Confirmed with Link: Kings announce signing kovalchuk to 3 year contract.

[bland]

There would still be 6 years left on his NJ contract hadvit not been terminated. Imagine that.

Iginla, Lecavalier, and now Kovy. Chalk up another 2000s all star that had a forgettable short stint with LA.

Don't forget Phaneuf and Cammalleri.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

There would still be 6 years left on his NJ contract hadvit not been terminated. Imagine that.

Iginla, Lecavalier, and now Kovy. Chalk up another 2000s all star that had a forgettable short stint with LA.

You can make an all-star team with all of the over the hill players the Kings added throughout the 2000s and the last decade.

Kovalchuk-Lecavalier-Iginla
Gagne-Roenick-A. Carter
Nagy-Straka-V. Bure
Penner-Ronning-Heinze

Phaneuf-Preissing
Sekera-Sopel
Ehrhoff-Gilbert

Burke-Cloutier

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

No, two years were lost due to the thinking that brought in Kovalchuk. He is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. It was two years of going for it instead of acknowledging the true state of the franchise. There are some unmovable veteran players on this roster that were a hell of a lot more attractive then, and had management correctly read the terrain when Blake got the job they would have stepped straight into the rebuild instead of wasting millions and productive prime years of other players they wanted to retain.

There absolutely was a cost here, just not one folks are wanting to notice. Its great that Blake eventually did make this change (thank baby jesus Pacioretty didn't accept 6 x 6), but its no reason to excuse his error. Plus, you think Anschutz is cool just throwing cash away?

Besides, with two strong centers likely debuting next year, its asinine to think that dead cap space isn't hurtful because this team needs help on the wings right away. Kaliyev is at least a full season away, Kupari and Thomas as well. You find the right fit in the UFA market, you buy now to help break those kids in with somebody to finish. They have a very good amount of space now, but nobody is going to say having the Kovalchuk and Phaneuf hits on top of that isn't welcome.

Excusing this as no harm no foul is the real joke. Its pretending that the here and now is the only aspect of the GM job, and it certainly isn't. It just isn't what most fans want to pay attention to.

Kovalchuk doesn’t cost the Kings a single penny next season, just artificial cap space that won’t impact the team much. The Kovalchuk signing was a big swing for the fences that failed spectacularly, but you’re really grasping at straws to think it cost them anything.

Are you aware of how much cap space the Kings have in the upcoming summer and the year after?

 

[TruKingFan]

Guess Blake wasted Bland's millions when he signed Kovalchuk. Coz AEG don't seem to mind too much as they were onboard with the signing for sure.

 

[Master Yoda]

No, two years were lost due to the thinking that brought in Kovalchuk. He is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. It was two years of going for it instead of acknowledging the true state of the franchise. There are some unmovable veteran players on this roster that were a hell of a lot more attractive then, and had management correctly read the terrain when Blake got the job they would have stepped straight into the rebuild instead of wasting millions and productive prime years of other players they wanted to retain.

There absolutely was a cost here, just not one folks are wanting to notice. Its great that Blake eventually did make this change (thank baby jesus Pacioretty didn't accept 6 x 6), but its no reason to excuse his error. Plus, you think Anschutz is cool just throwing cash away?

Besides, with two strong centers likely debuting next year, its asinine to think that dead cap space isn't hurtful because this team needs help on the wings right away. Kaliyev is at least a full season away, Kupari and Thomas as well. You find the right fit in the UFA market, you buy now to help break those kids in with somebody to finish. They have a very good amount of space now, but nobody is going to say having the Kovalchuk and Phaneuf hits on top of that isn't welcome.

Excusing this as no harm no foul is the real joke. Its pretending that the here and now is the only aspect of the GM job, and it certainly isn't. It just isn't what most fans want to pay attention to.

Other than Anschutz's cash, exactly what was lost during the two years though? It's not like he was taking away playing time for any of our top prospects. If anything, it helped the FO, and many people including myself, realize that a rebuild was needed ASAP. And we got Turcotte from the suckage.

We weren't going to sign any premier UFAs, never have, and probably never will, so the dead cap space doesn't really hurt either. And they have enough cap space still to sign a middle six vet fwd anyways, if that's what you think is needed.

I'm sure BLuc's bosses aren't very happy about the whole deal, but it didn't add two years to the rebuild like you seem to suggest.

 

[Choralone]

You can make an all-star team with all of the over the hill players the Kings added throughout the 2000s and the last decade.

Kovalchuk-Lecavalier-Iginla
Gagne-Roenick-A. Carter
Nagy-Straka-V. Bure
Penner-Ronning-Heinze

Phaneuf-Preissing
Sekera-Sopel
Ehrhoff-Gilbert

Burke-Cloutier

Don't forgot our former Sharks additions: Marco Sturm and Devin Setoguchi.

 

[KingsFan7824]

You can make an all-star team with all of the over the hill players the Kings added throughout the 2000s and the last decade.

Kovalchuk-Lecavalier-Iginla
Gagne-Roenick-A. Carter
Nagy-Straka-V. Bure
Penner-Ronning-Heinze

Phaneuf-Preissing
Sekera-Sopel
Ehrhoff-Gilbert

Burke-Cloutier

Those tend to be the only guys available, unless you're willing to part with actual assets. Established young players, top prospects, 1st rounders. Stoll and Greene were great for the price paid, and filled a role, but they didn't get the team anywhere. It wasn't until the future was traded that they started adding more than 3rd line/3rd pair talent. It's all a give and take.

At this time last year, Hall and Kessel weren't in Arizona, and few would've predicted they would be in 12 months. A fun thought experiment, who is the out of the box, no way that happens player that the Kings will add in 3 years or whatever? In 2010, of course both Richards and Carter wont be Kings within 24 months. That would be silly.

 

[Lt Dan]

Don't forgot our former Sharks additions: Marco Sturm and Devin Setoguchi.

Fun fact:: you can substitute setoguchi in to this song

 

[mbar]

It was a desperation signing in a season they thought the Kings were going to be competitive and ended up having one of their worst seasons ever. Once they committed to the rebuild, Kovalchuk didn't fit anywhere into the plans. He's not a mentor or team player. He's basically a mercenary and would have better luck on teams already pushing that wouldn't need him to fit into a system, just score some goals.

It wasn’t just management. There was more optimism in these parts prior to last season then I remember ever seeing even when we were good. A lot of optimism that Kovy and Villardi and a more attacking style would lead to a great season.

A lot of us pretend otherwise but no one really saw the cliff we were about to go over.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

No, two years were lost due to the thinking that brought in Kovalchuk. He is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. It was two years of going for it instead of acknowledging the true state of the franchise. There are some unmovable veteran players on this roster that were a hell of a lot more attractive then, and had management correctly read the terrain when Blake got the job they would have stepped straight into the rebuild instead of wasting millions and productive prime years of other players they wanted to retain.

There absolutely was a cost here, just not one folks are wanting to notice. Its great that Blake eventually did make this change (thank baby jesus Pacioretty didn't accept 6 x 6), but its no reason to excuse his error. Plus, you think Anschutz is cool just throwing cash away?

Besides, with two strong centers likely debuting next year, its asinine to think that dead cap space isn't hurtful because this team needs help on the wings right away. Kaliyev is at least a full season away, Kupari and Thomas as well. You find the right fit in the UFA market, you buy now to help break those kids in with somebody to finish. They have a very good amount of space now, but nobody is going to say having the Kovalchuk and Phaneuf hits on top of that isn't welcome.

Excusing this as no harm no foul is the real joke. Its pretending that the here and now is the only aspect of the GM job, and it certainly isn't. It just isn't what most fans want to pay attention to.

Others have covered a lot of this, but what two years are you talking about? He played part of one year that signalled rebuild, and has now been dumped not even halfway into this season. He didn't even play one full season worth of games. I get that you're part of the "welp should have traded everyone immediately after 2014" crew, but get serious, there was a very clear reason he was brought in and also a very clear reason he was shown the door. not excusing his error, but he didn't double down on it. One year of going for it under a new situation is totally fair for a new GM and to his credit he quickly corrected course.

no, dead cap space is absolutely not hurtful next year and it's laughable that you're arguing in favor of that. Right now the Kings have a projected 20 million in cap space and probably more when some vets exit (lewis, toffoli, martinez = another 10+ million. Edit: and the following season another 10 million comes off with the dead Kovy and Phaneuf caps. And the big RFA season is 22-23). Are you advocating them spending more than that on wingers? If so, shoot your whole argument in the face. If not, your argument implodes on itself.

There is no harm no foul even with your stretching.

 

[KINGS17]

It wasn’t just management. There was more optimism in these parts prior to last season then I remember ever seeing even when we were good. A lot of optimism that Kovy and Villardi and a more attacking style would lead to a great season.

A lot of us pretend otherwise but no one really saw the cliff we were about to go over.

Purple tinted shades, well I guess they are black or white shaded these days.

 

[KINGS17]

Others have covered a lot of this, but what two years are you talking about? He played part of one year that signalled rebuild, and has now been dumped not even halfway into this season. He didn't even play one full season worth of games. I get that you're part of the "welp should have traded everyone immediately after 2014" crew, but get serious, there was a very clear reason he was brought in and also a very clear reason he was shown the door. not excusing his error, but he didn't double down on it. One year of going for it under a new situation is totally fair for a new GM and to his credit he quickly corrected course.

no, dead cap space is absolutely not hurtful next year and it's laughable that you're arguing in favor of that. Right now the Kings have a projected 20 million in cap space and probably more when some vets exit (lewis, toffoli, martinez = another 10+ million. Edit: and the following season another 10 million comes off with the dead Kovy and Phaneuf caps). Are you advocating them spending more than that on wingers? If so, shoot your whole argument in the face. If not, your argument implodes on itself.

There is no harm no foul even with your stretching.

Pretty disingenuous to make it sound like 2014 was the year everyone wanted changes made, when the only change people were advocating was using the compliance buy out on Mike Richards. I get it though it's a favorite tactic of anyone who wasn't willing to consider trading a single piece of the current core which won't win jack over the remainder of their contracts.

 

[Kingspiracy]

Because everyone is playing the system?

With Kovalchuk:
Clifford, +1
Kopitar, 0
Brown, 0
Wagner, 0
Lizotte, -1
Iafallo, -3
Toffoli, -3
Lewis, -3
Carter, -6
Amadio, -6
Kempe, -7
Kovalchuk, -10

Without Kovalchuk:
Prokhorkin, +3
Amadio, +3
Kempe, +3
Luff, +3
Lewis, +2
Brown, +2
Clifford, +1
Kopitar, +1
Lizotte, +1
Iafallo, 0
Toffoli, 0
Wagner, -2
Carter, -3

Those numbers never tell an entire story, and you can say Kempe was playing out of position at C, but a lot of those minuses were playing with Kovalchuk at various times. Now there are fewer minuses. They've given up 13 fewer goals at 5v5 in 1 more game.

They've also given up 10 fewer PP goals, and Kovalchuk played 7 seconds of PK time, so not a factor there. 15 fewer minutes on the PK without him, 15 fewer times SH without him. Is that fewer turnovers by Kovalchuk, resulting in the team taking fewer penalties? That's probably a bit much to dump on one guy.

They're even 3% better on the PP without him, although they've had 13 fewer PP's. Not that 14% as opposed to 11% is good. 14% is still bottom 10 since Nov 9th.

I don't like shoving everything onto Kovalchuk, because the problems have been much bigger than Kovalchuk for years, but almost every stat seems to be better when he's not there. How complicated can the Kings new system be?

Its not neccesarily complicated, but it would take a while to re train guys that are used to the old one. We've also turned over the D a lot in the year (part due to injury) so that would also take time to settle.

Kovy obviously shoulders some blame, since the coach doesnt want to play him (that could be under owners /gm instruction mind you, in order to make him move on and save cash). He did look quite erratic to me at times, no one seemed to know what he was going to next (our team or theirs)

I think Kovy still has nhl talent, it will be interesting to see how he gets on if a contender signs him on the cheap as a pp specialist.

 

[Bandit]

I love the “statement” released by the Kings about Kovalchuck:

“He gone.”

 

[Lt Dan]

I love the “statement” released by the Kings about Kovalchuck:

“He gone.”

With the termination, this could be going legal.

Rule 1 of lawsuits: dont talk about fight club
Rule 2: see rule 1
Rule 3: say nothing because it will be used against you

 

[tbrown33]

Plus, you think Anschutz is cool just throwing cash away?

Phil Anschutz is worth 10.3 BILLION dollars. 7 figure contracts are pennies to him.

Will someone PLEAAASEE think of the billionaires??

 

[KINGS17]

The best thing about signing Kovalchuk was becoming more aware of his wife's twitter account.

 

[BigKing]

Phil Anschutz is worth 10.3 BILLION dollars. 7 figure contracts are pennies to him.

Will someone PLEAAASEE think of the billionaires??

People don't become billionaires by throwing money away. Regardless, nobody is worried about Phil's lost money but this is still a business. If Blake keeps blowing Phil's money, maybe Phil isn't as inclined to let him spend it on the right players etc.

As it stands, the Kings could have been in the mix to buy that first round pick with Marleau but AEG wasn't going to be too excited to buy a pick for $6MM when they are shelling out big bucks to Phaneuf and Kovy. Maybe Sutter and Stevens too?

 

[KINGS17]

Phil Anschutz is worth 10.3 BILLION dollars. 7 figure contracts are pennies to him.

Will someone PLEAAASEE think of the billionaires??

I always laugh at posts like this. How do you think billionaires stay billionaires? It isn't by throwing away money.

Put it this way. When Uncle Phil is building a development, I bet any manager who makes a 7-figure mistake isn't around very long. Granted GMs of sports teams should be given slightly more latitude.

Well, @BigKing beat me to it.

 

[Bandit]

Phil got what he wanted out of the Kings: LA Live. Everything else is just gravy.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I always laugh at posts like this. How do you think billionaires stay billionaires? It isn't by throwing away money.

Put it this way. When Uncle Phil is building a development, I bet any manager who makes a 7-figure mistake isn't around very long. Granted GMs of sports teams should be given slightly more latitude.

Well, @BigKing beat me to it.

Did you know the Kings actually ended up saving money today as they won’t have to pay Kovalchuk any longer? And he didn’t even have to commit any criminal activity to get out of that contract.

 

[KINGS17]

Did you know the Kings actually ended up saving money today as they won’t have to pay Kovalchuk any longer? And he didn’t even have to commit any criminal activity to get out of that contract.

A mistake, is a mistake. It was a desperate move, but the real problem is it's a symptom of the biggest problem before the 2018-19 season. Robitaille and Blake thought the Kings were a Kovalchuk away from being a contender, which was a joke.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

A mistake, is a mistake. It was a desperate move, but the real problem is it's a symptom of the biggest problem before the 2018-19 season. Robitaille and Blake thought the Kings were a Kovalchuk away from being a contender, which was a joke.

Well, the idea was to add a former 40+ goal scorer who had an impressive showing at the Olympics to play LW alongside Kopitar and Brown, who had career years playing with Iafallo. Clearly, that grand plan didn’t work out, and it ultimately played out as a two-year contract. His cap hit next season is inconsequential.

What would have been worse is trading first rounders and prospects for quick fixes.

 

[Bandit]

What would have been worse is trading first rounders and prospects for quick fixes.

Blake tried to do this with Patcioretty, which along with his surfing career are two big reasons I don’t trust him. Imagine if that would have actually happened. What a nightmare. Our Franchise was saved because a player refused to come here.

 

[Albatros]

People don't become billionaires by throwing money away.

Let's not pretend he's a self-made man either.