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

[lumbergh]

I think it’ll be a small move if it’s a rental (more likely IMO) or if a bigger move it’ll be someone with term. Obviously pure guess work.

Rental could be the second coming of Olli Maatta. Bigger move with term would be Jake McCabe. Those are my guesses.

 

[Statto]

Rental could be the second coming of Olli Maatta. Bigger move with term would be Jake McCabe. Those are my guesses.

Neither would be a shock. I just don’t want him to go big on a rental because it won’t take us over the top, that’s a move for a couple of years down the line. I’d also be happy with nothing happening if it’s so he can wait for the correct targets to be available in the summer. As I’ve said before moves need to be designed to win cups, not for simply making the playoffs.

 

[No Name The Nameless]

I don’t think mentioning drugs is even remotely appropriate.

It’s confidence IMO, he’s not trusting himself or his technique which will explain his reaction times. I get the frustrated part because he’s not doing himself justice. Maybe being ‘the guy’ has played a part in it but at his best he is better than Copley even if he would still be a bit over paid.

When any player has confidence issues it’s hard to get out of it but they have the option to give a skater sheltered minutes and build slowly. With a goalie they cannot do that, so sending him down was the right choice. I hope he’s also seeing a sports psychologist. I think it’s a big IF as to whether he can get his game back mentally but if he can he’d at least be a decent backup. I think he will get a recall at some point after the TDL because they will want to see if he can do a job in the Play-Offs if needed. He’s certainly in better shape than he was and right now with Quick also struggling badly they need to know what they have in him as an option down the stretch or in the Playoffs. There is no way Quick gets waived but perhaps being a healthy scratch could be on the cards. Lots of IF’s though.

I think the possibility of drugs is a relevant line of thought to analyze. It would explain his apparent lack of preparation and motor skill reduction.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Just off the top of my head
Chychrun
Gavrikov
Provorov
Edmundson
Mikkola
McCabe
Gostisbehere
Kulikov

+
Jack Johnson
Jarred Tinordi
Nathan Beaulieu
Calle Rosen
Olli Maatta
Robert Hagg
Jake Walman
Nick Seeler
Nick Holden
Jeremy Lauzon

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

+
Jack Johnson
Jarred Tinordi
Nathan Beaulieu
Calle Rosen
Olli Maatta
Robert Hagg
Jake Walman
Nick Seeler
Nick Holden
Jeremy Lauzon

Exactly. Point is, MTL doesn't get to extort people for Edmundson when there are this many LHD available. They want to hold out for a 1st and prospect but I don't think most of that list is getting more than a 2nd + prospect or 2 2nds and even less if you go down.

 

[DoktorJeep]

+
Jack Johnson
Jarred Tinordi
Nathan Beaulieu
Calle Rosen
Olli Maatta
Robert Hagg
Jake Walman
Nick Seeler
Nick Holden
Jeremy Lauzon

Holden is the most Sopel’esque on the list.

 

[LAKings88]

Rental could be the second coming of Olli Maatta. Bigger move with term would be Jake McCabe. Those are my guesses.

At this point Maatta seems as good as what's out there. He is also familiar with the team. I'd take him for the right price.

 

[King'sPawn]

Holden is the most Sopel’esque on the list.

Man... mentioning Sopel reminded me of when he injured his back picking up a cracker.

Which made me think of Penner hurting himself eating pancakes.

And somehow both of them eventually played on the Kings.

 

[AbsentMojo]

I don’t think mentioning drugs is even remotely appropriate.

It’s confidence IMO, he’s not trusting himself or his technique which will explain his reaction times. I get the frustrated part because he’s not doing himself justice. Maybe being ‘the guy’ has played a part in it but at his best he is better than Copley even if he would still be a bit over paid.

When any player has confidence issues it’s hard to get out of it but they have the option to give a skater sheltered minutes and build slowly. With a goalie they cannot do that, so sending him down was the right choice. I hope he’s also seeing a sports psychologist. I think it’s a big IF as to whether he can get his game back mentally but if he can he’d at least be a decent backup. I think he will get a recall at some point after the TDL because they will want to see if he can do a job in the Play-Offs if needed. He’s certainly in better shape than he was and right now with Quick also struggling badly they need to know what they have in him as an option down the stretch or in the Playoffs. There is no way Quick gets waived but perhaps being a healthy scratch could be on the cards. Lots of IF’s though.

Re drugs - after watching Richards decline and finding out he had an oxycontin problem - that popped to my mind as a possibility.. but maybe best not to speculate.

 

[SaltyElkHunter]

Are Thousand Oaks and arty practicing?

 

[All The Kings Men]

Are Thousand Oaks and arty practicing?

Practice is at 2pm today.

Details to follow.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

I'd rather play Bjornfot, than have Edmundson for free....he's not as good as he once was and his -21 in 38ish games is putrid and team worst.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Needs:
Starting goalie. Kings have lucked out with Pheonix. They are probably dumping too much on him. Some mental lapses are starting to show, but still the best option. This is complicated by having Cal's contract.

3C: The 3C, Lizotte, inevitability will play against other teams top lines in the playoffs. This is a problem. He is a fine 4C. It's unlikely that any of the young centers will be ready to go up against playoff teams top 6 in a few months.

Defense, Swapping Walker for a LD could be beneficial. Don't see the point of trading for a good D at the deadline with the other holes. Björnfot & Moverare could be recalled. Seems like the one position they might get away with filling from the AHL.

Best bet is for a team like the Blues or Nashville deciding they want to retool & grabbing a goalie, LD, & center for some combo of Iafallo, Walker, Cal & a LOT of picks.

Blake needs to decide how much he wants a 10-15 pick this year or if he wants to be competitive. Quick & Cal losing it the same year was rough.

 

[FSL KINGS]

The Mikkola dream has hit a setback. NYR just waived a LD though.

 

[No Name The Nameless]

Re drugs - after watching Richards decline and finding out he had an oxycontin problem - that popped to my mind as a possibility.. but maybe best not to speculate.

There were a few baseball people that suggested the Cody Bellinger had developed an addiction to pills. After that buzz he immediately went from MVP to replacement level.
I think pills are a huge problem in sports (and life in general) and shouldn’t be overlooked.

 

[johnjm22]

But that's why this "but what about Lombardi" discussion is a red herring. The outcome WAS there. the process WAS there. We knew exactly what he wanted to build at all times and while all his moves weren't flawless you could understand why he did what he did.

That's not exactly true.

Lombardi's initial vision was all about the "New NHL". Skating, offense, mobility. That's the type of team he wanted to build. After two years, he realized that was a mistake, and went in the opposite direction. And I give him credit for that.

I do think there are valid criticisms of Blake (some of which you pointed out), but I think overall things have moved in the right direction since he took over. I think he's a relatively good asset manager and put the organization in a healthier position than it was.

I don't have any problem understanding what Blake's doing, I think his moves are pretty obvious. I tend to like his conservative, slow, patient GMing style.

 

[johnjm22]

And if my grandmother had wheels, she would be a bicycle.

I’ve known you for a long time, John. I know you’re a loyal Kings fan and care about the franchise. But this is embarrassing. What if Richards isn’t concussed in 2013 and the Kings beat the Hawks? What if Sekera isn’t injured in 2015 and the Kings make the playoffs? What if Taylor picks Perry instead of Brown?

Reality is reality. What ifs mean nothing.

Nothing you're saying here is an argument against what I said.

Sometimes there's a thin line between success and failure. I'm not the one who invented the phrase.

Lombardi came close to that line. It's not a criticism of him. Just an observation of one of life's ironies.

 

[AbsentMojo]

There were a few baseball people that suggested the Cody Bellinger had developed an addiction to pills. After that buzz he immediately went from MVP to replacement level.
I think pills are a huge problem in sports (and life in general) and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Exactly.. when i see athletes fall off badly without an injury i think 1) they were on some PED and quit, 2) they are addicted to something, 3) they had some personal issue that cant be revealed.. those are my top 3

 

[Sol]

Practice is at 2pm today.

Details to follow.

Let’s go Pinkman. You got this.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Nothing you're saying here is an argument against what I said.

Sometimes there's a thin line between success and failure. I'm not the one who invented the phrase.

Lombardi came close to that line. It's not a criticism of him. Just an observation of one of life's ironies.

Your argument is literally, "Dean Lombardi almost failed a couple times so we should give Rob Blake a break." Is this incorrect?

Of course the line between success and failure is thin. No one is disputing that. But reality, again, is reality. Lombardi did not fail. He succeeded. Conversely, Rob Blake has yet to succeed at all as an executive. This is the reality we occupy.

If your counter argument is, "Lombardi's story is finished; Blake's story is not," that's fine. There's actual engagement to be explored on that front (how much time should we give Blake? what is the measure of success for Blake? etc.).

But you're not making that argument. You're pointing to something that DOES NOT exist (Lombardi's hypothetical failures) and claiming it has relevance to something that DOES exist (Blake's objective lack of success as an executive).

 

[KingsFan7824]

Just because the trade occurred during this season doesn't mean the trade was about this season.

If the Islanders traded for Horvat during the offseason, the only difference may be the pieces that went the other way. Not the contract they committed to him after the trade.

So yes, you're nitpicking SR's point, which was about how Kopitar's contract is now being pushed as a boat anchor that no GM would want to touch.

The NYI literally didn't trade for a guy making $8.5m for multiple years mid-season. That's a basic fact, not a nitpick. It changes the equation and nature of the trade.

 

[dman3474]

The Mikkola dream has hit a setback. NYR just waived a LD though.

I was just thinking that. Does Blake try to sell us on another Moverare type tweener?

 

[Lt Dan]

Let’s go Pinkman. You got this.

 

[King'sPawn]

The NYI literally didn't trade for a guy making $8.5m for multiple years mid-season. That's a basic fact, not a nitpick. It changes the equation and nature of the trade.

But they committed $8.5m for multiple years. Meaning they are making room for him. If they traded for him during the offseason, do you think his deal would have been any different?

 

[BigKing]

I have a somewhat random question...


why does the Hickey pick get more attention than the Tuebert pick? Is it just because Hickey was 4th and Tuebert was 13th?

Is it because Teubert was in a draft where the Kings hit on Doughty and Voynov?

Hickey was an NHL player and they could have moved him for a 1st round pick which is a tragedy but he played 430 more games than Teubert.

In the history of bad draft picks made by this organization Hickey doesn't crack the top 10 for me but the way people flock back to mentioning it you would think it cost the team in a serious way.

- Hickey was the first "prize" for the Kings finally exiting the black hole. All that losing for nothing. Kings first Top 5 pick since Jokinen?
- Hickey was taken way earlier than expected while Teubert was not.
- Lost Hickey for nothing. At least they traded Teubert as part of the package that landed an underrated part of the 2012 run.
- Yes: they got Doughty and Voynov in the same draft as Teubert.

Hickey was obviously the better player. The Teubert pick is worse in a vacuum since he was trash and Karlsson went shortly afterwards. Forget Karlsson...the Kings willingly swapped one spot with Buffalo so they could take Myers and the Kings got Teubert. Just that decision was a miss as Myers went on to win the Calder one season later.

When looking at the Hickey pick, it feels like they passed up on Karl Alzner v. missing out on Karlsson or Myers.

Oh, and that Top 5 ranked prospect pool back then was buoyed by the inclusion of 4OA pick Thomas Hickey. To have him in the system for that long and to just lose him for nothing was rough. The pick deserves criticism but the worst part of Hickey was from an asset management perspective while Teubert was just a complete whiff of a pick.