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

[Raccoon Jesus]

But this position is blaming Blake for many things that have not happened yet. Why does he have to shit or get off the pot right now? Where are you going? I don't mean not buying tickets or watching games because you don't want to waste your time on mediocrity, that's fine. Admittedly, nothing has really happened with this team yet, because nothing has really happened yet. No prospect has been collateral damage yet. Who? Show some evidence. Everyone is screaming about how well Bjornfot and Spence look in the AHL, so they should be up with the Kings, which means they're being ruined? I get wanting to see the youth, but where is this collateral damage at?

Clarke to the OHL is collateral damage of Blake not knowing how to do anything with this roster but manage by numbers.

If they're waiver eligible, they'll be waived. If not, they won't.

The problem with that is infinity RHDs on the big roster with chemistry issues and a defensively-deficient Durzi playing the wrong side and dragging his partner down too.

This isn't game 10, we're almost a full third of the way thru the season and having the same personnel issues we had going into the offseason, all of which everyone saw coming, even shitty east coast writers. So far, the only answers have been moving RHDs to the left side and throwing their hands up when none of them work.

 

[King'sPawn]

Brandt Clarke should not be playing hockey in the OHL. Point blank period.

You can twist yourself into a giant contrarian pretzel all you want. It’s bad management to send this prospect back to juniors at this point in his development while desperately clinging to Bebop and Rocksteady on the NHL team. In fact, you’re actively *hurting* your NHL team by sending down a player who was statistically your second or third best defenseman in the games he played.

Clarke shows he belongs up in the NHL.

Blake's pathway here is hemming, though. He's yet to burn a contract year and letting this player belong. But he's also still open to the possibility to sending him to the OHL.

He SHOULD be playing.

I don't want Clarke in the OHL, but if Blake is that unsure about whether or not he wants to burn a year off the contract, he should have sat Clarke for the first 5 games, send him to the AHL as a conditioning stint for 2 weeks, play him for the next 9 games in the NHL, then send him to the OHL.

Not knowing where you're going to send Clarke until mid-January just reeks of poor planning. And the likely possibility this is all predicated on worries of burning a contract year is maddening.

 

[Kudelski37]

Bjornfot and Spence will be an excellent third pair for us next season.
On a roster that wasnt as dysfunctional as the Kings they would already be up.
But we cant add this nice pair until Blake subtracts the contracts that are in the way.
The current D corps is like some pressed together meat and gelatin head cheese monstrosity.
It lacks one of the basic ingredients. A LHD with some thump. Chiarot or Zadorov come to mind. Too bad those guys werent UFAs in the offseason.
Anderson is passable as a LHD in our top 4. But Edler is long past his ability to hold up a 2nd pair, especially if Durzi is his partner. Edler six or eight years ago is the exact guy we need.
Will be very interested to see how this is sorted out. It is ugly to look at. Blake being a HOF defenseman, he should really know better and it concerns me that his judgment in this particular area is so unsound.

Edler last season before his injury is exactly the guy the Kings need.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Edler last season before his injury is exactly the guy the Kings need.

Which is unfortunately one of the big problems this year, his recovery obviously didn't bring him back to where it was, and it may not. He's noticeably slower and less mobile, which stinks because he was always a good skater. I don't fault Blake at all for bringing Edler back nor Edler himself for not being who he was--he's old and hurt and giving it his all. But management also has to manage.

I hate to say it again but never mind Doughty--where is this team without Mikey Anderson?

 

[cyclones22]

Brandt Clarke should not be playing hockey in the OHL. Point blank period.

You can twist yourself into a giant contrarian pretzel all you want. It’s bad management to send this prospect back to juniors at this point in his development while desperately clinging to Bebop and Rocksteady on the NHL team. In fact, you’re actively *hurting* your NHL team by sending down a player who was statistically your second or third best defenseman in the games he played.

That's been a huge problem for Blake over the last few years. He's addicted to signing replacement level players to discount contracts. What ends up happening is those players simply block the progress of prospects because the owners are paying for those contracts. Sean Walker should not have been given a 4-year contract. Roy got a three-year contract. Martin Frk got a 2-year contract didn't he? And then you have Austin Wagner making NHL money in the AHL because of some sweetheart deal Blake thought he was signing him to. They kept AA for two years.

Did management have so little faith in their prospect drafting and development team that they didn't think they could replace these guys over the course of their contract terms? It's not just blocking prospects on the NHL team. It's also the AHL team. At least Sturm is not playing Tynan on the first line and PP1 while QB is down there like last season. I wonder if Marco got that directive from on high or if he's smart enough to know that the Reign is a developmental team. Not a try and get into the AHL playoffs and not actually have your best prospects playing in it.

 

[Little Psycho]

 

[bland]

Walker is a bottom pairing defender, and a reasonably solid one. He has probably even performed better than expected given the significance of his injury, but he is too good to be assigned to the AHL just for numbers reasons. It would also be a less than admirable way of treating a player who served well before the injury.

Its inevitable that he is going to be dealt, so the question is if waiting for a better return is worth delaying the progress of a Clarke, Spence or Bjornfot who are already actual better options in that role.

Blake has been a terrible disappointment as a general manager who wasted two years trying to avoid a rebuild then wasted an entire season convincing Kovalchuk to leave and actually hired a decoy lame duck coach to run out that clock. Of course he has no problem waiting out this situation. That's his M.O., make as few decisions as possible and hope it turns out.

He hasn't figured out a way to get his team out of the first round in all this time.
He has mucked up the rebuild. Why anyone continues to have patience with him is confusing. There have been literally zero results and zero progress since he took over, just a collection of young talent that hasn't been maximized. He is a joke of an executive and there is no reasonable expectation of growth coming soon.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Really annoyed that they bypassed Moverare too.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Still think this team isn't that far off even with all the problems. King's need to find a center & physical D by playoffs. In goal, the King's are going to have to rely on Quick one more year. At playoff time the King's can bring up Björnfot, Spence & Clarke. Maybe one of the centers will be ready or they pick up a Stoll.

There needs to be some moves to shape the roster soon. Blake is going to have to trade guys he signed. Hanging in around 0.500 buys extra time.

Edit: Now watch Blake just run the vets the rest of the season & not make big moves before the draft.

 

[Schmooley]

Said as though 84 career game Durzi is some long time vet.

I guess once you are friendly with the veterans and get a multi year deal over a million you are graduated from prospect status.
Hes in the coffee club with Danault now he is a pro.
I even like Durzi though but I was just using an example like that giveaway the other day. Clarke didnt even make bad plays like that and he got demoted.

 

[bland]

Still think this team isn't that far off even with all the problems. King's need to find a center & physical D by playoffs. In goal, the King's are going to have to rely on Quick one more year. At playoff time the King's can bring up Björnfot, Spence & Clarke. Maybe one of the centers will be ready or they pick up a Stoll.

There needs to be some moves to shape the roster soon. Blake is going to have to trade guys he signed. Hanging in around 0.500 buys extra time.

Edit: Now watch Blake just run the vets the rest of the season & not make big moves before the draft.

What possible success do you think will happen by doing that?

Another first round exit?

 

[FSL KINGS]

What possible success do you think will happen by doing that?

Another first round exit?

What's the other option? Quick could get injured & King's end up in the draft lottery.

 

[bland]

What's the other option? Quick could get injured & King's end up in the draft lottery.

You play the goddam kids, that is the ONLY path to any kind of success. And it is going to take some time here.

 

[FSL KINGS]

You play the goddam kids, that is the ONLY path to any kind of success. And it is going to take some time here.

Don't worry. Too many kids out of waivers next year & have to make the team.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

You play the goddam kids, that is the ONLY path to any kind of success. And it is going to take some time here.

Like CHI, OTT, BUF are doing.....lol......f*** the linear line of thinking is that there is ONLY ONE path to any kind of success is....just mind blowingly bad.....

 

[KingsFan7824]

Brandt Clarke should not be playing hockey in the OHL. Point blank period.

You can twist yourself into a giant contrarian pretzel all you want. It’s bad management to send this prospect back to juniors at this point in his development while desperately clinging to Bebop and Rocksteady on the NHL team. In fact, you’re actively *hurting* your NHL team by sending down a player who was statistically your second or third best defenseman in the games he played.

Clarke to the OHL is collateral damage of Blake not knowing how to do anything with this roster but manage by numbers.

If they're waiver eligible, they'll be waived. If not, they won't.

The problem with that is infinity RHDs on the big roster with chemistry issues and a defensively-deficient Durzi playing the wrong side and dragging his partner down too.

This isn't game 10, we're almost a full third of the way thru the season and having the same personnel issues we had going into the offseason, all of which everyone saw coming, even shitty east coast writers. So far, the only answers have been moving RHDs to the left side and throwing their hands up when none of them work.

Call it a wrong move, but not collateral damage. It makes no sense. They haven't lost Clarke as a player or prospect.

I hate to do it, because we're all just broken records around here at this point, but even in the offseason, there weren't all that many defensemen traded. Marino is better than Walker or Durzi, and Pit didn't take a real contract back. Do we want Mike Matheson's contract here? Would Hextall of have wanted Walker or Durzi instead of Petry? I have no idea. He's put together a pretty old ass team in Pit, so, who knows. Burns is better than Walker or Durzi. Nemeth would be the closest example. But he's a LHD, and was Ari looking for a RHD at the time? Probably doesn't matter, because what other teams want or need at any given time never does in trade talk.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Call it a wrong move, but not collateral damage. It makes no sense. They haven't lost Clarke as a player or prospect.

I hate to do it, because we're all just broken records around here at this point, but even in the offseason, there weren't all that many defensemen traded. Marino is better than Walker or Durzi, and Pit didn't take a real contract back. Do we want Mike Matheson's contract here? Would Hextall of have wanted Walker or Durzi instead of Petry? I have no idea. He's put together a pretty old ass team in Pit, so, who knows. Burns is better than Walker or Durzi. Nemeth would be the closest example. But he's a LHD, and was Ari looking for a RHD at the time? Probably doesn't matter, because what other teams want or need at any given time never does in trade talk.

Complaining about semantics is just being obtuse about it.

The point is, the issues have been the issues for quite some time, and as time goes on and things get tighter, no GM is going to save Blake from himself without an ever-increasing premium.

Hence, collateral damage of indecision.

You're right that it hasn't happened yet but it's pretty hard to be optimistic about complacency.

 

[Little Psycho]

Really annoyed that they bypassed Moverare too.

Apparently Mo took some punches to the head last night. Think he’s in concussion protocol.

 

[cyclones22]

Apparently Mo took some punches to the head last night. Think he’s in concussion protocol.

He played for Ontario this afternoon.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Really annoyed that they bypassed Moverare too.

Blake has no clue what he’s doing. Too busy pretending to play 4D underwater backgammon by penny pinching ELC years.

Horrible, passive, play-not-to-lose GMing. This team will win nothing under the the fool’s gold trifecta of Bluc and TMac.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Complaining about semantics is just being obtuse about it.

The point is, the issues have been the issues for quite some time, and as time goes on and things get tighter, no GM is going to save Blake from himself without an ever-increasing premium.

Hence, collateral damage of indecision.

You're right that it hasn't happened yet but it's pretty hard to be optimistic about complacency.

And complaining about semantics is all we have, because you have no examples of collateral damage to talk about.

I don't know man, I'm just willing to see where it goes. Keep Blake, fire him, keep TM, fire him, draft this guy, trade this guy, bring this guy in, whatever, I'm willing to see where it goes. I'm not making excuses for Blake. I don't give a damn about Rob Blake. When I say things like trades are hard to make in a hard cap league, especially at certain times of the year, it's based on empirical evidence from around the league over many years, not because I care about Rob Blake, or whoever the GM of the Kings may be at any given time. Even DL, a legit GM, I believe the earliest in-season trade he made was getting Sturm(shockingly, a player he knew from his SJ days) in mid-Dec 2010. Everything else, Jan, Feb, Mar.

The Kings will do what they do. I don't agree with everything they've done, but I'm not going to endlessly rip them for what they do before it's shown to have not worked. I'd say we're still a ways away from that. I'll wait for Blake to pay the premium, before worrying about the premium that will have to be paid. Because I don't know what it'll be, or if there will even be one.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

And complaining about semantics is all we have, because you have no examples of collateral damage to talk about.

I don't know man, I'm just willing to see where it goes. Keep Blake, fire him, keep TM, fire him, draft this guy, trade this guy, bring this guy in, whatever, I'm willing to see where it goes. I'm not making excuses for Blake. I don't give a damn about Rob Blake. When I say things like trades are hard to make in a hard cap league, especially at certain times of the year, it's based on empirical evidence from around the league over many years, not because I care about Rob Blake, or whoever the GM of the Kings may be at any given time. Even DL, a legit GM, I believe the earliest in-season trade he made was getting Sturm(shockingly, a player he knew from his SJ days) in mid-Dec 2010. Everything else, Jan, Feb, Mar.

The Kings will do what they do. I don't agree with everything they've done, but I'm not going to endlessly rip them for what they do before it's shown to have not worked. I'd say we're still a ways away from that. I'll wait for Blake to pay the premium, before worrying about the premium that will have to be paid. Because I don't know what it'll be, or if there will even be one.

Okay well, they're sending the 2nd/3rd best Dman on the team back to juniors, and instead of calling up safe LHD, they called up allard and ran out the same deficient dcore they have been. They're 'doing' stuff worth getting ripped on that's not working, and that's just from today. Collateral damage is wasting the kid, wasting Moverare, to watchthe same stuff that's been getting pinata'ed for the last 5-6 games go at it again. That seems pretty tangible to me, but you're hand-waving it off as if it's ghosts while they drop like a rock in the standings.

You might be willing to give the guy endless racetrack but they don't even need to make major moves to address what's going on.

 

[Steve Zissou]

Blake has no clue what he’s doing. Too busy pretending to play 4D underwater backgammon by penny pinching ELC years.

Horrible, passive, play-not-to-lose GMing. This team will win nothing under the the fool’s gold trifecta of Bluc and TMac.

Imagine constructing a roster so f***ing bad you rely on your 35 year old goaltender to squeak out points.

I can’t get over how poorly this roster has been built. It’s like Blake saw exactly what made the Lombardi teams successful and said, “nah, f*** that, I’m gonna do the exact opposite. Centers? Well balanced defense? How about wingers and a literal half dozen clones of the same mid size RHD?”

Even Jim is all but saying this team blows.

No way they make the playoffs this year with Seattle playing this well and VGK in top form.

And that’s not even mentioning handing the keys to the car to the biggest loser in professional hockey in Todd McLellan.

Somebody's been taking bitchy pills lately.

 

[deaderhead28]

Relax it will workout in the end.

 

[Bandit]

Hoven giving some notes on the Kings potential plans for Clarke. I know many don't like Hoven, but its gives a general idea what the Kings are thinking.

Upcoming Plan for Kings Rookie D-man Brandt Clarke

Just kind of annoying how we're not able to ice our best defenseman simply because of contracts and waivers

Don't confuse "not able" with "unwilling".