LA KINGS 2023/4 Regular season discussion

[tny760]

never met a goalpost he couldn't move

 

[Statto]

You can look up all the quotes yourself...I feel with what he said and the fact that there were basically no line changes in practice yesterday signals that there are not going to be any drastic changes with deployment.

This board is the epitome of 'overreaction'...coach says overreacting would be a mistake. Stay tuned!

Line changes are the absolute least of it. Does anyone think there’s a single line combo that keeps TMac in a job?

DD has already said they focused on some things they hadn’t focused on before. It could simply be that a fresh approach was needed although I fully expect things will change over time. He will makes some small changes and them change things gradually. He won’t be making wholesale changes overnight. The lines will evolve depending on how the players adjust to those changes and the specific set up he wants in terms of breakouts, transition, ozone control, etc. Pretty standard stuff.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

What’s outlandish is the Kings crater and you’re here bowing down to your knees for your man lol. You’re having awful takes despite there being evidence against it. The patented Axl take. Lmaooo

I’ll translate for anyone new here…

“I got nothing” - Sol

 

[Sol]

I’ll translate for anyone new here…

“I got nothing” - Sol

I’ll do you one better.

“Sol got some predictions of the future wrong”. How come he’s not a seer?”



“Todd is a beautiful stallion that is going to win the Jack Adams trophy”. Your only one prediction… and now that dude is gone. OOOOOf. Bad take Axl. He’s homeless now because of the pressure you put on him. I hope you’re happy.

 

[Schrute farms]

You can look up all the quotes yourself...I feel with what he said and the fact that there were basically no line changes in practice yesterday signals that there are not going to be any drastic changes with deployment.

This board is the epitome of 'overreaction'...coach says overreacting would be a mistake. Stay tuned!

It's funny that you are saying some posters are "overreacting". The Kings are the ones who just fired their coach. The guy who is one of the highest paid coaches in the NHL and was given a one year extension before the start of the season. Is that an overreaction? Maybe that's posters fault too huh.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

It's funny that you are saying some posters are "overreacting". The Kings are the ones who just fired their coach. The guy who is one of the highest paid coaches in the NHL and was given a one year extension before the start of the season. Is that an overreaction? Maybe that's posters fault too huh.

LOL, if you guys made the decisions, he would have been fired two years ago.

 

[Schmooley]

LOL, if you guys made the decisions, he would have been fired two years ago.

He isnt the coach anymore. You need to find a new bit.

 

[funky]

TM rolled out the same shit and the experts hated it. lol, love this

TM rolled out the same shit and the experts hated it. lol, love this place.

I am glad you love this place. I love this place as well. It is nice to have a place to talk about our favorite team and players, share a few thoughts, opinions and ideas and even though we don’t always agree we know deep down that we are all Kings fans just wanting the best for our team. Great acknowledgment.

 

[kilowatt]

What happened? I thought Axl was banned. Why’s Tim from Orange County back on the boards? Does anyone know the incantation to get him to leave again?

 

[AbsentMojo]

Didnt know 10am is troll feeding time at the zoo

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I always found it ironic that you guys use the term ‘troll’ for the individuals here who actually support the organization and its players. Apparently you have to badmouth the team endlessly to not be a troll… weird.

 

[Schrute farms]

LOL, if you guys made the decisions, he would have been fired two years ago. never have been hired in the first place.

Fixed it for you. The hire, and ending the rebuild to move into a contending movement, was a failure at that time for the Kings. Round peg, square hole.
Years later, we are left with: a fire coach, no playoff series wins, a weak prospect group and cap hell. Oh but, "gotta support the team!".

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Thoughts on trading Lizotte and Kaliyev for a 4C with size?? I'd hate to lose Arty and Lizotte has been great but it doesn't seem Kaliyev fits and it'd be really nice to have a little more size in the lineup.

Couple potential targets:
Jason Dickinson (6'2)
Sean Kuraly (6'2)
Nick Bjugstad (6'6)

That would give us something like this as our starting lineup:
Byfield - Kopitar - Kempe
Fiala - Danault - Moore
Turcotte - Dubois - Arvidsson
Grundstrom - Bjugstad - Lewis

Gavrikov - Doughty
Anderson - Clarke
Roy - Spence

Goaltending would still be questionable but that's a pretty insane squad

EDIT: It wouldn't necessarily be Lizotte and Kaliyev going 1 way and the return simply being a 4C with size in the trade. It could be that Lizotte and Kaliyev are dealt for picks / to clear space and then other picks are used to acquire the 4C.

 

[kilowatt]

Thoughts on trading Lizotte and Kaliyev for a 4C with size?? I'd hate to lose Arty and Lizotte has been great but it doesn't seem Kaliyev fits and it'd be really nice to have a little more size in the lineup.

Couple potential targets:
Jason Dickinson (6'2)
Sean Kuraly (6'2)
Nick Bjugstad (6'6)

That would give us something like this as our starting lineup:
Byfield - Kopitar - Kempe
Fiala - Danault - Moore
Turcotte - Dubois - Arvidsson
Grundstrom - Bjugstad - Lewis

Gavrikov - Doughty
Anderson - Clarke
Roy - Spence

Goaltending would still be questionable but that's a pretty insane squad

I think Lizotte’s out for a while, he was originally designated day to day which basically means his career is over.

I would love to trade for some snarl. I think we’ll regret trading Kaliyev when he’s putting up 30 goals for another team, but at the same time if we won’t ever put him in a position to score 30 goals then we ought to move him for everyone’s sake.

That team looks good on paper but it’s essentially the same squad that has lost most of their last 20 games, so I don’t think a fourth line center was our big issue.

 

[Telos]

I like the idea of adding size and grit, but I wouldn't trade Lizzo and Kaliyev to accomplish acquiring a 4th line center, as this team isn't a 4th line center away from serious contention and we have so many prospects in the fold that can jump into that slot.

 

[Herby]

What happened? I thought Axl was banned. Why’s Tim from Orange County back on the boards? Does anyone know the incantation to get him to leave again?

He keeps getting banned and then freed and then banned again. My ideological views don’t believe in permanently banning ppl from things, and I usually don’t ignore anyone (he’s the only member on ignore). But at this point he has voices in his head that are so detached from reality that you almost feel bad for him. Hopefully for his sake it’s not something that is a part of his everyday life.

Reading other people’s replies to him does make me want to unblock for just a minute to see what he’s saying now, like how you can’t help looking at murder scene pictures or slowing down to view a car wreck.

Thoughts on trading Lizotte and Kaliyev for a 4C with size?? I'd hate to lose Arty and Lizotte has been great but it doesn't seem Kaliyev fits and it'd be really nice to have a little more size in the lineup.

Couple potential targets:
Jason Dickinson (6'2)
Sean Kuraly (6'2)
Nick Bjugstad (6'6)

That would give us something like this as our starting lineup:
Byfield - Kopitar - Kempe
Fiala - Danault - Moore
Turcotte - Dubois - Arvidsson
Grundstrom - Bjugstad - Lewis

Gavrikov - Doughty
Anderson - Clarke
Roy - Spence

Goaltending would still be questionable but that's a pretty insane squad

EDIT: It wouldn't necessarily be Lizotte and Kaliyev going 1 way and the return simply being a 4C with size in the trade. It could be that Lizotte and Kaliyev are dealt for picks / to clear space and then other picks are used to acquire the 4C.

This team is a lot more than a 4C away from contending, so let’s not move anyone, especially someone with the finishing ability of Kaliyev.

Let’s get a competent GM, competent coach and competent development team in here this summer and see what they think of Kaliyev going forward.

 

[Sol]

Fixed it for you. The hire, and ending the rebuild to move into a contending movement, was a failure at that time for the Kings. Round peg, square hole.
Years later, we are left with: a fire coach, no playoff series wins, a weak prospect group and cap hell. Oh but, "gotta support the team!".

It’s funny too because if Todd was fired two years ago they would likely be in a better position now than they are now.

 

[AbsentMojo]

I always found it ironic that you guys use the term ‘troll’ for the individuals here who actually support the organization and its players. Apparently you have to badmouth the team endlessly to not be a troll… weird.

If you're getting paid to do this... respect. If not, pity.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

I think Lizotte’s out for a while, he was originally designated day to day which basically means his career is over.

I would love to trade for some snarl. I think we’ll regret trading Kaliyev when he’s putting up 30 goals for another team, but at the same time if we won’t ever put him in a position to score 30 goals then we ought to move him for everyone’s sake.

That team looks good on paper but it’s essentially the same squad that has lost most of their last 20 games, so I don’t think a fourth line center was our big issue.

Agree on Kaliyev.

I like the idea of adding size and grit, but I wouldn't trade Lizzo and Kaliyev to accomplish acquiring a 4th line center, as this team isn't a 4th line center away from serious contention and we have so many prospects in the fold that can jump into that slot.

And agree that Lizotte and Kaliyev should return more than just a 4th line center. Ideally there would be picks returned as well.

But I do think a 4C can make a pretty underrated impact on a team. For the first 30 games, this team was elite - And looked like they actually could be legit contenders. A big part of that was that they were rolling 4 really strong lines and distributing ice time pretty evenly instead of dropping 20 mins a night on Kopitar every game. Rolling 4 really strong lines also resulted in the Kings getting strong contributions from their bottom 6. They were legitimately dominating 80% of their games.

This team is tough to evaluate right now. Did they overperform in the first 1/4 of the season?? Or have they drastically underperformed in the second 1/4 of the season?? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle and I understand why people are down on them, but I still do view the Kings as a pretty damn good team *if they play to their potential*. The last month or so was brutal - But we KNOW this team is much better than we've seen in the last month... That's why it's been so frustrating.

I wasn't really suggesting adding a 4C with size as the final/missing piece to the puzzle to make this team a sure favorite to win the cup. I was more just seeing that as a move the Kings could make to strengthen the group before trying to go on a run in the playoffs.

This next month is going to be really telling for the Kings. When you look at the personnel - if this group plays good hockey and individuals play remotely to their potential.... This is a team that can match up against just about any team in the league and at least make for a competitive series. If they continue to underperform, then yeah this team looks pretty rough. It's not a perfect roster regardless, but it's a REALLY good roster (Especially if fully healthy) when things are clicking and everyone is pulling their weight.

 

[AbsentMojo]

This next month is going to be really telling for the Kings. When you look at the personnel - if this group plays good hockey and individuals play remotely to their potential.... This is a team that can match up against just about any team in the league and at least make for a competitive series. If they continue to underperform, then yeah this team looks pretty rough. It's not a perfect roster regardless, but it's a REALLY good roster (Especially if fully healthy) when things are clicking and everyone is pulling their weight.

82 games give teams, coaches and GMs enough time to evaluate their roster, mess around with the lines, establish an identity, realize where the holes are, make some moves/trades if necessary and get things ready for a playoff run if they are in contention. None of this has happened yet 5/8 into the season. Could anyone explain the philosophy behind bring a lazy malcontent onto the roster - how does that fit into the hard working defense oriented locker room? It doesnt... its a patch quilt roster without an identity. On top of that can you identify what each line's role is on the team? Do you have a shutdown line, a rush line, a possession line? The 4th line was the only line that had anything going and its dissolved into nothing even before Lizotte got hurt. Then you look at the leadership group Kopi, DD, Danault.. I blame them mostly for the come from ahead 2 goal losses, and not coming out of the tailspin because they are not strong leaders.. again that is on the GM and coach in the end.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Anyone who trades a player like Arty (potential 30 goal guy and PP trigger man) needs to stick to yard sales!

 

[BaileyFan]

Thoughts on trading Lizotte and Kaliyev for a 4C with size?? I'd hate to lose Arty and Lizotte has been great but it doesn't seem Kaliyev fits and it'd be really nice to have a little more size in the lineup.

Couple potential targets:
Jason Dickinson (6'2)
Sean Kuraly (6'2)
Nick Bjugstad (6'6)

That would give us something like this as our starting lineup:
Byfield - Kopitar - Kempe
Fiala - Danault - Moore
Turcotte - Dubois - Arvidsson
Grundstrom - Bjugstad - Lewis

Gavrikov - Doughty
Anderson - Clarke
Roy - Spence

Goaltending would still be questionable but that's a pretty insane squad

EDIT: It wouldn't necessarily be Lizotte and Kaliyev going 1 way and the return simply being a 4C with size in the trade. It could be that Lizotte and Kaliyev are dealt for picks / to clear space and then other picks are used to acquire the 4C.

If selling low on Kaliyev is the price of getting rid of Blake then so be it. Based on Blake’s comments it sounds like they’ve all but removed his stall at this point so I expect it will happen but I won’t like it.

 

[lexlavender]

it wasn't too long ago that I thought we had the best 4th line in the league, and I think that can still be a reality when Lizzotte is back and back to full health.

Toughness is overrated, what people actually want is someone that will dig to corners for pucks, keep opposing players to the outside and along the boards, and will show they give 3 shits when the other team is playing dirty. Where we are actually missing these things is in the play of Dubois and Fiala, not the play of lower line tweeners who see approximately 10 min a night or less.

 

[Herby]

The Kings are the 4th best team in the Pacific division. I just don't see how anyone can justify adding anything at the expense of any young assets. The team closest to us in the standings and on paper just traded one of their best players for future assets, that is what the Kings should be looking at doing, not the opposite.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Maybe we'll get past this at least