Toggle sidebar

LA KINGS 2023/4 Regular season discussion

  • Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
bland said:
I am not. Its actually just what I said. He will be in due to his longevity, not his peak performances. I do often wonder if he had gone balls out earlier in his career maybe his teams would have fared better or had better seedings, but who knows.

But I do take issue with the Conn Smythe, he was never in contention due to rather pedestrian Conference and Cup Finals series both years. First two rounds, absolutely. Last two? You could argue Dwight King had a bigger impact.

But would you consider Ryan O'Reilly a superstar? Dude has had a very similar career. Selke, a Cup, a slightly lower points percentage but a better leader. That's were I see Anze, in the Toews/Bergeron/O' Reilly mix, not up there with Crosby on the top shelf.
Click to expand...

I don't think ROR belongs in that tier at all. a 58 point pace is far different than a 72 point pace, partiuclarly when the peak is 64 points, and he's only played 2 complete seasons in his career. If he's in it, he's at the very bottom of it, and Kopitar the very top. Yes, AK is below Crosby tier but at the absolute top of the Toews/Bergeron tier.

Im as big a Byfield fan as anyone but I don't think you're seriously suggesting he enters that Crosby tier with McDavid, even Matthews, Eichel.

bland said:
Its not outlandish to project Byfield to be a superior peak offensive player to Kopitar.

Let's call our shots on this if its so goddam shocking. Do we or do we not think that Byfield will hit a higher season total than 92 points or have more than two seasons over 80 points? Because that's the point here. Peak performance, not duration.
Click to expand...

Era adjusted? We'll see.

92 points these years is good for like 50th in scoring :laugh:
 
I think there's a chance this guy might come in here at the ASB - just a hunch not based on anything else

 
  • Like
Reactions: kinghock
AbsentMojo said:
I think there's a chance this guy might come in here at the ASB - just a hunch not based on anything else

Click to expand...

Good; he was a big KC guy. Bring them both in please.

linesman-bryan-pancich-left-pushes-away-st-louis-blues-left-wing-kyle-clifford-after-he-tangle...jpg
 
During his peak, Kopitar was an unquestioned top five center in the league.

Crosby is a top five center ALL TIME. I don’t think comparing Kopitar to Crosby bears much fruit.

Kopitar’s 80pt season in 2010 came in the middle of another dead puck era. He’s easily a 100+ point forward if he’s in his prime today.

For f***s sake just look at his old man numbers over the past couple years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kings11, Schrute farms, funky and 1 other person
FSL KINGS said:
If you fire Todd & haven't fixed the goalie issue, does anything change?
Click to expand...
Probably not. Just seems teams fire coaches that allowed this kind of losing streak while not in tank mode.

Johnny Utah said:
No thanks to Berube. He was an enforcer for his whole career yet all the fighters that played under him had terrible things to say about him.

Evason is the guy.
Click to expand...
Evanson's teams were always chippy - I wouldnt mind him at all.
 
God damn, I hadn't even thought of Evason. That's a pretty emotional dude, might be a nice spark. I'm not sold one way or the other, but he's definitely likeable, inasmuch as you can like anything connected to the friggin Wild:

theathletic.com

Dean Evason sitdown: How Wild firing went down, why he's ready to move on — 'what do I need time off for?'

Evason: "I'm a f---ing good coach. I can coach. I'm ready to coach. I hope I get another situation to coach and I hope it’s in this league."
theathletic.com theathletic.com

www.startribune.com

Former Wild coach Dean Evason on his firing: 'You just know. You have a feeling'

The team's coach for four-plus seasons says he has no ill will in wide-ranging interview two days after dismissal.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

I'd expect a lot of players to feel the same way about McLellan--love the dude and sorry we let him down, etc.
 
Johnny Utah said:
No thanks to Berube. He was an enforcer for his whole career yet all the fighters that played under him had terrible things to say about him.

Evason is the guy.
Click to expand...
Evason and Fiala apparently have a hate-hate relationship going back to their days in Nashville’s farm system. Then again, maybe that’s what Kevin needs since it’s clear Todd’s benchings and Doughty’s comments aren’t getting through to him.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Johnny Utah
Herby said:
Well you kind of need a Hall of Fame type center to be a consistent contending team.

I think he can be a very good secondary piece, like a Patrick Sharp or a Jeff Carter.

But a Kopitar, Toews, Crosby, Stamkos, McKinnon?

Very unlikely to reach that level.

Don’t have that type of center? Cool, don’t end your rebuild until you do.
Click to expand...
Respectfully disagree. He has gotten better every year and at 21 is already the best forward on the team without even getting some of the opportunities he should (ie overtime). I’m not saying Byfield absolutely will be a HOFer but to discount it completely at his age when, again, he’s the best forward on the team, is premature. You and Sol were completely counting him out just 6 months ago.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FSL KINGS
Herby said:
At the same age Kopitar was coming off his third consecutive season as a 1C. Byfield has not shown he can even effectively play the C position, much less at the level Kopitar did.

Kopitar never had elite linemates, he played for defensive oriented coaches for most of his career, in an era where scoring was less than it is now. If we are only going to talk about points can we say Fiala is as good as Kopitar, he has put up just as many points.

Kopitar will go down as the 2nd best defensive forward of his era, suffering through a Brad Park like situation where he struggled to win the hardware because the GOAT defensive forward played at the same time.

Kopitar’s defensive ability coupled with his offense made him as valuable as 100 point centers who weren’t as good defensively. I’m sorry but I just don’t see Byfield reaching that kind of level. A Carter or Sharp who can be a championship caliber 2C? Sure, a franchise superstar 1C like Kopitar, Mac, Stamkos, Crosby, Toews? I really doubt it.
Click to expand...
Can you honestly say Byfield has been given the same opportunity as the number 1 center as Anze? And for his first two years, Anze didn’t play for a defensive coach. He didn’t until his third season and his numbers dipped.
 
Nasti said:
Can you honestly say Byfield has been given the same opportunity as the number 1 center as Anze? And for his first two years, Anze didn’t play for a defensive coach. He didn’t until his third season and his numbers dipped.
Click to expand...
Add on to that: you had a team that was in tank mode and the reigns handed right over to him as 1C without pressure to win - with freedom to learn on job - and most importantly no freaky Koala breathing down his neck.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nasti
BaileyFan said:
Evason and Fiala apparently have a hate-hate relationship going back to their days in Nashville’s farm system. Then again, maybe that’s what Kevin needs since it’s clear Todd’s benchings and Doughty’s comments aren’t getting through to him.
Click to expand...
It seems to me he cant help it. His effort is always there. He doesnt seem like a rebel and ignoring the coach.. I just think his impulse control is so poor no punishment seems to effect it.. ie he does not respond to classical conditioning.. he would make a terrible rat
 
I miss Dean Lombardi. He got fired for his loyalty to his players. Why no one hired him as a GM after his Kings tenure boggles my mind. At least he had a vision and you’d come away feeling confident after hearing him talk. BLuc is like a corporate overlord compared to Dean.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SettlementRichie10 and Piston
LeftKinger said:
I miss Dean Lombardi. He got fired for his loyalty to his players. Why no one hired him as a GM after his Kings tenure boggles my mind. At least he had a vision and you’d come away feeling confident after hearing him talk. BLuc is like a corporate overlord compared to Dean.
Click to expand...
Dean said in an interview a while back that he has been pursued but he’s not interested. He hated all the non-hockey stuff he had to deal with as GM. Prefers scouting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: YP44
LeftKinger said:
I miss Dean Lombardi. He got fired for his loyalty to his players. Why no one hired him as a GM after his Kings tenure boggles my mind. At least he had a vision and you’d come away feeling confident after hearing him talk. BLuc is like a corporate overlord compared to Dean.
Click to expand...
Don't DL wanted another GM job. Interviews he has been in it sounds like there were opportunities.
 
Nasti said:
Respectfully disagree. He has gotten better every year and at 21 is already the best forward on the team without even getting some of the opportunities he should (ie overtime). I’m not saying Byfield absolutely will be a HOFer but to discount it completely at his age when, again, he’s the best forward on the team, is premature. You and Sol were completely counting him out just 6 months ago.
Click to expand...
I also did say before the season started that this is going to be a defining moment of who he is going to be. Hes doing a lot better than before but you also have to be realistic with his ceiling. If Byfield had that potential to be like one of those players then we wouldn’t have ever had those discussions to begin with since those types of players are impact players the second they join the league. Byfields ceiling is Jeff Carter lite. That’s good but when Kopitar is gone the Kings just need to sell out everything until they find that undisputed 1C then. Rebuilding around players that don’t have that kind of caliber is just bad business. Making standard players your rebuilding pieces is just ensuring mediocrity.
 
AbsentMojo said:
Click to expand...

Do you guys consider Fiala anything like Marchand in terms of more of an agitating force?

On a separate topic:

I'm starting to think that Helenius is going to be a pretty decent 4th line Center for this team. He has the size and he's been developing and getting better in Ontario. We don't expect these guys to be scoring machines, but they do need to control play preferrably by being heavy on the forecheck.
 
bmr said:
Do you guys consider Fiala anything like Marchand in terms of more of an agitating force?

On a separate topic:

I'm starting to think that Helenius is going to be a pretty decent 4th line Center for this team. He has the size and he's been developing and getting better in Ontario. We don't expect these guys to be scoring machines, but they do need to control play preferrably by being heavy on the forecheck.
Click to expand...
I can understand why players would want to punch Fiala. He has a lot of weasel in his game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Raccoon Jesus
bmr said:
Do you guys consider Fiala anything like Marchand in terms of more of an agitating force?

On a separate topic:

I'm starting to think that Helenius is going to be a pretty decent 4th line Center for this team. He has the size and he's been developing and getting better in Ontario. We don't expect these guys to be scoring machines, but they do need to control play preferrably by being heavy on the forecheck.
Click to expand...
Haven’t watched the Reign this year. How is his skating. I know he is huge but is he fleet enough to. Be an effective forechecket?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom