Speculation: LA Kings News, Rumors, Roster Thread 2022-23 Season Part 2

[lumbergh]

WTH, Quick now 3-0 w/ Vegas! He just got a 33 save shutout against the Canes. Wonder if something went sour between him and goalie coach Ranford, or is it Vegas has a better defense that suites Quick's playing style?

Or is it a small sample size?

 

[Kudelski37]

Anyone know what kind of injury Durzi has?

Any timeline for his return?


Thanks.

He got knocked into the future. He won't return until the new DeLorean comes out.

 

[bmr]

He got knocked into the future. He won't return until the new DeLorean comes out.

 

[tkb81]

Or is it a small sample size?

Rage/anger is my guess ... haha cant hold up ... best wishes for quickie though just not against us .. haha

 

[BringTheReign]

We don’t know who ultimately makes the lineup decisions, TM could have full control or there could be heavy input from above. But we do know starting last season the mandate moved from development to winning, and he has won.

I agree, but I think Byfield on Kopitar’s wing and Vilardi’s presence on PP1 are examples of development-focused decisions. They’ve continued to earn those spots, but they were tryouts at first.

 

[Schrute farms]

I agree, but I think Byfield on Kopitar’s wing and Vilardi’s presence on PP1 are examples of development-focused decisions. They’ve continued to earn those spots, but they were tryouts at first.

Very possible.
Then again, i don't think that you can rule out 'dumb luck' as the correct answer here. They seem to do a lot of continually throwing crap on a wall and seeing/hoping if something sticks.

 

[Fishhead]

Very possible.
Then again, i don't think that you can rule out 'dumb luck' as the correct answer here. They seem to do a lot of continually throwing crap on a wall and seeing/hoping if something sticks.

All coaches do this. Synergy and cohesiveness is difficult to predict, you just put guys together you think complement each other and hope they fit. We saw this for years with Sutter's offensive pairs. I wouldn't call it luck, more educated guesses.

I think this is one of TMs strengths, he's more more open to changes than say DS was.

 

[bouncesonly]

For how much lizotte is derided for centering the 3rd line, how would he do if he got booted to the ahl tomorrow? Would he dominate? Is the skill disparity between him and average ahl’er massive?

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

For how much lizotte is derided for centering the 3rd line, how would he do if he got booted to the ahl tomorrow? Would he dominate? Is the skill disparity between him and average ahl’er massive?

Skill level between NHLers themselves is miniscule, it's more about how consistently they do it......everyone in the NHL can do an end to end and top shelf it.....but where as McDavid can do it every day every game, someone like a 4th liner, can do it once a season etc

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Here ya go boyz, bust out the Jergens!

 

[Lt Dan]

Here ya go boyz, bust out the Jergens!

View attachment 668437

I'm already chafing, but this is going to inspire me to go three more rounds

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

For how much lizotte is derided for centering the 3rd line, how would he do if he got booted to the ahl tomorrow? Would he dominate? Is the skill disparity between him and average ahl’er massive?

Dude has produced at/near/above PPG at every level including USHL and NCAA so it's not an exact science but he's more skilled than people here will give him credit for.

 

[Herby]

So I wanted to do a bit of forecasting on what next year's roster could look like. Who knows what will happen between now and next year, and a lot of it is probably wishful thinking, but that's kind of my thing.

Kempe - Kopitar - Kaliyev
Fiala - Byfield - Vilardi
Moore - Danault - Arvidsson
Iafallo - Lizotte - Kupari
JAD, Fagemo

Anderson - Doughty
Gavrikov - Clarke/Spence
Bjornfot - Roy

Korpisalo
Copley

This involved some key signings:
- Gavrikov, 8 years, $4,500,000
- Vilardi, 3 years, $4,500,000
- Korpisalo, 3 years, $3,000,000
- Kupari, 1 year, $1,000,000
- Bjornfot, 1 year, $850,000
- JAD, 1 year, $775,000

And some key trades:
- Petersen and LA's 1st in 2024 to Arizona for a 7th
- Durzi to Montreal for Colorado's 2nd in 2024
- Walker to Buffalo for a 5th

And some guys on waivers:
- Grundstrom, Madden, Thomas, and Villalta.

The big question mark here is whether Kaliyev can play top six minutes or not. I think it's going to be a big offseason for him. I'd love to see Byfield back at center next year and playing with Fiala and Vilardi will be a great place to do just that. These guys aren't kids anymore, it's time to give them the minutes they need to succeed.

What's interesting about this lineup is that we get to keep Iafallo and Lizotte on the fourth line (with Kupari, Kaliyev, Fagemo, whoever really). That depth is going to be really, really important. I think Gavrikov would be a great partner for Clarke (or Spence) too.

Sorry for the wall of text!

Good post, I think these are all realistic scenarios, which is nice, no magical "We will find someone to take Cal without giving up our 1st" comments.

But there are some tough issues here to look at, for one it's another 1st gone. That means no 1st in 2022, 2023 and 2024, with 2019 trending downward as well. In a cap league its so important to have some potential top 6 and top 4 d-man on ELC's, and its going to be tough to do that just losing all these first rounders.

8 years for Gabrikov just gives us issues down the road, like we saw with Quick and Brown. The DL strategy was to get lower cap hits by giving guys to much term and it largely backfired on him. It would be better to offer him less years, but a higher cap hit. If you have cap concerns you can trade Iafallo to someone for a draft pick., which would free up around $3m in cap space if you replace Iafallo with JAD.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Good post, I think these are all realistic scenarios, which is nice, no magical "We will find someone to take Cal without giving up our 1st" comments.

But there are some tough issues here to look at, for one it's another 1st gone. That means no 1st in 2022, 2023 and 2024, with 2019 trending downward as well. In a cap league its so important to have some potential top 6 and top 4 d-man on ELC's, and its going to be tough to do that just losing all these first rounders.

8 years for Gabrikov just gives us issues down the road, like we saw with Quick and Brown. The DL strategy was to get lower cap hits by giving guys to much term and it largely backfired on him. It would be better to offer him less years, but a higher cap hit. If you have cap concerns you can trade Iafallo to someone for a draft pick., which would free up around $3m in cap space if you replace Iafallo with JAD.

Question is, do you get Gavrikov at 4-5-6 even 7......do you sign him if it's 8 or nothing???

Glad I'm not making that decision....

 

[Herby]

Question is, do you get Gavrikov at 4-5-6 even 7......do you sign him if it's 8 or nothing???

Glad I'm not making that decision....

Well, no one else can offer more than 7, which is nice. That is written into the CBA to give teams an advantage in retaining their own players, but historically the 8 year deals for guys who are his age have not really aged to well.

Gavrikov and his agent are in a good spot this offseason though, because there isn't much on the FA market and the Kings have already given up a big asset to trade for him and with Bjornfot kind of plateauing the last couple of years the Kings are just super thin at LHD and may just have to give in for those reasons.

With the age of the best players on team and all these lost 1st round picks + Faber the Kings are probably going to be pretty bad in 4-5 years anyways, so I'd rather just overpay him for 4-5 years than commit huge term to him.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Well, no one else can offer more than 7, which is nice. That is written into the CBA to give teams an advantage in retaining their own players, but historically the 8 year deals for guys who are his age have not really aged to well.

Gavrikov and his agent are in a good spot this offseason though, because there isn't much on the FA market and the Kings have already given up a big asset to trade for him and with Bjornfot kind of plateauing the last couple of years the Kings are just super thin at LHD and may just have to give in for those reasons.

With the age of the best players on team and all these lost 1st round picks + Faber the Kings are probably going to be pretty bad in 4-5 years anyways, so I'd rather just overpay him for 4-5 years than commit huge term to him.

True....I don't think they will be as bad as you think in 4-5 years.......will they be the powerhouse they are now....(tongue in cheek, because we all know how certain people think this team is pure dogshit) but they have to be extra vigilant in their drafting, and roster choices, to stay relevant in 4-5 years for sure, but you can probably argue that is for any team.

 

[canucks20]

Anyone know if Copley or Korpi start tomorrow night?

 

[LAKings88]

Anyone know if Copley or Korpi start tomorrow night?

Not officially but they have been on rotation. Likely Korpi.

 

[ibleedkings]

Here ya go boyz, bust out the Jergens!

View attachment 668437

Proof that TM is reading HF.

 

[Herby]

True....I don't think they will be as bad as you think in 4-5 years.......will they be the powerhouse they are now....(tongue in cheek, because we all know how certain people think this team is pure dogshit) but they have to be extra vigilant in their drafting, and roster choices, to stay relevant in 4-5 years for sure, but you can probably argue that is for any team.

Don’t turn into TKF and make stuff up, you are better than that. Who thinks this team is dog shit? Again there was a poll on this board before the season and it was like 97% the team would make the playoffs.

In 4-5 years it’s just tough to imagine the team in good shape, with all the draft picks they traded and with their best players aging out. They have a contention window for probably this year and 2-3 after and then it’s likely a big fall off. There is just very litte talent under 23 years old. This is a team of prime players and a couple on the tail ends of their careers.

 

[canucks20]

Not officially but they have been on rotation. Likely Korpi.

That’s what I figured but wasn’t sure if they wanted Korpi to play Columbus Thursday night

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Can we just Tanya Harding Cal in the off-season tons of homeless dudes willing and eager for a couple white claws and some Chinese food.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Don’t turn into TKF and make stuff up, you are better than that. Who thinks this team is dog shit? Again there was a poll on this board before the season and it was like 97% the team would make the playoffs.

In 4-5 years it’s just tough to imagine the team in good shape, with all the draft picks they traded and with their best players aging out. They have a contention window for probably this year and 2-3 after and then it’s likely a big fall off. There is just very litte talent under 23 years old. This is a team of prime players and a couple on the tail ends of their careers.

Read ANY game day thread during the game.....and you are right, no one is saying the TEAM is shit....they are saying the coach is, DD is, Kopitar is, Edler is, Kempe is, etc, the sum of the parts......but to be fair, their opinion changes as much as the game clock....

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Don’t turn into TKF and make stuff up, you are better than that. Who thinks this team is dog shit? Again there was a poll on this board before the season and it was like 97% the team would make the playoffs.

In 4-5 years it’s just tough to imagine the team in good shape, with all the draft picks they traded and with their best players aging out. They have a contention window for probably this year and 2-3 after and then it’s likely a big fall off. There is just very litte talent under 23 years old. This is a team of prime players and a couple on the tail ends of their careers.

It really depends on Byfield and Clarke. If neither of these players are top 20 at their position in four years, yeah, we’ll be in rough shape.

 

[Statto]

Read ANY game day thread during the game.....and you are right, no one is saying the TEAM is shit....they are saying the coach is, DD is, Kopitar is, Edler is, Kempe is, etc, the sum of the parts......but to be fair, their opinion changes as much as the game clock....

The GDT as you say changes with every tick of the clock. By its nature it’s hyperbole, straw-man, bipolar and crazy opinion all wrapped up. It’s never an objective assessment of anything. It’s just moment by moment reactions to events. I tend to read them the next day just to see what dumb ass comments get made, in either direction. You really have to pick out the proper posts that act provide decent information.