Is Rob Blake the Problem?

[verbalkint47]

I agree his initial assessment was wrong but he recognized it quickly and has done very well since.

I'm actually really curious to see if he sticks to slowly bleeding in all these prospects or if he ends up trading some for younger roster players to expedite the process.

 

[tomd]

Here's the problem...Blake has gutted the roster and received back lottery tickets in exchange. There is now literally no above average talent on the team in the 21-29 year range. So even if every one of those lottery tickets turns out to be a winner the Kings won't be competitive for another 5 years. And that is the best case outcome. Pitchforks and torches will be parading along Figueroa Blvd long before then...

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Here's the problem...Blake has gutted the roster and received back lottery tickets in exchange. There is now literally no above average talent on the team in the 21-29 year range. So even if every one of those lottery tickets turns out to be a winner the Kings won't be competitive for another 5 years. And that is the best case outcome. Pitchforks and torches will be parading along Figueroa Blvd long before then...

That’s essentially what a rebuild is. You need some luck with the draft lottery and the draft to fast track a rebuild, but not everyone can be as fortunate as the Penguins in the 2000s, and that was also a long, painful rebuild for them, and they received a pile of poop for the likes of Jagr, Kovalev, Nedved, Lang, etc.

 

[tomd]

That’s essentially what a rebuild is. You need some luck with the draft lottery and the draft to fast track a rebuild, but not everyone can be as fortunate as the Penguins in the 2000s, and that was also a long, painful rebuild for them, and they received a pile of poop for the likes of Jagr, Kovalev, Nedved, Lang, etc.

You make my point for me...these types of rebuilds never work short of getting a Crosby and Malkin in successive drafts. And looking ahead to 2020 and 2021, there are no Crosby or Malkin or McDavid level players in the draft even if they win the lottery. This team is now Buffalo circa 2015 or Edmonton circa 2010 (or Detroit circa 2020!). Zero top level talent in the organization (yes, and that includes Turcotte and Vilardi who look more like 2nd line players at this point). He||, Ottawa has a better outlook organizationally than LA. Do you really think Blake or Luc are the guys to lead them from ground zero to the promised land? I sure don't.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

You make my point for me...these types of rebuilds never work short of getting a Crosby and Malkin in successive drafts. And looking ahead to 2020 and 2021, there are no Crosby or Malkin or McDavid level players in the draft even if they win the lottery. This team is now Buffalo circa 2015 or Edmonton circa 2010 (or Detroit circa 2020!). Zero top level talent in the organization (yes, and that includes Turcotte and Vilardi who look more like 2nd line players at this point). He||, Ottawa has a better outlook organizationally than LA. Do you really think Blake or Luc are the guys to lead them from ground zero to the promised land? I sure don't.

Maybe you missed this, but the Kings won a few Cups without a Malkin, Crosby, McDavid. The highest pick they had on those squads was Doughty. I don’t know if Blake will lead the team to the promised land, but the future outlook looks better now than it did a few years ago. Or do you prefer they hang onto aging vets and keep trading away picks and prospects as the way to go?

 

[SFKingshomer]

He's set them up with assets and cap space to land a few players other teams want to keep but can't due to cap restraints. The Kings won't stand pat and use all these picks...it's ammo to improve the NHL club and overall depth of the organization.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Zero top level talent in the organization (yes, and that includes Turcotte and Vilardi who look more like 2nd line players at this point).

I'm curious to know how you are making this assessment. All of the prospect pool rankings I've read, by the so-called 'experts', have the Kings rated very high, if not #1. Do you have more insight than these guys??

 

[SFKingshomer]

Here's the problem...Blake has gutted the roster and received back lottery tickets in exchange. There is now literally no above average talent on the team in the 21-29 year range. So even if every one of those lottery tickets turns out to be a winner the Kings won't be competitive for another 5 years. And that is the best case outcome. Pitchforks and torches will be parading along Figueroa Blvd long before then...

What did you expect him to do? Teams are looking to improve and aren't going to trade you a good 22 year old roster player for Tyler Toffoli or Alec Martinez. In a perfect world, Blake would package Martinez and picks/prospects for a guy like Trochek but we don't even know if he's available and at what cost.

 

[tomd]

Maybe you missed this, but the Kings won a few Cups without a Malkin, Crosby, McDavid. The highest pick they had on those squads was Doughty. I don’t know if Blake will lead the team to the promised land, but the future outlook looks better now than it did a few years ago. Or do you prefer they hang onto aging vets and keep trading away picks and prospects as the way to go?

Trading away draft picks is foolish over the long term as Lombardi proved. All I'm saying is that there was a middle ground that Blake could have taken...keep the draft picks, strategically trade older players, but also focus on building up the middle 20s age group thru those trades. Like I said (and I don't think you'll disagree), having zero talent in the 21-29 age group is a huge problem and will lengthen the rebuild by several years.

 

[SFKingshomer]

Trading away draft picks is foolish over the long term as Lombardi proved. All I'm saying is that there was a middle ground that Blake could have taken...keep the draft picks, strategically trade older players, but also focus on building up the middle 20s age group thru those trades. Like I said (and I don't think you'll disagree), having zero talent in the 21-29 age group is a huge problem and will lengthen the rebuild by several years.

He didn't have the assets to trade for players in the age group you're referring to. Short of trading Kopitar and Doughty a year or two ago, what realistic players did he have to trade for a 21 year old emerging talent?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

He didn't have the assets to trade for players in the age group you're referring to. Short of trading Kopitar and Doughty a year or two ago, what realistic players did he have to trade for a 21 year old emerging talent?

Not only that, but when was the last time a 21-22 year old emerging talent was traded, and at what cost? Recently, Jones for Johansson, Drouin for Sergachev? Position for position swaps......

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

And looking ahead to 2020 and 2021, there are no Crosby or Malkin or McDavid level players in the draft even if they win the lottery.

Oh **** this guy don't know about Lafreniere. Maybe Lafreniere won't be generational like Crosby or McDavid, but he will likely be better than players like Eichel, Mathews, etc (or at least on their same level). Byfield could easily turn into the next 90-100 point first line center. I'll stop there but I could literally keep going down the line through Stutzle, Raymond, Drysdale, etc. There's SO much elite/franchise level talent in the 2020 draft it's ridiculous.

You don't necessarily need the next Crosby/McDavid to build a contender. You just need high end talent, and there's plenty in the 2020 draft. Also, I'd 100% disagree with your assessment that there is "Zero top level talent in the organization". Turcotte, Vilardi, and Kaliyev are all top level talents. Maybe they won't be franchise/generational players, but at this point they all easily have the potential to be top line elite talents in the NHL.

You're obviously pretty down on Blake/Luc and Kings prospects, but there's plenty of reasons to be VERY excited for the future. Hell, even fans of other teams are talking about how ridiculously good the Kings will be in a couple years. Have some faith, my friend

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Here's the problem...Blake has gutted the roster and received back lottery tickets in exchange. There is now literally no above average talent on the team in the 21-29 year range. So even if every one of those lottery tickets turns out to be a winner the Kings won't be competitive for another 5 years. And that is the best case outcome. Pitchforks and torches will be parading along Figueroa Blvd long before then...

I've heard this process is called a "rebuild."

We'll need to look more into this.

 

[lumbergh]

Here's the problem...Blake has gutted the roster and received back lottery tickets in exchange. There is now literally no above average talent on the team in the 21-29 year range. So even if every one of those lottery tickets turns out to be a winner the Kings won't be competitive for another 5 years. And that is the best case outcome. Pitchforks and torches will be parading along Figueroa Blvd long before then...

You're assuming that these "lottery tickets" are all going to stay in the system. One of the reasons to accumulate assets like prospects and picks is to use them to acquire players in that age range. You use them to fill holes. Trade some of them for the parts you need to complete a team, especially those players that will push your team into contender-land.

Acquiring Justin Williams required a Patrick O'Sullivan (a lottery ticket that didn't win) and a 2nd round pick (turned out to be Brian Doumalin, semi-winner).
Acquiring Jeff Carter required Jack Johnson (not a winner) and a 1st round pick (turned out to be Marko Dano, not a winner)
Acquiring Mike Richards required Wayne Simmonds (a winner) and Brayden Schenn (also a winner) and the last pick of the 2nd round of 2012, who turned out to be Devin Shore (semi-winner?)

A rebuild is not just about youth youth youth. It's about finding a core of excellent young players and complementing those players with veterans who bring experience, grit, determination, and whatever other factors the GM thinks will improve the team. You can't do the second part without the first part, so you'll just have to wait a couple of years to see what moves Blake has once several of the young players step up and form a new core.

I give Blake two years before it's "pitchforks and torches" time.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Yup this. I’m no Blake lover but he’s done well to restock, I’ll give him that. I just don’t have a lot of faith in his ability to judge the pulse of his team and make the right moves when we shift back to trying to be competitive. Our biggest hope and simultaneously our biggest concern is that it wasn’t him driving the initial “retool”, but if it was Luc or whoever, then that’s a whole other problem in and of itself.

Luc was pushing the Pacioretti trade and contract through his friend and agent. That was a disaster.

 

[Nodoughtyboutit]

My biggest issue with Blake is him not realizing that the window closed earlier then he did. But thankfully he didn't slow the rebuild process too much coming to that realization.

But since then I think he's been pretty good. Most rankings have us as a top 3 prospect pool if not number 1. With the trades were making and college players we've signed. We should only improve our prospect depth over the next two drafts.

And I don't know how much of our success going forward is gonna be in his hands so much. We're about to turn the corner from sellers that are trying to acquire picks and prospects to a team where developing those prospects is the key to everything. While its nice having an amazing pool it has to actually become something which doesn't have much to do with Blake.

So I feel like we've drafted well and are trending in the right direction. Blake has put us there. Hopefully it'll only get better.

I'm giving him 2-3 years before we should be a solid team looking at the playoffs or very close.

 

[KINGS17]

Here's the problem...Blake has gutted the roster and received back lottery tickets in exchange. There is now literally no above average talent on the team in the 21-29 year range. So even if every one of those lottery tickets turns out to be a winner the Kings won't be competitive for another 5 years. And that is the best case outcome. Pitchforks and torches will be parading along Figueroa Blvd long before then...

I don't expect the Kings to be a contender in any amount of time under five years. Even with Toffoli, Clifford, Campbell, and Martinez on the roster there was no above average talent in the 21-29 range.

The players they are drafting have talent. It won't be luck that makes them better players, but the efforts of the Kings development staff. Now, whether the development staff is up to the challenge or not, remains to be seen.

Unloading the vets is the right thing to do at this time.

 

[Pandaman11]

Both Blake and McLellan are a problem. Zero idea how to handle Kovalchuk. Only 22 (!) games on another team and suddenly he's worth a third-rounder.

And then there's Goodrow vs Toffoli.

The only good thing he did was to obtain anything for Forbort.

Time to step down, gentlemen. New GM + Gallant next summer.

 

[Sol]

Here's the problem...Blake has gutted the roster and received back lottery tickets in exchange. There is now literally no above average talent on the team in the 21-29 year range. So even if every one of those lottery tickets turns out to be a winner the Kings won't be competitive for another 5 years. And that is the best case outcome. Pitchforks and torches will be parading along Figueroa Blvd long before then...

This is the weirdest take I've ever seen.

Kings are getting very good players and youth in drafts and possibly in this upcoming draft. What you seem to have forgotten is that the Kings when they had solid pieces they stopped rebuilding and traded for a Richards and a Carter.

The way it works is once you have a good foundation, you can afford to trade some picks to get into contention.


Having all these good prospects as well are possible assets in a future trade as well for established NHLers.


What are you even talking about? If the Kings draft well this year and next, they will be sitting very pretty with a bunch of assets.

Kings are not far at all from being competitive in my opinion. And let's say I'm wrong to play devil's advocate in terms of the time line, that doesn't change the fact that Blake has had very good drafts when it's all said and done.


He's moved Clifford, Forbort, toffoli, and Martinez in one off-season.


That shows that there's a plan being enacted.


Be patient. It looks very good right now.

 

[tigermask48]

I'd give Blake a solid C after this deadline. He made a few moves, the value he got seems ok to decent.
But at the same time Lewis, Hutton and Carter are still here and taking up spots. He potentially botched Frk playing for Ontario if they make the playoffs and now he is saying they are done selling? I guess we see what Yanetti can do with the assets Blake got. Hoping for the best.

These last 20 games should be very telling of where things are at.

 

[LAKings88]

The Kings weren’t a contender with the roster they had. It was boring stale bottom feeder crap.

Needed airing out. Now they can try to add speed and skill while keeping some semblance of defense and determination.

St. Louis is the standard at the moment.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

But at the same time Lewis, Hutton and Carter are still here and taking up spots.

I'm confused, why are we moving Hutton?

 

[Frolov 6'3]

But at the same time Lewis, Hutton and Carter are still here and taking up spots.

I'm confused too, why are we moving Carter?

 

[King'sPawn]

Both Blake and McLellan are a problem. Zero idea how to handle Kovalchuk. Only 22 (!) games on another team and suddenly he's worth a third-rounder.

And then there's Goodrow vs Toffoli.

The only good thing he did was to obtain anything for Forbort.

Time to step down, gentlemen. New GM + Gallant next summer.

Kovalchuk fetched a 3rd rounder when his contract was $700 k + retention for the rest of the season. In LA, it was $6.5 million + another season.

Goodrow has another season at a cheap rate. And everyone agrees Brisbois was the fool. Not that Wilson is some clever GM.

The situations aren't comparable. Step away from the keyboard.

 

[Fat Elvis]

I've come to the conclusion that some people just see what they see and haters are going to hate. Maybe we have some flat-earthers posting here. There isn't a lick of evidence to change their thought.

You can't reason with crazy.