Speculation: LA Kings News, Rumors, Roster Thread part VII

[MBH]

Here I thought we wanted to play meaningful games for the youth to grow...but it looks like AA back in and byfield and vilardi to the bench.

What's the point in limping into the playoffs with a bunch of aging vets and ufa mercs?

Playoff $$$
Fan excitement.
Also, in a 7 game series, there will be injuries.
If Vilardi or Byfield start on the bench, they probably won't finish there.

If you didn't want to make the playoffs, why did you go out and get Danault and Arvidsson?
Seemed pretty clear to me that this was done to help keep the veterans on board - vets who were pissed about the Kings trading Carter and sucking yet again.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

If you didn't want to make the playoffs, why did you go out and get Danault and Arvidsson?
Seemed pretty clear to me that this was done to help keep the veterans on board - vets who were pissed about the Kings trading Carter and sucking yet again.

It's not about not making the playoffs, it's the lip service about getting the youth experience this year, 'playing in meaningful games.'

We now have Kaliyev in a 4th line capacity, Kupari maybe somewhere, and Vilardi and Byfield on the bench.

Edit: allegedly
Kempe-Kopitar-AA
Moore-Danault-Arvidsson
Iafallo-Lizotte-Brown
Lemieux-Kupari-Kaliyev

Year 5 of a rebuild and we're riding Kopitar 23 minutes a game and benching the #2 OA and not giving the youthful sniper PP time.

Sick of this shit.

even the PR garbage



*from the bench

To paraphrase Chris Rock--"how are you gonna plan for the future when you aren't even gonna be there?"

 

[MBH]

It's not about not making the playoffs, it's the lip service about getting the youth experience this year, 'playing in meaningful games.'

We now have Kaliyev in a 4th line capacity, Kupari maybe somewhere, and Vilardi and Byfield on the bench.

Year 5 of a rebuild and we're riding Kopitar 23 minutes a game and benching the #2 OA and not giving the youthful sniper PP time.

Sick of this shit.

even the PR garbage



*from the bench

To paraphrase Chris Rock--"how are you gonna plan for the future when you aren't even gonna be there?"

You know which kids will play?
The ones that prove they belong.

You know I love Vilardi and Byfield.

Byfield last 7 games 0-0-0 -3
Byfield last 23 games 3-2-5 -6
Vilardi all season 23 games 3-0-3

I don't know what the f*** the Kings are doing, development wise. It makes zero sense
20 games ago, Byfield should have been sent to the AHL in favor of Kupari or JAD.


Kaliyev is staying it because he's earned it
13-12-25 -5

Right now, it's all hands on deck to make the playoffs.
That's the NHL.
You go with the group the helps you get in.

And Vilardi/Byfield, in part because of stupid lines, are not helping.

The Kings just keep on collecting all these young players and wasting them, as far as I can tell.

 

[No Name The Nameless]

I hope they lose out. Send the kids to Ontario and win there.

 

[KingsHockey24]

My UFA wishlist:

1. Zadorov
2. Nichushkin
3. Reaves

Please and thank you.

 

[DoktorJeep]

How is it possible to accrue all these picks, draft a dozen hot prospects, have your minor league team next door, surround these kids with home grown cup winning vets and solid pros, pay for the most expensive coach in the league and STILL never have one player look like a sure bet star?

Maybe painting by the numbers leaves you looking superficially good but the depth isn’t there, so you just do everything thing to survive day to day with a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

 

[kilowatt]

I hope they lose out. Send the kids to Ontario and win there.

If LA loses out, we could still potentially finish behind Vancouver and Winnipeg for 19th in the league. That'd give us the 14th pick. What a brutal collapse this has been.

 

[kilowatt]

How is it possible to accrue all these picks, draft a dozen hot prospects, have your minor league team next door, surround these kids with home grown cup winning vets and solid pros, pay for the most expensive coach in the league and STILL never have one player look like a sure bet star?

Maybe painting by the numbers leaves you looking superficially good but the depth isn’t there, so you just do everything thing to survive day to day with a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

In retrospect, I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise. Kopitar is the clear exception in the history of our player development in the modern era. We can develop defensemen and goalies quite nicely, but every other good forward we've had (except perhaps Brown, Toffoli, and Kempe, but that's four guys total in 20 years) were either traded for or signed.

I really think we should trade our prospects for good players on good contracts and try to build the best team we can rather than assume we can just develop these kids because they were high draft picks. It never worked in the past and we changed nothing, so why would it work now?

It took Kempe six seasons to put it all together, so maybe we'll have a contender come 2028.

 

[Herby]

Kupari has been the best player from that line, I just question if it’s best to just scratch Byfield even though he has been bad. But let’s see how Kaliyev and Kupari gel as a duo.

Vilardi is an easy player to evaluate. It’s just like evaluating Caufield and DeBrincat. There is nothing he adds that is going to keep him in the lineup if he’s not scoring. He hasn’t scored nearly enough to survive Brown and especially AA returning from injury. This might have been GV’s last chance with the Kings. It’s just tough to imagine the team trusting him next season, the first year he’s waiver eligible.

 

[kilowatt]

Kupari has been the best player from that line, I just question if it’s best to just scratch Byfield even though he has been bad. But let’s see how Kaliyev and Kupari gel as a duo.

Vilardi is an easy player to evaluate. It’s just like evaluating Caufield and DeBrincat. There is nothing he adds that is going to keep him in the lineup if he’s not scoring. He hasn’t scored nearly enough to survive Brown and especially AA returning from injury. This might have been GV’s last chance with the Kings. It’s just tough to imagine the team trusting him next season, the first year he’s waiver eligible.

It's still so strange to me though that he scored at a 15 goal, 35 point pace last year and then they just threw him away this year. Through 54 games this year, Kaliyev had 11 goals, 18 points, and a -3 rating. Through 54 games last year, Vilardi had 10 goals, 23 points, and a -8 rating, playing the more difficult position. We've all been raving about Kaliyev while Vilardi's been pushed by the wayside.

For Gabe's sake, I hope we trade him. I hope he finds success somewhere else, because I agree that I don't think it will be here. I'm just not totally sure why.

 

[DoktorJeep]

In retrospect, I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise. Kopitar is the clear exception in the history of our player development in the modern era. We can develop defensemen and goalies quite nicely, but every other good forward we've had (except perhaps Brown, Toffoli, and Kempe, but that's four guys total in 20 years) were either traded for or signed.

I really think we should trade our prospects for good players on good contracts and try to build the best team we can rather than assume we can just develop these kids because they were high draft picks. It never worked in the past and we changed nothing, so why would it work now?

It took Kempe six seasons to put it all together, so maybe we'll have a contender come 2028.

Disagree. Kempe said it himself. The only difference between this season and previous seasons was getting more minutes consistently.

The top paid vets are the problem. They don’t want to play with rookies who are trying to take their roles. They want second fiddle vets or kids willing to defer to their game.

 

[Schmooley]

It's still so strange to me though that he scored at a 15 goal, 35 point pace last year and then they just threw him away this year. Through 54 games this year, Kaliyev had 11 goals, 18 points, and a -3 rating. Through 54 games last year, Vilardi had 10 goals, 23 points, and a -8 rating, playing the more difficult position. We've all been raving about Kaliyev while Vilardi's been pushed by the wayside.

For Gabe's sake, I hope we trade him. I hope he finds success somewhere else, because I agree that I don't think it will be here. I'm just not totally sure why.

From an outside perspective I think there is some tension between him and the coach. How he wants to play vs how Todd wants him to play. He has a lot of talent and sometimes it isnt easy to coach a player that is used to being the best player on the ice. Especially at a time when Vilardi has to cope with the reality that he isnt the best player on the ice anymore at this level.

 

[YAYSAY]

It's not about not making the playoffs, it's the lip service about getting the youth experience this year, 'playing in meaningful games.'

We now have Kaliyev in a 4th line capacity, Kupari maybe somewhere, and Vilardi and Byfield on the bench.

Edit: allegedly
Kempe-Kopitar-AA
Moore-Danault-Arvidsson
Iafallo-Lizotte-Brown
Lemieux-Kupari-Kaliyev

Year 5 of a rebuild and we're riding Kopitar 23 minutes a game and benching the #2 OA and not giving the youthful sniper PP time.

Sick of this shit.

even the PR garbage



*from the bench

To paraphrase Chris Rock--"how are you gonna plan for the future when you aren't even gonna be there?"

If we don't get a huge difference maker through FA or trade and none of our prospects can take a big step forward I expect next season will be rough and due for a regression. If we don't make the playoffs this season will basically be a wash and we'll be hardly better than we were the previous season, if not worse

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Today's line rushes:

Athanasiou – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Iafallo – Lizotte – Brown
Lemieux – Kaliyev – Kupari – Grundstrom
_______________________________________________________________________
Vilardi 11th overall – Byfield 2nd overall – Andersson 7th overall

Lesson: do not be an elite draft choice, to play on Todd's team.

 

[Kurrilino]

It's still so strange to me though that he scored at a 15 goal, 35 point pace last year and then they just threw him away this year. Through 54 games this year, Kaliyev had 11 goals, 18 points, and a -3 rating. Through 54 games last year, Vilardi had 10 goals, 23 points, and a -8 rating, playing the more difficult position. We've all been raving about Kaliyev while Vilardi's been pushed by the wayside.

For Gabe's sake, I hope we trade him. I hope he finds success somewhere else, because I agree that I don't think it will be here. I'm just not totally sure why.

Villardi is a playmaking pass first center.
Those guys don't do well at the winger position

Pair him with shooting wingers and he will be good

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Disagree. Kempe said it himself. The only difference between this season and previous seasons was getting more minutes consistently.

The top paid vets are the problem. They don’t want to play with rookies who are trying to take their roles. They want second fiddle vets or kids willing to defer to their game.

I don't understand why this is hard to understand.

When you're on a depth line playing 12 minutes a game and no special teams, you're only getting every 3rd-5th shift. When your game is offensive and relies on time with the puck and your development relies on touches, you can't get in ANY sort of rhythm. Sure you need to adjust but these guys come out of juniors playing 25 minutes a game and are relied on to score. Not one of them has been given a REAL opportunity (except Vilardi's 2C stint).

 

[King'sPawn]

How is it possible to accrue all these picks, draft a dozen hot prospects, have your minor league team next door, surround these kids with home grown cup winning vets and solid pros, pay for the most expensive coach in the league and STILL never have one player look like a sure bet star?

Maybe painting by the numbers leaves you looking superficially good but the depth isn’t there, so you just do everything thing to survive day to day with a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

I think, by and large, it's (for lack of a better word) systemic malpractice of player development. There is this misconception that ALL players, regardless of any other factors, need to either go through the same regiment or they need to show a certain threshold of maturity, before getting bottom line ice time. Then they need to excel at the bottom-six role before getting opportunity in the top-6.

For some reason, defenseman's requirements are much more lax.

However, I always find the process of learning to be interesting. I am sure we have some teachers here. They will tell you no lesson plan will work for ALL students. Some learn in different ways and connect the dots differently.

The Kings have a templated plan that maximizes a player's likelihood to make it in the NHL. But they don't appear, to me, to have a particular plan or curriculum to try to cultivate stardom out of the players' skillset.

 

[MBH]

My UFA wishlist:

1. Zadorov
2. Nichushkin
3. Reaves

Please and thank you.

Got a feeling everyone's gonna want Zadorov

 

[Sol]

I think getting rid of Vilardi will haunt the Kings because I have no doubt he’d do better elsewhere. He has elite vision. Byfield sucks this season. And Kupari is really good. I think Byfield turns the puck over a decent amount so I am not too hard on Vilardi. He needs snipers and speed. Byfield doesn’t have any of those two yet.

I’d scratch Byfield and go for an elite passer and sniper line with some speed

Kaliyev-Kupari-Vilardi

 

[King'sPawn]

I think getting rid of Vilardi will haunt the Kings because I have no doubt he’d do better elsewhere. He has elite vision. Byfield sucks this season. And Kupari is really good. I think Byfield turns the puck over a decent amount so I am not too hard on Vilardi. He needs snipers and speed. Byfield doesn’t have any of those two yet.

I’d scratch Byfield and go for an elite passer and sniper line with some speed

Kaliyev-Kupari-Vilardi

Byfield's one of the fastest skaters on the team. Only Kupari and Kempe are faster, and for them, it's acceleration.

Byfield needs to improve his first step explosiveness, but he is very fast.

 

[BigKing]

Been a fine season, boys. When you've got the 2000 LA Kings roster running the show, you're going to get 2000 LA Kings results.

 

[tbrown33]

I think, by and large, it's (for lack of a better word) systemic malpractice of player development. There is this misconception that ALL players, regardless of any other factors, need to either go through the same regiment or they need to show a certain threshold of maturity, before getting bottom line ice time.

I hadn't thought about this before you mentioned it, but it made me think of what a Dodger player said recently (can't remember who), but the quote was about how the Dodgers "individualize" everyone's development path. Just an extraordinary amount of effort put into each player according to who they are and what they need to succeed. And baseball orgs have way more talent to deal with, which makes it all the more impressive since the Dodgers always develop the best players across the board.

Sounds like the Kings take the exact opposite approach.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Been a fine season, boys. When you've got the 2000 LA Kings roster running the show, you're going to get 2000 LA Kings results.

Oh, I'd take the 2000 Kings over this. At least those Kings were fun to watch, as they had the 5th best offense, 11th best record in the league, and the 11th best PP as well.

This team on the other hand is excruciating to watch when the Danault line isn't on the ice.

 

[KINGS17]

I don't understand why this is hard to understand.

When you're on a depth line playing 12 minutes a game and no special teams, you're only getting every 3rd-5th shift. When your game is offensive and relies on time with the puck and your development relies on touches, you can't get in ANY sort of rhythm. Sure you need to adjust but these guys come out of juniors playing 25 minutes a game and are relied on to score. Not one of them has been given a REAL opportunity (except Vilardi's 2C stint).

I agree. One of the biggest things to learn when you advance a level is to understand the amount of time and space you have to work with when performing a skill. It is true that everything happens so much faster every time you advance a level.

For an offensive player, time spent possessing the puck is a big deal, and when you play top six minutes you are expected to possess the puck and do something with it. Once a player does it for a while they begin to understand the "amount of time you have" element better. Offensive players don't learn this playing on the 4th line.

While many here will disagree, I think Vilardi is best suited to play center. He has good vision and hands, and is a good passer. Someone said recently he is a puck hog, but that's not how I would describe his game. I would say he is simply a player that is most effective when he has the puck on his stick in the middle of the ice.

If Vilardi's future with the Kings isn't at center, it's probably best to move him in a deal.

 

[kilowatt]

Full line rushes according to LAKI:

Athanasiou – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Iafallo – Lizotte – Brown
Lemieux – Kaliyev – Kupari – Grundstrom
Vilardi – Byfield – Andersson

Edler – Roy
Moverare – Durzi
Maatta – Spence
Bjornfot – Stecher – Strand

I just hope that when some of our younger players find different teams this summer, they’re teams I’ll be able to root for.