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

[KingsFan7824]

In March & April of 2015, the Kings suffered 7 losses in which they scored one goal or less (they were shutout twice). Their flaccid offense, which ranked 20th out of 30 teams, was their ultimate undoing. Only three Kings scored 20+ goals that season, and they didn't get much production from the blueline beyond Doughty and Muzzin.

That version of the Kings was a boring hockey team that simply couldn't finish.

They scored 20 more goals than the 2014 team, and 30 more than 2012.

 

[CowMix]

Durzi doesn't need to be Voynov, if he can be Martinez that sounds like a success

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

They scored 20 more goals than the 2014 team, and 30 more than 2012.

A full season of Carter and Gaborik, plus Toffoli's breakthrough season helped get those goals up, but those three were the only ones to net 20+ goals.

 

[All The Kings Men]

It’s semantics though isn’t it...

I subscribe to the belief that language shapes thought. What you call things matters. I also subscribe to the belief that I'm in the minority and frequently wrong.

 

[KINGS17]

I subscribe to the belief that language shapes thought. What you call things matters. I also subscribe to the belief that I'm in the minority and frequently wrong.

Well, there ya go. I thought I was wrong once, but I was wrong.

 

[johnjm22]

Durzi doesn't need to be Voynov, if he can be Martinez that sounds like a success

Interesting way of looking at it because I consider Martinez to be better than Voynov.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Interesting way of looking at it because I consider Martinez to be better than Voynov.

I don't think you can make a determination either way ... Voynov was out of league by the time he was 25 and had only played 3 seasons. Martinez is in what, like his 9th or 10th season now?

 

[bland]

Interesting way of looking at it because I consider Martinez to be better than Voynov.

Durzi shares a lot of the same characteristics as Voynov, just lower on the food chain.

I love Durzi's character, but his physical skills are borderline NHL at best. Feet are too slow, defensive reads are piss poor, awful turning speed and mobility and a weak shot - but his offensive reads are outstanding, his balls leave marks on the ice beneath him and he seems like a terrific teammate.

I don't know that you tie a guy with substantial weaknesses like that down to a multi year deal, one year at a time is the way to go considering that Spence is already better, Grans has pro projections with far better tools, and Clarke and Faber are just down the block. Might be best not to commit to him, even though he was a good story last year.

 

[BigKing]

In March & April of 2015, the Kings suffered 7 losses in which they scored one goal or less (they were shutout twice). Their flaccid offense, which ranked 20th out of 30 teams, was their ultimate undoing. Only three Kings scored 20+ goals that season, and they didn't get much production from the blueline beyond Doughty and Muzzin.

That version of the Kings was a boring hockey team that simply couldn't finish.

Still had a +21 goal differential.

No Voynov was the killer but the Pearson injury was huge. Finished 7th on the team in goals with 12 in only 42 games. Kopitar completely crapped the bed and it was probably the worst year for Williams out of the last ten of his career. They lose the Voynov replacement right during the homestretch into that fateful Canadian trip.

Classic "everything that can go wrong, will go wrong" season and they still managed 95 points and missed the playoffs by only one point.

25-9-7 at home. I was not bored that season at the home games. 15-18-8 on the road did make for some frustrating television viewing though. Still, they were being picked by some "experts" to win the Cup in late March but the expected flip of the switch never happened. Just a very weird season.

 

[CowMix]

Interesting way of looking at it because I consider Martinez to be better than Voynov.

I don't think you can make a determination either way ... Voynov was out of league by the time he was 25 and had only played 3 seasons. Martinez is in what, like his 9th or 10th season now?

Ya Voynov being a asshole off ice means we didn't even get see him play out the prime of his career and he was seen by many at the time as our second best defenseman. I'm a huge Martinez fan but I didn't see it as a controversial take that Voynov was a better player.

 

[YP44]

Durzi shares a lot of the same characteristics as Voynov, just lower on the food chain.

I love Durzi's character, but his physical skills are borderline NHL at best. Feet are too slow, defensive reads are piss poor, awful turning speed and mobility and a weak shot - but his offensive reads are outstanding, his balls leave marks on the ice beneath him and he seems like a terrific teammate.

I don't know that you tie a guy with substantial weaknesses like that down to a multi year deal, one year at a time is the way to go considering that Spence is already better, Grans has pro projections with far better tools, and Clarke and Faber are just down the block. Might be best not to commit to him, even though he was a good story last year.

"his balls leave marks on the ice beneath him" solid line right there. I have never heard that and will be stealing it.

 

[Nasti]

"his balls leave marks on the ice beneath him" solid line right there. I have never heard that and will be stealing it.

 

[johnjm22]

Durzi shares a lot of the same characteristics as Voynov, just lower on the food chain.

I love Durzi's character, but his physical skills are borderline NHL at best. Feet are too slow, defensive reads are piss poor, awful turning speed and mobility and a weak shot - but his offensive reads are outstanding, his balls leave marks on the ice beneath him and he seems like a terrific teammate.

I don't know that you tie a guy with substantial weaknesses like that down to a multi year deal, one year at a time is the way to go considering that Spence is already better, Grans has pro projections with far better tools, and Clarke and Faber are just down the block. Might be best not to commit to him, even though he was a good story last year.

A lot of defensemen don't even get good until their mid/late 20's, so it will be very interesting to see how Durzi develops. He's shown steady season-by-season improvement (in terms of production), pretty much every season all the way back to his first year in juniors.

For most players, success in the NHL will largely be determined by their commitment/drive/work ethic and dedication to improving. I don't know Durzi, but I do get the impression that he has that drive.

I would hate to trade him, but I realize it might be inevitable.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Beggars can’t be choosers. So for all of Durzi’s flaws he’s the only defenseman who has a shot of cracking 10g besides Doughty. And because Doughty is good for about 15g at an $11M cap hit, you need more goals from the rest of the D on cheap contracts if you are trying to be competitive.

Roy, Bjornfot and Anderson are black holes offensively. Walker was supposed to be the guy to fill in the offense from the backend, but his minutes have been played by Maata because of health.

I think it’s dumb to choose between Durzi and Spence. Both have done more with less opportunity than Anderson or Bjornfot. Defensive defenseman are overrated by the Kings fans. It’s time to put real expectations on the kid D to score goals and not just the forwards.

 

[YP44]

Beggars can’t be choosers. So for all of Durzi’s flaws he’s the only defenseman who has a shot of cracking 10g besides Doughty. And because Doughty is good for about 15g at an $11M cap hit, you need more goals from the rest of the D on cheap contracts if you are trying to be competitive.

Roy, Bjornfot and Anderson are black holes offensively. Walker was supposed to be the guy to fill in the offense from the backend, but his minutes have been played by Maata because of health.

I think it’s dumb to choose between Durzi and Spence. Both have done more with less opportunity than Anderson or Bjornfot. Defensive defenseman are overrated by the Kings fans. It’s time to put real expectations on the kid D to score goals and not just the forwards.

I truly think left and right hand matters. Anderson and Bjornfot are LHD so to compare them to Spence and Durzi is not right.
I deal Durzi while his value is at it's highest.

 

[cyclones22]

I truly think left and right hand matters. Anderson and Bjornfot are LHD so to compare them to Spence and Durzi is not right.
I deal Durzi while his value is at it's highest.

Not just that, someone has to cover for Durzi. A coming back from injury Tobi couldn't do it. I like Durzi and his intangibles, but I prefer Spence as a potentially good all around defenseman. Now, elite 2-way defenders are hard to come by. There are not a lot of Drew Doughtys out there. Hell, the best defensemen in the league right now are mostly awesome offensive players and mediocre to bad defenders. I think when Clarke comes, he's going to be clearly the best offensive talent on the blueline this team has seen.

 

[Statto]

I subscribe to the belief that language shapes thought. What you call things matters. I also subscribe to the belief that I'm in the minority and frequently wrong.

Maybe not wrong on that point, you’re correct in that how you frame it does affect thought. It’s no odds to me because whilst I prefer the old method, I don’t hate how it is currently.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I truly think left and right hand matters. Anderson and Bjornfot are LHD so to compare them to Spence and Durzi is not right.
I deal Durzi while his value is at it's highest.

What does left vs right handed have to do with getting goals from the D?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Kings ranked 28th overall in points by defensemen with 144 in 82 games. Only Montreal, Philly, Chicago, and Ottawa had less productive bluelines in terms of overall points.

Now when you look at goals by defensemen, the Kings were second to last with 21 goals. Detroit was dead last with 20 goals by dmen.

 

[YP44]

What does left vs right handed have to do with getting goals from the D?

You pointed out that Durzi and Spence did more with their opportunity then Anderson and Bjornfot. They cannot have the same opportunity because of the side of the ice they play.

 

[BringTheReign]

Lightning are likely going to lose Palat to FA due their cap crunch, and will have to sign Sergachev, Cernak, Cirelli, Foote, and Colton as pending RFAs next season. I'm thinking we offer something like this:

'22 1st + '22 2nd + Fagemo + Faber for Sergachev + Colton

I'd be willing to swap in any prospects not named Byfield (though if it's Clarke it would be just him as the lone prospect). I think Sergachev and Colton would add skill, grit, and a winning pedigree to our top pair and top six/nine that we'll need to take the next step.

 

[King'sPawn]

What does left vs right handed have to do with getting goals from the D?

Handedness has a lot to do with all of the offense that gets generated from the blueline.

To get a better shooting angle, you have less distance you need to travel when you shoot from your off-hand.

Your breakout passes are higher risk/reward when passing from your off-hand. You either forehand the puck up the boards, backhand down the middle, or take time to square up for a forehand pass up the ice.

How passes get received and controlled changes. You either square up to be a better recipient but lose mobility to back skate if an incoming rush happens, or you receive most of your passes on your backhand. If the latter, then all that was previously mentioned gets applied.

There's a reason GMs try to balance out handedness.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Handedness has a lot to do with all of the offense that gets generated from the blueline.

To get a better shooting angle, you have less distance you need to travel when you shoot from your off-hand.

Your breakout passes are higher risk/reward when passing from your off-hand. You either forehand the puck up the boards, backhand down the middle, or take time to square up for a forehand pass up the ice.

How passes get received and controlled changes. You either square up to be a better recipient but lose mobility to back skate if an incoming rush happens, or you receive most of your passes on your backhand. If the latter, then all that was previously mentioned gets applied.

There's a reason GMs try to balance out handedness.

I understand the benefits of a defenseman playing their natural side. That has nothing to do with where goals come from. Should Bjornfot play over Durzi because of he’s left handed?

The coaches chose Durzi on the right side, probably because he’s better than Bjornfot. Both players have flaws, but Bjornfot has more. So next year, why take a step back when Durzi’s flaws are more easily overcome and his production eclipses Bjornfot.

Throw in Bjornfot’s waiver eligibility and it’s a no brainer who should have a job out of camp. Frankly, Bjornfot needs to focus on beating out Spence, which is a sign that he isn’t close to his draft prediction in the face of real world competition.

 

[King'sPawn]

I understand the benefits of a defenseman playing their natural side. That has nothing to do with where goals come from.

I literally just said how handedness explains where goals and offense comes from, when it comes to natural side.

I'd rather Bjornfot to play as an LD regularly than Durzi playing as an LD regularly.

Powerplay? Sure, throw Durzi out there. But that only accounts for 2-4 minutes of his ice time.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I literally just said how handedness explains where goals and offense comes from, when it comes to natural side.

I'd rather Bjornfot to play as an LD regularly than Durzi playing as an LD regularly.

Powerplay? Sure, throw Durzi out there. But that only accounts for 2-4 minutes of his ice time.

Why would Durzi be forced to his offside? He’s the better player than Bjornfot categorically. If you had to have one or the other in a given lineup, would you still pick Bjornfot. My original post focused on talent, not defenseman handedness, which is a navel gazing subject.