LA KINGS 2023/4 Regular season discussion

[Herby]

Let's keep going, let's assume they are still rebuilding now....so instead of Fiala, PLD, Arvidsson, Danault Gavrikov etc, they have Faber, Vilardi, Kupari, Durzi, Walker,

What prevents them from being Buffalo south?

They also have top 1-10 picks in 2022 and 2023. So add those guys, two good prospects, one probably the future franchise 1C.

Is the downside that they are Buffalo? Sure, but the upside is they are another LA, Chicago, Tampa, Colorado, Pittsburgh. All teams built with superstar players drafted at the top of the draft.

What is the upside to what Blake has constructed since 2021? You can't possibly sit here and say it's a Stanley Cup caliber team, how many teams have been constructed this way? How many have been constructed the more traditional way?

You are worried about the downside to a proven path to building a winner, while advocating the upside for a path that has never worked.

There is nothing worse than being in the black hole, nothing.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Do the math on what each player group costs. Cheap production is a benefit almost too obvious to mention, but here we are. A shrewd GM starting from that core should be able to monitor their development and add pieces that complement the group in terms of culture, leadership, toughness, positional need etc. Everybody knows there's no guarantee that it succeeds, but it's a better starting point than the cap hell, no goalie, TOI leaders with dentures, young players blocked, "too many centers but not enough centers" shitshow we see right now.

Cheap production, Vilardi 4+ million, not sure what he would have signed here for there were no talks for whatever reason, Faber at 925K sure, but then who are you blocking, Spence/Clarke, and trading one of them who becomes the next Durzi.....the whipping boy everyone wanted gone, and is now lamenting how much of a mistake that was....

No one is saying mistakes weren't made, but holy mackinaw this board takes Monday morning quarterbacking to a WHOLE new level.....

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

They also have top 1-10 picks in 2022 and 2023. So add those guys, two good prospects, one probably the future franchise 1C.

Is the downside that they are Buffalo? Sure, but the upside is they are another LA, Chicago, Tampa, Colorado, Pittsburgh. All teams built with superstar players drafted at the top of the draft.

What is the upside to what Blake has constructed since 2021? You can't possibly sit here and say it's a Stanley Cup caliber team, how many teams have been constructed this way? How many have been constructed the more traditional way?

You are worried about the downside to a proven path to building a winner, while advocating the upside for a path that has never worked.

There is nothing worse than being in the black hole, nothing.

No, I'm advocating that up into a month ago, the teams were hands down one of the best teams in the league, we can Monday morning this six different ways, but for every LA/Chicago/Tampa/PIT, there are 3 Buffalo and Ottawa's right behind them....

How many teams have been constructed down the middle....A LOT.....roster construction is NOT the problem, having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing a Cal Clutterbuck or Matt Martin type of acquisition, minor tweaks.....but other than that, 3 lines that can score, 1 energy line, solid 5 defenseman, goaltending is a question, no doubt, but that position has been a crap shoot for years now...around the league....Adin Hill, Darcy Kuemper, Jon Casey....etc league is littered with goalies who got hot for half a season....

 

[Mattias]

A rebuild could be done so incredibly well if we sold some scrap at the deadline.

Roy would get a 1st +
RV, mid round pick if he comes back decent.
Lewis could get a mid-late round pick.

At the draft we could sell Gavrikov, Danault, Kempe. All of which have great value.

Can’t see another team wanting Fiala/PLD. Contracts are just too long. Maybe we could send a message with PLD and send him to Columbus for Liane.

Doughty and Kopitar can stay with the team. They put butts in the seats and sell the jerseys so AEG won’t get upset at the profit/loss column.

There’s just no way this team can compete with avalanche. Ducks have enough good prospects that when that step comes Kings wouldn’t stance a chance.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Even after this roster construction has failed in the exact manner many of us predicted it would, we still have the same people arguing for it. Madness

 

[FSL KINGS]

A rebuild could be done so incredibly well if we sold some scrap at the deadline.

Roy would get a 1st +
RV, mid round pick if he comes back decent.
Lewis could get a mid-late round pick.

At the draft we could sell Gavrikov, Danault, Kempe. All of which have great value.

Can’t see another team wanting Fiala/PLD. Contracts are just too long. Maybe we could send a message with PLD and send him to Columbus for Liane.

Doughty and Kopitar can stay with the team. They put butts in the seats and sell the jerseys so AEG won’t get upset at the profit/loss column.

There’s just no way this team can compete with avalanche. Ducks have enough good prospects that when that step comes Kings wouldn’t stance a chance.

Why sell when we're so close to contending?

 

[Herby]

No, I'm advocating that up into a month ago, the teams were hands down one of the best teams in the league, we can Monday morning this six different ways, but for every LA/Chicago/Tampa/PIT, there are 3 Buffalo and Ottawa's right behind them....

How many teams have been constructed down the middle....A LOT.....roster construction is NOT the problem, having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing a Cal Clutterbuck or Matt Martin type of acquisition, minor tweaks.....but other than that, 3 lines that can score, 1 energy line, solid 5 defenseman, goaltending is a question, no doubt, but that position has been a crap shoot for years now...around the league....Adin Hill, Darcy Kuemper, Jon Casey....etc league is littered with goalies who got hot for half a season....

So because the team was doing well 25 games into the season it means what? The 05-06 team was as well.

Built down the middle? The Kings are spending roughly $25m on their top 3 centers and yet they don’t have a true 1C.

This team has so many holes. No true 1C, 1D or goalie but they are contenders?

You again keep focusing on downside to traditional rebuilds but are advocating for a strategy that has literally never worked.

The best teams of the cap era. Chicago, Pittsburgh, LA, Colorado and Tampa were all constructed by drafting star players at the top of the draft as the core pieces and then building around them. Nobody is saying it’s a 100% strategy, but it’s accounted for like 95% of the champions since the lockout.

How many championships has the Rob Blake strategy accounted for?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

So because the team was doing well 25 games into the season it means what? The 05-06 team was as well.

Built down the middle? The Kings are spending roughly $25m on their top 3 centers and yet they don’t have a true 1C.

This team has so many holes. No true 1C, 1D or goalie but they are contenders?

You again keep focusing on downside to traditional rebuilds but are advocating for a strategy that has literally never worked.

The best teams of the cap era. Chicago, Pittsburgh, LA, Colorado and Tampa were all constructed by drafting star players at the top of the draft as the core pieces and then building around them. Nobody is saying it’s a 100% strategy, but it’s accounted for like 95% of the champions since the lockout.

How many championships has the Rob Blake strategy accounted for?

Real quick, is Adin Hill a true #1 G? How about Darcy Kuemper? Corey Crawford?

Kopitar is still a #1 C, not sure what league you are looking at, I think you maybe confusing superstar C, with #1 C, and same with the D....

But hey, you do you, I will live in reality.....because Monday morning this thing just so you look good, is idiotic.

 

[BaileyFan]

Even after this roster construction has failed in the exact manner many of us predicted it would, we still have the same people arguing for it. Madness

Those people have never met a goalpost they wouldn’t move. Although, to their credit, I’m honestly pretty shocked that we aren’t hearing stuff like “actually we need to see PLD play 60 games before we can truly evaluate the trade” after the arbitrary 40 game mark came and went.

 

[Herby]

Real quick, is Adin Hill a true #1 G? How about Darcy Kuemper? Corey Crawford?

Kopitar is still a #1 C, not sure what league you are looking at, I think you maybe confusing superstar C, with #1 C, and same with the D....

But hey, you do you, I will live in reality.....because Monday morning this thing just so you look good, is idiotic.

I’ll give you goaltender, although all those guys are better than Talbot. Lumping Corey Crawford in there also isn’t fair, he was a very good goaltender.

You think Kopitar and Doughty are championship caliber 1C and 1D?

MMQB? Come on man, you and I have been arguing about the merits of this since Blake ended the rebuild, and now that it’s looking more and more like I was right, you are going to pull the MMQB “how could Blake have known” card?

Come on, you are better than that, that is something that Axl would do. I have defended you before when others try and lump you in with him, but you aren’t doing yourself any favors. Many, many people saw this coming a mile away. Many people questioned the wisdom of ending a rebuild without having established young stars, the wisdom of building around players in their mid 30’s, this isn’t MMQB or “how could Blake have known” it’s an expected result of a poor decision 3 years ago.

Now that it’s looking like your opinions were wrong 3 years ago, instead of owning up to it you are moving the goalposts and blaming MMQB.

Just fyi, MMQB is changing your opinion or forming an opinion after the fact, it’s not used when someone says something before-hand and then it turns out to be true, that just means they were right.

At what point do you admit that Blake’s vision and strategy was just wrong? If he is fired this summer will you? Or will it be blamed on bad luck and bad circumstance. The guy has been GM since April 2017 and literaly has nothing to show for it, he hasn’t even finished 2nd place in the division one time, despite claiming to be contenders for 5 of the 7 seasons.

 

[Gjwrams]

Byfield-Kopitar-Kempe
Fiala-Danault-Moore
Arvidsson-PLD-Kayilev
Grundstrom-Turcotte-Lewis
Extra: JAD

Don't be surprised if this is the roster we see soon due to cap restraints and waivers.

The issue is the third line has two players who are both RW, so one of Kayilev or Arvidsson will need to play LW. Or Hiller can move Grunstrom up to LW and shift Arvidsson over and move Kayilev to 4th line RW.

AK47 is left shot so we should be ok.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I’ll give you goaltender, although all those guys are better than Talbot. Lumping Corey Crawford in there also isn’t fair, he was a very good goaltender.

You think Kopitar and Doughty are championship caliber 1C and 1D?

MMQB? Come on man, you and I have been arguing about the merits of this since Blake ended the rebuild, and now that it’s looking more and more like I was right, you are going to pull the MMQB “how could Blake have known” card?

Come on, you are better than that, that is something that Axl would do. I have defended you before when others try and lump you in with him, but you aren’t doing yourself any favors. Many, many people saw this coming a mile away. Many people questioned the wisdom of ending a rebuild without having established young stars, the wisdom of building around players in their mid 30’s, this isn’t MMQB or “how could Blake have known” it’s an expected result of a poor decision 3 years ago.

Now that it’s looking like your opinions were wrong 3 years ago, instead of owning up to it you are moving the goalposts and blaming MMQB.

Just fyi, MMQB is changing your opinion or forming an opinion after the fact, it’s not used when someone says something before-hand and then it turns out to be true, that just means they were right.

At what point do you admit that Blake’s vision and strategy was just wrong? If he is fired this summer will you? Or will it be blamed on bad luck and bad circumstance. The guy has been GM since April 2017 and literaly has nothing to show for it, he hasn’t even finished 2nd place in the division one time, despite claiming to be contenders for 5 of the 7 seasons.

Will respond later was in a pisspoor mood due to work

 

[BigKing]

@GoldenBearHockey in the end, this is a results business and Blake doesn't have them. Can call it MMQB'ing but the problem with that in this situation is that there were many that didn't like Blake's process prior to the results and that is bearing fruit.

I've said this all the time with Lombardi: I 100% understand the process of the Sekera and Lucic trades but they were mistakes that helped pave the way to him losing his job. There were many on here opposed to the Lucic deal because it was short-sighted. I agreed that it was short-sighted but, f*** it, that was a team that just had a season from hell after going Cup-WCF-Cup so, yeah, let's roll out there with Lucic and kick some ass.

Lombardi was trying to strike while he thought the iron was still hot. Understand the reasoning but he was wrong and many said so at the time. That iron hasn't been hot enough for years but Blake just went all-in on it with the same two ice time leaders almost ten years later. It isn't MMQB'ing when people have been calling it since the Doughty interview about being tired of losing and needing help.

 

[funky]

I approve of this plan.

Would move Roy as well.

And Lizotte.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

All i know is thank goodness we're out of cap or I could see blake signing Bonino to cockblock Turcotte

 

[Schmooley]

All i know is thank goodness we're out of cap or I could see blake signing Bonino to cockblock Turcotte

They have practice today I think. Was Turcotte called up again?
If he didnt earn a spot after last game then its just cruel. He had a great camp also. They should just trade him.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

They have practice today I think. Was Turcotte called up again?
If he didnt earn a spot after last game then its just cruel. He had a great camp also. They should just trade him.

turcotte and clarke called up so let's see

 

[dman3474]

Washington might be a good trade partner. They may be willing to move Lindgren, he has one more season at a 1.1m cap hit. They also have a couple LHD that they may consider moving, Edmundson is out there in the rumors. I also like the idea of Malenstyn (granted I haven't watched alot of his play) for PK and size on the bottom line

 

[bland]

This is what is going to happen.

"No it isn't "

This is what is happening.

"No its not"

Its happening right now.

"Its Monday morning quarterbacking".

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

This is what is going to happen.

"No it isn't "

This is what is happening.

"No its not"

Its happening right now.

"Its Monday morning quarterbacking".

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

This is what is going to happen.

"No it isn't "

This is what is happening.

"No its not"

Its happening right now.

"Its Monday morning quarterbacking".

its' truly unreal

'what was blake supposed to do'

oh, i don't know, any of the scenarios we outlined 3ish years ago at this point, with the forewarnings of what exactly would happen right now if we did this, almost verbatim.

Like I'm not big on 'we're so smart' as we're just internet nerds speculating on the team and we have been wrong so, so many times but i hate to say we have been SO f***ing right on the money about this whole thing for several years.

 

[kilowatt]

I am hopeful that Hiller will be willing to shake things up and put players in positions to succeed. I think that means more ice time for some of our younger guys and less ice time for some of our older guys.

 

[YP44]

Hoping on a plane this evening to LA!!

Hope LA does not lay an egg Saturday what with it being 10 days between games.

 

[bland]

its' truly unreal

'what was blake supposed to do'

oh, i don't know, any of the scenarios we outlined 3ish years ago at this point, with the forewarnings of what exactly would happen right now if we did this, almost verbatim.

Like I'm not big on 'we're so smart' as we're just internet nerds speculating on the team and we have been wrong so, so many times but i hate to say we have been SO f***ing right on the money about this whole thing for several years.

This wasn't a difficult thing to project. Its not as though there is any single way to win, or that any path is guaranteed success. Somehow that keeps getting conflated by our usual suspects who refuse to accept the criticism. But this, this was easy to see coming.

 

[FSL KINGS]

All i know is thank goodness we're out of cap or I could see blake signing Bonino to cockblock Turcotte

Can Blake trade for an LTIR contract for when Arvidsson comes off the LTIR? Plenty of guys on one year LTIR deals.

Washington might be a good trade partner. They may be willing to move Lindgren, he has one more season at a 1.1m cap hit. They also have a couple LHD that they may consider moving, Edmundson is out there in the rumors. I also like the idea of Malenstyn (granted I haven't watched alot of his play) for PK and size on the bottom line

Lindgren has good numbers & is cheap, but a 30 year old backup with 82 games over 8 years. Doesn't seem much different than what the King's have now.