Well I don't think that is exactly fair...he has to work with what Blake gives him. Denault is not a 1C and Byfield isn't even close to being one at this stage in his career. There are no other options in the organization.
Speculation: LA Kings News, Rumors, Roster Thread part VII
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I guess I should be more specific. Kopitar will probably be our “number 1 center” but that doesn’t mean he needs to play 22+ minutes a night, 1:45 of every powerplay and start damn near every PK when he is clearly past his expiration date.
Our coach does that because he’s a moron.
kilowatt
the vibes are not immaculate
- Jan 1, 2009
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I'll take some wild guesses here and re-sign some folks:
1. Kempe, 5 years, $5,500,000
2. Lemieux, 2 years, $1,750,000
3. Grundstrom, 2 years, $1,500,000
4. Anderson, 4 years, $3,000,000
That gives us the following roster:
Kempe - Kopitar - Kaliyev
Moore - Danault - Arvidsson
Iafallo - Byfield - Grundstrom
Lemieux - Lizotte - Kupari
Anderson - Doughty
Bjornfot - Clarke
Walker - Roy
Quick
Petersen
That leaves us with over $7,750,000 in cap space for various improvements. The biggest areas for improvement to me at least are a left-shot defenseman (Chychrun? Provorov?), a bottom-six winger with size (Deslauriers?), and a blue-chip goalie prospect.
This roster is missing a few big pieces too: Vilardi, Anderson-Dolan, and Durzi. I could see us moving Kupari and Walker as well. Maybe we send some combination of these players for Jakob Chychrun and Tyler Bertuzzi?
Bertuzzi - Kopitar - Kempe
Moore - Danault - Kaliyev
Iafallo - Byfield - Arvidsson
Lemieux - Lizotte - Grundstrom
Anderson - Doughty
Chychrun - Clarke
Bjornfot - Roy
Quick
Petersen
These moves leave us with just shy of $2,000,000 in cap space (which would likely be used on a 13th forward and 7th defenseman). This would be a very solid roster next season in my opinion.
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
I don't care what label you give Kopitar as long as the minutes distribution is something like Kopitar 17 Danault 17 Byfield 17 Lizotte 9 Obv +/- whoever is going off on any given night and Byfield MUST get PP time.
kingsfan28
Its A Kingspiracy !
You'd essentially be trading for a rental. A very expensive rental. 7.5 cap hit.
Yup. Kopitar needs to be second PP at this point and should be nowhere near the PK. That alone would probably do it.
I agree that would be a solid roster but I don't think the kings have near enough trade pieces to make those 2 trades.
I like this. I had been thinking of a similar lineup but using Kupari with Byfield. But Kupari would probably thrive with Danault too and maybe it's better not to put two young guys together.
What this type of setup does is present matching problems for the opponent. Any of those top three lines should be able to do some damage against another team's third line. Ideally it would take some matchup pressure off the Kopi line and allow his minutes to be managed better.
As it should be but we’d need a different coach for that
KINGS17
Smartest in the Room
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...and as long as Byfield is playing with one of the top two wingers on the team.
King'sPawn
Enjoy the chaos
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KINGS17
Smartest in the Room
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I don't want to give Byfield the ice time as much as I want him to have a winger who will help him rack up some points and gain confidence. I know, you know.So you just want to GIVE him top-6 ice time? Have you ever coached in the NHL?
WHOneedsSOX
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2015
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Can you imagine if it's so simple to just remove Kopitar and Doughty from the power play and it becomes good lol
kilowatt
the vibes are not immaculate
- Jan 1, 2009
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we removed doughty and it was not in fact good
FSL KINGS
Registered User
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PP
2 defenseman. Kings have a terrible PP may as well try to stop giving up shorthanded goals.
Kopi & Danault at the net front. Both are great at getting sticks on pucks. That leaves 3 players to make 1 pass & put the puck on net through a crowd. Just shoot & crash net for rebounds. It can't possibly be worse than what it is now.
2 defenseman. Kings have a terrible PP may as well try to stop giving up shorthanded goals.
Kopi & Danault at the net front. Both are great at getting sticks on pucks. That leaves 3 players to make 1 pass & put the puck on net through a crowd. Just shoot & crash net for rebounds. It can't possibly be worse than what it is now.
FSL KINGS
Registered User
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Love what Lizotte brought this year. Problem is Byfield & Lizotte are both fighting for that 4C spot. Byfield was drafted as a project & he isn't able to hold down the 3C yet. One needs to be transitioned to the wing. Nothing against either player.
- May 9, 2014
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Going off on that tangent and I get it is speculation but I wouldn’t be against a money ball approach if it’s appropriately modified. The advanced stats model is there so it’s about how they balance that in. John Henry tried to sign Billy Beane for Boston and believed in the model so used if when FSG bought Liverpool in the Premier League. Unfortunately for the first few seasons it was a bit hit/miss with Suarez and Henderson the big successes but more than the odd complete flop. They’ve tweaked it over time and finally got a manager that could/would work with it in Klopp, who has full veto but seems to quite like the way they identify players. So a moneyball concept is ok but the need a hockeyball version of it.
Herby
How could Blake have known?
The problem this season was they went for the playoffs (and accomplished their goal), but it was at the expense of more development for the youth. In 2020-21 the Kings gave Gabe Vilardi a no-pressure situation to be the 2C, it was ultimately a failure but he was at least given the opportunity in a low pressure setting. This season there was no opportunity for QB to have that type of role because the team was trying to win, and QB, Vilardi and Turcotte were simply not helping the team win games this year.
This is why I kind of struggle to see how people wanted things to be different with the youth while still cheering on the vet signings this summer. Signing PD and VA were moves made to help the team make the playoffs, not to make life easier for young players. The end goal this season was the playoffs and not youth development, and by the end of the year it was apparent that guys like Lizotte, AA, Grundstrom and Lemieux were going to help them make the playoffs more than QB, Vilardi, Turcotte, Fagemo etc were.
These lineups that had a rookie on each line, or an even distribution of ice time between AK, PD and QB are great in the big picture but terrible for their immediate goal of making the playoffs in 2021-2022.
This is why I kind of struggle to see how people wanted things to be different with the youth while still cheering on the vet signings this summer. Signing PD and VA were moves made to help the team make the playoffs, not to make life easier for young players. The end goal this season was the playoffs and not youth development, and by the end of the year it was apparent that guys like Lizotte, AA, Grundstrom and Lemieux were going to help them make the playoffs more than QB, Vilardi, Turcotte, Fagemo etc were.
These lineups that had a rookie on each line, or an even distribution of ice time between AK, PD and QB are great in the big picture but terrible for their immediate goal of making the playoffs in 2021-2022.
kingsfan28
Its A Kingspiracy !
Did you see our 2nd unit at the end of the year and playoffs? They were worse, which is hard to believe.
kingsfan28
Its A Kingspiracy !
Forget Forsberg. No way they're tying up 7 years @9-10 mil per on a 28 year old. We have other holes that need to be filled and signing him prevents anything else from being done.
Rick Knickleback
Registered User
Exactly. Goal scoring winger needs to come from within or via a trade for a proven vet with, like, 1-2 years left on a sensible contract as a bridge (and, no, re-signing AA doesn't count).
- May 9, 2014
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We don’t need to be contenders next year. The target should be winning a play-off round.
Steve Zissou
I'll order you a red cap and a Speedo.
Herby
How could Blake have known?
The problem is we go down this road with every player that is discussed. It’s either met with
“We are overpaying in money and term”
“We are gutting the future”
The biggest problems with this organization have been the same problems we have had even going back to the glory years, they are just magnified now because of the way the game is played and called. I just think there is way to much faith in fixing these holes internally now when they haven’t been able to do it internally for over a decade. Whether you want to blame the scouts, the development team or the coaching it doesn’t matter, they have never been able to figure out how to get high end forwards through the NHL filter. And those same people are here now and likely will be here for the next couple of seasons, what will change? If these guys can’t do it with high picks how will they do it picking 15-22 in the draft?
People are looking for unicorns from other teams and guys in their mid 20’s without injury concerns and with reasonable contracts just aren’t traded very often. Any player the Kings bring in either through UFA or trade is going to either have some kind of issue or is going to be overpaid.
BringTheReign
Registered User
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I half agree with this point. The counterpoint I will offer is that signing effective veterans helps insulate prospects, and not doing so can lead to stunted rebuilds like Ottawa, Edmonton (prior to nuclear McDavid/Draisatl and signing effective vets like Hyman), and Buffalo. Particularly with respect to Danault, I don't think we see the success we had in our developing young defensemen like Anderson, Durzi, Spence, etc. without those signings. Their defensive responsibility and ability to attack in transition helped take the pressure off of our defensemen so they could learn the ropes easier. There is also the fact that we were missing contributors in the key middle age group between Kopitar/Doughty and the kids, and Danault/Arvidsson/Edler helped players like Kempe, Moore, and Roy develop into real, contributing players in that respect.
I see a player like Danault as similar to adding Greene and Stoll. Arvidsson and Edler are shorter-term, a la the pre-Cup teams adding Smyth and O'Donnell. I do, however, agree that you can't have your cake and eat it to. Their roles in the top 6 take spots away from prospects, and without a firm instruction to play them up in the lineup sink-or-swim, TMac wasn't going to do that.
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