Speculation: LA Kings Offseason Thread

[AKAY47]

Friedman on 32 thoughts said that Kings have not received permission to discuss contract with PLDs agent. There’s definitely traction in the deal. Vilardi/Arvidsson/Iafallo are the names being mentioned. He’d be surprised if Byfield was involved in the deal. Also mentioned that he’d be curious to see if PLD takes a one year extension and then does an 8 year deal the following off-season to help the Kings cap structure.

Link: 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Hard to critique a trade that has not happened, or if it is happening, know all of the pieces...or what the supposed extension will be.

Even it is consummated, will still not know about why they would include Gabe. (if he's dealt)
Maybe his agent / Gabe wanted 5+, or something that cannot work. If that's the case,
someone has to be traded. We also do not know anything about his last injury. Zilch.
And I am speculating about the contract....but that's just it. We are all speculating.

People say Gabe is finally hitting his stride and took a huge step this past season.
He certainly did and was inproved in every area of his game.
I would not trade him.

Like others have said, "I won't hate on any King that is signed, acquired and hope they do great"
That's pretty much it, for most of us. You can't choose your family and should love and accept
them...and kinda the same thing with your team...minus having to love the GM, coach or all individual
players...but we are stuck with them and nothing any of us can do about it.

Gabe is on the rise...but PLD is still on the rise as well. Neither have reached their potential.
Of any clips of PLD, I love that he goes 30 MPH at Sandin, after Perfetti was clocked...even
pushing on player aside, to get at Sandin. The Kings have very few of those and none
of them are 6'4" 220. The few Kings that stand up for teammates; Danault...Durzi (gone)
and Lemieux (gone)...none of them are 6'4" and will put fear into anyone.

Disclaimer: I am not for dealing Gabe. I am good with acquiring PLD, if it was Kaliyev, Iafallo, Pinelli or Bjornfot and #1 2024. (but getting Dillon or Samberg too) And signed at 8 mil and no more...But that seems like that will not happen.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

This PLD trade serves as plausible deniability in case the Kings suffer another early playoff exit, Blake can say he tried as hard as he could to improve the team, while being cheaper and less risky than upgrading bigger holes in net or D. At the same time he keeps the prospects from his rebuild like QB, Arty, Fagemo, Clarke so he can continue to pay lip service to the whole building for the future plan. Kings Twitter will get #RobBlakeMasterclass trending and claim he's a genius for making us contenders without mortgaging the future. That's the endgame.

Strong "I TRIED to trade up for Wallstedt" vibes

 

[KingsHockey24]

Friedman on 32 thoughts said that Kings have not received permission to discuss contract with PLDs agent. There’s definitely traction in the deal. Vilardi/Arvidsson/Iafallo are the names being mentioned. He’d be surprised if Byfield was involved in the deal. Also mentioned that he’d be curious to see if PLD takes a one year extension and then does an 8 year deal the following off-season to help the Kings cap structure.

Link: 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

R I S K Y Y Y Y Y

 

[Schrute farms]

all the noise is odd. Maybe that's coming from the agent idk.
Ultimately, if it does happen, i'm more concerned about the per year salary. Above $8M/year just seems like a bad idea and harmful going forward.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Having flashbacks to those Max Pacioretty trade rumors back at the 2018 draft, which ultimately fell apart when they couldn't get an extension done, and Pacioretty ended up switching agents, going from Pat Brisson to Allan Walsh.

 

[Johnny Utah]

If this deal falls thru Rob Blake should trade some forwards and make a run at Tyler Bertuzzi.

 

[Statto]

This is probably the most conflicted I've ever been about a hockey move.

I freaking LOVE Vilardi and have since he was drafted. He's big. He has insane hands. He has elite vision and hockey IQ. He can score and set up teammates creatively. And all of the sudden he's great defensively to top it all off. It's going to really suck to see him get traded.

That said, there are a couple things that can make trading Gabe understandable - And these have been rumored to be true over the last couple days.
1. He was demanding a long term contract and the Kings weren't willing to give him one. This is understandable from the Kings standpoint. Again, love the player but he's a player with an injury history and a career high of 63 games. He also has a career high of 41 points and his previous career high is 23 points. You don't sign players like that to long term deals, regardless of how great they played last season.
2. The Kings know more about his health situation than we do and have valid concerns. Hell, maybe it was a miracle he even played 63 games this year?? Again, a lot of this stuff is speculation but it's definitely possible.

IF either of those things aren't true... Trading Vilardi for Dubois is stupid as hell. If one or both of those is true, can you really fault the Kings??

I also go back and forth in terms of PLD as a player. One minute I think: damn this guy could be pretty sick. He's only 25 and already has 3 60+ point season, 4 20+ goal seasons, and has played 70+ games in 5 out of his 6 NHL seasons. Also has a little bit of a backbone - at least more so than pretty much all other Kings forwards.

Then the next minute I'm thinking: god this guy seems to suck defensively. Is 60+ points really even that good??? Quite a lot of players in this league put up 60+ points. This guy is going to be overpaid from day 1, isn't he.

Its tough man. On paper, knowing what we know right now as fans, it doesn't look great. But there's certainly a lot we may not know. There's also certainly a chance PLD comes to LA and takes his game to the next level.

In the end it's going to depend on a lot of factors. Some of which we won't really be able to evaluate for multiple years. What is the full package the Kings are giving up to get him? What is the full package the Jets are sending to the Kings (is it PLD and Harkins as rumored or is there a chance one of their young LHD is coming too)? What does PLD's contract end up looking like?? Is it a massive overpay as he's rumored to be looking for? Or is it actually pretty reasonable? How does PLD fit in with the Kings?? How does Vilardi do in Winnipeg?? And what does Vilardi's contract in Winnipeg look like???

We can go back & forth all day about 'oh no don't trade Vilardi' but if he does to Winnipeg and ends up being underwhelming / dealing with serious injury concerns (I hope he doesn't, just saying it's possible), do we really look back at this trade as a mistake??

Time will tell. GKG.

What credible sources are there for your 2 points on Vilardi. It’s a genuine question as I’ve only seen fan speculation on those 2 points.

 

[AKAY47]

 

[kingsboy11]

I think its entirely plausible that PLD is just using us as leverage to get the Habs interested in him.

 

[BigBrown]

Yep, surprise surprise. We've seen this story before, Kings being used as leverage to make other teams up their offers.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Pacioretti 2.0

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Lets hope!!

using each other to get gabe's contract ask down and mtl's pld trade valueup

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

What credible sources are there for your 2 points on Vilardi. It’s a genuine question as I’ve only seen fan speculation on those 2 points.

My source??? Just trust me bro

Lol no but it's really just speculation at this point, from fans and also from people in hockey media.

So who really knows. But the speculation does make a lot of sense. I mean, if Vilardi was willing to sign a reasonable bridge deal and was in great health, you'd have to think the Kings would just keep him and sign him.

 

[kinghock]

Lets hope!!

using each other to get gabe's contract ask down and mtl's pld trade valueup

Kings Rumors: Kings Getting Closer to Dubois Deal, Vilardi Involved

Whether fans like it or not, the Los Angeles Kings seem determined to add a high-end forward to the roster this summer. It appears that the rumors from two weeks ago regarding the Kings’ interest in Pierre Luc-Dubois were accurate. The Sean Durzi trade on Saturday felt like a precursor to...

lahockeynow.com

 

[DAkings20]

I think its entirely plausible that PLD is just using us as leverage to get the Habs interested in him.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Noooo! Start throwing in 1st round picks!!!!


Edit: guess we can always target Huberdeau if PlD falls through.

 

[johnjm22]

 

[tny760]

Too many of you are looking at what were potentially giving up vs getting back in return.

We can only hope that Vilardi gets to the level PLD is at; heck we can only hope Vilardi can stay healthy for a full 82 game season.

PLD is a monster 6'4", 218lb forward that hasn't even hit his full potential and is willing to play a nasty game need be. Exactly what we need.

the player is one thing, getting back a $9M headcase with an attitude problem for (i'm assuming) a guaranteed 8 years, rather than the kid with a chip on his shoulder from injury struggles who comes in $4M cheaper when WE STILL DON'T HAVE A GOALIE is a much bigger deal to me

like, straight up, now is not the time

 

[johnjm22]

Too many of you are looking at what were potentially giving up vs getting back in return.

We can only hope that Vilardi gets to the level PLD is at; heck we can only hope Vilardi can stay healthy for a full 82 game season.

PLD is a monster 6'4", 218lb forward that hasn't even hit his full potential and is willing to play a nasty game need be. Exactly what we need.

He's really not that good.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Seven years ago the Kings made what would quickly turn out to be a disastrous deal one season later.


I'd say Lucic did his part and produced quite well, and the Kings had a great regular season, but got completely dominated and clowned by the Sharks in those playoffs, and Lucic did nothing in the postseason. Those events eventually led to the downward spiral that led to the firing of Sutter and Lombardi.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Lucic is one of my favorite players but I agree, the Sharks skated circles around him and that was when I knew his career was declining. Edmonton overpaid and Lucic had one good year and then it turned into a mess and even he said he almost retired.

 

[LAKings88]

Seven years ago the Kings made what would quickly turn out to be a disastrous deal one season later.


I'd say Lucic did his part and produced quite well, and the Kings had a great regular season, but got completely dominated and clowned by the Sharks in those playoffs, and Lucic did nothing in the postseason. Those events eventually led to the downward spiral that led to the firing of Sutter and Lombardi.

That trade was wrong from the get go. Connor or Brazal were there for the taking. From the first second we all new an extension was gonna be near impossible.

 

[Statto]

My source??? Just trust me bro

Lol no but it's really just speculation at this point, from fans and also from people in hockey media.

So who really knows. But the speculation does make a lot of sense. I mean, if Vilardi was willing to sign a reasonable bridge deal and was in great health, you'd have to think the Kings would just keep him and sign him.

If they are going to sign Vilardi they wouldn’t announce anything as it’d eat cap space and reduce leverage if he needsto move out RV (just an example), for other moves. So not having him signed yet means little IMO, but equally I accept I may be wrong.

 

[Cook24]

Let’s just do Byfield and Iafallo for Dubois and Harkin…Moore to team 3 for a 3rd rounder…Grundstrom for a 3rd at the draft. sign Jarry 1 year 2.5 mil

Fiala-Kopitar-Vilardi
Kempe-PLD-Kaliyev
Lizotte-Danault-Arvidsson
Harkin-Kupari-JAD/Fagemo

Anderson-Doughty
Gavrikov-Clarke
Bjornfot/Spence-Roy

Jarry/Copley