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

[Schmooley]

Interesting remarks from Hiller on the latest KotP re: Kaliyev.

He said that with Kaliyev, teams used the diamond a lot more this past season, which nullifies the one-timer shot. Also talked about how having a right-hand shot changes the dynamic on the power play, too.

As far as the season, it led to Kaliyev getting frustrated and losing confidence. That, in turn, left coaches lacking confidence.

Still looking forward to him getting a fresh start next season (no, that doesn't mean a fresh start on another team).

As far as lacking confidence in Kaliyev, seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. This just looks more like the Kings have struggles with managing the emotional aspect of the game.

The Hiller interview was interesting. They are going into the season with so many question marks.
This is the roster they should have had going into the 2021 season. Not really the roster you want looking to go on a cup run in 2025.
The positive here is that the training wheels are off and Byfield and Clarke can take the reigns if they have it in them.
If not the only way the team goes anywhere is if they have enough moxie to become greater than the sum of their parts.

 

[tigermask48]

That guy's face in the clip when they tell him the Kings traded Brock Faber and a 1st for Kevin Fiala.

 

[King'sPawn]

That guy's face in the clip when they tell him the Kings traded Brock Faber and a 1st for Kevin Fiala.

That was my face the day it was announced.

Except I wasn't trying to avoid laughing on camera.

 

[MonkeysUncle]

I know most of us are blaming Blake, but this Edmundson signing has Bergevin's tentacles all over it.

Things moves have been questionable since Luc brought him in. Theres a reason why he can't a job with another organization, he's not very good l!

 

[FSL KINGS]

Seems legit.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Luc has always been coloring with big crayons. Blake does what’s good for Blake. I’ve said it before neither guy ever was a core player on a team that was built to win . They both Merc’d their way to cups. They can’t f***ing lead a team. They’re both morons that had next level talent! No leadership whatsoever. They backstabbed Lombardi in a hostile takeover. Ownership won two cups and checked that off their bucket list and are content with asset appreciation and bottom line profits.

 

[rajuabju]

So far, I'd give this off-season, draft, and everything else a B-. Some good moves at the draft... dumping PLD was necessary, but some not really happy with some of the UFA moves/signings we made. Team is not materially better than it was last year, Kopitar + Doughty both a year older, and barring substantive additional moves, I suspect we'll be bounced from the 1st round once again.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

So far, I'd give this off-season, draft, and everything else a B-. Some good moves at the draft... dumping PLD was necessary, but some not really happy with some of the UFA moves/signings we made. Team is not materially better than it was last year, Kopitar + Doughty both a year older, and barring substantive additional moves, I suspect we'll be bounced from the 1st round once again.

We aren’t making the playoffs homie! They are going to run Kopitar into the ground by December and he’s gonna break.

 

[johnjm22]

If the plan is to play the kids and let Edmundson/Jeannot/Burroughs be placeholder characters guys I'd be totally down with that.

But the truth is they haven't fully committed to that direction. Are we trying to suddenly rebuild? Or are we trying to win now? It's incoherent.

When Lombardi brought in guys like Scott Thornton or Brad Stuart, he didn't give up draft picks to get them. I hate giving up a 2nd and 4th for a fourth line player. It shows they're not actually committed to rebuilding.

 

[Omni Owl]

That guy's face in the clip when they tell him the Kings traded Brock Faber and a 1st for Kevin Fiala.

 

[johnjm22]

I can't emphasize enough how much I despise giving up that 2nd for Jeannot.

And that 4th rounder shouldn't be a throwaway either. Mikey was a 4th. Spence was a 4th. Slukynsky was a 4th. Martinez was a 4th. You want as many of those mid round lottery tickets as possible.

BTW, Tampa used our 4th on Jan Golicic. A 6ft5 Slovenian left shot dman. Sounds exactly like the type of prospect we could use in our system right now.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

After they dumped PLD, I considered walking back my prediction that they wouldn’t make the playoffs.

I’m glad Blake confirmed by original instinct, though.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Okay so I agree Blake should absolutely no longer be the GM and agree this wasn't the best offseason the Kings could've had.... But let's look at it this way to offer a different perspective:

What were the 4 most common/major complaints about the Kings roster last season?

• Team is too small & too soft
  • Added Jeannot, Foegele, and Edmundson - All players with decent/good size and Jeannot and Edmundson add some toughness
• Not enough puck moving D-men / Not enough offense from the blue line
  • Let Roy walk so we now have room for Clarke and Spence to both be full time NHLers which should add more offense from the blue line
• PLD disaster
  • Dished his ass while bringing back a goalie with starting potential in return
• Not playing the kids enough (and when they did play the kids they'd often give them 7-8 mins on the 4th line)
  • Now we have a roster spot or two open for young players to hopefully take advantage of the opportunity

Whether you like the execution or not, Blake has VERY clearly addressed every single one of those points. Is our roster better or worse?? It's honestly tough to say as its very dependent on the youth taking steps forward and these additions clicking with the team. But at least the changes that were made seem to directly address the team's needs - Even if they weren't exactly the changes we all had in mind.

 

[LAKings88]

Okay so I agree Blake should absolutely no longer be the GM and agree this wasn't the best offseason the Kings could've had.... But let's look at it this way to offer a different perspective:

What were the 4 most common/major complains about the Kings roster last season?

• Team is too small & too soft
  • Added Jeannot, Foegele, and Edmundson - All players with decent/good size and Jeannot and Edmundson add some toughness
• Not enough puck moving D-men / Not enough offense from the blue line
  • Let Roy walk so we now have room for Clarke and Spence to both be full time NHLers which should add more offense from the blue line
• PLD disaster
  • Dished his ass while bringing back a goalie with starting potential in return
• Not playing the kids enough (and when they did play the kids they'd often give them 7-8 mins on the 4th line)
  • Now we have a roster spot or two open for young players to hopefully take advantage of the opportunity

Whether you like the execution or not, Blake has VERY clearly addressed every single one of those points. Is our roster better or worse?? It's honestly tough to say as its very dependent on the youth taking steps forward and these additions clicking with the team. But at least the changes that were made seem to directly address the team's needs - Even if they weren't exactly the changes we all had in mind.

This.

I know they have wanted Edmundson for awhile but it’s a lot of faith in an aging injured guy.

I think Fagemo is a big wildcard. Sounds like he is looked at as another Frk but if he can take a step, he has the scoring LA needs.

 

[Dog as Man]

The grit is very important in the 'Tkachuk Era'. Can't have Kempe and Laffe be the only guys taking swings behind the net. Time and space is controlled by the physically dominant team. I want talented guys to have that time and space. Pressure on one aspect of the game releases pressure in another aspect of the game.

 

[Bandit]

They're redoing something at Crypto I think right?

Hopefully installing a guillotine in Blake’s office.

 

[Statto]

Ok, so at best there are a lot of questions surrounding the Kings, but….

Personally I’m quite happy with the way the prospect pool has developed. In Greentree and Ziemmer we have a couple of solid power forward prospects, the goaltending is exciting, there’s Lee and Helenius getting close, then there is Booth and Lawrence that have made great progress and several of the college guys look promising. It suddenly looks like Kirsanov is back on the cards and Dvorak has promise. There’s a lot of size (that can skate) coming down the pipeline.

Sure there are no franchise guys there but there are a lot of guys there that have NHL futures. I’ve probably missed a couple also. Of course it’d be nice to have a couple of additional 1st round picks but that doesn’t diminish the other guys.

 

[bland]

Okay so I agree Blake should absolutely no longer be the GM and agree this wasn't the best offseason the Kings could've had.... But let's look at it this way to offer a different perspective:

What were the 4 most common/major complaints about the Kings roster last season?

• Team is too small & too soft
  • Added Jeannot, Foegele, and Edmundson - All players with decent/good size and Jeannot and Edmundson add some toughness
• Not enough puck moving D-men / Not enough offense from the blue line
  • Let Roy walk so we now have room for Clarke and Spence to both be full time NHLers which should add more offense from the blue line
• PLD disaster
  • Dished his ass while bringing back a goalie with starting potential in return
• Not playing the kids enough (and when they did play the kids they'd often give them 7-8 mins on the 4th line)
  • Now we have a roster spot or two open for young players to hopefully take advantage of the opportunity

Whether you like the execution or not, Blake has VERY clearly addressed every single one of those points. Is our roster better or worse?? It's honestly tough to say as its very dependent on the youth taking steps forward and these additions clicking with the team. But at least the changes that were made seem to directly address the team's needs - Even if they weren't exactly the changes we all had in mind.

And with a box of kleenex and some chicken soup the cancer will clear right up!

 

[Bandit]

I know most of us are blaming Blake, but this Edmundson signing has Bergevin's tentacles all over it.

If Blake can’t assert himself over an advisor he’s an even bigger p***y than I imagined.

 

[KingsCourt]

It is what it is...i guess
When BLuc are finally fired maybe we return to winning ways, for now, I'm sitting back and hoping for the young kids to take the reins (QB/Clarke/Laf/Spence/hopefully Ziemmer/Greentree)

This team is not winning anything any time soon...strap in it's going to get bumpy

 

[bland]

Ok, so at best there are a lot of questions surrounding the Kings, but….

Personally I’m quite happy with the way the prospect pool has developed. In Vilardi and Kaliyev we have a couple of solid power forward prospects, the goaltending is exciting, there’s Kupari and Turcotte getting close, then there is Chromiak and Simontaival that have made great progress and several of the college guys look promising. It suddenly looks like Hults is back on the cards and Strand has promise. There’s a lot of size (that can skate) coming down the pipeline.

Sure there are no franchise guys there but there are a lot of guys there that have NHL futures. I’ve probably missed a couple also. Of course it’d be nice to have a couple of additional 1st round picks but that doesn’t diminish the other guys.

Not trying to clown you, it's just LA Kings madlibs.

Folks, it's not the names, it's the entire business model here that is broken. The new kids will be mishandled just like the older kids. Same old vets with different names coming in on bloated deals to no effect.

Please, I beg of you all, take a step back and look at the entire big picture from the start of Blake's run thru this moment. Everything they have done has resulted in failure. Look at it as a fleet and not a series of individual boats. There is no reason whatsoever to reasonably expect any success from this team now or until a new regime comes in.

 

[BaileyFan]

Not playing the kids enough (and when they did play the kids they'd often give them 7-8 mins on the 4th line)

• Now we have a roster spot or two open for young players to hopefully take advantage of the opportunity

This is the same thing that has been said the past 3 summers and I’m stunned anyone still believes it.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

This is the same thing that has been said the past 3 summers and I’m stunned anyone still believes it.

It's been the HOPE for the last 3 years - And then management would go out and trade for / sign players that block prospects and ensure it doesn't happen. This year, it looks like it's finally going to happen (albeit mostly out of necessity)

 

[deaderhead28]

The reality is, this team isn't rebuilding and those who keep hoping will be surly disappointed again. Many wanted turnover, well you got it with many of the kids getting the opportunity to play. The player turnover will be around 8 to 10 different starting roster players. Many were wanting more toughness, well you got it. I do believe this team makes the playoffs as a 3rd seed to 4th seed.i will agree with you all, wtf Blake was thinking signing Joel Edmundson to that contract. . The idea of a 3rd line of Fiala-QB-Foegele and a second line of Moore- Danault-Thomas has me interested in seeing. The Mayor's largest Podcast with DB was a good listen.

 

[tny760]

Ok, so at best there are a lot of questions surrounding the Kings, but….

Personally I’m quite happy with the way the prospect pool has developed. In Greentree and Ziemmer we have a couple of solid power forward prospects, the goaltending is exciting, there’s Lee and Helenius getting close, then there is Booth and Lawrence that have made great progress and several of the college guys look promising. It suddenly looks like Kirsanov is back on the cards and Dvorak has promise. There’s a lot of size (that can skate) coming down the pipeline.

Sure there are no franchise guys there but there are a lot of guys there that have NHL futures. I’ve probably missed a couple also. Of course it’d be nice to have a couple of additional 1st round picks but that doesn’t diminish the other guys.

bolded is like.. the problem. we pulled the f***in chute at 1000ft but failed to understand that's the reason we lost. so we added 500 more horsepower....... and pulled the chute at 1000ft again

not hard to imagine a world where this team would literally right now, as we speak, be emerging from a relatively fast rebuild with a dallas-type RFA roster NHL-experienced and contributing. maybe lacking the goaltending cornerstone but with a truckload of talent. i'm not happy about that fact. i'm simultaneously happy that we have those other guys developing but that ain't enough for me to be happy with the grand scheme