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LA KINGS 2023/4 Regular season discussion

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I've always felt that in order for the Kings to make a deep playoff run, they need 5 things to happen:

1) PLD has to play his best hockey
2) Some young players have to step up
3) Kopitar & Doughty have to maintain a high level of play
4) Find a way to get good goaltending
5) Refine the lineup (good 4th line and good bottom d-pair)


#2 and #4 have happened to a degree.

#5 looked good to start the season, but fell off. (Can Turcotte help fix this?)

#1 sure as hell hasn't happened, but last game gave us some hope.

#3 DD is still good, but Kopitar's recent play has been concerning.


Overall things look kind of bleak IMO.
 
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johnjm22 said:
I've always felt that in order for the Kings to make a deep playoff run, they need 5 things to happen:

1) PLD has to play his best hockey
2) Some young players have to step up
3) Kopitar & Doughty have to maintain a high level of play
4) Find a way to get good goaltending
5) Refine the lineup (good 4th line and good bottom d-pair)


#2 and #4 have happened to a degree.

#5 looked good to start the season, but fell off. (Can Turcotte help fix this?)

#1 sure as hell hasn't happened, but last game gave us some hope.

#3 DD is still good, but Kopitar's recent play has been concerning.


Overall things look kind of bleak IMO.
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I'd say things looked a lot bleaker before Sat nights game...

I think we should all agree that this team is capable of being good enough to make the playoffs and have some success there. Maybe Hiller tapped into something and that's what was needed -- and we will need to get good goaltending (that's the biggest unknown for me) for any of this to come to fruition.
 
The biggest issue the Kings face is that the rebuild wasn’t good enough to supplant Doughty and Kopitar unfortunately. None of the players are close to who they were in their age.
 
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johnjm22 said:
I've always felt that in order for the Kings to make a deep playoff run, they need 5 things to happen:

1) PLD has to play his best hockey
2) Some young players have to step up
3) Kopitar & Doughty have to maintain a high level of play
4) Find a way to get good goaltending
5) Refine the lineup (good 4th line and good bottom d-pair)


#2 and #4 have happened to a degree.

#5 looked good to start the season, but fell off. (Can Turcotte help fix this?)

#1 sure as hell hasn't happened, but last game gave us some hope.

#3 DD is still good, but Kopitar's recent play has been concerning.


Overall things look kind of bleak IMO.
Click to expand...
Regarding #3 - In a perfect world, Doughty and Kopitar not only maintain a high level of play, but they also take on a reduced role due to the emergence of younger players. As others have pointed out, it's hard to imagine a team winning a stanley cup on the shoulders of two players in their mid 30's well over 1000 games into their careers. I also feel like it's been all but confirmed that Kopitar has been dealing with a nagging injury and isn't 100%.

That's part of the reason I really want to see Byfield moved back to center and Clarke as a staple in the lineup (and ideally given decent minutes). Byfield's points per 60 stats are absurd - I believe he's ready for an even bigger role and no longer needs to lean on Kopitar and Kempe. It's time to take the training wheels off so to speak.

And with Clarke, we know he's a special talent. Seeing what he did in the AHL, he should be ready. And I'd argue with consistent playing time and a half decent D partner, we'd see him start to settle in and break out. That would be huge for the team. I'm not necessarily saying he becomes our #1 defenseman by the end of the season, but he can at least help lessen the load on Doughty.

We have players within this organization with the potential to push Kopitar and Doughty down the lineup and we likely need that to happen to become legit contenders but we're just not giving those players the opportunity to do that.. It's frustrating.
 
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Sol said:
The biggest issue the Kings face is that the rebuild wasn’t good enough to supplant Doughty and Kopitar unfortunately. None of the players are close to who they were in their age.
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The 'biggest issue' when? If we are talking right now, I believe Doughty and Kopitar still play for the team.
 
King's just need to play physically. The team is quite large & it's dumb not to use that to be chippy. This will get guys like PL & Fiala going. Kempe, Byfield & Danault can also get chippy. They're better when playing with an edge & getting in people's faces.

Pick up another G option, replace JAD with someone that's big, hits & can skate. Get a 6-7th D that likes hitting in case of injury going into playoffs.

With Byfield becoming a problem for teams, Arvidsson coming back soon this team is looking like it can cause some damage.
 
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Axl Rhoadz said:
I'd say things looked a lot bleaker before Sat nights game...

I think we should all agree that this team is capable of being good enough to make the playoffs and have some success there. Maybe Hiller tapped into something and that's what was needed -- and we will need to get good goaltending (that's the biggest unknown for me) for any of this to come to fruition.
Click to expand...
The best developments from Saturday's game are PLD finally having a pulse and QB continuing to grow. And while I did think they played pretty well, they were also kind of fortunate. It took a great performance by Rittich.

Speaking of Rittich, him and Talbot have put in a valiant effort for us, but I can't imagine relying on them in the playoffs.

We'll see if the coaching change sparks the team. I think it might.

I also think if Turcotte and RV can come in and play well it would go a long ways towards rounding out the line up.
 
johnjm22 said:
The best developments from Saturday's game are PLD finally having a pulse and QB continuing to grow. And while I did think they played pretty well, they were also kind of fortunate. It took a great performance by Rittich.
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But that's ok, right? I mean, this was a team who had won like 18 of their last 19 games? Were we going to just not allow them any shots for 60 games?...I mean the Oilers are cup contenders! To beat a team like that, you need everything going well and that's exactly what happened.

The thing is though, not all teams have the capability of winning those games despite their best efforts. The Kings can hold their own with any team in this league if they are playing to their capability.
 
FSL KINGS said:
King's just need to play physically. The team is quite large & it's dumb not to use that to be chippy. This will get guys like PL & Fiala going. Kempe, Byfield & Danault can also get chippy. They're better when playing with an edge & getting in people's faces.

Pick up another G option, replace JAD with someone that's big, hits & can skate. Get a 6-7th D that likes hitting in case of injury going into playoffs.

With Byfield becoming a problem for teams, Arvidsson coming back soon this team is looking like it can cause some damage.
Click to expand...

Yeah the emotional engagement is absolutely key for some of these guys

It will also help Byfield and PLD realize they can just cartoon ragdoll most other humans
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
Yeah the emotional engagement is absolutely key for some of these guys

It will also help Byfield and PLD realize they can just cartoon ragdoll most other humans
Click to expand...

Does this look like a guy that ragdolls humans to you?

pld.PNG


In all seriousness though, if Byfield continues to improve, and PLD starts to play consistently better. a 1-2 punch of those 2 at Center would be awesome.
 
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Raccoon Jesus said:
Yeah the emotional engagement is absolutely key for some of these guys

It will also help Byfield and PLD realize they can just cartoon ragdoll most other humans
Click to expand...

Kind of what further annoys me about PLD is that he plays like he is much smaller than he is, and his personality and way about the game is the same thing.

He has essentially embarrassed himself with his performance all season. It's not a situation where he is in a little slump, he is absolutely cratered. When his play essentially got a man fired from his day job, what did he do? How does he respond?

Well after a week long trip to Hawaii where he did not check his phone, he was excited to get back to the rink where the message of the day is "have fun lol". And all of his quotes about his play are like "I just need to get back to having fun again lol"

Having fun is for 19 years olds gripping their stick too tight. Having fun is for people like Turcotte who the difference between a good or bad game is potentially losing 10x their AHL salary and having their career derailed for all time. PLD doesn't need to "have fun", he needs to f***ing perform. He makes 8.5 million dollars a year.

How would Quick react to a slump this bad?? You probably wouldn't be able to talk to him casually because he'd be so pissed off with himself. PLD doesn't need to start having fun, he needs to start realizing that he is a 6 foot 4 adult making a salary 257.5 times the US Median income. Get mad bro, give a shit.
 
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Kings are now entering a stretch of games against some mediocre to bad teams. Really important to bank a bunch of points here.

02/13 to 02/24
7 games
1 against top half of the league, 6 against bottom half

The 15 game stretch that got Todd McLellan fired (12/28 to 01/28):
11 games against top half of the league, 4 games against bottom half.
 
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Schmooley said:
Since the last time they played Ottawa I havent seen anyone on here talk about Stutzle. He was diving the whole game.
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I was a Byfield fan from the beginning, but I admit if we could’ve traded up and got both players, I would’ve been in heaven. Probably still would be today. But watching Stutzle play that game I was ready to get him a banana hammock so we could take his act to the diving boards. I’m not sure why some of the most talented players in the world, have to be such douche bags. I’d like to ask that to Fiala one day as well
 
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lexlavender said:
Kind of what further annoys me about PLD is that he plays like he is much smaller than he is, and his personality and way about the game is the same thing.

He has essentially embarrassed himself with his performance all season. It's not a situation where he is in a little slump, he is absolutely cratered. When his play essentially got a man fired from his day job, what did he do? How does he respond?

Well after a week long trip to Hawaii where he did not check his phone, he was excited to get back to the rink where the message of the day is "have fun lol". And all of his quotes about his play are like "I just need to get back to having fun again lol"

Having fun is for 19 years olds gripping their stick too tight. Having fun is for people like Turcotte who the difference between a good or bad game is potentially losing 10x their AHL salary and having their career derailed for all time. PLD doesn't need to "have fun", he needs to f***ing perform. He makes 8.5 million dollars a year.

How would Quick react to a slump this bad?? You probably wouldn't be able to talk to him casually because he'd be so pissed off with himself. PLD doesn't need to start having fun, he needs to start realizing that he is a 6 foot 4 adult making a salary 257.5 times the US Median income. Get mad bro, give a shit.
Click to expand...
PLD didn’t get TMac fired, there were many more bigger problems. We won with a poor PLD and we lost with if anything a very slightly less poor PLD… regardless at no point was he good. PLD has not been close to good enough but we have enough legitimate reason to complain rather than overstating his impact on TMac, who made plenty of errors not involving PLD.

Also, the having fun thing is huge in terms of getting the best out of all sorts of professional teams and players.. It’s one of Klopps biggest weapons and he’s widely considered one of the worlds best 3 football (soccer) coaches. Different players need different things and I hAve no issue with that. I’m yet to be convinced though that fun is the answer for PLD but it would partly explain why a number of players have improved performance, because ’fun’ will help more than one guy.
 
RV was taking turns in the top 6 today in practice. If Fiala is back with PLD I actually like the idea of pairing them with a smart defensive player like Lewis.

QB-Kopitar-Kempe
Moore-Danault-Arvidsson
Fiala-PLD-Lewis
Grundstrom-Turcotte-Kaliyev

or

QB-Kopitar-Kempe
Fiala-Danault-Arvidsson
Moore-PLD-Kaliyev
Grundstrom-Turcotte-Lewis

JAD, Laf
Lizotte (injured?)


Trying to create a 4 line team with some balance. I like having a defensively responsible player on each line.
 
I sat front row glass Saturday night. Great game. But, as I always pointed out, the Oilers bullied the Kings including the puck heist at the end.

There was a lot of pushing and talking. PLD vs Perry, Englund vs Kane, Kempe vs Nurse.

Kings still need some jam.

Desharnais blatantly shoved Gavrikov and Lewis - no one did anything. He was bullying everyone.
 
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Sol said:
The biggest issue the Kings face is that the rebuild wasn’t good enough to supplant Doughty and Kopitar unfortunately. None of the players are close to who they were in their age.
Click to expand...
Is it that the rebuild was good enough or they were just never given the keys to the car? You gotta let these kids play these roles and learn. Koala and Blake decided they were going to ride Kopitar until he’s old yellered.
 
Reaper45 said:
Is it that the rebuild was good enough or they were just never given the keys to the car? You gotta let these kids play these roles and learn. Koala and Blake decided they were going to ride Kopitar until he’s old yellered.
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I get that but I’m just saying with Doughty and Kopitar that it was undeniable they’re special. While Byfield and Clarke may end up being good players, being franchise players seems pretty unlikely. They’re progressing yes, but doughty and Kopitar had undoubtedly a ton of star power as rookies.
 
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