Kings Article: LA Kings: Gabe Vilardi’s “Demotion” is Short-Lived

[FrozenRoyalty]

Los Angeles Kings center Gabe Vilardi appears to have gotten a reprieve of sorts, moving back up to the second-line center spot tonight, when the they skate against the Vegas Golden Knights in Las Vegas. Vilardi and head coach Todd McLellan spoke with the media ths morning and prior to today about the young center's recent play.

https:///frozenroyalty.net/2021/03/29/vilardi-shortlived/

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[Telos]

I like it, keep him honest and developing. I really like this quote from TMac:

“The older players—[star center Anze] Kopitar is going to get a lot more rope than Gabe is, than [left wing Adrian] Kempe is, or really anybody on our team is,” he added. “That’s just the way it works. He’s earned the right to get that. That doesn’t mean I’m not hard on him. That doesn’t mean that I don’t hold him accountable amongst the group. But he just gets more rope because he’s earned the right to have that rope. There’s a wide range of rope on the team. Not everybody is treated equally. That’s just the way it is. But everybody is treated fairly. That’s the way it has to be.”

I dunno why, and I don't think we've talked about it much on this board, but I like TMac a lot. Like, if I had to rank the likability of Kings coaches over the years, he would pretty much be at the top. Which I never would have expected upon his hiring, but there it is. Obviously, I love Sutter for bringing in two cups and his hilarious way of handling the media, but TMac so far has been very level-headed, calculated, and responsive in a way that I identify with. I really like how he handles the lines and playtime. He does so in a way that I find has been, so far, the least conflicting with the fanbase in quite some time. For however long that lasts...