Confirmed with Link: Kings Sign Kopitar (2 Years/ $7m AAV)

[kingsfan28]

Zero playoff series wins seems like a pretty good metric for failure.

are you including the re-tool years, or just the 3 playoff years.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Look at the bright side. Now Kopitar can easily afford the down payment on another neighbor’s property to expand the size of the compound he’s building in Manhattan Beach. Dude is gonna be the top landlord in the South Bay before he gets his statue, or wins a playoff series wearing the C.

are you including the re-tool years, or just the 3 playoff years.

Every year he made $10M counts.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I don’t think you can truly have a viable chance to win whenever you abandon a rebuild and try to salvage it through trades.

The Kings are sacrificing long term success for short term pseudo-competitiveness.

The only way to rebuild is to sell it all, not build upon the previous foundation that is hovering around the edge of their competitive viability.

Kopitar and Doughty are gonna be done any moment. Is it truly worth it to f*** everything up for them and rely on them. Because once they’re done you’re going back to a rebuild immediately while accomplishing nothing.

And they weren't selling it all. They never indicated that. What they're doing now is what they wanted to do since the summer of 2018. Just keep throwing crap out there to see if it sticks. If Quick was even slightly less than average, he'd still be here.

They want to do it again with the guys that are still here that did it before. Doesn't matter if it isn't possible. They just want to get one hot run. The semi-rebuild was done in service of that, not done for the rebuild guys. They want the romantic story line. If it crashes and burns, then it crashes and burns. People get fired. Then guys want out. Then you really rebuild.

You get your Kopitar and Doughty, faces of the franchise whether anyone wants it or not, once in a generation. Sadly, they(and the whole Fraud 4 really) were high picks(except one, and nobody said that's the guy) that rode real men to championships. Although most of those real men were here when they couldn't even beat a McDavid-less Oilers team in the last week of the 14-15 season. If not for the Cups, they all would've been gone 10 years ago. They're trying to milk it as long as they can, and maybe get that one more run in. That's it.

For the Kings, they've chosen that it's worth it to f*** everything up for them. If all they get is a couple extra playoff bucks, then that's what they get.

 

[Buddy The Elf]

Respectfully, I don't understand this point of view.

I think it's been very clear the Kings primary need has been another center.

It's just a question of whether to try and feel that need internally or get outside help. Blake chose the later.

I agree we need a goalie and some physicality, but center is the primary need for the team.

I'm fine with the criticism. I'm no expert and I think the current roster is better than last year's but what dividends will that improvement yield? That's rhetorical of course.

Did he need to trade for a young center because Byfield can't hack it? Will we find out or have we already? Clearly Kopitar isn't the problem because he just resigned him for more money than Danault.

You can poke holes in the roster all day from every angle but what I'm saying is Blake seems to be constantly chasing his tail and has no plan whatsoever. It really reminds me of the Sharks era after acquiring Joe Thornton. Constant shuffling of players while sticking with the tried and true. It consistently made them a good team but they obviously never won anything doing that. They had no plan.

I will say that in my unexpert opinion that at the end of the season the need for another center making upwards of $7M a year wasn't a necessity.

 

[Schrute farms]

QB switching back to center is going to be quite the stretch if he continues to play wing the next 2-3 years. Which is now the plan and only option for him on the Kings with Kopi a top center for the next 3 years. QB hasn't played center for a year now. Even when he did played before last year, he was limited to to injuries and Covid time. Expecting him to slide over in a couple years is gonna be very difficult. A guy like Carter could do it back & forth during his Kings time because he already had many development and NHL playing center. The most likely scenario (assuming he stays a King) is he is a winger now...unless some gets injured/etc. Even then, he might not even be the first option to replace an injured guy at Center.

Even if he starts producing, the idea of QB the winger is a lot less valuable than QB the center. Especially since he's not a sniper / true goal scorer....nor is he a physical force PF type.

 

[ZJames]

Some day the Ducks and Sharks will stop tanking and the Kings will be near the bottom of the division. That day is coming sooner than the BLuc lovers and Kopitarians think.

Truth be told, it's what we need. I've resigned to the fact that we aren't going to be winning another cup any time soon. This team doesn't have the locker room leaders to get it done. No Williams, Richards, Brown, or Mitchell. I am of the opinion that we need a proper rebuild.

But that isn't going to happen any time soon. I'm just going to try to enjoy watching my favorite player for the next 3 years. I was really hoping for a salary around 5 million, but alas that did not happen. But after he is gone, and if a proper rebuild is done, there is no gaurantee that we will end up with a center of his caliber. Some of the people on this board (not all, but some) of the people who don't appreciate him now will end up missing him when he's gone.

 

[Kurrilino]

I was eagerly awaiting your response Kurri. Between two of your favorites in Kupari and Vilardi moving on and now this Kopitar extension I knew you'd have a strong opinion

Strong opinion is an understatement...

People moved sharp items out of my range

 

[Nasti]

Guaranteed, BLuc’s next priority is extending McLellan.

 

[tigermask48]

Guaranteed, BLuc’s next priority is extending McLellan.

Absolutely, the mark of a true loser is surrounding themselves with scapegoats to be exploited later.

 

[KINGS17]

Look at the bright side. Now Kopitar can easily afford the down payment on another neighbor’s property to expand the size of the compound he’s building in Manhattan Beach. Dude is gonna be the top landlord in the South Bay before he gets his statue, or wins a playoff series wearing the C.



Every year he made $10M counts.

Just wait until Newsom hits him with a California wealth tax.

Truth be told, it's what we need. I've resigned to the fact that we aren't going to be winning another cup any time soon. This team doesn't have the locker room leaders to get it done. No Williams, Richards, Brown, or Mitchell. I am of the opinion that we need a proper rebuild.

But that isn't going to happen any time soon. I'm just going to try to enjoy watching my favorite player for the next 3 years. I was really hoping for a salary around 5 million, but alas that did not happen. But after he is gone, and if a proper rebuild is done, there is no gaurantee that we will end up with a center of his caliber. Some of the people on this board (not all, but some) of the people who don't appreciate him now will end up missing him when he's gone.

I appreciate what Kopitar has done for the Kings and enjoyed watching his development immensely, and then watching him become a Stanley Cup champion. The last 7 years, not so much.

 

[Statto]

I really doubt there would have been any issue at all if Kopitar began the season without a contract extension, it's very common for old players to just keep signing 1 year contracts. I don't remember there being any kind of issue with Bergeron being on a 1 year-deal.

I just don't see the need to commit multi-year extensions to a players who will be 37-38 years old when you could very likely have the player sign 1 year ones to significantly cut down the risk.

$18m in combined salary in the 25-26 season to a 36 year old who is already showing big cracks and a 38 year old (who in fairness has maintained his pace). Just don't play the "hindsight is 20/20" or "how could he have known" cards.

This is one of those situations where there is to much risk and danger of it blowing up when there should be none.

Agreed. It may prove to be great value but it’s an unnecessary gamble at this point.

 

[Statto]

Id put Walker's contract in that category (Bowling Green alum).. but the truth is, its not out of the ordinary to do this to some degree..

This is utter nonsense.. a completely made up narrative.

The contract seemed far more reasonable at the time, plenty felt he was trending towards a solid second pairing guy and then he got hurt (twice, face then knee). Both injuries held him back, no doubt. The biggest issue became the RD depth behind him emerged and he became a blocking player. It’s easy to criticise the deal with hindsight but take away the two injuries and it plays out very differently.

I say that as someone that’s wanted him moved since before the start of last season.

 

[KingsFan7824]

There is far more precedent for an unknown goalie to win a Cup than a forward to go from non-PPG to PPG at age 35+.

I’m not making a definitive argument about this contract or Kopitar at all. So I don’t know why you’re doing your typical autistic nihilism thing.

I’m just disputing the notion that Kopitar can suddenly start producing at a PPG level at 35+. Is that really a controversial statement? Why are you arguing with me about this?

I'm just disputing the notion that it cannot happen. Last year, at 35, Kopitar was 8pts away from a PPG guy. 1 extra point every 10 games. 1 random assist every 10 games. He had 50pts in 56 games at 33. Back then, did anyone think 2 long years later he'd have one of the better years of his career? Did anyone have Kopitar with his 5th best goal scoring season at the age of 35 before last year started? Probably not. But then it happened.

Not saying it's likely. He's likely to produce less as time goes on. It's just the grand predictions people make, where they know something will absolutely happen, just get out of hand sometimes.

The all of a sudden thing is where I'd differ with you. It's not like he's been a 40pt C for his career, and then all of a sudden at the age of 35, he's going to explode offensively. That would be all of a sudden. That's more of an equivalent to an unknown goalie winning the Cup as the 1G. Kopitar's at a 72pt career average per every 82 games though. If you mean a PPG as, 95pts or something, yeah, he's probably not doing that.

 

[DoktorJeep]

This is utter nonsense.. a completely made up narrative.

The contract seemed far more reasonable at the time, plenty felt he was trending towards a solid second pairing guy and then he got hurt (twice, face then knee). Both injuries held him back, no doubt. The biggest issue became the RD depth behind him emerged and he became a blocking player. It’s easy to criticise the deal with hindsight but take away the two injuries and it plays out very differently.

I say that as someone that’s wanted him moved since before the start of last season.

There was nothing reasonable about signing him to a 4 year $10M deal after just 100 games across 2 seasons. Too much money for too little performance.

It was done because there were no prospects, so Blake was desperate to lock up a pleasant surprise that fell in his lap.

 

[Kurrilino]

Some day the Ducks and Sharks will stop tanking and the Kings will be near the bottom of the division. That day is coming sooner than the BLuc lovers and Kopitarians think.

Not to mention the steps Seattle took.

We might fight for our live already from this coming season on.
Luckily everyone in Central took the Pacific route and is rebuilding except Colorado and Dallas, a Wildcard spot seems to be possible.

 

[Kurrilino]

I'm just disputing the notion that it cannot happen. Last year, at 35, Kopitar was 8pts away from a PPG guy. 1 extra point every 10 games. 1 random assist every 10 games. He had 50pts in 56 games at 33. Back then, did anyone think 2 long years later he'd have one of the better years of his career? Did anyone have Kopitar with his 5th best goal scoring season at the age of 35 before last year started? Probably not. But then it happened.

Did you also calculate for Kempe suddenly scoring 40+ goals?
Kopitar is in no way or shape a line driver and took real benefit from Kempe's performance.
Kempe's goals are mostly single player effort goals.

 

[johnjm22]

I'm fine with the criticism. I'm no expert and I think the current roster is better than last year's but what dividends will that improvement yield? That's rhetorical of course.

Did he need to trade for a young center because Byfield can't hack it? Will we find out or have we already? Clearly Kopitar isn't the problem because he just resigned him for more money than Danault.

You can poke holes in the roster all day from every angle but what I'm saying is Blake seems to be constantly chasing his tail and has no plan whatsoever. It really reminds me of the Sharks era after acquiring Joe Thornton. Constant shuffling of players while sticking with the tried and true. It consistently made them a good team but they obviously never won anything doing that. They had no plan.

I will say that in my unexpert opinion that at the end of the season the need for another center making upwards of $7M a year wasn't a necessity.

These are our key organizational centers and their ages heading into this season:

Kopitar, 36 (twilight of career)
Danault, 31 (late prime)
Dubois, 25 (early prime)
Byfield, 21 (beginning of career)

One center at each stage of their career. So I think there is a clear reasoning to the move. In the coming years I think the plan is QB/PLD transition to our top 2 centers, while Kopitar/PD transition to our bottom 2 centers. Or some variation there of.

In the previous two seasons, LA has had only 2 or 3 functioning forward lines at any given time. In the playoffs really only two lines have been working. And the main reason for that has been lack of center.

For years, we've tried one center after another: Kempe failed. Vilardi failed. Kupari failed. Lizotte failed. Turcotte is likely a bust. Byfield isn't there yet (but we're hoping). So I think the move made a lot of sense.

 

[Sol]

Are we seriously using metrics to calculate the trajectory of Kopitars future performance at this age? Kane lit up the NHL and the next year he flatlined. It happens to all players when they age. It’s unpredictable but Father Time comes for all. To ignore that Kopitar can flatline any moment is stupidity. There’s a reason why Todd was trying desperately to get Kopitar away from McDavid.

Back then we would argue Kopitars greatness with HF because they’d only look at his point totals. Now he’s scoring more but his body of work isn’t the same. It’s obvious in Kopitars game that he’s fading. It’s normal.

 

[johnjm22]

Kopitar was incredible from age 23 to 28.

But you can see from age 31 he's actually been trending up a bit.

Sometimes players as they age have to adapt and re-figure things out as their body slows down.

 

[King'sPawn]

Kopitar was incredible from age 23 to 28.

But you can see from age 31 he's actually been trending up a bit.

Sometimes players as they age have to adapt and re-figure things out as their body slows down.

Or he's in a less defensive system. And Brown hasn't been glued to his hip the past couple years.

Don't get me wrong, Kopitar's my favorite player all-time, but correlation =/= causation. I fully believe he's capable of still being productive for the next few years, but I wouldn't expect him to keep the same scoring rate. I definitely don't think it will get better with age.

 

[johnjm22]

Or he's in a less defensive system. And Brown hasn't been glued to his hip the past couple years.

Don't get me wrong, Kopitar's my favorite player all-time, but correlation =/= causation. I fully believe he's capable of still being productive for the next few years, but I wouldn't expect him to keep the same scoring rate. I definitely don't think it will get better with age.

The grades should account for some of that to a degree.

Just anecdotally, I've seen veteran players go through a phase where they struggle a bit as they exit their prime, then seem to figure things out again. I was just referring to that. I do think Kopitar's game has changed somewhat.

I agree we can't expect him to maintain his scoring current scoring rate.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Hopefully the addition of PLD tapers Kopi's minutes quite a bit.

Hope springs eternal I guess since I'm sure they're going to run him into the mud, but PLD is part of that 'not under 25 years old' group that's allowed to get more than 13 minutes of playing time, so between 18-20 from him and and Danault, HOPEFULLY they can keep Kopitar at 20 and under for a whole season (and reduce his PK minutes) to keep him fresh and relatively dominant. There's no reason that even a late-career Kopitar shouldn't be an amazing player if he's not being deployed like a true 1C.

 

[johnjm22]

I think PLD is going to come in and play invigorated and play very well. He's a very up and down player, but the ups are quite high.

That should force other teams to focus on his line.

 

[Schmooley]

Kopitar was incredible from age 23 to 28.

But you can see from age 31 he's actually been trending up a bit.

Sometimes players as they age have to adapt and re-figure things out as their body slows down.

For me its not his production or his play. Hes still great and will likely be great until he retires. After they decided to throw in the towel in 2018/2019 the team needed to turn the page to a new leader, fresh voice, and new set of expectations that would have been realistic for 3-5 years worth of rookie draft picks. Going all in to build around Kopitar is where I think they went wrong and it is not really reflective of whether or not hes still going strong.
I think hes a better player than guys like Tavares that will be making more than him.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

For me its not his production or his play. Hes still great and will likely be great until he retires. After they decided to throw in the towel in 2018/2019 the team needed to turn the page to a new leader, fresh voice, and new set of expectations that would have been realistic for 3-5 years worth of rookie draft picks. Going all in to build around Kopitar is where I think they went wrong and it is not really reflective of whether or not hes still going strong.
I think hes a better player than guys like Tavares that will be making more than him.

Well, they did get 3-5 years of rookie draft picks, Turcotte, Bjornfoot, Kaliyev, Fagemo, Spence, Byfield, Grans, Chromiak, Clarke, Pinelli, etc, 2019 to 2021....I don't think they are building around Kopitar....