LA KINGS 2023/4 Regular season discussion

[johnjm22]

Bottom line. Anyone who believes regime change is in order has to pin their forecasts on a significant drop in ticket sales, merch sales and tv ad sales. Ownership is treating this like a business as usual portion of the empire. For a change to come from them, they’ll have to feel pain in the pocketbook. Until then, business as usual will carry the day.

I don't think that's totally fair. On the whole AEG has been very good for the Kings. It seems to me they/Phil do want to win.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

would a Talbot - Vladar pairing appease the masses or do we need to place the bar even higher?

I personally like Saros but that is one expensive dream.

I personally think the bar should be higher.

I'd rather pay an expensive price for someone like Saros who you KNOW will be an upgrade than go the cheap route and target someone like Vladar who might end up just being much of the same.

 

[Schrute farms]

We had a .915 goaltender (Korpi) last year -- how'd that end up? I wouldn't consider the Kings last year "virtually unbeatable". I'm not sure why/how that would change. There is A LOT more that goes into a team and winning big than simply "getting a .915 goalie".

 

[regulate]

After two games, Talbot is 2nd in the league in goals saved above expected. Need to give our goalies a benefit of the doubt for a while and see how it plays out through U.S. Thanksgiving at least. Last year Copley saved our season, let's see what this combo can do.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

We had a .915 goaltender (Korpi) last year -- how'd that end up? I wouldn't consider the Kings last year "virtually unbeatable". I'm not sure why/how that would change. There is A LOT more that goes into a team and winning big than simply "getting a .915 goalie".

During the regular season?? It worked great. Korpisalo had a 7-3-1 record and the Kings looked great.

During the playoffs?? Not great and also we didn't get .915 save % goaltending. Korpisalo had a .892 save % and was part of the reason the Kings lost to the Oilers (Obviously there were plenty of other factors and I would say it primarily came down to an AWFUL penalty kill but yeah goaltending wasn't amazing either).

Korpisalo proved to 'not be that guy' and that was a big bummer.

Hopefully they can bring in someone that can give them .915+ save % goaltending in the regular season AND playoffs.

If they can, I really like their chances to make some noise in the playoffs and think we can contend for a cup.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

After two games, Talbot is 2nd in the league in goals saved above expected. Need to give our goalies a benefit of the doubt for a while and see how it plays out through U.S. Thanksgiving at least. Last year Copley saved our season, let's see what this combo can do.

There's nothing wrong with letting it air out and giving them a chance.

There's everything wrong with hanging the 'mission accomplished' flag.

Even should these guys work out, they are in their 30s at the absolute youngest. It's far past time to look at the pipeline and find an heir apparent who can give regular season volume at least.

There's a giant gap between 31 year olds Copley and Rittich and 23-year-old FAR from ready Portillo.

These guys don't get a pass on this ongoing issue because Talbot had a good game. This is very likely to define the season and the franchise's near future.

 

[Schrute farms]

During the regular season?? It worked great. Korpisalo had a 7-3-1 record and the Kings looked great.

During the playoffs?? Not great and also we didn't get .915 save % goaltending. Korpisalo had a .892 save % and was part of the reason the Kings lost to the Oilers (Obviously there were plenty of other factors and I would say it primarily came down to an AWFUL penalty kill but yeah goaltending wasn't amazing either).

Korpisalo proved to 'not be that guy' and that was a big bummer.

Hopefully they can bring in someone that can give them .915+ save % goaltending in the regular season AND playoffs.

If they can, I really like their chances to make some noise in the playoffs and think we can contend for a cup.

You basically made my point. It's not as easy as just getting a .915 guy and you win the cup. You've now gone from the Kings being "virtually unbeatable" (which is winning the Cup) to now you "like their chances to make some noise in the playoffs". lol. I enjoy your excitement, but sometimes you might consider the need to slow down Turbo.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Kings with a top 10 goalie would be a division winner

Would make them an almost surefire 2nd round team (minus special teams shenanigans).

I'm fine to some degree with 'being patient' about it, but let's not pretend this HASNT been an issue or that we HAVENT been patient about it.

This will be ANOTHER unnecessarily expensive deadline move that should have been addressed prior. Maybe it's more acceptable at this point since it's 'window open or bust' territory at this point, but there's no greater way to squander assets (that we're already squandering) by painting yourself into a corner when the entire hockey world knows it.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

You basically made my point. It's not as easy as just getting a .915 guy and you win the cup. You've now gone from the Kings being "virtually unbeatable" (which is winning the Cup) to now you "like their chances to make some noise in the playoffs". lol. I enjoy your excitement, but sometimes you might consider the need to slow down Turbo.

And sometimes. you might consider the need too speed up

Lol no but in all seriousness yeah the 'virtually unbeatable' wording may have been a little over the top. But they'd be extremely hard to beat.

At the end of the day winning the cup is unbelievably hard and there is a certain amount of 'luck' to it. Even take Vegas last year for example. They were able to stay essentially fully healthy - there's some luck involved there. They had a goalie get hot and play out of his mind - some luck in that too.

You can put the best team imaginable together and if those things don't happen, you're going to lose. Now I'm not saying we should take the "just get in and hope for the best approach"... But yeah, getting .915+ save % goaltending is super key and can be super unpredictable. The Kings should do what they can to go out and get someone that has a realistic chance to give them great goaltending but at the end of the day that goalie still needs to get hot and preform at a high level to have a chance to win. There's plenty of teams that are contenders on paper and have excellent goaltending on paper that come up short.

 

[Bandit]

We need Talbot and Copely to get us to the trade deadline.

I don't think the plan is for either one to be the starter in the playoffs.

Kings will obviously have to engage in some cap shenanigans.

That worked out so well last year!

 

[johnjm22]

That worked out so well last year!

I agree. We were able to get Korpisalo as basically a free throw in, and he played really well for us down the stretch. Copely helped get us to the TDL.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Remember when it seemed like every year we'd have a random back-up that was good enough to be a starter?

Like - casually having Darcy Kuemper backing up Quick.

 

[Bandit]

I agree. We were able to get Korpisalo as basically a free throw in, and he played really well for us down the stretch. Copely helped get us to the TDL.

Yeah then he choked on a dick in the playoffs while the guy that "got us there" sat on the bench. But let's get excited about Blake trading Laferriere at the deadline for a rental and another first round exit, definitely.

 

[bland]

All this goalie talk really doesn't mean much when your #1C and #1D were gassed by Game 7 of the first round two years ago and Game 2 last year.

These players are simply too old to be your best if your plan is to win more than one round.

 

[johnjm22]

Yeah then he choked on a dick in the playoffs while the guy that "got us there" sat on the bench. But let's get excited about Blake trading Laferriere at the deadline for a rental and another first round exit, definitely.

Underdogs don't really choke. Kind of hard to "choke" when you're expected to lose.

The reason they lost in the playoffs was because lack of center and the PK.

 

[bland]

Underdogs don't really choke. Kind of hard to "choke" when you're expected to lose.

The reason they lost in the playoffs was because lack of center and the PK.

The center ice position wouldn't even be top 5.

Age of core players
Goaltending
PK
Inability to win board/crease battles
Soft mentality
Poor, submissive coaching

Those were essential issues, with only Trevor Lewis brought in to address any of those issues.

Then its an overall lower level of talent across the board. Now that's where the center depth, lack of production from younger players and poor roster makeup enter the picture. They addressed that in spades over the summer, but I leave that at the bottom of the list because the Kings DID have enough skill to mount a bigger threat then they offered, and PLENTY of teams with less overall talent have won a round or rounds by gelling as a team and playing above their skill level as a unit.

Dubois, the clearing out of place holders for younger more talented defensemen, and the higher projections of the younger players will help there undoubtedly.

But at the end of the year, they will still be old, still outworked in the tough areas, and still coached to react instead of dictate. The results will most likely still be the same.

 

[johnjm22]

The center ice position wouldn't even be top 5.

Age of core players
Goaltending
PK
Inability to win board/crease battles
Soft mentality
Poor, submissive coaching

Those were essential issues, with only Trevor Lewis brought in to address any of those issues.

Then its an overall lower level of talent across the board. Now that's where the center depth, lack of production from younger players and poor roster makeup enter the picture. They addressed that in spades over the summer, but I leave that at the bottom of the list because the Kings DID have enough skill to mount a bigger threat then they offered, and PLENTY of teams with less overall talent have won a round or rounds by gelling as a team and playing above their skill level as a unit.

Dubois, the clearing out of place holders for younger more talented defensemen, and the higher projections of the younger players will help there undoubtedly.

But at the end of the year, they will still be old, still outworked in the tough areas, and still coached to react instead of dictate. The results will most likely still be the same.

The main issue was the inability to roll 4 quality lines. The main reason they were unable to do that is because they were lacking an additional center.

Lack of center also ties into items 1 and 2 on your list.

If you don't have overwhelming top tier talent, you have to go with the depth strategy.

I don't think the current approach the organization is taking is ideal, but if the goal is maximize winning THIS YEAR. Center was the most important thing to address.

 

[johnjm22]

All this goalie talk really doesn't mean much when your #1C and #1D were gassed by Game 7 of the first round two years ago and Game 2 last year.

These players are simply too old to be your best if your plan is to win more than one round.

Doughty wasn't in the playoffs for the Kings 2 years ago.

But you're proving my point. Yes the they're too old. The way you compensate for that is redistributing TOI, which PLD allows you to do.

 

[kingsfan28]

The main issue was the inability to roll 4 quality lines. The main reason they were unable to do that is because they were lacking an additional center.

Lack of center also ties into items 1 and 2 on your list.

If you don't have overwhelming top tier talent, you have to go with the depth strategy.

I don't think the current approach the organization is taking is ideal, but if the goal is maximize winning THIS YEAR. Center was the most important thing to address.

Giving up 15 pp goals in a series will doom any playoff team. It shouldn't have taken 6 games to figure out how to stop their pp. And watching lizzo get steamrolled shift after shift was tough to watch.

 

[kinghock]

Giving up 15 pp goals in a series will doom any playoff team. It shouldn't have taken 6 games to figure out how to stop their pp. And watching lizzo get steamrolled shift after shift was tough to watch.

I would not mind if Lizotte played his last game for Kings already…

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Underdog or not I’d consider it choking when you’re up in a series and up big in a game and then simply throw it all away and go out with barely a whimper

If it weren’t for 2014 it would be arguably the biggest choking performance of tms career

 

[johnjm22]

Giving up 15 pp goals in a series will doom any playoff team. It shouldn't have taken 6 games to figure out how to stop their pp. And watching lizzo get steamrolled shift after shift was tough to watch.

I think the Kings gave up 9 PP goals in that series.

Vegas gave up 11 PP goals to Edmonton I believe. Same amount of games.

The PK was a problem, but we we're also taking on what might have been the best PP of all time. They were going to score a lot regardless.

I would also say adding an additional center indirectly helps that issue.

Lizotte has been a very good 4C in the regular season, but in the playoffs they had him as the 3C which he clearly couldn't handle.

 

[The Butcher]

Talbots gotta go in net tomorrow night right?

 

[kilowatt]

The main issue was the inability to roll 4 quality lines. The main reason they were unable to do that is because they were lacking an additional center.

Lack of center also ties into items 1 and 2 on your list.

If you don't have overwhelming top tier talent, you have to go with the depth strategy.

I don't think the current approach the organization is taking is ideal, but if the goal is maximize winning THIS YEAR. Center was the most important thing to address.

They were barely icing three quality lines

 

[johnjm22]

They were barely icing three quality lines

Three? I think they were only icing two quality lines.

Adding another center is one of those moves that starts balancing out the rest of the lineup.