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

[Peter James Bond II]

I am so done (for now and probably forever) of rehashing anything of the Lombardi years and endless debates....
I will only bask in the eternal glory of the 2012 and 2014 cup wins! Ok, but yearn for a third one!
Speaking of a 3rd one....has anyone got a FIALA jersey yet???

 

[SettlementRichie10]

This. He was never the same. Really sucked because having even a servicible guy a few more years would've helped, even after not buying him out.

I’m sure that was the idea. Richards had a, what, $5ish cap hit? So even if he’s putting up 15-25-40 as an all situations center, that’s worth the cap hit. But he regressed far, far worse than that.

 

[kingsholygrail]

I’m sure that was the idea. Richards had a, what, $5ish cap hit? So even if he’s putting up 15-25-40 as an all situations center, that’s worth the cap hit. But he regressed far, far worse than that.

Absolutely. I'm glad that Richards seems to be doing alright and I was happy to see he was at the reunion.

 

[KINGS17]

I am so done (for now and probably forever) of rehashing anything of the Lombardi years and endless debates....
I will only bask in the eternal glory of the 2012 and 2014 cup wins! Ok, but yearn for a third one!
Speaking of a 3rd one....has anyone got a FIALA jersey yet???

View attachment 577636

I can get excited talking about a third one when Byfield is the 1C, because if that doesn't happen, we are in for a very long wait.

 

[King'sPawn]

Just another point or two regarding Kopitar:

Since he entered the league, he is top 5 in total points. I know, that doesn't mean much, considering he's been in longer than most. Here are the only 4 with more points than him:
Crosby
Ovechkin
Kane
Malkin

That's it. Nobody else has scored more points than he since he joined the league in 2006. Nicklas Backstrom, who's been glued to Ovechkin since entering the league, is 50 points behind him.

The list gets shorter when looking at the number of games played. Here's the list of players who have played more games than Kopitar since he entered the league:

.

That's right. Nobody has played more games than him since he started playing in the NHL. He has missed 42 games his entire career. Playing top offensive and defensive minutes.

He leads all forwards in minutes played. The only skaters who have more minutes than him are Ryan Suter, Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara, Drew Doughty, and Brent Burns.

He's fourth on short-handed time among all forwards. The three forwards who have more short-handed time are more PK specialists: Jordan Staal, Jay McClement, Ryan Kesler. That's right. Kopitar has more short handed time than multi-Selke winner Patrice Bergeron.

I truly don't think people appreciate how durable and reliable he has been his entire career. While leading the team in scoring and being the top defensive forward on the team.

This isn't to say he's not a flawed player. But to think you could "get something better" than what you've got out of Kopitar is something I will never relent disagreeing with.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Just another point or two regarding Kopitar:

Since he entered the league, he is top 5 in total points. I know, that doesn't mean much, considering he's been in longer than most. Here are the only 4 with more points than him:
Crosby
Ovechkin
Kane
Malkin

That's it. Nobody else has scored more points than he since he joined the league in 2006. Nicklas Backstrom, who's been glued to Ovechkin since entering the league, is 50 points behind him.

The list gets shorter when looking at the number of games played. Here's the list of players who have played more games than Kopitar since he entered the league:

.

That's right. Nobody has played more games than him since he started playing in the NHL. He has missed 42 games his entire career. Playing top offensive and defensive minutes.

He leads all forwards in minutes played. The only skaters who have more minutes than him are Ryan Suter, Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara, Drew Doughty, and Brent Burns.

He's fourth on short-handed time among all forwards. The three forwards who have more short-handed time are more PK specialists: Jordan Staal, Jay McClement, Ryan Kesler. That's right. Kopitar has more short handed time than multi-Selke winner Patrice Bergeron.

I truly don't think people appreciate how durable and reliable he has been his entire career. While leading the team in scoring and being the top defensive forward on the team.

This isn't to say he's not a flawed player. But to think you could "get something better" than what you've got out of Kopitar is something I will never relent disagreeing with.

He's a future HHOFer.

 

[lexlavender]

I want to say two things with regards to Kopitar and his deal:

1. Players values are more than just whether they contend. Teams need to fill seats, advertise games, and sell tickets. Having star players like Kopitar and Doughty help fill seats, especially in LA who is obsessed with winners and rings. I don't disagree that if you're only goal was to contend that these long terms deals weren't the smartest, but GMs and owners have other priorities than what the die hards want.

2. It's super weird pointing to conspiracy theories about who influences who in these decisions, IE the influence of Lombardi, Robitaille, the ownership etc. They are not only non-falsifiable, but the evidence for them basically boils down to "I don't like this guy, he must be why we ruined the team". People make mistakes, lets just say they happened and moved on without devolving in conspiracy.

 

[YP44]

Just another point or two regarding Kopitar:

Since he entered the league, he is top 5 in total points. I know, that doesn't mean much, considering he's been in longer than most. Here are the only 4 with more points than him:
Crosby
Ovechkin
Kane
Malkin

That's it. Nobody else has scored more points than he since he joined the league in 2006. Nicklas Backstrom, who's been glued to Ovechkin since entering the league, is 50 points behind him.

The list gets shorter when looking at the number of games played. Here's the list of players who have played more games than Kopitar since he entered the league:

.

That's right. Nobody has played more games than him since he started playing in the NHL. He has missed 42 games his entire career. Playing top offensive and defensive minutes.

He leads all forwards in minutes played. The only skaters who have more minutes than him are Ryan Suter, Duncan Keith, Zdeno Chara, Drew Doughty, and Brent Burns.

He's fourth on short-handed time among all forwards. The three forwards who have more short-handed time are more PK specialists: Jordan Staal, Jay McClement, Ryan Kesler. That's right. Kopitar has more short handed time than multi-Selke winner Patrice Bergeron.

I truly don't think people appreciate how durable and reliable he has been his entire career. While leading the team in scoring and being the top defensive forward on the team.

This isn't to say he's not a flawed player. But to think you could "get something better" than what you've got out of Kopitar is something I will never relent disagreeing with.

his statue will be right with Browns.

 

[KINGS17]

I want to say two things with regards to Kopitar and his deal:

1. Players values are more than just whether they contend. Teams need to fill seats, advertise games, and sell tickets. Having star players like Kopitar and Doughty help fill seats, especially in LA who is obsessed with winners and rings. I don't disagree that if you're only goal was to contend that these long terms deals weren't the smartest, but GMs and owners have other priorities than what the die hards want.

2. It's super weird pointing to conspiracy theories about who influences who in these decisions, IE the influence of Lombardi, Robitaille, the ownership etc. They are not only non-falsifiable, but the evidence for them basically boils down to "I don't like this guy, he must be why we ruined the team". People make mistakes, lets just say they happened and moved on without devolving in conspiracy.

You pretty much made my argument in your item #1. LA is obsessed with championship teams. What have the Kings won since the 2014 Stanley Cup? Not even a handful of playoff games.

Now you want to sell me on the idea that the casual fan is coming out to see Angie Kopitar and Brad Doty? C'mon man! The best way for the LA Kings to make money is to get back into contention as quickly as possible, and then stay in contention for as long as possible.

Regarding item #2, I don't have evidence either way. What I have is an educated guess based on the people involved, knowing that Lombardi had zero use for Robitaille, and Robitaille being upset about it. What I am saying about Lombardi and Robitaille are things I do know. Sorry, can't say how I know.

Then when I saw Dean's comment in the media about "not even being in the same ballpark" and then I see news reports stating Brisson and Robitaille are talking, well I can add 2 + 2, because a deal was done shortly after the Brisson/Robitaille connection was reported.

I think Dean should have vetoed the deal, and forced the organization to fire him over it, because I believe at that point it was no longer his team and him losing his job was just a matter of time. I understand not wanting to lose the job, but that was the reality of the situation. Dean had made several mistakes, and Luc riding to the rescue on the Kopitar contract was considered to be a good thing by the AEG higher ups.

I wish Dean would write his book.

 

[kingsfan28]

I’m sure that was the idea. Richards had a, what, $5ish cap hit? So even if he’s putting up 15-25-40 as an all situations center, that’s worth the cap hit. But he regressed far, far worse than that.

Totally. 3/4th line center who could still put up numbers would've been well worth it. I could've seen him playing out most his contract out, like Carter. Hope he doing well today.

 

[KingsFan7824]

You pretty much made my argument in your item #1. LA is obsessed with championship teams. What have the Kings won since the 2014 Stanley Cup? Not even a handful of playoff games.

Now you want to sell me on the idea that the casual fan is coming out to see Angie Kopitar and Brad Doty? C'mon man! The best way for the LA Kings to make money is to get back into contention as quickly as possible, and then stay in contention for as long as possible.

Regarding item #2, I don't have evidence either way. What I have is an educated guess based on the people involved, knowing that Lombardi had zero use for Robitaille, and Robitaille being upset about it. What I am saying about Lombardi and Robitaille are things I do know. Sorry, can't say how I know.

Then when I saw Dean's comment in the media about "not even being in the same ballpark" and then I see news reports stating Brisson and Robitaille are talking, well I can add 2 + 2, because a deal was done shortly after the Brisson/Robitaille connection was reported.

I think Dean should have vetoed the deal, and forced the organization to fire him over it, because I believe at that point it was no longer his team and him losing his job was just a matter of time. I understand not wanting to lose the job, but that was the reality of the situation. Dean had made several mistakes, and Luc riding to the rescue on the Kopitar contract was considered to be a good thing by the AEG higher ups.

I wish Dean would write his book.

Not a single contract extension after winning the 2012 Cup led to any playoff success, save for the first year of Quick's deal. The funny thing about that, anyone remember how Martin Jones might've saved the season that year?

If we're going to be very critical of the bad years, or the average ones, those good ones need to have an eye kept on them too. A contender is not out of the playoffs at a trade deadline.

 

[KINGS17]

Not a single contract extension after winning the 2012 Cup led to any playoff success, save for the first year of Quick's deal. The funny thing about that, anyone remember how Martin Jones might've saved the season that year?

If we're going to be very critical of the bad years, or the average ones, those good ones need to have an eye kept on them too. A contender is not out of the playoffs at a trade deadline.

All Stanley Cup Champions are contenders.

 

[Sol]

Mike Richards sudden decline, the Voynov situation dragging out he whole season, and Quick getting hurt forced DL's hand and the trade deadline failed to pay off on the third go. It happens. Not sure why we dwell on it so much.

Talk about an understatement

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Now you want to sell me on the idea that the casual fan is coming out to see Angie Kopitar and Brad Doty? C'mon man!

LOL, yes! Star players sell tickets...whether it's the 'casual' fan or the diehard fan.

You need to go back to marketing class, dude.

 

[KingsFan7824]

All Stanley Cup Champions are contenders.

Sorry, the Kings were champions on Feb 23, 2012? They were a non-playoff team. A non-playoff team that had yet to win a single playoff series.

 

[kingsfan28]

All Stanley Cup Champions are contenders.

How so? According to EVERYONE we barely got in blah blah blah...

 

[FSL KINGS]

I am so done (for now and probably forever) of rehashing anything of the Lombardi years and endless debates....
I will only bask in the eternal glory of the 2012 and 2014 cup wins! Ok, but yearn for a third one!
Speaking of a 3rd one....has anyone got a FIALA jersey yet???

View attachment 577636

Dear God, he's not going to try & break the 22 Stone Hands curse is he?

Kopitar's contract did turn out to be the perfect length & end the same time as Mathews.

We need some hockey news. Kadri is still a UFA.

 

[Kudelski37]

Have the Kings announced the start date for training camp?

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

NHL front-office confidence rankings article in the Athletic this morning -- voted on by the fans (but obviously not the posters on this site) -- Kings ranked 5th, up two spots from last year:

Other teams to note:

ANA = #6
EDM = #23
SJS = #29
VGK = #31

 

[cyclones22]

How so? According to EVERYONE we barely got in blah blah blah...

I love that revisionist history of the Kings squeaking in the playoffs in 2012. Everyone conveniently forgets that the Kings were the first team in the Pacific to clinch a playoff spot. It was just crazy results and circumstances, Clowe's stick from the bench, that slid the Kings to 8th. There was zero threat from the 9th spot even before clinching.

 

[unicornpig]

uh the kings did squeak in, they had to fire their coach and make a big roster trade to right the ship.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I love that revisionist history of the Kings squeaking in the playoffs in 2012. Everyone conveniently forgets that the Kings were the first team in the Pacific to clinch a playoff spot. It was just crazy results and circumstances, Clowe's stick from the bench, that slid the Kings to 8th. There was zero threat from the 9th spot even before clinching.

But the day they traded for Carter, the Kings were 10th in the West in pts%, and 11th in total pts/tiebreakers, only 2pts ahead of 12th place Col. Even with just after hiring Sutter, the Kings were 10th in the West in total pts and pts% in those 2 months.

They weren't supposed to be dependent on Carter to be a contender. That was supposed to happen after getting Richards, and outside the playoffs on Feb 23rd is not an indication that things are working as planned. It didn't help that an injury prone Gagne got hurt, again, or that Penner couldn't do the one thing he was brought in to do. Nevertheless, both of those players were part of the plan, and it wasn't working.

Everything clicked after Carter got here, but without him crying his way out of Clb, there's not much indication that the 11-12 Kings would've been a lock for a playoff spot. That's with all those great leaders on the team. Most of them were still there when they couldn't beat a McDavid-less Oilers team in the last week of the 14-15 season too.

 

[Schrute farms]

I was banging the drum for Brown to be traded and blowing things up leading into the 2012 TDL (before the Carter trade). Boy was I wrong. But i'm well aware that i'm an idiot (much better served as a CPA than an NHL GM).

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I was banging the drum for Brown to be traded and blowing things up leading into the 2012 TDL (before the Carter trade). Boy was I wrong. But i'm well aware that i'm an idiot (much better served as a CPA than an NHL GM).

Same here...

"I'm calling it now...."

 

[KINGS17]

uh the kings did squeak in, they had to fire their coach and make a big roster trade to right the ship.

The Kings didn't squeak into the playoffs in 2012. They were only a few points short of winning the division. So, if you want to say the Kings squeaked in, then I guess every team that made the playoffs from the Pacific Division that season squeaked in as well.