Got a quote where I said anything about the Kopitar contract? Odd suggestion to make since I've always been one of the biggest Kopitar guys around here.
I HOPE Clarke becomes the player I think he can be. Beyond him, there's really nothing BESIDES hope that you can cheer for. They have a roster where most of the best players are on the other side of 30, approaching 30, or are pending free agents. They have very little cap room. They can't win a playoff series.
You talk about how well positioned they are, but what are you basing that off of? Draft picks that three years ago were thought to be something magical that have either been bungled or terribly evaluated (depending on who you ask)? Their lack of developing any goalie over the past several years? Having no top end prospects other than a defenseman they seem determined not to play?
But I get the feeling that you're one of those "If you hate the Kings so much, why don't you go cheer for the Ducks?!?!?" type of fellas so I'll just mind my own with you.
Oh my bad, there should be quotes in the message you're quoting. The quote about the Kopitar contract was from another poster 'KINGS17' so that wasn't directed towards you.
I guess I disagree that it's blind hope for some of these prospects.
I mean take Byfield for example... He showed some serious flashes this year and 4 points in 6 playoff games as a 20 year old is honestly very solid. Plenty of players (especially with more size) take a lot longer to show what Byfield's already shown us. He has the speed/skating. He has the playmaking ability. He has the tools in general to become an elite player.. Just needs to polish up his game a bit and improve on a few things.
I'm also a big Kaliyev guy and realistically still think he can be a 40G, 40A guy in his prime if he's deployed correctly. He's still only 21 and may not hit his prime until 23/24 but has also shown flashes this year. There were certain games where he looked like he was shot out of a cannon and was constantly ripping the puck on net and making good plays. Love to see that from a 21 year old forward with one of the hardest shots in the NHL.
I'm also a pretty big #Bjornfotbeliever despite the fact that he had a semi-rough year - Still has good potential IMO and could be very solid if he has a good off-season - Still only 22 years old (fairly young for a d-man).
Also think Vilardi has another level to his game. Plus love Spence too tbh.
And yeah man, idk... I just think with Kempe turning out to be the player he is, Kopitar still playing at a high level, Doughty coming off a solid 50+ point season and still very hungry to win, and other guys like Danault, Fiala, etc on the roster... This team looks good at least for the next year or two. After that, we'll see. Might be a little optimistic on my end but time will tell - Guess if I'm wrong you guys can quote me and tell me all about it lol, but I'm choosing to be optimistic.
