GDT: Kings Training Camp 2022/2023!

[Sol]

RE: Kings Power Play

Who else is excited about it this year? I'm pumped for 2 reasons:

1) Jim Hiller
2) Rolling 2 legit PP lines: Adding Fiala and Clarke (if he stays) makes us way more dangerous.

I’m not excited to be honest. I remember this team having a bad powerplay for so long with so many parts moving in and out. I think that Kopitar and Doughty are just mediocre PP players. Doughty holds on too long with the puck. Kopitar is stationary. And the entry is just bad and predictable. And I saw this preseason they’re still doing the drop back entry.

If they can address the Kopitar and Doughty problem I think then they can have some good results. But the problem of the first unit has always been the fact they don’t move the puck fast at all. They’re slow. The PK never has to scramble so with the PK having to not really do much except cover them they’re usually successful at stopping that PP unit

 

[Sol]

I bet he gets chirped pretty good for the Sherwood equipment haha, hope he is getting paid.

Yeah I was thinking that too. I was like don’t mostly old school goalies use Sherwood. Lol.

I think a lot of players use Vapor/CCM.

Oh just looked it up.
Sherwood 0.8% of the gear used in the NHL.

Predominantly it’s CCM and Bauer

 

[bmr]

I’m not excited to be honest. I remember this team having a bad powerplay for so long with so many parts moving in and out. I think that Kopitar and Doughty are just PP players. Doughty holds on too long with the puck. Kopitar is stationary. And the entry is just bad and predictable. And I saw this preseason they’re still doing the drop back entry.

If they can address the Kopitar and Doughty problem I think then they can have some good results. But the problem of the first unit has always been the fact they don’t move the puck fast at all. They’re slow. The PK never has to scramble so with the PK having to not really do much except cover them they’re usually successful at stopping that PP unit

Well - i'm willing to bet you that we are going to have a higher PP% than last year. Last year the team was 16.1%, which was ranked 27th out of 32 teams.

This year i'll venture to say that we are ranked at least 20th or a percentage of 19% or higher.

 

[ricardfromage]

I just got my 2nd John Hiller jersey and am saving for my 3rd. "p

 

[Sol]

Well - i'm willing to bet you that we are going to have a higher PP% than last year. Last year the team was 16.1%, which was ranked 27th out of 32 teams.

This year i'll venture to say that we are ranked at least 20th or a percentage of 19% or higher.

Is that really something to be excited about though lol.

 

[ricardfromage]

IF

I think you meant "while" when you wrote "IF". Give give give never take always give.

 

[Herby]

I’m waiting to see what the deployment is.

Right now with VA out

#1 is probably 4/5 set for sure.
Doughty
Kempe
Kopitar
Fiala
????

If the ??? is Danault or Iafallo well, it would be quite disappointing. They could have Clarke or Durzi as a 2nd defender, it could be Kaliyev or it could be Danault or Iafallo. When VA comes back it sure would be nice to see him on that unit to give a right shot option on the left circle. For some reason that is something they rarely tried last year.

2nd unit is more muddled as there are many different options.

Kaliyev
Iafallo
Moore
Fagemo/Vilardi until VA returns
Danault
Clarke
Durzi

Obviously one of those guys will be on the top unit.

 

[kingsfan28]

That was an awesome shootout, wish they were all that long. I'm not sure Hill even touched the puck! Anyway, good overtime and a decent showing from some of the guys we care about.

Only when his poke checked an unsuspecting Spence.

 

[Herby]

Is that really something to be excited about though lol.

Yes actually it is. I posted the “fancy stats”numbers for a scenario where they finished 18th (where I think they will be) and 10th (where RJ thought they’d be). You can search and find the results.

Even moving from 27th to 18th would have resulted in a couple of more points in the standings, especially with how many 1 goal-games the Kings played. A top 10 PP would have had the Kings probably winning the division.

There is almost zero chance the Kings have as good a record in one-goal games as they had last season, which is why some sharps I talk to are bearish on the Kings point total O/U this season. But I think the PP can make up a good chunk of that regression and a faster more skilled roster can make up the rest, and then some.

If they are a 25th or worse on the PP they are unlikely to make the playoffs. The PP is a big deal, it’s why I don’t understand why people hate drafting guys who’s floor is a PP specialist. Those guys are more valuable than you think. Guys like Kaliyev and Caufield, even if they couldn’t play 5 on 5 would be difference makers on the PP with how they shoot the puck.

 

[All The Kings Men]

And I saw this preseason they’re still doing the drop back entry.

Just about everybody uses the slingshot now as it's been proven to be very effective... HOWEVER I saw some wrinkles in the powerplay practice yesterday that I had seen being implemented last year in Ontario.

Running a two player option on the drop ("the escort"), sending the puck the boards first before sending it back through the neutral zone.... and then in the attacking zone on the power play they had Kopitar on the left side of the ice or net front. Kempe was set up in the slot to play the "bumper" role...

It looked very different.

 

[FSL KINGS]

The challenge is getting rid of that 5M cap hit IF Cal proves to be not #1 level.

Solution 1, sign Quick 1-2 million to be starter
Solution 2, get goalie on elc to offset cal's contract
Solution 3, trade Cap while acquiring an upgrade to a team that is starting a rebuild. WPG, Hellebuyck comes to mind. Send Cal back I'm the deal.
Solution 4, Cal starts playing better.

 

[johnjm22]

I remember when we used to have a great goaltender development system.

 

[bmr]

Is that really something to be excited about though lol.

Absolutely! Who doesn't like incremental improvement? I am just having realistic expectations, otherwise i'd say we are going to be 22-23% and top 10 in the league.

 

[bmr]

Yes actually it is. I posted the “fancy stats”numbers for a scenario where they finished 18th (where I think they will be) and 10th (where RJ thought they’d be). You can search and find the results.

Even moving from 27th to 18th would have resulted in a couple of more points in the standings, especially with how many 1 goal-games the Kings played. A top 10 PP would have had the Kings probably winning the division.

There is almost zero chance the Kings have as good a record in one-goal games as they had last season, which is why some sharps I talk to are bearish on the Kings point total O/U this season. But I think the PP can make up a good chunk of that regression and a faster more skilled roster can make up the rest, and then some.

If they are a 25th or worse on the PP they are unlikely to make the playoffs. The PP is a big deal, it’s why I don’t understand why people hate drafting guys who’s floor is a PP specialist. Those guys are more valuable than you think. Guys like Kaliyev and Caufield, even if they couldn’t play 5 on 5 would be difference makers on the PP with how they shoot the puck.

Well said. Agree on all points.

If you look at the power play percentage across the league in 2021-22, 9 out of the top 10 teams made the playoffs last year (minus Vancouver). The Kings and Capitals were the only teams in the bottom 10 in power play percentage that made it. I'm actually shocked that Washington was 18.8% on the power play and 23rd in the league.

Adding Fiala and potentially Clarke, with another year of development with the youngsters and a new PP coach with a proven track record should work wonders over the course of the year.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Solution 1, sign Quick 1-2 million to be starter
Solution 2, get goalie on elc to offset cal's contract
Solution 3, trade Cap while acquiring an upgrade to a team that is starting a rebuild. WPG, Hellebuyck comes to mind. Send Cal back I'm the deal.
Solution 4, Cal starts playing better.

Trade #2 2023, Grans + Fagemo to Nashville for Askarov.
He’s now 20 and over here to play in the AHL.
Likely not enough.

 

[unicornpig]

I’m not excited to be honest. I remember this team having a bad powerplay for so long with so many parts moving in and out. I think that Kopitar and Doughty are just mediocre PP players. Doughty holds on too long with the puck. Kopitar is stationary. And the entry is just bad and predictable. And I saw this preseason they’re still doing the drop back entry.

If they can address the Kopitar and Doughty problem I think then they can have some good results. But the problem of the first unit has always been the fact they don’t move the puck fast at all. They’re slow. The PK never has to scramble so with the PK having to not really do much except cover them they’re usually successful at stopping that PP unit

When are you ever excited that's the question

 

[Docgonzo]

The challenge is getting rid of that 5M cap hit IF Cal proves to be not #1 level.

According to capfriendly, if I’m reading it right, a buyout of Peterson would save 4.8 mil next season and cost 1.1 for 2 season after. So if he craps the bed this season there is an option.

 

[kilowatt]

I started out being okay with it, but after seeing him in the preseason and this game changing 'it' factor he possesses, I just don't know how much experience or benefit he is going to get from going back to Juniors. He looks ready to contribute to this team in a meaningful way. That assist he had on the Fiala goal was a great move. I think If I was Blake and I had to make some decisions on the D this year, I would:

- Put Bjornfot and Spence on the top line in Ontario (20+ mins per night)
- Trade or put Walker on waivers
- Start Clarke on the team and if he is excelling after the first 9 games, keep him
- Most likely trade Durzi

I totally agree, at least with regards to Spence and Bjornfot in Ontario. Spence by all accounts is ready, but I don't think sending him to Ontario will hurt his development in any way. He's not nearly as flashy as Clarke, he doesn't have that "it" factor, but he might be the most promising all around defenseman we have. With that said, he's still young, and him going to Ontario to work on his defense and get stronger is a very different scenario than Clarke going back to junior and... what, scoring 100+ points? Defending against kids? He's better than a lot of NHL defensemen right now.

Just without those two, we have a pretty good picture of where we're at.

Anderson - Doughty
Roy - Clarke
Edler - Durzi
Walker

Perhaps we rotate Walker, Edler, and Durzi in and out of the lineup as needed? Would be pretty wild playing five right-handed defensemen, but I could think of worse situations. One important thing to note is that we have a lot of young guys that we expect to take major steps forward, but that doesn't always happen. Three years ago, I expected Bjornfot to be a top-pairing defenseman by now. If I'm being honest, I'm not sure he ever reaches anything more than a #4 guy now. The same could happen with Durzi or Anderson. Who knows if Walker can regain his form. Hell, who knows if Doughty takes a step back. For all we know, Clarke might be our 1D this year.

 

[redcard]

According to capfriendly, if I’m reading it right, a buyout of Peterson would save 4.8 mil next season and cost 1.1 for 2 season after. So if he craps the bed this season there is an option.

I think you're misreading it, signing bonuses are guaranteed and Cal is due a $4 mil signing bonus next year that will count fully against the cap even if he were bought out. Then its 2/3rds of the remaining salary ($7 Mil) over twice as many seasons ($1,166,167 for 4 seasons). Lastly, because we are paying him $1 mil less than his AAV this year, we'll get that credited back against his cap hit for what would have been the 3rd season (the opposite of a recapture penalty).

So the cap hit would be as follows:

22-23: $5,166,167
23-24: $166,167
24-25: $1,166,167
25-26: $1,166,167

As opposed to if we didn't buy him out

22-23: $5,000,000
23-24: $5,000,000

Not really that enticing to buy him out next season.

That said, if he did really fall off and we wanted out of the final year of the contract, that buyout isn't too bad. He's got no signing bonus in the final year so it would only be $2 mil a year for 2 years....but we'd still get the aforementioned $1 mil credit so it would only be:

23-24: $1,000,000
24-25 :$2,000,000

instead of the $5 mil cap hit for 23-24.

 

[Sol]

When are you ever excited that's the question

When Palffy was on the team

 

[ru4reals]

Trade #2 2023, Grans + Fagemo to Nashville for Askarov.
He’s now 20 and over here to play in the AHL.
Likely not enough.

Yeah I'd do that in a heartbeat. Buuut you will have to start with a first rounder and some if you want Askarov. More like a 1st, Fagemo, Turcott(when healthy) and Spence and that still might not be enough.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Well said. Agree on all points.

If you look at the power play percentage across the league in 2021-22, 9 out of the top 10 teams made the playoffs last year (minus Vancouver). The Kings and Capitals were the only teams in the bottom 10 in power play percentage that made it. I'm actually shocked that Washington was 18.8% on the power play and 23rd in the league.

Adding Fiala and potentially Clarke, with another year of development with the youngsters and a new PP coach with a proven track record should work wonders over the course of the year.

To add, the Kings were awful on the PK too, at least until the end of the season. I'm pretty sure the Kings were the only playoff team with even below average on BOTH special teams--many teams are bad at one or the other but the Kings were also tied for SHG against for most of the year.

So even if the PP doesn't fully take off but the PK does, or if even both are near league average, that's huge.

 

[TruKingFan]

Kings gave Tonka a 2-year 1-way contract that almost doubled his salary. I hope he breaks out and makes AI expendable.

 

[David Lunch]

When Palffy was on the team

2012-2014 didn’t do it for ya?

 

[KingsHockey24]

Clarke is making the team right?