Good, Bad, and Ugly

[LAKings88]

What has been good, bad, and finally ugly, about the last season for you?

Good: Byfield looks like he belongs.

Bad: Vilardi regressed a bit but is adjusting and rounding into form. (Semi-bad)

Ugly: Madden’s injury and pp outage.

Click to read more...

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Good: Anderson and Bjornfot have become NHL defensemen. Iafallo and Roy resigned. Trevor Moore is a great find and can play on any line.
JAD, Andersson, Grundstrom, Lemieux are all bottom 6 upgrades to the: Amadios, Wagner's and Luffs. Byfield WILL play next year and has come a long way in 5 months of pro hockey. Byfield, Kaliyev, Turcotte, Fagemo, Kupari, Thomas, Moverare (dark horse) all getting a valuable year in the AHL.
Oh, Penalty Kill is good.

Bad: MacD and having one more year contract. If the Kings stay around the 9th to 11th draft seed (BAD!)..while only 2 points away from 5th seed.

Ugly: Losing someone like Clague or Strand to expansion. I did not see Madden's injury and I am sure it is both bad and ugly.

There are a lot more good things, than bad things.

 

[LAKings88]

Good: Anderson and Bjornfot have become NHL defensemen. Iafallo and Roy resigned. Trevor Moore is a great find and can play on any line.
JAD, Andersson, Grundstrom, Lemieux are all bottom 6 upgrades to the: Amadios, Wagner's and Luffs. Byfield WILL play next year and has come a long way in 5 months of pro hockey. Byfield, Kaliyev, Turcotte, Fagemo, Kupari, Thomas, Moverare (dark horse) all getting a valuable year in the AHL.
Oh, Penalty Kill is good.

Bad: MacD and having one more year contract. If the Kings stay around the 9th to 11th draft seed (BAD!)..while only 2 points away from 5th seed.

Ugly: Losing someone like Clague or Strand to expansion. I did not see Madden's injury and I am sure it is both bad and ugly.

There are a lot more good things, than bad things.

I don’t get why Clague didn’t get a better look this year. Seems solid enough with offensive instincts others lack.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

I don’t get why Clague didn’t get a better look this year. Seems solid enough with offensive instincts others lack.

Agreed!! I think, 2 back to back games, he was the catalyst for HALF of the goals scored, those 2 games. He was almost like Makar 2.0. He never looked lost or bad.
He was decent, physically and defensively. He really knows when to activate and makes good plays. He takes good angles and cuts through ice fast.

I honestly think that they may be thinking this:::: Roy, Anderson Walker, and Bjornfot (and DD) are not giving the backend much size, so Clague cannot
be added to the mix. But that's BS, as he has more offensive upside, than all of them. I think they saw what size could do, in Strand, but he's not
overly physical. Really liked Strand's game and poise...and passes. I have a feeling if Clague is lost to Seattle or dealt, he will become like a Shea Theodore.
Anaheim could sure use him, right about now. Clague is pretty damn good.

 

[funky]

Good - Kopitar and Doughty showing they are still some of the best at their positions.

- No OHL - Byfield and Kaliyev get a year in the pros and have shown massive growth.

- Moore, Anderson, and AA showing more than we thought.

Bad - coaching staff - decisions on roster moves, style of play confuse me and apparently a lot of our players.

- Maatta and MacD. Expected more. Poor reads, poor pinches.

- Jeckyl and Hyde Kempe. Need this kid to become consistant

Ugly - our AHL start, our TV broadcast, no sticking up for teammates. Still no top pairing LH Dman to play with Drew

 

[kilowatt]

What has been good, bad, and finally ugly, about the last season for you?

Good: Byfield looks like he belongs.

Bad: Vilardi regressed a bit but is adjusting and rounding into form. (Semi-bad)

Ugly: Madden’s injury and pp outage.

Hard for me to say that Vilardi's been bad. In his rookie season, he put up 10 goals and 21 points in 50 games, which is a 16-goal, 34-point season. That's what Toffoli posted in 18-19, or what Kempe posted in his rookie season, and we were all relatively happy with those.

He might not be a #1 center, but he could definitely be a #2 center in a couple years, and he's lookes pretty darn good as the #3 center with Iafallo and Andersson. That's a great third line I think. We just need to start playing Byfield with some guys better than f***ing Wagner!

Anyway, the bright spots this season for me are Byfield and Kaliyev leading the way in Ontario. It was a rough start, but man those guys proved they belong. Glad they were able to play in the AHL, I think their development really accelerated as a result. Also shoutout to Doughty and Kopitar for proving the haters wrong. Some young guys stepped up too: Moore (!), Anderson-Dolan, Bjornfot, Anderson, and recently Andersson, and surprise showings from Strand and Clague.

The bad is that the team didn't "click" and didn't play too well through adversity. Injuries to Walker and Roy really hurt our chances at making the playoffs, considering that Kurtis MacDermid was a minute-eating second pairing defenseman for a significant number of games. The team never felt like a team. On any given night, we might have a line or two playing decently, but there was never sustained pressure.

The penalty kill has been great. The powerplay was great, and then it was brutal. Oh well.

Goaltending was bad, bordering on ugly, but sometimes pretty good.

Overall it was an encouraging if disappointing season. I'm hopeful that next year is what I thought this year would be. If guys like Byfield, Kaliyev, Kupari, and Turcotte can step up next year we might really have a good team. I think the only glaring piece missing is a really good LD - will one of Bjornfot or Anderson evolve into that role next year or will we need to look externally to fill the void?

I think Byfield does next year what we wanted Vilardi to do this year: take the 2C position and not let go.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Good: the experience for everyone not named Kopitar, Brown, Doughty, or Quick(and Carter).

Bad: Brown still leads the team in goals.

Ugly: just the same lack of everything from the team. No urgency. No spirit. No emotion. No excitement. That's only going to come from one of the young guys taking over the team, and/or a meaningful acquisition.

 

[ru4reals]

Good: we were bad this year and going to be bad the next few years and will most definitely be in the running for Wright and Bedard!!!

Bad: We weren't as bad as we should have been and gonna miss out on another top 5. (Which might not be a bad thing since this years draft is meh)

Ugly: Just another terrible season.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Good: Kopitar, Doughty, and Brown(most of the year). Kids mostly played well and I feel good about the future. Some of the inbetweeners are starting to step up like Iafallo and Kempe. Moore, AA, and Lemieux have been positive additions to the club.

Bad: Special teams started strong and then fell completely off the map. Roy and Walker getting hurt at the same time really derailed the team and they never seemed to recover from it. A lot of general inconsistency. Defense and goaltending a problem all season.

Ugly: Coaching. This system is trash. I hate it. This team shouldn't be playing 1-3-1. The team also has a real issue with staying in the game mentally, being prepared at the start of games, standing up for each other on the ice, etc. It's bad when it looks like guys don't want to be there.

 

[kingsboy11]

Good: Kopitar, Doughty and Brown all had great bounce back years. Kempe, while still inconsistent, had his most productive year. Bjornfot and Anderson, both had their ups and down, but proved to be solid NHL defenseman and should be better next year. Trevor Moore is a gem, great find by Blake. JAD is never going back down. Byfield showing promise and proving he can hang at this level. Kaliyev getting a full year of AHL development will help him tremendously long term. Reign bouncing back after a sluggish start.

Bad: Maata and MacDermid. Good enough for bottom pairing minutes, but not long term solutions. Powerplay fell off the f***ing cliffs. Maybe the early success was masking our deficiencies early on and when it leveled out it showed how bad we really were.

Ugly: Too many lifeless games, too many games lost that they should've won. There needs to be accountability not just within the players, but the coaching staff and the front office as well. The losing needs to stop soon. Go back to the drawing board and find out what is/isn't working. Whether its personnel or tactics.

 

[johnjm22]

Good/Surprises:
Moore, Kempe, Doughty, JAD, AA, Ontario

Disappointments:
Roy, Petersen, Vilardi, Grundstrom, Maatta

As expected:
Pretty much everybody else.

Overall thoughts:
Another year of a bad boring product. It's been a long time since this franchise provided much entertainment value. Ironically, even during the SC years the team was mediocre most of the time.

 

[KopitarFAN]

Good: Trevor Moore, I don't think I need to expand on that too much. Mikey Anderson showing he belongs, same applies here.

Bad: Not enough Cal Petersen, especially in the early part of the year when the back-to-backs were light.

Ugly: Too much MacDermid, I get that they needed toughness, but once Lemieux arrived (14 games), he should've never seen the lineup again.

 

[KingsFan7824]

It's been a long time since this franchise provided much entertainment value. Ironically, even during the SC years the team was mediocre most of the time.

You need a game breaking talent if you want real entertainment. Just need to find another Gretzky. Outside of that, teams are just trying to win any way they can.

 

[Mats26]

Good: Ontario Reign's progression during the season. Kaliyev's work ethic and development. Kopi's 1000pt and Trevor Moore.

Bad: Choked when we needed to win some games to stay in a playoff spot. Vilardi's conditioning, skating and effort. Cal's poor play to finish the season.

Ugly: 5-5 play. The whole D system and D men need help. Soft defending all over the ice, no structure on break out plays etc... and 1:3:1 needs to go.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Good: It appears Byfield can play at the NHL-level as an 18 year old - imagining him in a few years is a fun exercise. A few of the young defensemen show real promise, even if it doesn't appear there's a likely potential Doughty-replacement among them. Ditto a couple of the bottom-six forwards (in particular, Moore and Andersson, who IMHO is the best current "puck-hound" among the forward-corps).

Bad: Until proven otherwise, there doesn't appear to be a dynamic scoring winger coming up anytime soon. The "big" off-season acquisition (Maata) was a disappointment, albeit he's played a bit better recently in a more limited role. Not that this should've been the main focus of the season, but this team was never a serious playoff contender in the "true" sense; they were only vying for the last playoff seed because an injury-decimated St. Louis team couldn't get it's $hit to together until very recently.

Ugly: Based on the play of the team the last three months, I have two grave concerns going-forward: the culture and the goaltending. Too many players are blatantly coasting on too many nights. It's easy to say, "Things'll be better once the kids are older and there's a new coach!", But will that really be so? Ever since 2015, key pieces of the 'Chips core -players many thought were done- have gone elsewhere and played as well or better (in a couple of cases, much better) then they did here post-2014. I'm not even sure what the solution to this is, other than at least trying to bring in a few high-character, hungry veteran players that can inspire the kids as they mature.

As for the goaltending: Petersen has IMHO clearly regressed over the past few months, to the point where _right now_ Quick is hands-down the superior goalie. If Petersen can't retain positive consistency next season, IMHO the King's may need to start thinking about a "Plan B" in net as the rest of the team grows/the next coach takes over...

EDIT: Spelling/syntax/formatting are not my smartphone's friends.

 

[King'sPawn]

Good: Kopitar, Doughty, Quick. Some young kids developing and growing into their roles.

Bad: puck movement. Forecheck. Offense. Danger generated from the blueline. Streaks of defensive lapses

Ugly: lack of emotional engagement. Lack of preparation.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Good

Getting through a pandemic shortened season without a major outbreak among the team, staff and families.

Watching Doughty mature into a player who can be both an all star and a leader.

Getting the opportunity to watch Kaliyev and Byfield play locally and show strong growth, plus getting a few games called by Nick and Daryl.

Getting Calgary and Vancouver back in the division next year and getting Minnesota, Colorado and StL out.

Getting +$12M off the cap next year from Phaneuf, Kovalchuk and Carter.

Bad

No real answers to the key questions about the near term future of the team.

Not establishing a forward line or D pair that are a lock for next season because they excelled this season.

No idea if the teams style of play is here to stay or just a reflection of the roster construction.

Continuing to overplay veterans and not just fail to hold them accountable for mistakes, but come out and state they get more rope.

Waiting till the ass end of the season to play the kids, who finally helped the team win 2 in a row after 3 months.

Ugly

Playing a boring brand of hockey where the players are locked to their positions and mostly static.

Chasing a stretch goal in a playoff seed all season and making it a visible priority.

Clogging up the roster with journeyman ceiling tweeners because they are on one way or big money AHL deals and blocking opportunities for prospects.

Showing not even a minor improvement in points percentage year over year, despite turning over the roster and gaining cap space.

Pinning our hopes on Luc, Blake, Emerson, Murray and Craig Johnson to produce a competitive team when they’ve been given all the resources necessary to produce a champion.

 

[LAKings88]

Hard for me to say that Vilardi's been bad. In his rookie season, he put up 10 goals and 21 points in 50 games, which is a 16-goal, 34-point season. That's what Toffoli posted in 18-19, or what Kempe posted in his rookie season, and we were all relatively happy with those.

He might not be a #1 center, but he could definitely be a #2 center in a couple years, and he's lookes pretty darn good as the #3 center with Iafallo and Andersson. That's a great third line I think. We just need to start playing Byfield with some guys better than f***ing Wagner!

Anyway, the bright spots this season for me are Byfield and Kaliyev leading the way in Ontario. It was a rough start, but man those guys proved they belong. Glad they were able to play in the AHL, I think their development really accelerated as a result. Also shoutout to Doughty and Kopitar for proving the haters wrong. Some young guys stepped up too: Moore (!), Anderson-Dolan, Bjornfot, Anderson, and recently Andersson, and surprise showings from Strand and Clague.

The bad is that the team didn't "click" and didn't play too well through adversity. Injuries to Walker and Roy really hurt our chances at making the playoffs, considering that Kurtis MacDermid was a minute-eating second pairing defenseman for a significant number of games. The team never felt like a team. On any given night, we might have a line or two playing decently, but there was never sustained pressure.

The penalty kill has been great. The powerplay was great, and then it was brutal. Oh well.

Goaltending was bad, bordering on ugly, but sometimes pretty good.

Overall it was an encouraging if disappointing season. I'm hopeful that next year is what I thought this year would be. If guys like Byfield, Kaliyev, Kupari, and Turcotte can step up next year we might really have a good team. I think the only glaring piece missing is a really good LD - will one of Bjornfot or Anderson evolve into that role next year or will we need to look externally to fill the void?

I think Byfield does next year what we wanted Vilardi to do this year: take the 2C position and not let go.

GV didn’t have a bad year and can’t really blame him for going through a rough patch. I just think he is scratching the surface and is immensely talented.

 

[Bandit]

GV didn’t have a bad year and can’t really blame him for going through a rough patch. I just think he is scratching the surface and is immensely talented.

Only thing concerning me about Vilardi is his speed. The rest he will work out no question. His vision is amazing.

 

[LAKings88]

Good

Getting through a pandemic shortened season without a major outbreak among the team, staff and families.

Watching Doughty mature into a player who can be both an all star and a leader.

Getting the opportunity to watch Kaliyev and Byfield play locally and show strong growth, plus getting a few games called by Nick and Daryl.

Getting Calgary and Vancouver back in the division next year and getting Minnesota, Colorado and StL out.

Getting +$12M off the cap next year from Phaneuf, Kovalchuk and Carter.

Bad

No real answers to the key questions about the near term future of the team.

Not establishing a forward line or D pair that are a lock for next season because they excelled this season.

No idea if the teams style of play is here to stay or just a reflection of the roster construction.

Continuing to overplay veterans and not just fail to hold them accountable for mistakes, but come out and state they get more rope.

Waiting till the ass end of the season to play the kids, who finally helped the team win 2 in a row after 3 months.

Ugly

Playing a boring brand of hockey where the players are locked to their positions and mostly static.

Chasing a stretch goal in a playoff seed all season and making it a visible priority.

Clogging up the roster with journeyman ceiling tweeners because they are on one way or big money AHL deals and blocking opportunities for prospects.

Showing not even a minor improvement in points percentage year over year, despite turning over the roster and gaining cap space.

Pinning our hopes on Luc, Blake, Emerson, Murray and Craig Johnson to produce a competitive team when they’ve been given all the resources necessary to produce a champion.

I think Carter and Brown (God love em) are both blockers as far as inserting youth. You want vets around but both were in key spots. They both are great players but at times I was pining for Arty on Kopi’s wing. Hoping next year we see some more skill in the lineup.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I think Carter and Brown (God love em) are both blockers as far as inserting youth. You want vets around but both were in key spots. They both are great players but at times I was pining for Arty on Kopi’s wing. Hoping next year we see some more skill in the lineup.

It only took four years to put Kempe with Kopitar for extended trial run. Last time the Kings made the playoffs they were forced to play Kempe as the #2C.

 

[Bandit]

Come the f*** on Kopitar.

edit: ha this was for the gdt

 

[cyclones22]

Only thing concerning me about Vilardi is his speed. The rest he will work out no question. His vision is amazing.

Also has the Kopitar-like quality shot. Another skill that he has that very few on the roster currently have is in tight stickhandling. Yes the puck can be taken away from him at times but he's shown the ability to stick handle through defenders. There are others coming up through the pipeline who also possess that's skill, but Gabe is here now.

 

[LAKings88]

So many good responses

I’m hoping that a regular schedule with focused practices helps some of the youth next year too.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The Good
-Trevor Moore's emergence as a key player
-Milestones and good-to-great years from Kopitar, Doughty, Brown, insulating the youth
-Kempe maturing, showing he will be a good player to have on a competitive team, versatility. Ditto AI, sporting the honor of a letter.
-Anderson, Bjornfot, Clague, JAD, all showing they are NHLers to varying degrees
-Quinton motherf***ing Byfield immediately looking like an impact player
-Kaliyev, Kupari getting ready for that next big step
-Austin "SURPRISE MOTHERf***ERS" Strand!
-AA was a nice surprise

The Bad
-No one being able to grab and hold the 2c spot--Carter flailed, Vilardi couldn't sustain, JAD overmatched, Lizotte miscast
-Petersen's long-term focus--definitely a guy who can play at least half a season at a high level--can he be a real starter?
-No offensive d-men behind Drew
-Lizotte taking a step back offensively was bad for our depth.
-Yeah I get we need a veteran presence but I'd be perfectly happy never seeing Olli Maatta and his alter ego Scott Neidermaatta ever again. The guy is unpredictable for his partners and just a total time bomb at all times.
-RIP to the powerplay that gave us hope for offense for a little while, gone too soon

The Ugly
-Some of this year's injuries, good grief.
-The general malaise, lifelessness is ongoing and inexcusable.
-I'd say the system is ugly but what is it?
-Coaching. Firmly off the TM train unless he has some tricks in his bag.
-MacDermid's sweet ass 32.43% GF%
-Watching Clague score 40 points on Seattle's 2nd pairing and PP in 2021-2022