LA KINGS 2023/4 Regular season discussion

[YAYSAY]

So, its been a decent sample size thus far, games against a variety of styles and qualities of opponents. Does anyone think that Dubois is:

A) Worth Vilardi, Iafallo, Kupari and a 2nd

B) Worth a cap hit of $8.5 million

C) Worthy of an 8 year deal

D) None of the above

Decent player, obvious strengths, obvious deficiencies, but what growth do we expect to see? A lack of consistency has plagued him in his young career, so there is room to improve there. But even if he does find it, is he worth that squeeze?

I've not really been impressed with him so far. I think he's a good player, but not 8.5x8 good.

 

[King'sPawn]

So, its been a decent sample size thus far, games against a variety of styles and qualities of opponents. Does anyone think that Dubois is:

A) Worth Vilardi, Iafallo, Kupari and a 2nd

B) Worth a cap hit of $8.5 million

C) Worthy of an 8 year deal

D) None of the above

Decent player, obvious strengths, obvious deficiencies, but what growth do we expect to see? A lack of consistency has plagued him in his young career, so there is room to improve there. But even if he does find it, is he worth that squeeze?

I'm biased, because I wouldn't have made the deal to begin with.

He's better than I thought he'd be, but I still would say d.

His numbers are especially bad considering he's almost played exclusively with Fiala, who has played poorly but has still stumbled into twice as many points. He's only been on the ice without Fiala for 9:25, and on the ice with him for 133:04.

Add in that Iafallo has only one fewer point, plays in all situations, and has a cap hit of less than half the amount, who knows if we even need to compare him to Vilardi to gauge how good the trade is.

And Winnipeg is only one point behind LA, so even if you want to say they don't miss Vilardi, they don't seem to miss PLD either.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Iaffalo is about turn 30 and is one season away from being a UFA. Kings signed him as a college UFA.

The players that hurt are Vilardi, Kupari and the 2nd (from Arizona).

 

[Fishhead]

I'll probably give it a quarter of a season with Dubois before I evaluate that trade. He's been up and down, hasn't really found his groove yet.

To me the considerations are Vilardi, the cap, and the years. Kupari is a non-factor. The only King forward with fewer points than Iafallo right now is Laferriere. He's still settling in and I think he'll pick it up but we all noticed a bit of a drop in Iafallo's play last season.

One thing PLD has had is a big effect on matchups. There is a reason this team is scoring so much more than last year, other teams can't just stack their best defenders against our top 2 lines. That's trickled all the way down to the 4th.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

So, its been a decent sample size thus far, games against a variety of styles and qualities of opponents. Does anyone think that Dubois is:

A) Worth Vilardi, Iafallo, Kupari and a 2nd

B) Worth a cap hit of $8.5 million

C) Worthy of an 8 year deal

D) None of the above

Decent player, obvious strengths, obvious deficiencies, but what growth do we expect to see? A lack of consistency has plagued him in his young career, so there is room to improve there. But even if he does find it, is he worth that squeeze?

D

 

[Telos]

I would do the trade again, tbh. PLD hasn't been amazing, but he hasn't been bad either. Fiala is still getting used to him and Laffy is trying to learn his place in the NHL. He has pros and cons but he is significantly better than anything we traded for him individually and generally the team that gets the best player more often than not comes out on top.

He is a strong center that can't be pushed around and has good instincts and enough skill to make things happen. Ultimately, his most powerful asset is he can take the puck directly to the net and there is not a single thing any opposing player can do about it. That asset alone makes him invaluable.

He may not have earned his deal yet, and it is possible he may never do so, but he is very useful and will be pivotal in the postseason and I would rather have one of him on the roster than some spare parts and hoping Vilardi stays healthy.

 

[Brownie to Pancakes]

You can take a 5 game sample from any of these players and make them look atrocious

 

[Trash Panda]

So far, Dubois at 8.5 has been a horrid value based on contract alone, even if he was acquired for free.

Factor in the assets spent to acquire, along with the cap space unable to be allocated to goaltending, and it’s really not looking great.

Him and Fiala both are straight up playing some piss-poor hockey right now, with an honorable mention to the ghost of Adrian Kempe. 20 million tied up in some straight up mediocre on-ice product as of now.

If that trio doesn’t wake up soon, this could get ugly real quick.

 

[Kudelski37]

I'm recovering from my first bout with COVID so the topics that I'm grappling with on a day to day basis are a bit further from the rink than usual.

Get well soon. Sleep and plenty of fluids worked well for me.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Laferrierre is carrying the Dubois line. And Arvidsson’s injury has elevated Pierre’s PP time. So far he’s an elite passenger to start his 8 year $52M tenure. Par for the course when it comes to major choices by BLuc.

Overall, my biggest takeaway on the early season is that things still look good for QB to take over as 1C when he’s 24/25 yo. The baggage of Danault and now Dubois will still be there, but it’s not as heavy when you put Kopitar into the equation.

 

[Kudelski37]

So, its been a decent sample size thus far, games against a variety of styles and qualities of opponents. Does anyone think that Dubois is:

A) Worth Vilardi, Iafallo, Kupari and a 2nd

B) Worth a cap hit of $8.5 million

C) Worthy of an 8 year deal

D) None of the above

Decent player, obvious strengths, obvious deficiencies, but what growth do we expect to see? A lack of consistency has plagued him in his young career, so there is room to improve there. But even if he does find it, is he worth that squeeze?

D
He is exactly the player I thought and things are playing exactly as I expected. Kopitar is still getting 21+ minutes a game including OT and PK. The Kings would be much better if they added a 50 points two way center that could win faceoffs instead of PLD....like O'Reilly. Age is irrelevant if the Kings are truly in win now future be damned mode. After Kopi retires, the Kings have to rebuild unless Byfield and Clarke break out. PLD didn't change that.

 

[kevsh]

The Dubois trade stunk of an L.A. GM desperate to find post-season success quickly. The contract was basically an extension of that - once Blake made the commitment to give all that up to get him, he had to get PLD locked into a long-term deal to justify it.

As for evaluating the deal, it's obviously way, way too soon. PLD could have a fantastic season and the Kings go on a deep run, or they could flop. In either case, there's always next year and the year after that.

From the Jets' POV, they were clearly very happy to make the deal when it happened and probably even happier now. But like the Kings, it's way too early for the Jets to be patting themselves on the back.

 

[Sol]

Laferrierre is carrying the Dubois line. And Arvidsson’s injury has elevated Pierre’s PP time. So far he’s an elite passenger to start his 8 year $52M tenure. Par for the course when it comes to major choices by BLuc.

Overall, my biggest takeaway on the early season is that things still look good for QB to take over as 1C when he’s 24/25 yo. The baggage of Danault and now Dubois will still be there, but it’s not as heavy when you put Kopitar into the equation.

That’s a massive stretch of the imagination. He needs to have a season of 5-10 goals first and build from there before you make such outlandish projections.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I’m eager to see Laferriere away from that line. I could see a few ways of tinkering to look for chemistry.

Either swap PLD and Byfield
Move Laferriere to another line—Kaliyev swap?

Just try some new things ffs

Although I can understand not wanting to break up Byfields confidence right now, let him cook

 

[Stimpythecat]

Hi everyone! Hope all of you knuckleheads are doing well.

I've been a bit busy. What did I miss?

 

[kingsboy11]

I think PLD has been just like the rest of the team. Just fine. He's been fine, the team has been playing fine. Not bad, just not spectacular. Depending on who you talk to you could say that if you give a player an 8 year, 8.5 million deal that he should be spectacular, but I think it's still too early to draw any conclusions.

I think it's fairly obvious that him and Fiala are still developing that chemistry and that Laffy has been the true line driver so far. I think if neither PLD or Fiala has really taken off by like game 25 you maybe want to change the lines around a bit. Maybe swap PLD and Byfield or swap Moore and Fiala, who knows. The team is still scoring at a ridiculous rate even if we haven't found a really good combination yet

 

[tkb81]

Hi everyone! Hope all of you knuckleheads are doing well.

I've been a bit busy. What did I miss?

nothing much the sky is still falling according to most the board .. haha

 

[Schrute farms]

Iaffalo is about turn 30 and is one season away from being a UFA. Kings signed him as a college UFA.

The players that hurt are Vilardi, Kupari and the 2nd (from Arizona).

That's the point though. PLD isn't producing much more than a throw in like AI -- let alone losing assets that truly matter (for the LT) like Gabe, Kupari and a 2nd rounder.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Just throwing this out there...

Tage Thompson
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Jonathan Huberdeau
Tom Wilson
Carter Verhaeghe
Roope Hintz
Jason Robertson

It's 8 f***ing games into the season people.....I don't know how some of you make it during a normal week ffs....

 

[kilowatt]

Just throwing this out there...

Tage Thompson
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Jonathan Huberdeau
Tom Wilson
Carter Verhaeghe
Roope Hintz
Jason Robertson

It's 8 f***ing games into the season people.....I don't know how some of you make it during a normal week ffs....

When are we allowed to have opinions? Can you give me an exact date and time?

 

[bland]

When are we allowed to have opinions? Can you give me an exact date and time?

Assuming somebody said something as brilliant as usual.

Its not really about a measuring point, just that by now everybody has had a chance to see who he is, his game, the way he carries himself. Not everyone has had an extended look at the kind of player we have acquired. This was a major acquisition at a big cost.

 

[Statto]

So far, Dubois at 8.5 has been a horrid value based on contract alone, even if he was acquired for free.

Factor in the assets spent to acquire, along with the cap space unable to be allocated to goaltending, and it’s really not looking great.

Him and Fiala both are straight up playing some piss-poor hockey right now, with an honorable mention to the ghost of Adrian Kempe. 20 million tied up in some straight up mediocre on-ice product as of now.

If that trio doesn’t wake up soon, this could get ugly real quick.

Funnily enough what you just wrote encourages me greatly. Kempe will get going (this sort of start isn’t unheard of from him), Fiala is a notoriously slow starter and Dubois is just settling in. All three will get dialled in soon enough. So given our start with them not yet firing it bodes well.

The question will ultimately be about goaltending and how they get Clarke into the NHL.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

When are we allowed to have opinions? Can you give me an exact date and time?

You can have them whenever you want, doesn't mean they are valid....when you have a shit opinion, be prepared to be called out for having a shit opinion.....

It's like saying Arizona is better than NJ, because they beat them, or Detroit better than TB, or ANA better than CAR....you can have those opinions any time you want, be prepared to call out for having a shit opinion.....

 

[kilowatt]

You can have them whenever you want, doesn't mean they are valid....when you have a shit opinion, be prepared to be called out for having a shit opinion.....

It's like saying Arizona is better than NJ, because they beat them, or Detroit better than TB, or ANA better than CAR....you can have those opinions any time you want, be prepared to call out for having a shit opinion.....

Just the date and time please, I didn’t ask for any of your other garbage.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Changing from PLD to the other additions.

Talbot for one million. Solid.

Englund for one million. Liking this. Kings had MacDermid and didn’t have confidence in him playing top 6D. Colorado is playing him at forward now. Lemieux had one good year and then was injured and inconsistent. Now the Kings have a D man who can make the simple play and fight basically anyone. Don’t make me comment on McEwen. Remember Englund is a former 2nd round pick, so he has some pedigree. Same with Lemieux also I guess.

Also, looks like Englund and Kempe have a history.