Is Vilardi the most expendable prospect?

[LAKings88]

Been chewing on this for awhile? I just don’t see a fit for him going forward. I think he is tremendously skilled but I think he needs playing time with decent wingers.

Kupari is emerging as a solid player. JAD is a great 3rd/4th center option.

Turcotte and Byfield are close.

Fagemo is pushing.

Madden and Thomas are in the mix too.

I can see Vilardi dangled for a dman.

Am I completely off the mark?

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[johnjm22]

I think the problem is he may not have much value at this point.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Sure, the more prospects play, the more their flaws get exposed. If he's the most expendable, then he's also the least valuable.

What dman are you getting for him? This moment, probably whatever the equivalent to Vilardi is in a dman. Question marks. Upside, but hasn't found it yet.

Vilardi is the + in a deal right now

 

[FSL KINGS]

Vilardi should have intrest around the league, but he's not getting 2C value back right now. Just play him at RW for a bit & see if he can take a step forward.

 

[King'sPawn]

Been chewing on this for awhile? I just don’t see a fit for him going forward. I think he is tremendously skilled but I think he needs playing time with decent wingers.

Kupari is emerging as a solid player. JAD is a great 3rd/4th center option.

Turcotte and Byfield are close.

Fagemo is pushing.

Madden and Thomas are in the mix too.

I can see Vilardi dangled for a dman.

Am I completely off the mark?

He's done well with the right players. Andersson, Frk, and Moore especially.

He's had to recover with the physical issues in the back. He faced psychological issues of if he'd ever play again. That kind of adversity can be difficult for anyone to overcome, especially since younger players are streaky by nature.

Center is where the Kings are deepest. But none of those ahead of him have proven yet that they are any more reliable.

 

[LAKings88]

Sure, the more prospects play, the more their flaws get exposed. If he's the most expendable, then he's also the least valuable.

What dman are you getting for him? This moment, probably whatever the equivalent to Vilardi is in a dman. Question marks. Upside, but hasn't found it yet.

Vilardi is the + in a deal right now

It’s not really about his flaws tho in my mind. I think his potential is high still. I just think his role is going to be filled by others.

Obviously he likely will be part of package. The kings are going to have move someone eventually.

 

[Bandit]

Maybe we should let him play a season before we give up on him? Crazy talk I know.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

If they keep misusing him, they're gonna sell low, then end up scratching their heads when he puts up 25-30 goals on a wing somewhere else, just like they will after Clague's putting up 40 points elsewhere.

This organization cannot stop undercutting themselves by doghousing instead of developing guys. It's the mark of bad coaching and management when you cannot use your players to their strengths and instead try to turn each one of them into Dwight King, then get surprised when they're not productive in 8 minutes on the 4th line starting repeatedly in the Dzone and removed from the PP.

 

[bland]

Vilardi and Kupari both want to be centers, but both will need to play wing if they want to stay full time in Los Angeles despite both ideally staying up the middle. There is just not enough room behind Kopitar, Byfield and Danault.

And since they aren't ideally wingers, its only logical to consider moving them for players better suited to play on the wing, or defense or goal. Vilardi is the higher end prospect of the two, and I am not overly concerned with his recent struggles.

 

[LAKings88]

If they keep misusing him, they're gonna sell low, then end up scratching their heads when he puts up 25-30 goals on a wing somewhere else, just like they will after Clague's putting up 40 points elsewhere.

This organization cannot stop undercutting themselves by doghousing instead of developing guys. It's the mark of bad coaching and management when you cannot use your players to their strengths and instead try to turn each one of them into Dwight King, then get surprised when they're not productive in 8 minutes on the 4th line starting repeatedly in the Dzone and removed from the PP.

This.

Maybe he has a future at wing but Kopi/Danault/Byfield are the big three now.

Vilardi shouldn’t be centering plugs on the fourth.

 

[LAKings88]

22-23
Arvidsson Kopi Kaliyev
Iaffalo Danault Kempe
Andersson Byfield Turcotte
Moore JAD Lemieux
???

Brown?
Vilardi?
Kupari?
Prospect?

JAD & Kempe aren’t set in stone I guess.

 

[kingsboy11]

He's not expendable yet because we have to wait and see who can lock down that center spot. Turcotte, Byfield and Kupari all are vying for that spot. Hell we haven't even tried Vilardi at RW yet. Patience

 

[LAKings88]

The Kings will likely need to move out some players. Great to preach patience but some of these guys are running out of airstrip.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The Kings will likely need to move out some players. Great to preach patience but some of these guys are running out of airstrip.

Most of the important ones haven't even been taxi'ed to the runway yet, though.


Vilardi is older, not more expendable. Too many lottery tickets yet to scratch off.

For all we know, all the defensemen hit and no forwards do. Then what?

I don't think we're in the position to be moving guys yet. Other than 'high end offensive LHD' we don't even know what holes we have to plug yet.

 

[unicornpig]

Unless we get a solid defender just keep him. Rather him bust here then trade him for lower value

 

[ZJames]

He has played a total of 71 NHL games now through 3 different seasons. The first was cut short by the COVID outbreak, the second season was still shortened by COVID, and now unfortunately he is in COVID protocol.

That's a lot of COVID.

This is all after recovering from a pretty serious back issue that kept him out of hockey for, I believe, almost 2 years. I'm not ready to give up on him yet. I would rather give him a little more time and see if he can get things headed in the right direction. That way, if we do end up trading him, at least we would get some better value for him.

 

[LAKings88]

Most of the important ones haven't even been taxi'ed to the runway yet, though.


Vilardi is older, not more expendable. Too many lottery tickets yet to scratch off.

For all we know, all the defensemen hit and no forwards do. Then what?

I don't think we're in the position to be moving guys yet. Other than 'high end offensive LHD' we don't even know what holes we have to plug yet.

Byfield will be here soon. Turcotte isn’t much longer for the AHL. JAD is due and can play bottom six.

Gabe really does need to take a wing’s spot.

I hope he does. Can he hold a spot over Moore, Andersson, Lemieux, etc. I’d hope so because of his skill but he doesn’t fit some of their intangibles.

Guy has had a rough journey and I’m pulling for him. I just think he needs to show his potential sooner than later to nail down a spot.

 

[BigKing]

He became the most expendable higher value prospect the moment the Kings took Byfield.

These prospects are stocks and the Kings would be selling low at the moment. Then again, the lack of foot speed might actually limit his effectiveness when I thought his skill would be able to overcome it.

 

[Fishhead]

The question of which prospects will have to move to wing is easily answered: anyone not named Byfield. It's going to be Kopitar, Danault, and Byfield down the middle for the immediate future. That last C spot is going to be a guy like Lizotte, JAD, or another energy type. So many top prospects are centers simply because they grew up the best on their prospective teams, it's not a big adjustment.

There is no rush to make decisions on anyone yet, just because their perceived value might drop to the Kings doesn't mean they won't be valued by other teams. Remember these players are young and only a few years removed from their drafts. Teams remember how they ranked guys and how well they felt they would fit in their system. Even though it's not urgent to sort things out, if the team gets a chance to grab that elusive solid young D they can easily pull the trigger.

 

[Sol]

Yes he's the most expendable king with the most value in terms of younger players.

 

[kingsboy11]

Look at it this way when it comes perceived value. Kings traded for Lias Andersson who was picked 4 spots ahead of Vilardi in 2017. Andersson has 15 points in 92 games and he had 9 points in 66 games before the trade. Compare that to Vilardi who has 31 points in 71 games. So if Andersson was worth a late 2nd with that kind of production while everyone in the entire league knew that he wanted out of New York, Vilardi's perceived value should be a lot higher if we are worried about Vilardi's value.

I think given that this team has invested a lot of time in fixing his back issues and then working him into the lineup that they aren't going to give up on him so easily. They will find a place for him in the lineup even with all the centers we have

 

[Ghetty Green]

Mikey Anderson is the correct answer

 

[lexlavender]

To be frank, right now we don't really know what he can do at wing. Watching the games, and despite the goals and stuff, I don't think Kaliyev is quite ready for the big club. I wouldn't mind sending him down and giving Vilardi a chance at wing (after a loss of course, not during a streak).

If that doesn't work out, then yeah, we have decisions to make.

 

[AlphaBravo]

The answer largely depends on if we can trade Vilardi for a top 4 D, which I think is unlikely. If some GM is willing to part with a legit young D for Vilardi plus some draft picks, I think it is fair to trade him with the expectation that he may be a legit scorer because we need help on D now and in the near future. But the aforementioned is unlikely. Vilardi needs to play a full season on wing for us to have any value in him.

 

[JTeller97]

Wouldn't mind seeing him next to Danault and AI. I just don't think he has the speed or defensive wherewithal to play down the middle in the modern NHL and we really don't need him to be a center. He's shown too many flashes to dump him for cheap but if he's the key to getting you that Blue chip Lhd you have to do it.