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

[tny760]

A glimpse of what’s to come.

in the comments:

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Can’t wait to buy an NFT of Wetzel’s Pretzels.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Personally, I have no interest in posting to social media, but I get the importance to any business. People mocking the statues out front of Staples don’t get that selfies are a major way to promote the team. With the interior updates to the arena, you’ll see even more opportunities for fan generated advertising. It’s another step towards Luc’s dream to monetize every inch and second of the fan experience.

The NFT vehicle will also be a revenue channel. Digitally autographed player memorabilia will be sold and displayed at the facility and on game streams. Again, I’ll probably never buy an NFT, but I don’t think there is any reason they won’t show up in the NHL. And given the name on the arena and LA being the media capitol of the globe, I think it will happen here if not first, then definitely before the next cup. We all know the most consistent top priority is $$$.

 

[kingsboy11]

A glimpse of what’s to come.

So they're basically just renovating all the premium areas. I occasionally sit in the Premier seats when I go to games with my Dad so that'll be nice, but if they're only upgrading the premium areas that's kind of underwhelming.

 

[Herby]

Last year was the first time I thought Staples/Crypto really seemed to kind of show its age. But that is expected for an arena that is entering its 24th season.

The good news for the Kings and many of the other teams that built new arenas around the turn of the century is those have aged much better than the ones built 6-12 years before that (Honda Center, SJ Arena as examples)

 

[KingsFan7824]

Just to get a good idea of what 23 years can be, 23 years before 1999 was 1976.

 

[fivehole32]

Just to get a good idea of what 23 years can be, 23 years before 1999 was 1976.

So you are saying the toilets are going to back up throughout Crypto next year?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

So you are saying the toilets are going to back up throughout Crypto next year?

We'll be seeing a return of the horse trough urinals in order to cut plumbing costs for the peasants who sit in the nosebleeds.

 

[kingsfan28]

You can't put our problems with development on the shoulders of Murray and Emerson. This is an epidemic within the entire organization and it starts with Blake.

Since those two are in charge of that area, you can. Blake may be at the top, but day to day stuff is on them.

 

[Sol]

We'll be seeing a return of the horse trough urinals in order to cut plumbing costs for the peasants who sit in the nosebleeds.

Probably the weirdest bathroom I have ever seen. People trying hard to look away but there’s always someone there, and there’s going to be someone who looks at you.

They didn’t give a f*** about privacy lol

 

[Sol]

Last year was the first time I thought Staples/Crypto really seemed to kind of show its age. But that is expected for an arena that is entering its 24th season.

The good news for the Kings and many of the other teams that built new arenas around the turn of the century is those have aged much better than the ones built 6-12 years before that (Honda Center, SJ Arena as examples)

Staples is a shithole right now. I’m surprised for all the money it makes how dated it seems.

 

[mysterman2]

Staples is a shithole right now. I’m surprised for all the money it makes how dated it seems.

Be specific- what makes it a shithole? Attended multiple games this year- still a great arena and great hockey experience in my opinion so curious as to what it is about specifically that makes it a shithole.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Oops — I went over that lineup so many times, swapping people this way and that, that I forgot to add Kaliyev. I had him in place of Arvidsson in fact, since Arvidsson is likely out for a while to start the season. Then decided he should in fact be placed on the "opening night" roster, even if he won't be there.

I really want to see Kaliyev on our top line, but Kempe deserves to be there after last season's success.

Fiala - Kopitar - Kempe
Moore - Danault - Kaliyev
Iafallo - Byfield - Grundstrom
Lemieux - Lizotte - Kupari

This is my best guess at our actual opening night lineup, assuming Arvidsson is out for a while.

JAD and Vilardi would have to clear waivers. I personally like Kupari better, but he is waiver exempt, so I foresee Vilardi or JAD on that 4th line RW.

 

[Sol]

Be specific- what makes it a shithole? Attended multiple games this year- still a great arena and great hockey experience in my opinion so curious as to what it is about specifically that makes it a shithole.

Very dirty and dated. The seats are really bad too. And just the area around staples is pretty trashy.

 

[Herby]

I wouldn’t call it a shithole. It’s clearly a step down from Vegas, Detroit and a few other new ones I’ve been to, but you can’t build these types of arenas every 20 years. Little Caesars cost something like $900 mill to build so that would be at least the cost of a new arena, and probably north of a billion with how expensive it is to build anything in CA.

Staples will probably have to last another 20 years or so, so it’s good they are making the experience better for the people who drive a lot of the arena revenue.

 

[TruKingFan]

Be specific- what makes it a shithole? Attended multiple games this year- still a great arena and great hockey experience in my opinion so curious as to what it is about specifically that makes it a shithole.

yeah…somebody purportedly not watching games because the experience “sucks” and can still proclaim its a ”shithole”. lol. Credibility zero.

 

[Sol]

I mean I can enjoy the game and still think the place needs a lot of work.

Again the thing I hate the most about “the experience” is the nonstop call to cheer. It’s so annoying after the 5000th time.

 

[Nasti]

We'll be seeing a return of the horse trough urinals in order to cut plumbing costs for the peasants who sit in the nosebleeds.

My very first experience with stage fright happened at the Forum bathrooms as a kid. Never forget.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I got booted from Angel’s stadium last year for enjoying a spliff in the smoking section. As long as the balconies at STAPLES aren’t patrolled by fascists, it will remain my #1 arena in SoCal.

 

[KINGS17]

So they're basically just renovating all the premium areas. I occasionally sit in the Premier seats when I go to games with my Dad so that'll be nice, but if they're only upgrading the premium areas that's kind of underwhelming.

Smart man. If you go, never sit with the riff raff. The virtual Crypto Arena experience missed the joys of walking back to your car after the game when you are parked offsite.

 

[kingsfan28]

Hey, I am with you on the poor choices by management. They certainly did not help with development and in certain cases probably caused significant damage to the long-term potential. But even as critical as I have been with Blake there is still some responsibility that has to fall on either the evaluation staff or the players themselves with the results we have seen. This is not 100% on development and deployment, it is probably a majority but blame has to go elsewhere, it's not all Todd or Blake.

But I do agree with you that it's mostly development more than evaluation or the players themselves (idk what % to put on each). I guess my big issue is that almost all these decisions were overwhelmingly supported here by a lot of people , and now there is anger about the consequences of those same decisions they supported.

Most wanted QB in the AHL
Most wanted Turcotte in the AHL
Most wanted Vilardi as the 2C instead of Byfield
I don't remember how people felt on Kupari to be honest.

I mean, what did some people expect to happen?
What was upside vs. downside?

People can talk about "Hindsight is 20/20" or "Monday Morning QB" but all of the concerns about each of these poor decisions were addressed in threads on this forum. And many of those concerns have come to be and caused all those prospects to take steps back in comparison to their peers who were developed more traditionally. It is not "hindsight....is...2020" to question proven development paths being abandoned for "The Kings Way". If there is a clear trail to get into town and everyone else takes the trail and gets there in an 15-20 minutes and the Kings go through the woods and still aren't there an hour later that falls on the Kings. If it had worked out well they'd be giving Blake all the credit, it's only fair he shares a ton of blame for the the unorthodox AHL strategy not working.

But there were some evaluation errors that are tough to just ignore as well, not all development.

Gabe Vilardi's skating and potential injury concerns were not taken into account by the Kings like it very likely was by many of the teams who passed on him. It still showed that the "Skating is a a fad" thing or whatever the hell non-sense DL spewed in that interview was still alive and well in the organization. That is another misjudgement that ultimately falls on Blake, but he is heavily advised by scouts who did not factor in that huge flaw. Vilardi had some injury bad luck for sure, but this was never going to be a pick that was going to return good value because Gabe doesn't skate well enough to play C in the NHL.

Alex Turcotte at 5OA was another evaluation error. Yes he was taken where he was rated, but just like you praise a scouting staff for finding hidden gems like Faber and Spence you have to be fair and be critical for not seeing red flags and/or landmines in higher rated guys. There were some truly difference making players available for the Kings there and you just hope that your scouts can find one of them and the Kings didn't. If Turcotte had been properly developed he would have certainly had a long career as an Andrew Copp or Andrew Cogliano type. That is probably still his ceiling now but health concerns and losing out on that all-important sophomore year hurt his chances of reaching that. But even if he had played his sophomore year he was not going to be the Toews or Richards the Kings were hoping for. I love both those former UM players, perfect guys for your top 9 who add a lot to a team, but come on, you have to get more than Andrew Copp out of a 5OA pick.

Those are two really important picks, where there were really good players still on the board for the Kings and they chose the wrong player. Hard to blame Emerson for that part of it.

So yes, most of it is on Emerson/Blake and poor development choices but there certainly is some blame that falls on Yanetti/Blake and the amateur scouting team.

If you are having issues at both development and evaluation and now you are expecting those same poorly developed players to jump into a competitive team, well that is going to present yet another roadblock to these guys. That is why I wish they had just sucked last year (and maybe this year), it would have given those guys more of a chance to show what they have or don't have while also adding more top-end pieces. I know this is the Buffalo strategy you don't like, but man it would have given all those guys a ton of low-pressure icetime.

I still place almost zero blame on TM. He is just doing what he is being asked to do, which is send out the players who give the team the best chance to win. GM's and coaches regularly meet, so it's not as if this is his doing, he is obv following Blake's lead. He was told to make the playoffs last year and he did.

Dude, you make it sound like taking Turcotte a 5AO was a giant reach the way you frame it. He was rated there [ even rated as high as #3 ], and aside from a few other scouting reports, is exactly where he should've been drafted. He was the BPA , not a guy rated 9th or 10th. And please enlighten us on his red flags before the draft, we'd loved to hear it. Both him and Zegras left school early [ Turcottes choice], the big difference between the two, one didn't get really sick his freshman year and later have injury problems, the other did. I'm sure none of these things have hurt his development at all. These two things Blake and Co could've never predicted when drafting him at 5. It's pretty easy to look back years later and say we should've drafted this guy or that guy instead, you can do that with any draft, but at the time it was the right move. Unfortunately our guy had the heath problem nobody saw coming. You can't blame Blake for that.

 

[KINGS17]

I mean I can enjoy the game and still think the place needs a lot of work.

Again the thing I hate the most about “the experience” is the nonstop call to cheer. It’s so annoying after the 5000th time.

Also unfortunate that they couldn't find an adequate replacement for David Courtney after his passing.

We'll be seeing a return of the horse trough urinals in order to cut plumbing costs for the peasants who sit in the nosebleeds.

Honestly, I don't know what the peasants expect. Let them eat urinal cakes.

 

[mysterman2]

I wouldn’t call it a shithole. It’s clearly a step down from Vegas, Detroit and a few other new ones I’ve been to, but you can’t build these types of arenas every 20 years. Little Caesars cost something like $900 mill to build so that would be at least the cost of a new arena, and probably north of a billion with how expensive it is to build anything in CA.

Staples will probably have to last another 20 years or so, so it’s good they are making the experience better for the people who drive a lot of the arena revenue.

these are all shiny new toys though....as you said you cant simply demolish a building every 20 years for flash appeal. Especially in CA these days....can totally see the CA and LA county green commissars alone extorting their pound of flesh.

Speaking of Vegas....If as we have speculated they fall into the abyss and not an elite NHL team- how much longer before they start seeing an attendance decline? Kings fans are used to rebuild...its in our DNA- for new hockey fans in Vegas that is going to be one hell of a harsh reality.

 

[KINGS17]

My very first experience with stage fright happened at the Forum bathrooms as a kid. Never forget.

...also Rob Blake's fault. Walking down the stairs to the restrooms was strange.

 

[Herby]

Dude, you make it sound like taking Turcotte a 5AO was a giant reach the way you frame it. He was rated there [ even rated as high as #3 ], and aside from a few other scouting reports, is exactly where he should've been drafted. He was the BPA , not a guy rated 9th or 10th. And please enlighten us on his red flags before the draft, we'd loved to hear it. Both him and Zegras left school early [ Turcottes choice], the big difference between the two, one didn't get really sick his freshman year and later have injury problems, the other did. I'm sure none of these things have hurt his development at all. These two things Blake and Co could've never predicted when drafting him at 5. It's pretty easy to look back years later and say we should've drafted this guy or that guy instead, you can do that with any draft, but at the time it was the right move. Unfortunately our guy had the heath problem nobody saw coming. You can't blame Blake for that.

First off, why do continue to defend that signing by saying “Turcotte’s choice”. The NHL teams are the ones who offer the contracts, not the players. You act as if players haven’t wanted to leave before and been told to stay by NHL teams who have a clue how to develop college players. Blake easily could have done what Bergeron did with Caufield and said “go back to school, dominate on the ice, get stronger and we will see you next spring when your college season ends” Montreal benefitted by trusting proven development paths with a very good but not ready prospect from the same college team and the Kings were victimized by their obsession with putting teenagers in the AHL. If Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Owen Power, Cole Caufield, Matt Boldy all went back for sophomore year so should AT.

If Hughes came to Blake tomorrow and said “I want a contract offer” is Blake supposed to just say, ok, sure kid here you go” ?! That is what you are saying with Turcotte. It’s simply not the way things work with college players who 99% of the time defer to the NHL teams wishes and the other 1% leave to go play junior (which would have also been a better option than the AHL).

I addressed your other point already, the red flags were the already established injury concerns and the concerns about ceiling. Both of which turned out to be a reality. I just don’t get how you can praise Blake and the scouting team for finding gems in later rounds (which is fine, so do I) but then completely absolve them of any blame when picks like Vilardi and Turcotte don’t return close to the value used to take them. You would give Blake all the credit for taking a player where he was ranked and hitting but give him none of the blame for taking a player where he was ranked and missing. It’s to me a dishonest way of looking at things. Why even have scouts and just draft based on CSB then?

And to think the only thing preventing Turcotte from being considered on the level of some of those guys taken after him is health, well again to each his own. Josh Norris tore his ACL at the WJC’s, he missed most of his college season, development and rookie camps and was still able to finish 2nd in the AHL in goals as a 20 year old the next season, make the all-rookie team at 21 and score at a 45 goal pace and sign an $8m a year contract at 22.

Again, it would just be nice if our scouts had been able to find the right players in either the 2017 or 2019 first rounds (they did amazing in the later rounds). It would have changed the entire outlook of the team.

And it’s not as if I think he is Colten Tuebert. His ceiling was still that of a very quality 2nd/3rd line tweener who adds a lot to a team as a sandpaper guy with some skill. Somehow not believing horrible evaluations that he was Toews means I think he is a bust. Had he been allowed to grow physically (living in elite UW weight room) and as a player (with a better soph season) I think he would be starting the year in LA in a third line role phasing out a guy like Iafallo. But instead he went pro, never had that dominant 2nd season and was routinely injured by bigger more physically mature players he shouldn’t have been competing against.

Development is an important thing with all but the elite of the elite. This one was botched badly and it sucks for the kid.