It’s simply pointing out there is a flip side to every coin.

Lombardi was fired 3 years after winning a Stanley Cup, Blake returns for an 8th season despite zero playoff success. Lombardi probably did deserve to be fired, but Blake's last three seasons have been just as bad as DL's final three were, and probably worse. Things like the PLD and Fiala trade and the overriding of his scouting staff on a Top 5 pick were worse than anything DL did. BTW amazing to see Hoven just openly talk about DL's "Grave Errors" and "Horrific Blunders" when he just excuses every single one of Blake's, and these two bufoons wonder why people think they are in bed with the management team?

Blake hasn’t been GM nearly as long as Lombardi, it just feels like it. And he inherited the chair after the organization’s most successful run ever. So, there’s less patience and a greater desire to get back to the Stanley Cup Final.

No he didn't, he inherited a team that had 1 playoff win in the previous 3 seasons and proceeded to tell everyone they were contenders and he would fix it. He has yet to win a playoff series.

Hoven's "less patience" thing is just such a crock of BS. Most of the same fans bitching now to fire Blake were also bitching when Blake prematurely ended the rebuild. Kings fans want to see a cup winner built and are willing to wait for it to be done properly. They were 15 years ago, and they still are now. To claim that 7 f'n years of no playoff wins is being impatient is just such a joke, it's amazing he even had the nerve to type it.

Speaking as objectively as possible, Blake has his list of wins as GM, and plenty of losses to stack right alongside of them. If running an NHL team is like high stakes gambling, Blake has yet to win the big pot of chips. Few GMs can say they have, though. And the ones who have guided their teams to a Cup, rarely get to do it a second or third time in their career.

You never speak objectively. But anyways, what are the wins?

What are the big wins in the Rob Blake era? Drafting Mikey Anderson? You could say Faber, but he f'ed that one up. Giving Danault the most money? Hasn't moved the needle at all. Drafting QB? He hasn't been as good as either of the next 2 forwards taken.

Here are the losses

Kovalchuk signing
Stevens hire
WD hiring
Fiala trade
PLD trade
Turcotte override
Koala hire
Quick fiasco
Kaliyev fiasco

Priority No. 1 will be signing Quinton Byfield to an extension. It’s not too far-fetched to suggest the Kings would prefer a short-term bridge deal, while his camp may be thinking about something with more term. Keep in mind, Anze Kopitar’s contract expires in two years, and that could be money to funnel Byfield’s way. A shorter-term deal gives the Kings much more flexibility next season and the season after.

Yeah of course he pushing the organizational line that QB should take a bridge deal. You know how you don't have cap troubles to sign your best young player? You don't give old guys and never was players a combined $16m in salary to play C for you when you have your supposed C of the future on the roster. Every other team in the league would have been happy to sign him to an 8 year deal, but this is the Kings under Rob Blake, so doing what 31 other teams would do doesn't matter, just like with stupid college signings and putting guys in the AHL, smartest men in the room.

QB should tell these guys to pound sand, they give PLD 8 years and then want to play bridge games with QB.

Once that is settled, priority No. 2 becomes the goaltending situation. Rookie Erik Portillo is ahead of the curve, yet still not NHL ready. He isn’t expected up with the Kings next season. What does that mean for next year? Great question, still too early to fully evaluate. Ideally, the Kings would look to add a goalie in the $5M range via trade or free agency; something easier said than done. Next year could be another transition year in net. We’ll have to wait and see.

Why can't Portillo compete for an NHL job? The guy is 24 years old and played very well in the AHL, but he's completely shut out of an NHL opportunity before camp even starts? We know the "slow-cook" of forwards and d-man goes into 22, 23, 24. With goalies is it 25 or 26?

Blake has long maintained he’d like to re-sign Roy, if possible. The math simply suggests that’s a longshot. And perhaps Arvidsson ends up being more important for a team starved for offense — especially considering he’s one of their few right shots.

Is that why he didn't trade him?

And yeah, Arvidsson as the only RH shot. Well shocking considering he drafted mostly left-hand shots, and the one right-hand shot he did have who was half way decent was traded in the summer for a left-shot C (yeah the same position he used three high 1sts on)

Next year’s roster will look different regardless of what happens with those two. Defenseman Brandt Clarke is expected to be up with the club next season. At forward, Alex Turcotte and Akil Thomas will be full-time NHL players, as well. What about Sammy Fagemo? Another great question. He lit up the AHL this season, doing everything he set out to do to prove to management he’s a legit NHL option. That will be a situation worth monitoring as the summer rolls along.

None of these moves are going to help the Kings beat EDM. Clarke will eventually be a very good offensive d-man, but there aren't enough game-breaking forwards on this team to do any playoff damage. And that's because Blake utterly failed at the draft table and made a horrific decision to end his rebuild.

Hoven is beyond clueless if he thinks Turcotte and Thomas move the needle at all, especially when you factor in Kopitar, Doughty, Danault, VA (if he comes back) will all be a year older and a year worse.

Nothing is set in stone just yet. but those odds have likely increased to about 70/30 Hiller returns. He is widely considered to be one of the brightest minds in hockey.

This must have been the part where Hoven had to take a leak and Blake took over.

Dubois – Byfield – Fiala
UFA – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Laferriere
Lewis – Thomas – Turcotte

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – UFA
Englund – Clarke

No. 1 Goalie (starter)
Rittich

And we are supposed to be excited about this roster?

This roster is a distant 4th in the division, while the teams below us are all getting better by doing proper rebuilds.

Dubois at wing could be just the fresh start he needs (and no, we don’t think he’s going anywhere).

8 years, 68 million and 4 assets for a left winger. Awesome asset management!

If Arvidsson doesn’t return, would Tyler Toffoli be a realistic option as the UFA forward? It’s not impossible to see it happening.

TT must add some value on the volleyball courts or something. On the ice he's another older player you are hoping doesn't decline. I'm sure the Kings will give him a 4 year deal or something.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

I read it as the cause and effect of Lombardi's championships giving fans a greater sense of urgency and having understandably higher accountability of management. Is that not true?

Forget the 2 cups Blake is following for a minute, Blake is now the 4th longest tenured GM in LA Kings history at 2,580 days, is it really asking for urgency (or lacking patience) to expect a playoff series win at this point? Next year is year 8, when is it finally time to have that level of expectation?

 

[DoktorJeep]

One of the worst written articles I've ever seen about a team I follow.



He begins by spewing BS. Vegas won the SC last year with their 3rd coach in their 6 year existence. Their roster that won the Cup in 2023 had only 5 players from their roster that made the finals in 2018. How many teams in NHL since the 1967 expansion have hired a GM, had that GM win 0 playoff series in 7 years and then went on to success?



Lombardi was fired 3 years after winning a Stanley Cup, Blake returns for an 8th season despite zero playoff success. Lombardi probably did deserve to be fired, but Blake's last three seasons have been just as bad as DL's final three were, and probably worse. Things like the PLD and Fiala trade and the overriding of his scouting staff on a Top 5 pick were worse than anything DL did. BTW amazing to see Hoven just openly talk about DL's "Grave Errors" and "Horrific Blunders" when he just excuses every single one of Blake's, and these two bufoons wonder why people think they are in bed with the management team?



No he didn't, he inherited a team that had 1 playoff win in the previous 3 seasons and proceeded to tell everyone they were contenders and he would fix it. He has yet to win a playoff series.

Hoven's "less patience" thing is just such a crock of BS. Most of the same fans bitching now to fire Blake were also bitching when Blake prematurely ended the rebuild. Kings fans want to see a cup winner built and are willing to wait for it to be done properly. They were 15 years ago, and they still are now. To claim that 7 f'n years of no playoff wins is being impatient is just such a joke, it's amazing he even had the nerve to type it.



You never speak objectively. But anyways, what are the wins?

What are the big wins in the Rob Blake era? Drafting Mikey Anderson? You could say Faber, but he f'ed that one up. Giving Danault the most money? Hasn't moved the needle at all. Drafting QB? He hasn't been as good as either of the next 2 forwards taken.

Here are the losses

Kovalchuk signing
Stevens hire
WD hiring
Fiala trade
PLD trade
Turcotte override
Koala hire
Quick fiasco
Kaliyev fiasco



Yeah of course he pushing the organizational line that QB should take a bridge deal. You know how you don't have cap troubles to sign your best young player? You don't give old guys and never was players a combined $16m in salary to play C for you when you have your supposed C of the future on the roster. Every other team in the league would have been happy to sign him to an 8 year deal, but this is the Kings under Rob Blake, so doing what 31 other teams would do doesn't matter, just like with stupid college signings and putting guys in the AHL, smartest men in the room.

QB should tell these guys to pound sand, they give PLD 8 years and then want to play bridge games with QB.



Why can't Portillo compete for an NHL job? The guy is 24 years old and played very well in the AHL, but he's completely shut out of an NHL opportunity before camp even starts? We know the "slow-cook" of forwards and d-man goes into 22, 23, 24. With goalies is it 25 or 26?



Is that why he didn't trade him?

And yeah, Arvidsson as the only RH shot. Well shocking considering he drafted mostly left-hand shots, and the one right-hand shot he did have who was half way decent was traded in the summer for a left-shot C (yeah the same position he used three high 1sts on)



None of these moves are going to help the Kings beat EDM. Clarke will eventually be a very good offensive d-man, but there aren't enough game-breaking forwards on this team to do any playoff damage. And that's because Blake utterly failed at the draft table and made a horrific decision to end his rebuild.

Hoven is beyond clueless if he thinks Turcotte and Thomas move the needle at all, especially when you factor in Kopitar, Doughty, Danault, VA (if he comes back) will all be a year older and a year worse.



This must have been the part where Hoven had to take a leak and Blake took over.



And we are supposed to be excited about this roster?

This roster is a distant 4th in the division, while the teams below us are all getting better by doing proper rebuilds.



8 years, 68 million and 4 assets for a left winger. Awesome asset management!



TT must add some value on the volleyball courts or something. On the ice he's another older player you are hoping doesn't decline. I'm sure the Kings will give him a 4 year deal or something.

 

[kingsfan28]

2nd round has been a graveyard

Hughes - probably won't even be tendered
JAD - never made an impact, waived
Kaliyev - likely gone this summer for almost nothing
Pinelli - a terrible rookie season in the AHL for a Top 45 pick.
Helenius - no-upside 4th line center if he makes it
Grans - Another poor evaluation.
Fagemo - AAAA player, no impact at the NHL level
Thomas - We will see, showed some promise, but as of now little impact.

A bit early to throw Hughes into the pile after only being drafted in 22'. Only 1 guy has played more than 30 games, the next guy is at 7 from the 2nd round on from that draft.

 

[Herby]

A bit early to throw Hughes into the pile after only being drafted in 22'. Only 1 guy has played more than 30 games, the next guy is at 7 from the 2nd round on from that draft.

Have you seen what Hughes has done in college the last 2 years?

Very unlikely he is tendered a contract after next season (his senior year). He’s been terrible.

 

[CarlSneep]

Jack Hughes is terrible. Easily the worst pick the Kings have made in recent memory.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

"We have a long way to go before training camp, but we’re proposing something similar to this:

Dubois – Byfield – Fiala
UFA – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Laferriere
Lewis – Thomas – Turcotte"






lol ok

Dubois is a Centre no way he goes to LWing for more than a couple games or so...and please no more Lewis he can play for the home town team the Utah "Blizzard"...and shift Thomas to Wing while Turc gets the nod at Centre! And with Arvidsson not coming back,Danault maybe getting traded and Roy maybe not coming back...Ditto for Lizotte there is money for a decent LWinger and LDman and Goaltender...Grundstrom could play 4th line LWing if he wanted or be traded along with Kaliyev...I expect lots of moves to try to upgrade this team and gain some Cap Flexibility

 

[All The Kings Men]

Dubois is a Centre no way he goes to LWing

he was asked this morning where he sees himself and he said he sees himself as a center and everybody in attendance heard him say it

 

[King'sPawn]

There is no evidence for it. But it is convenient to bring it out as a factor now. I guess anyone can speak for the fan base at large without any proof.

Not expecting you to agree with the article. ****. I don't agree with it. My own disdain for management is documented, and I know it doesn't mean much, but I also express my disdain for management with Hoven.

I know that doesn't matter in the end, but I don't want you to think I say one thing on these boards and something else privately.

I understand this article is like a grenade, but whether you read it now or later doesn't change the very ugly and alarming possibility that the changes we want and feel the organization needs aren't happening.

And frankly, IF management stays, and if they continue to try to appease Kopitar and Doughty, what changes are you expecting?

My only hope for next season is managerial overhaul.

 

[King'sPawn]

Forget the 2 cups Blake is following for a minute, Blake is now the 4th longest tenured GM in LA Kings history at 2,580 days, is it really asking for urgency (or lacking patience) to expect a playoff series win at this point? Next year is year 8, when is it finally time to have that level of expectation?

You're preaching to the choir. I just took those parts to say the success of Lombardi's tenure changed the landscape of expectations as it's still recent.

I think it's fair to say fans have lost their patience for Blake. That's not a moral or emotional failing. He's not delivered.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Not expecting you to agree with the article. ****. I don't agree with it. My own disdain for management is documented, and I know it doesn't mean much, but I also express my disdain for management with Hoven.

I know that doesn't matter in the end, but I don't want you to think I say one thing on these boards and something else privately.

I understand this article is like a grenade, but whether you read it now or later doesn't change the very ugly and alarming possibility that the changes we want and feel the organization needs aren't happening.

And frankly, IF management stays, and if they continue to try to appease Kopitar and Doughty, what changes are you expecting?

My only hope for next season is managerial overhaul.

I knew there would be no changes once the team made the playoffs, whatever the playoff results. It’s just those results were so poor that it’s difficult to defend the decisions made that led to them.

I’ve said on here before that DT was here for a decade before he was fired and the same would happen with Luc and Blake. A decade of futility is hard to excuse even for the Kings.

If they make the playoffs next year, nothing will change. It will take consecutive seasons of missing while spending at or the near the cap for it to happen.

It’s just disingenuous to posit that fans used to have low expectations and DT and DL got long runs because of it. But after winning, now those expectations are raised that we’ve tasted winning. That is a flat out dissembling to offer up that fans are all of the sudden impatient.

It’s not just kings fans being critical of management, it’s league wide media that is calling out the mistakes. But of course, it’s just the fans being impatient because the plan has failed to date.

 

[LAKings88]

Luc and Blake should go. The PLD trade alone is grounds for it.

If they run this shit back I will not give them any money next year.

 

[King'sPawn]

I knew there would be no changes once the team made the playoffs, whatever the playoff results. It’s just those results were so poor that it’s difficult to defend the decisions made that led to them.

I’ve said on here before that DT was here for a decade before he was fired and the same would happen with Luc and Blake. A decade of futility is hard to excuse even for the Kings.

If they make the playoffs next year, nothing will change. It will take consecutive seasons of missing while spending at or the near the cap for it to happen.

It’s just disingenuous to posit that fans used to have low expectations and DT and DL got long runs because of it. But after winning, now those expectations are raised that we’ve tasted winning. That is a flat out dissembling to offer up that fans are all of the sudden impatient.

It’s not just kings fans being critical of management, it’s league wide media that is calling out the mistakes. But of course, it’s just the fans being impatient because the plan has failed to date.

I understand - I disagree. And I think ultimately, there is at least truth to the fact that with Lombardi bringing a cup to LA, and with Blake inheriting the cup-winning core, expectations are different from the pieces DT and DL inherited at the time.

 

[Reaper45]

It’s let them cook a

I knew there would be no changes once the team made the playoffs, whatever the playoff results. It’s just those results were so poor that it’s difficult to defend the decisions made that led to them.

I’ve said on here before that DT was here for a decade before he was fired and the same would happen with Luc and Blake. A decade of futility is hard to excuse even for the Kings.

If they make the playoffs next year, nothing will change. It will take consecutive seasons of missing while spending at or the near the cap for it to happen.

It’s just disingenuous to posit that fans used to have low expectations and DT and DL got long runs because of it. But after winning, now those expectations are raised that we’ve tasted winning. That is a flat out dissembling to offer up that fans are all of the sudden impatient.

It’s not just kings fans being critical of management, it’s league wide media that is calling out the mistakes. But of course, it’s just the fans being impatient because the plan has failed to date.

It’s let them cook all over again.

 

[Papa Mocha 15]

Time to set fire to the kingdom. Wipe out management and start afresh. DL traded away just about every asset for picks and grew this team and let the players tell him when they were ready for a trade. These past few seasons we have traded to improve the core instead of growing the core.

We got 2 cups the former. The latter hasn't been as much fun as winning.

Or maybe management just doesn't hate to lose. The cup teams sure hated to lose. Different mentality.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Regarding the 8 year Kopitar extension being signed by Lombardi, this is a story that was never really discussed. There were rumblings at the time that Lombardi had issues with that extension and that the work was done whether he was in agreement or not. Of all the issues that would be the most interesting in that potential Lombardi book, the one I would most like to see clarified would be the rumor that HE wanted to rebuild in 2015 and was supplanted by status quo management. Could be BS, would love to hear his take on that.

Also jives with the other big post-Cup DL rumor that he brought in Bishop as a long term Quick replacement.