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

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Raccoon Jesus said:
Has anyone seen anything on streaming/viewing otherwise?

View attachment 584821
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I saw something about being able to stream via Hockey TV:

HockeyTV

HockeyTV is the world's biggest platform of live and on-demand broadcasts for ice hockey national governing bodies, leagues, teams, and events. Watch any game, anytime on your tv, computer, tablet or phone.
www.hockeytv.com www.hockeytv.com

I'm not signed up, so I have no idea.
 
johnjm22 said:
[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]Rank[/TD]
[TD]Player[/TD]
[TD]Pos.[/TD]
[TD]Primary Team[/TD]
[TD]ISS[/TD]
[TD]Marek[/TD]
[TD]McKenzie[/TD]
[TD]Button[/TD]
[TD]HP[/TD]
[TD]FC[/TD]
[TD]THN[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]Nolan Patrick[/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]Brandon (WHL)[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]Nico Hischier[/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]Halifax (QMJHL)[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]Miro Heiskanen[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]HIFK (SM-Liiga)[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]Gabriel Vilardi[/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]Windsor (OHL)[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]Cale Makar[/TD]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]Brooks (AJHL)[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]Casey Mittelstadt[/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]Eden Prairie (USHS)[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]Cody Glass[/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]Portland (WHL)[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]Martin Necas[/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]HC Kometa Brno (Extraliga)[/TD]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]11[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]12[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]Elias Pettersson[/TD]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]Timra IK (Allsvenskan)[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]Owen Tippett[/TD]
[TD]RW[/TD]
[TD]Mississauga (OHL)[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Those are the consolidated 2017 pre-draft rankings.

If a consensus top 5 guy falls to you at 11, it pretty hard to argue against taking him.

The next two picks after Vilardi were Necas and Suzuki. Had Gabe not been there, I wonder if we would have taken one of them.
Click to expand...
i was big on Necas that draft. Suzuki would have been the pick I would have liked in hind sight
 
YP44 said:
i was big on Necas that draft. Suzuki would have been the pick I would have liked in hind sight
Click to expand...

Nick Suzuki, to me the definition of a "championship caliber 2C". He just does everything, he isn't a star scorer or a Selke caliber center but he does everything well playing a 200 foot game. He was so impressive as a 21 year old in their cup finals run despite being barely old enough to buy a beer. Truly amazing considering he spent no time in the AHL.

Montreal has that spot locked up for the next 8 years, and I suspect that they will find their likely 1C in one of the next 2 drafts. It'll be a slow climb back but if they can end up with a guy like Fantilli (Bedard would require some lottery luck) this season that is a really nice group of high end forwards all under 24.
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
I'm sorry but I'm still laughing that I called this halfway through last year. I literally said AA is the kind of player who is going to cost a playoff series but I figured it would be a lackadaisical check, not literally handing the puck to the best player in the world and skating away :laugh:
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We both felt that was a bad move from the second he was re-signed. Of every decision Blake has made (good or bad), signing him is the one I cannot fathom or defend in any way. I never saw the thought process for a moment, let alone understood it.
 
I guess as the resident AA defender I still do think he served a purpose while still being a pretty awful player. Although I think it was a major stretch to blame him for QB's struggles, QB struggled with just about everyone he played with last year because he was put into a terrible development environment. People wanted a "kid" line instead of AA and DB, and the kid line was overall even worse.

Usually teams in playoff contention don't use one-dimensional offensive mercenaries like AA, but the Kings finished 21st in goals last season, Dallas was the only playoff team to finish lower, and had they missed the playoffs that would have been the reason. It was just hard for a team in a situation like the. Kings were in to sit a guy who provided 11 goals in 28 games played (a 32 goal pace).

In an ideal world one of your highly drafted prospects would have been in that role but there is no way on Earth that guys like Vilardi, Turcotte, Tkachev or Fagemo, (insert fav young player) would have produced offensive results comparable to what AA was able to give the Kings.

Happy though that the Kings have turned the page and improved the skill enough up front where there is no need for a mercenary like AA anymore.
 
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Herby said:
Yet, 7-8 other teams that reasonably could have taken him all passed. Is it fair to ask why that was? I mean, I think I know the answer has to be one of 2 things, but this is a chicken and an egg debate because some people think that one potential reason was not pre-draft and was only a result of injuries post-draft. But there isn't a way to prove it either way.

Since that draft there has not been a player taken in the top half of the first round who skates as poorly as Gabe has skated as an NHL player. Again there is debate about what is the cause of the poor skating and how poor it was in pre-draft evaluations. But it is certainly a possibility that all those teams were scared off by the skating. While its also a possibility that had he been healthy his skating could have been adequate enough where he could have been a 2nd liner.
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I feel you. I'm just pointing out how highly regarded he was by many scouts, so it's hard for me to criticize the Kings for taking a swing on him when he falls to 11. Kopitar also fell in the draft.

I specifically remember the Kings saying they were going to put an emphasis on skating when drafting. Yet it didn't stop them from drafting Kaliyev and Vilardi.

The same logic that was used to draft Vilardi, is essentially the same logic that was used to draft Kaliyev; both fell because of skating, and the Kings picked them up lower then they were expected to go.

At least we didn't draft Nolan Patrick at #1. Yuck.
 
Herby said:
I guess as the resident AA defender I still do think he served a purpose while still being a pretty awful player. Although I think it was a major stretch to blame him for QB's struggles, QB struggled with just about everyone he played with last year because he was put into a terrible development environment. People wanted a "kid" line instead of AA and DB, and the kid line was overall even worse.

Usually teams in playoff contention don't use one-dimensional offensive mercenaries like AA, but the Kings finished 21st in goals last season, Dallas was the only playoff team to finish lower, and had they missed the playoffs that would have been the reason. It was just hard for a team in a situation like the. Kings were in to sit a guy who provided 11 goals in 28 games played (a 32 goal pace).

In an ideal world one of your highly drafted prospects would have been in that role but there is no way on Earth that guys like Vilardi, Turcotte, Tkachev or Fagemo, (insert fav young player) would have produced offensive results comparable to what AA was able to give the Kings.

Happy though that the Kings have turned the page and improved the skill enough up front where there is no need for a mercenary like AA anymore.
Click to expand...

My biggest beef with it is why let AA struggle and move on instead of let a kid struggle and figure it out.

I get we were starved for offense but AA or, say, Vilardi wasn't the difference between making the playoffs or not, we already had Brown on that line anyway, so it wasn't short on veterans or defensive/possession liabilities. Him scoring a goal OFF that line once in a while was useful but he didn't score much there either.
 
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YP44 said:
1.7/yr for 2 years. Good with that, sucks Spence is in the minors, but I am in favor of over cooking guys
Click to expand...

Spence will be ready and great as a callup this year and thrive in the 1D all situations role in Ontario. I think that's the best place for him this year anyway frankly, rather than sniffing around the bottom of the depth in the NHL.
 
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Statto said:
We both felt that was a bad move from the second he was re-signed. Of every decision Blake has made (good or bad), signing him is the one I cannot fathom or defend in any way. I never saw the thought process for a moment, let alone understood it.
Click to expand...

Some of the main issues I have with Blake is his propensity to hedge his bets with bridge signings and his inability to pass up offering a value contract to those bridge players. AA is a prime example of this. Everyone knew he had zero future here, yet he re-signed him (and gave him a raise!) when he should have let him walk. He also previously re-signed Austin Wagner and Martin Frk to value deals. Both of those guys ended up in Ontario, taking valuable ice time from players who are supposed to be the future of the Kings.

Frk and Tynan, another career AAAA level player who was signed, took up 2 spots on the top line and top PP unit in Ontario. The Reign won 2 playoff games. How much benefit did the young players get from having Tynan and Frk getting big ice time and prime offensive roles and deployment instead of them? Development would have been better for the kids just not having those guys on the roster. Just stupid. I shudder to think what Sturm is going to do there as the coach.
 
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Statto said:
We both felt that was a bad move from the second he was re-signed. Of every decision Blake has made (good or bad), signing him is the one I cannot fathom or defend in any way. I never saw the thought process for a moment, let alone understood it.
Click to expand...

Speed, and a scoring option. Took a chance on possible offense, even at a defensive cost. TM even played a risky player like that, since he was 7th in ES ice time per game for F's the last 2 yeaes that played any meaningful minutes. In 75GP, 23g and 40pts. That's 5th up front in pts/game for this sorry bunch of offensive misfits.

Who knows if it'll be a flaw or not. the full GM Blake story hasn't been told yet, but he seems to believe in giving the coach as many options as possible, then it's up to the coach to figure out who plays. However, he won't Brad Pitt a roster because the coach makes his own choices. The only way a coach has any authority over players is by having autonomy. Either let him coach how he wants, or get rid if him, but you can't undermine him.

Will it lead to a cluttered roster with no real shape to it, or will competition sharpen edges over time? The waiting is the hardest part.
 

LA hasn't won a playoff series in 8 years, hasn't changed their #1C, D or G

The LA Kings haven't won a playoff series in 8 seasons, having gone 0-3 without qualifying 5 times and hasn't changed a piece of their core. Brown's retirement created the first real change to their leadership group in that timeframe. Partly the devil of longterm contracts, partly a long held...
forums.hfboards.com forums.hfboards.com

Just had to laugh.......at least now we know its literally just LA fans that think LA is not in a good spot.....etc.
 
johnjm22 said:
I feel you. I'm just pointing out how highly regarded he was by many scouts, so it's hard for me to criticize the Kings for taking a swing on him when he falls to 11. Kopitar also fell in the draft.

I specifically remember the Kings saying they were going to put an emphasis on skating when drafting. Yet it didn't stop them from drafting Kaliyev and Vilardi.

The same logic that was used to draft Vilardi, is essentially the same logic that was used to draft Kaliyev; both fell because of skating, and the Kings picked them up lower then they were expected to go.

At least we didn't draft Nolan Patrick at #1. Yuck.
Click to expand...
Kaliyev is a poor skater, so maybe I am contradicting myself a bit. Although there is a big difference between both the draft capital used on him and the style of play. But I will bring up the essay The Hedgehog and the Fox to describe how I view Kaliyev. If you are unfamiliar with the essay, it basically says there are two types of people, Hedgehogs who do or focus on one thing really well and Foxes who are more well rounded/ focus on multiple thingsl. Kaliyev is an ultimate NHL hedgehog, he is an NHL player because he shoots the puck at a level that not many in the league can. He really doesn't have any other skills that are really NHL caliber. His entire success as an NHL player will be judged by how many goals he scores a year, that is it, that is how you evaluate him. And I think that playing the style he plays as a catch and shoot player that will do a lot of damage on the PP that skating can be more easily overcome. For a center you take #11 in a draft, that is going to be required to have the puck on his stick a lot and making plays, it's just harder to overcome the poor skating.

Again maybe this is a contradiction, but to me that is why I think AK can overcome the poor skating better than Gabe might be able to.

Raccoon Jesus said:
My biggest beef with it is why let AA struggle and move on instead of let a kid struggle and figure it out.

I get we were starved for offense but AA or, say, Vilardi wasn't the difference between making the playoffs or not, we already had Brown on that line anyway, so it wasn't short on veterans or defensive/possession liabilities. Him scoring a goal OFF that line once in a while was useful but he didn't score much there either.
Click to expand...

Well they ended up making the playoffs by 5 points, so you are correct, AA's 11 goals and 17 points in 28 games almost certainly did not swing the standings 5/6 points vs. playing Vilardi (for example). But if we start to get down to making it by 1 or 2 points (which was a distinct possibility most of the year with how tight it was) then it is probable that the offensive contributions they got from AA and didn't get from Vilardi made a 1-2 point difference.

Remember, the mandate last year was to make the playoffs.
 
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Herby said:
Kaliyev is a poor skater, so maybe I am contradicting myself a bit. Although there is a big difference between both the draft capital used on him and the style of play. But I will bring up the essay The Hedgehog and the Fox to describe how I view Kaliyev. If you are unfamiliar with the essay, it basically says there are two types of people, Hedgehogs who do or focus on one thing really well and Foxes who are more well rounded/ focus on multiple thingsl. Kaliyev is an ultimate NHL hedgehog, he is an NHL player because he shoots the puck at a level that not many in the league can. He really doesn't have any other skills that are really NHL caliber. His entire success as an NHL player will be judged by how many goals he scores a year, that is it, that is how you evaluate him. And I think that playing the style he plays as a catch and shoot player that will do a lot of damage on the PP that skating can be more easily overcome. For a center you take #11 in a draft, that is going to be required to have the puck on his stick a lot and making plays, it's just harder to overcome the poor skating.

Again maybe this is a contradiction, but to me that is why I think AK can overcome the poor skating better than Gabe might be able to.
Click to expand...
I don't know. I think Vilardi and Kaliyev have looked surprisingly similar offensively in the NHL.

Both are big, slow, and have excellent shots. When either of them get a good look at the net, there's a good chance that puck is going in. The problem is, both are so slow they're rarely in a position to have a scoring opportunity.

The difference is, Kaliyev has shown steady improvement in all areas of the game. His defensive metrics are shockingly good. Meanwhile Vilardi is a liability and hasn't shown any growth at the NHL level.
 
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All The Kings Men said:
I am presently unable to comment in an official capacity.



HOWEVER...




I suspect you will be able to.

But don't hold me to that
Click to expand...

All The Kings Men said:
I am presently unable to comment in an official capacity.



HOWEVER...




I suspect you will be able to.

But don't hold me to that
Click to expand...

All The Kings Men said:
I am more confident right now than I was when I originally posted it.

but not by a ton...
Click to expand...
Hey Jesse.
Would it be possible to ask the staff / media to get the ACTUAL camp weigh-ins and measurements and update the site? Biggest errors:
1. Iafallo 6'0" 200. I think he's 5'10.5 180
2. Akil Thomas 5'11" 185 He's more like 6'1" 200
3. Kupari 6'2" 200. He's more like 6'3" 210
4. Kopitar 6'3" 225 Think he's 6'4" 240. (unless he trimmed down this Summer)

They finally made Kaliyev, 6'2" 210. A few months ago, he was listed at 6'1" 190.
Would love to know Byfield's actual weighin and height. the 6'5" 220 is the current listing.
Look forward to your upcoming reports!
 
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