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

[AbsentMojo]

Iafallo would be the piece I would likely move, the Kings have a glut of late 20's, early 30's middle pair forwards and I think we could move him to find room. I like Iafallo and have defended him quite often, but with Arrvy and Moore they have a bit of redundancy.

Well its Iafallo or Arvy.. I doubt they'd move Moore after just signing him. Im 100% on board with shifting some salary of our forwards into talent on D.. the Kings are salary/talent heavy on offense.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Well, yeah when he plays he plays a lot. Still, he's played 362 minutes less than Mikey Anderson this year, and we are not far past the midway point.



It helps when you are getting cushy deployments. Last year he was 56th in D in p/60. Relative doesn't mean much when you have the defense Arizona does. He wasn't even the best D on his team last year, Gostisbehere was ahead of him in almost every single category. So far, he's had a fantastic 20-21 and a good 27-game streak this year. and this is his 7th year in the league. The rest of his seasons were just OK. He's never faced top competition in his entire career, he has always drawn lower-line assignments.

I don't think his contract is that out of line for what he brings. If Durzi was a bit better at defense, what is a fair contract for him? Durzi has a higher career .ppg, he's slightly better offensively than Chychrun overall and he's only been in the league 1.5 years. Durzi is unquestionably tougher and more physical.

He's a lot like we've seen Durzi over the last week or two. Great offense, solid defense, but nothing fantastic in his own end. He could absolutely help, but I don't think he's anywhere near worth the ask and he's not what this team really needs.

beat me to it.

Yeah, he plays a lot of minutes when he plays. That's great! But comparing his TOI to Doughty when he's barely played half the games DOughty has played this year leaves out a huge chunk of the picture.

And as you point out, deployment. That's great! He plays big minutes. Unfortunately they're Colin Miller pillowsoft minutes, not top true two-way d minutes.

And this is all on a team with zero expectations year after year who is very clearly juicing his value right now too.

He's an excellent offensive player and you said it better than I did, I was gonna say he's much more Durzi than Doughty. And he's a great value at that contract, which is why I feel like a cap-pushing, window-open team (TO, Edmonton) is going to give AZ what they want. But I think it would feel hollow if the Kings trade for him to be THE long-term LHD solution as if he can take over for Doughty when he's not that kind of player. IE the problem isn't JC himself, the problem is the perception of JC and his trade value being disproportionate to what he actually brings.

 

[crassbonanza]

It helps when you are getting cushy deployments. Last year he was 56th in D in p/60. Relative doesn't mean much when you have the defense Arizona does. He wasn't even the best D on his team last year, Gostisbehere was ahead of him in almost every single category. So far, he's had a fantastic 20-21 and a good 27-game streak this year. and this is his 7th year in the league. The rest of his seasons were just OK. He's never faced top competition in his entire career, he has always drawn lower-line assignments.

I don't think his contract is that out of line for what he brings. If Durzi was a bit better at defense, what is a fair contract for him? Durzi has a higher career .ppg, he's slightly better offensively than Chychrun overall and he's only been in the league 1.5 years. Durzi is unquestionably tougher and more physical.

He's a lot like we've seen Durzi over the last week or two. Great offense, solid defense, but nothing fantastic in his own end. He could absolutely help, but I don't think he's anywhere near worth the ask and he's not what this team really needs.

Chych had a higher CF% and xGF%, but Ghost did have a higher P/60. I'm not sure what you mean by every category, but Chych was definitely better possession wise.

Durzi is not slightly better offensive wise, Durzi had a .56 ES P/60 last season while Chych had a 1.05. This year Durzi has a 1.18, while Chych has a 1.58. You mention career PPG, but fail to account for the fact that they are nearly the same age, but Chych was playing in the NHL at 18 years old. Since Chych was 22 he put up seasons of .73, .45 and .81 PPG. Since Durzi was 22 he put up seasons of .42 and .56.

Chychrun is not the same as Durzi, I mean you say it is easy to have good relative numbers since Chychrun plays on such a shit team. Did you know that Durzi has a higher CA/60 and a high CF/60 this season? That's not relative, those are just rate numbers, if the Kings are so much better than the Yotes(which, obviously they are), then you would naturally expect Durzi to be far outstripping Chych in those, but he is not.

I just can't believe we are still trying to argue that Durzi is the same as Chych at this point. Injuries, I get that argument, cost to acquire, I get that one too. Durzi is just as good? That's wild to me.

beat me to it.

Yeah, he plays a lot of minutes when he plays. That's great! But comparing his TOI to Doughty when he's barely played half the games DOughty has played this year leaves out a huge chunk of the picture.

And as you point out, deployment. That's great! He plays big minutes. Unfortunately they're Colin Miller pillowsoft minutes, not top true two-way d minutes.

And this is all on a team with zero expectations year after year who is very clearly juicing his value right now too.

He's an excellent offensive player and you said it better than I did, I was gonna say he's much more Durzi than Doughty. And he's a great value at that contract, which is why I feel like a cap-pushing, window-open team (TO, Edmonton) is going to give AZ what they want. But I think it would feel hollow if the Kings trade for him to be THE long-term LHD solution as if he can take over for Doughty when he's not that kind of player. IE the problem isn't JC himself, the problem is the perception of JC and his trade value being disproportionate to what he actually brings.

Do you have any stats to back up his deployment being the only reason he is near the top of the league among defensemen by nearly every category? If it was so easy to "juice" numbers, wouldn't every team not contending be doing it?

 

[Maynard]

My problem with acquiring Chychrun, other than his clearly evident fragility, is that there will STILL be a big hole to fill. I don’t doubt his high trade value and he’d be a sexy pick up, but I’d hate to send out a big haul of assets and then still be left needing a tough crease clearing, get away from my goalie type of MF. Especially in the postseason. Maybe Rob could make a separate move to address that. It’s not like he can’t make multiple trades but my concern is that it will still be Lemieux and Durzi doing the dirty work. Seattle’s dick is laughing at those guys.

 

[Fishhead]

Chych had a higher CF% and xGF%, but Ghost did have a higher P/60. I'm not sure what you mean by every category, but Chych was definitely better possession wise.

Durzi is not slightly better offensive wise, Durzi had a .56 ES P/60 last season while Chych had a 1.05. This year Durzi has a 1.18, while Chych has a 1.58. You mention career PPG, but fail to account for the fact that they are nearly the same age, but Chych was playing in the NHL at 18 years old. Since Chych was 22 he put up seasons of .73, .45 and .81 PPG. Since Durzi was 22 he put up seasons of .42 and .56.

Chychrun is not the same as Durzi, I mean you say it is easy to have good relative numbers since Chychrun plays on such a shit team. Did you know that Durzi has a higher CA/60 and a high CF/60 this season? That's not relative, those are just rate numbers, if the Kings are so much better than the Yotes(which, obviously they are), then you would naturally expect Durzi to be far outstripping Chych in those, but he is not.

I just can't believe we are still trying to argue that Durzi is the same as Chych at this point. Injuries, I get that argument, cost to acquire, I get that one too. Durzi is just as good? That's wild to me.



Do you have any stats to back up his deployment being the only reason he is near the top of the league among defensemen by nearly every category? If it was so easy to "juice" numbers, wouldn't every team not contending be doing it?

I was more looking at indie stats, not so much possession. It wouldn't surprise me that Chychrun had better Corsi at all. Gost had higher goals/60, assists/60, points/60, he was a better offensive player against better competition.

I do think Durzi is a tad better offensively. If you look at their points as a whole not only does he have a higher ppg, but his points/60 is substantially higher. Chychrun is an impressive 1.29. Durzi is a 1.44, which is obviously really high. I think Chychrun's shot is one of the best in the league, but I think Durzi's overall offensive acumen and IQ are higher. This isn't to say that Chychrun isn't effective, he's really good. Durzi also hasn't had the benefit of being in the NHL as long. Note that I don't think that Durzi is just as good as Chychrun, just offensively. His defense still is on the suck spectrum.

My biggest concern with Chychrun is this:

His GF% is stellar, but he faces some of the worst competition on the team. It's a small sample, but it's fair I think.

This is last year:

His GF% dropped like a stone when he faced harder competition. There are lots of factors, but that's a concern.

Here are the Kings, for reference since we see them more:

Durzi's not as high of course, but he's facing 2nd pairing competition. Man, Edler and Walker are bad...

If you go back with Chychrun's numbers they are kind of in the middle, some good (esp. 19-20), some bad - but he undoubtedly played his best when stapled next to Goligoski on the 2nd pairing. I guess Roy is the closest thing we have to that, but could he do that for Chychrun? He's not near Alex's level.

Doughty-Anderson isn't being split up, it works too well, and Chychrun is best on the 2nd line anyways. He'd probably be with Roy, with Durzi sliding down to play with Edler. Bjornfot and Durzi have been awful together, I'd rather not see that one revisited. You can certainly argue that Chychrun is better offensively than Durzi, but there certainly isn't a big gap between them. The defensive gap is going to be there, but is that gap enough to justify the cost and risk? I don't see that at all. I don't completely hate the idea of acquiring Chychrun, he's an overall upgrade on Durzi, who would probably end up being moved, but the cost will be ridiculous.

My preferences for LD targets that I think will benefit the team most are:


McCabe
.
.
Provorov
Chychrun/Gavrikov

 

[Statto]

The asking price is a big issue as others have said but even is that comes down he’s still not the type of player we need. The defence isn’t balanced and it’s not just because we need a LH shot, we desperately need some strength on the blue line, the ability to clear the net and shut teams down. Look at ALL the game day threads, we don’t bitch about moving the puck anymore it’s the defensive play that is always in focus.​

​

Then when Clarke is back next year we’d have yet another offensive D-Man in the lineup and it becomes even less balanced. He just doesn’t fit the big picture.​

​

​

 

[Kudelski37]

It's just really hard to compare Durzi, Spence and Clarke to Chychrun right now. Sure they might get there, but he is so far ahead of all of them that I think he would be a fantastic pick up. I definitely do agree with you that I would like a bruiser for the middle pairs as well.

Durzi and Chychrun are very easy to compare. Both only have 2 NHL seasons with 24+ points.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Do you have any stats to back up his deployment being the only reason he is near the top of the league among defensemen by nearly every category? If it was so easy to "juice" numbers, wouldn't every team not contending be doing it?

I never said that is the only reason. Will you address what I said?

he's a great player, but also one who is being given soft deployment in a limited sample size on a team with no expectations but with him on the trade market. You made it sound like he plays big minutes, but every time he does, he gets hurt. And when he plays harder minutes, his metrics drop.

Yes, non contending teams with players to trade also do it. See also: Erik Karlsson. Colin Miller in the past (had something like 85% ozone starts in vegas).

it's fair to have doubts about his health status and 'true' abilities when--as shown multiple times above--his non-counting stats get obliterated when he plays harder minutes across his career. I don't understand what you're disputing, frankly, as I haven't said anything that anyone but Yotes fans would deem totally controversial and it's opinion rooted in facts that have been posted ad nauseum since last season. I'm not trying to be flippant here but I don't feel like I need to post more of those, there's ample evidence. Are you suggesting he's a true #1 dman worth the trade value? If so, YOU need to show your work.

Personally, I don't think he's worth his reputation or alleged trade value, and our internal options in Clarke and Durzi are better value as well as arguably better fits for our team. I'm not a fan of slinging multiple blue chip assets just to turn good Durzi into a left-hander whose rep exceeds his value.

 

[EXTRAS]

Any. Trevor moore injury update? Timeline?

 

[YP44]

With LA not playing till Thursday, now would be ideal to make a deal for someone right?

 

[Schrute farms]

My problem with acquiring Chychrun, other than his clearly evident fragility, is that there will STILL be a big hole to fill. I don’t doubt his high trade value and he’d be a sexy pick up, but I’d hate to send out a big haul of assets and then still be left needing a tough crease clearing, get away from my goalie type of MF. Especially in the postseason. Maybe Rob could make a separate move to address that. It’s not like he can’t make multiple trades but my concern is that it will still be Lemieux and Durzi doing the dirty work. Seattle’s dick is laughing at those guys.

+1
100%

The asking price is a big issue as others have said but even is that comes down he’s still not the type of player we need. The defence isn’t balanced and it’s not just because we need a LH shot, we desperately need some strength on the blue line, the ability to clear the net and shut teams down. Look at ALL the game day threads, we don’t bitch about moving the puck anymore it’s the defensive play that is always in focus.​

​

Then when Clarke is back next year we’d have yet another offensive D-Man in the lineup and it becomes even less balanced. He just doesn’t fit the big picture.​

​

​

+1
100%

 

[johnjm22]

Chychrun is the best player available and fits our needs.

The price AZ is asking for is appropriate IMO.

Aside from the injuries, and the price, my main concern is the contract. You would only have him for two more years after this season, and the price to re-sign will likely be very high.

So it's very risky, and only makes sense if you think the Kings are going to contend right now.

 

[YP44]

Chychrun is the best player available and fits our needs.

The price AZ is asking for is appropriate IMO.

Aside from the injuries, and the price, my main concern is the contract. You would only have him for two more years after this season, and the price to re-sign will likely be very high.

So it's very risky, and only makes sense if you think the Kings are going to contend right now.

so eliminating injury and fit debate. Then based on bolded still does not make sense IMO

 

[Fishhead]

Chychrun isn't as bad as some make out, and he's not as good as some make out. It's difficult when you don't watch them all the time. His numbers are also very inconsistent, which makes it even harder. Which Chychrun would we get? 20-21 or 21-22?

His numbers jump out this year again, but some of that is deployment. How much we can't say. Here are his paces since he came in the league prior to this year:

24
23
31
38
60
37

It's easy to see the outlier, but was the fall to 37 back to normal or an off-year? Probably somewhere in the middle. Could the Kings bring up his defensive level? It would be nice to have a guy like Justin Faulk, which Chychrun could be if he learned the D side better. With the up-and-down play, injuries, and what team he's on it's terribly hard to get a read on whether he still will improve.

 

[King'sPawn]

Chychrun is the best player available and fits our needs.

The price AZ is asking for is appropriate IMO.

Aside from the injuries, and the price, my main concern is the contract. You would only have him for two more years after this season, and the price to re-sign will likely be very high.

So it's very risky, and only makes sense if you think the Kings are going to contend right now.

Kings need more offense from the blueline? They need to beef up their IR team? What's this need that Chychrun fulfills, aside from being an LD? If we need someone who is a LD regardless of what role they actually fulfill, let's just throw Bjornfot or Moverare out there and save all the unnecessary risk.

 

[kilowatt]

I think it’s unfair to suggest that Bjornfot or Moverare could fill the same role as Chychrun. A Chychrun-Doughty pairing would be absolutely elite, and dropping Anderson down to play second pair minutes with Durzi would be a huge win for the organization. Edler is cooked and Walker is inconsequential, so I think a third pair of Bjornfot-Roy would be phenomenal.

The clear downside here is that Chychrun is often injured and the price tag is significant. It really depends what the cost would be. We have a lot of pieces knocking on the door because of waiver eligibility next year and we don’t have room for them. Whether it’s for Chychrun or not, we need to move some guys soon.

Chychrun - Doughty
Anderson - Durzi
Bjornfot - Roy

Keep Chychrun and Durzi off the penalty kill and let them run the power plays and you’ve got a fully capable defensive squad.

 

[Fishhead]

so eliminating injury and fit debate. Then based on bolded still does not make sense IMO

Well, the Kings will have the cap space, and the cap will go up. Depends on what Anderson gets and what Clarke does.

I think it’s unfair to suggest that Bjornfot or Moverare could fill the same role as Chychrun. A Chychrun-Doughty pairing would be absolutely elite, and dropping Anderson down to play second pair minutes with Durzi would be a huge win for the organization. Edler is cooked and Walker is inconsequential, so I think a third pair of Bjornfot-Roy would be phenomenal.

The clear downside here is that Chychrun is often injured and the price tag is significant. It really depends what the cost would be. We have a lot of pieces knocking on the door because of waiver eligibility next year and we don’t have room for them. Whether it’s for Chychrun or not, we need to move some guys soon.

Chychrun - Doughty
Anderson - Durzi
Bjornfot - Roy

Keep Chychrun and Durzi off the penalty kill and let them run the power plays and you’ve got a fully capable defensive squad.

Chychrun has never handled top-line competition defensively, so expect Doughty's numbers to take a hit if that happens. I think Drew is at his best when he creates, a lot of that will be taken away.

Anderson and Durzi would certainly work.

I think this is better for far cheaper:

Anderson-Doughty
McCabe-Durzi
whoever-whoever

McCabe is a fantastic PK'er as well, and we really need help there.

 

[Surf Nutz]

Iafallo would be the piece I would likely move, the Kings have a glut of late 20's, early 30's middle pair forwards and I think we could move him to find room. I like Iafallo and have defended him quite often, but with Arrvy and Moore they have a bit of redundancy.

Blake is extremely unlikely to trade Iafallo.
More than anyone you can plug him in anywhere and the line he joins usually performs.
He is the chemistry balance for the team. It would have to be something very attractive and other teams won't be giving us the value he provides us.
Blake is not disrupting the team's chemistry for an expensive, fragile questionable fit.
Chicken run or other.
As savy investigative thought process posters above have uncovered.

 

[YP44]

Blake is extremely unlikely to trade Iafallo. More than anyone you can plug him in anywhere and the line he joins usually performs. He is the chemistry balancer for the team. It would have to be something very attractive and other teams won't be giving us the value he provides us.

I agree Iafallo has been very valuable, however if he is the piece the other team is asking for that brings in a top LHD you have to consider it.
We cannot keep all our forwards and hope to have spots for prospects to fill.

 

[johnjm22]

Kings need more offense from the blueline? They need to beef up their IR team? What's this need that Chychrun fulfills, aside from being an LD? If we need someone who is a LD regardless of what role they actually fulfill, let's just throw Bjornfot or Moverare out there and save all the unnecessary risk.

Yes, they need more offense, and someone who's better defensively there.

 

[johnjm22]

Well, the Kings will have the cap space, and the cap will go up. Depends on what Anderson gets and what Clarke does.

Chychrun has never handled top-line competition defensively, so expect Doughty's numbers to take a hit if that happens. I think Drew is at his best when he creates, a lot of that will be taken away.

Anderson and Durzi would certainly work.

I think this is better for far cheaper:

Anderson-Doughty
McCabe-Durzi
whoever-whoever

McCabe is a fantastic PK'er as well, and we really need help there.

It's amazing that McCabe is a +4 on the Black Hawks. I don't know if it's a coincidence or what, but it's the best +/- on the team. All their other defenders are in the negative.

Even in that 8-5 loss to the Kraken he was even. Meanwhile JJ was a -4 haha.

 

[KingsFan7824]

With LA not playing till Thursday, now would be ideal to make a deal for someone right?

Any particular reason why? Just because they don't play for 4 days? They have 10 days off in a couple weeks, and it's that much closer to the deadline. If you're going to do it based on time off, that's when you do it. Gives the team more time to either sink or swim with a 6 game road trip. Even then, that's a month away from the deadline. Not sure the Kings are the most desperate team out there to try and make a deal anyway.

 

[YP44]

Any particular reason why? Just because they don't play for 4 days? They have 10 days off in a couple weeks, and it's that much closer to the deadline. If you're going to do it based on time off, that's when you do it. Gives the team more time to either sink or swim with a 6 game road trip. Even then, that's a month away from the deadline. Not sure the Kings are the most desperate team out there to try and make a deal anyway.

ya gives time for player to move and get acquainted is what I was thinking. I know the mandated NHHPA days off is back this year, but teams are not allowed to practice during that time.

 

[Fishhead]

It's amazing that McCabe is a +4 on the Black Hawks. I don't know if it's a coincidence or what, but it's the best +/- on the team. All their other defenders are in the negative.

Even in that 8-5 loss to the Kraken he was even. Meanwhile JJ was a -4 haha.

It is, and he's done that his whole career, even in Buffalo.

He's a few years older than Chychrun, but I think he fills a need. His contract is around the same cost and if he's not retained it's not a huge thing, he'll be 32 or so. Probably could get him for a first in '24 or a decent prospect and a 2nd.

 

[YP44]

It is, and he's done that his whole career, even in Buffalo.

He's a few years older than Chychrun, but I think he fills a need. His contract is around the same cost and if he's not retained it's not a huge thing, he'll be 32 or so. Probably could get him for a first in '24 or a decent prospect and a 2nd.

Solid target.
There are enough targets I would be ok with, that the only way I will be disappointed is if LA comes away with no upgrade to the their left hand side. Even then, probably am fine addressing in summer if costs are crazy.