Here and Now: The Preseason

[King'sPawn]

I thought tonight was Bjornfot's least effective game. Lots of pucks pushed into areas instead of taking an extra second to make the tape to tape pass. The pressure Vegas put on from the start of the 2nd period and all of the ticky tack penalty calls broke up the rhythm of the game, and Bjornfot wasn't as assertive as previous nights.

His reads are great, just not sure he is ready to play at a consistently high level yet. I don't see enough of an advantage to keeping him up, even though selfishly I would love to keep watching him.

That's the thing, though. Many times he couldn't control the puck, but he pushed it into a good zone for a teammate to recover. He's savvy enough compared to a lot of rookies where he doesn't try to do too much.

He wasn't as effective as other games, but he still competed and played very well for an 18 year-old rookie.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I loved the part where he skated into the zone, shook a checker in the far corner, and took the puck hard to the net to draw a penalty.

He's better at offense AND defense than our supposed offensive d-men.

Seriously that's one of this team's biggest problems, none of our OFD have panned out to even be a Shattenkirk where you can at least use them as a PP specialist and shelter them otherwise. Instead we have several shades of mediocre offensive guys working on their defense and excelling at neither while Bjornfot comes in and right away is better at both.

I mean Bjornfot just played very well against arguably the hardest forechecking team and one of the best lines in the NHL. Any stronger, and he would have been better than Doughty. That's a f***ed up bar to hold a rookie to.

Also, he got no PP time and tied for the most PK time on the team.

 

[regulate]

I’d swap Amadio with Kempe honestly

A couple years ago I posted that in the long-run, I thought Amadio would be a better hockey player than Kempe. I still stand by that, although that is far from proven. But Amadio, despite his shortcomings, has a far higher hockey IQ and vision than Kempe, he's just smarter on the ice. We'll see how it pans out over the years. I think a fresh set of eyes with Tmac making the decisions will do Amadio wonders, including for his playing time and linemates.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

A couple years ago I posted that in the long-run, I thought Amadio would be a better hockey player than Kempe. I still stand by that, although that is far from proven. But Amadio, despite his shortcomings, has a far higher hockey IQ and vision than Kempe, he's just smarter on the ice. We'll see how it pans out over the years. I think a fresh set of eyes with Tmac making the decisions will do Amadio wonders, including for his playing time and linemates.

Kempe definitely has better tools and flash.

But Amadio has a toolbox up there with the elite players on the team.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Also thought Hutton was really really good in his role now and that Toffoli--for all the bashing he's deservedly gotten--has looked rejuvenated.

Still needs to get his shooting confidence back though :/

 

[kingsfan28]

9pts less than the Senators last year? They're nuts. The last team to end the season in the 50s was the Coyotes in 2014-15. Before that, the Flyers at 56 in 2006-07. lol

NJ with 81 point and last place projection...will win the draft lotto... again.

 

[kingsfan28]

3-3 for preseason?

This years preseason team looks so much different. That's a very good sign.

Then there's this:
Not sure if one of the blogger bros is being his usual snarky self when it come to Quick or being serious.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

This years preseason team looks so much different. That's a very good sign.

Then there's this:
Not sure if one of the blogger bros is being his usual snarky self when it come to Quick or being serious.

Thing about Quick has always been consistency. He has stretches where he's unbeatable and then stretches where he's losing games for the kings.

 

[Sol]

Quick has looked better as the preseason has went on. And those worrying about Bjornfots game, if Doughty was praising me as an 18 year old, I'd make mistakes too

 

[Little Psycho]

 

[Ghetty Green]

There's that Amadio doing nothing again.

What a liability. can we waive him already ?

 

[Ghetty Green]

Roy closes the gap quickly and forces the icing.

I'll stop propping him up as soon as stops playing really well.

Cant believe people lump him walker together. Roy has nhl poise. Walker is a dime dozen dman

 

[kingsfan28]

Also thought Hutton was really really good in his role now and that Toffoli--for all the bashing he's deservedly gotten--has looked rejuvenated.

Still needs to get his shooting confidence back though :/

well , it is a contract year.

 

[kilowatt]

So it’s pretty clear to me that Amadio needs to be our second line center. It’s clearer that we have one of the worst top lines in the league now. Our prospects can’t get here soon enough.

Kovalchuk is bad.

Send down Grundstrom and Walker. Not sure what to do with Kovalchuk and Prokhorkin. Waive Ryan.

Iafallo - Kopitar - Brown
Wagner - Amadio - Toffoli
Kempe - Lizotte - Carter
Clifford - Lewis - Kempe
Kovalchuk, Prokhorkin

Bjornfot - Doughty
Martinez - Roy
Hutton - LaDue
MacDermid

Quick
Campbell

 

[yankeeking]

Not sure how much it will hurt his development but TB looked like he belongs and being on the ice at the end showed the coaches trust and if it was a test for him the blocked shot showed he has balls also .... our vets look like shit hopefully it was just the last preseason game and they were at half give a crap mode , if they play like that all season start the who’s Our first pick thread already

 

[Mats26]

Our 2C spot is going to be a revolving door all season. We knew this since last year. Things will settle once Turcotte takes that 2C spot. Amadio is our best center after Kopitar right now and he can center the 3rd line, which best suits his skill set. I don't see Kempe or Lizotte as 4th line centers so they need to move to the wings eventually. Going to be alot of movement in the next 2 seasons.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Thing about Quick has always been consistency. He has stretches where he's unbeatable and then stretches where he's losing games for the kings.

LOL, what are you talking about? Last year? Ok, last year we all know he was bad....and guess what, so was the entire team.

NEVER has Quick been know as a goalie that loses game for us...that is beyond ridiculous.

 

[ru4reals]

So it’s pretty clear to me that Amadio needs to be our second line center. It’s clearer that we have one of the worst top lines in the league now. Our prospects can’t get here soon enough.

Kovalchuk is bad.

Send down Grundstrom and Walker. Not sure what to do with Kovalchuk and Prokhorkin. Waive Ryan.

Iafallo - Kopitar - Brown
Wagner - Amadio - Toffoli
Kempe - Lizotte - Carter
Clifford - Lewis - Kempe
Kovalchuk, Prokhorkin

Bjornfot - Doughty
Martinez - Roy
Hutton - LaDue
MacDermid

Quick
Campbell

Hate to say it but I'm looking at this line-up and it looks like 30th in the league in scoring all over again. Unless a few guys go crazy pretty much the same result as last year. It is what it is having low expectations.

 

[BigKing]

Quick was great in Game 1 last season but then he got hurt. By the time he comes back, it's a shit show.

He wasn't good enough last season but I'm not ready to shovel dirt on his grave. If we are doing that, then we'd need to do it to Kopitar and Doughty as well.

The guy I will continue to bury though is Kovalchuk. He's awful. While it's only pre-season, the Kings are playing better hockey than last year. This makes his bad play stand out even more as opposed to last year when he was defended on here so much because he'd try something fancy and excited while we were bored out of our minds. Thing is...he looks like the same player.

Just a complete non-fit for this roster.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Quick was great in Game 1 last season but then he got hurt. By the time he comes back, it's a **** show.

He wasn't good enough last season but I'm not ready to shovel dirt on his grave. If we are doing that, then we'd need to do it to Kopitar and Doughty as well.

The guy I will continue to bury though is Kovalchuk. He's awful. While it's only pre-season, the Kings are playing better hockey than last year. This makes his bad play stand out even more as opposed to last year when he was defended on here so much because he'd try something fancy and excited while we were bored out of our minds. Thing is...he looks like the same player.

Just a complete non-fit for this roster.

I gave it the benefit of the doubt last year but Im out. Atrocious move by Blake.

 

[HookKing]

Hate to say it but I'm looking at this line-up and it looks like 30th in the league in scoring all over again. Unless a few guys go crazy pretty much the same result as last year. It is what it is having low expectations.

3rd straight season Kings will have just 1 effective center not to mention the D will be physically over-matched night after night. Expect Drew and Anze to be worn down completely by Dec.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Let's hear it for the damn dirty Kings.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Let's hear it for the damn dirty Kings.

Never want to see anyone injured, but I loved watching those guys get put on their asses last night.

 

[Reaper45]

Never want to see anyone injured, but I loved watching those guys get put on their asses last night.

I missed the game what happened?

 

[Kingspiracy]

I missed the game what happened?

Nothing much really. Brown and Eakin were going back and forth at each other for half the game, Brown delivered a beauty of a hit in the third that may have slowed ginger down a bit i guess.

Tuch looked to get bit tangled up near the boards with someone, almost looked like he kissed the boards, but it looked pretty tame.