It's fine to want that, but your hopes of losing rest on players and coaches who don't care at all about future draft picks. They may lose, but they don't want to lose. Even if Lombardi takes Doughty either way, Willsie might've cost them an asset by winning that extra game. Did Willsie ever get to see any of the success the Kings had? No. He did play 47 more NHL games after his time here, so he got a few extra pay checks. Maybe because he didn't quit while playing on a bad team, who knows. If Thompson can get one more contract from a team, he's going to play as hard as he can, and what fans want means zip.
Don't watch the product if you wish, but they're going to try to win every game they play. At least in theory. They've come out with what seems to be no desire to play a few times this year, but in general, they're going to try to win, no matter what that means for the long term status of the franchise. Fans have to accept that. GM's can have a longer term outlook, but coaches and players never will.
The less Kovalchuk has played under Desjardins, the more often the Kings have won. Since W's and L's are all that ultimately matter, winning more often than not looks good for Desjardins. Not that they're winning more often than not, even under Desjardins, but specifically with Kovalchuk's ice time, the less he's played in a game, the more often the Kings have won. That's not making yourself look like a dumb ****. Apparently it's putting them in a better position to win.
The teams they've beaten under Desjardins aren't good, but the Kings are the worst team in the league, so any win is a good one for them.
They need another forward for a road trip, and there's nobody else for that spot. Ontario doesn't play again until Thursday. At most Rempal misses 2 games, in either league, because of the call up. He's got 20 points in 14 AHL games. That's with a couple call ups already. I'm sure he'll be fine, either way, by the start of next week.
