Speculation: LA Kings Offseason Thread

[Bandit]

Kings fly to Australia in a week and they still haven’t announced training camp or broadcast details.

Top notch…

Guess they're hoping their fans have forgotten the team exists?

 

[DAkings20]

Kings are struggling to finalize their deal with QVC

 

[tny760]

82 easy payments of 1.99!

 

[Johnny Utah]

Where is the rookie camp roster?

This is all last minute crap.

 

[Herby]

Kings fly to Australia in a week and they still haven’t announced training camp or broadcast details.

Top notch…

This is why McDonalds doesn’t hire the fry cook to be the President, even if he is one of the greatest fry cooks in the history of McDonalds.

 

[Sol]

If someone told me a professional LA team in a multi billion dollar league had difficulty getting a deal to show their games on TV I wouldn’t have believed you.

 

[Fishhead]

If someone told me a professional LA team in a multi billion dollar league had difficulty getting a deal to show their games on TV I wouldn’t have believed you.

The decline of networks and cable have impacted sports the most. Even though the NHL is profitable, it's still a niche market. When major regional markets start having problems and are bought and sold, it's not a good sign.

If Disney didn't consolidate ESPN it would be even more expensive.

 

[DAkings20]

This is why McDonalds doesn’t hire the fry cook to be the President, even if he is one of the greatest fry cooks in the history of McDonalds.

Pride, Passion, Power!

 

[johnjm22]

It's probably a complicated situation. You've got an industry in a state of flux, rights, scheduling, money ect. I'm sure the lawyers are involved.

 

[Herby]

I've already responded to @Herby 's criticisms about development a few times before. Nothing has really changed in his view or in mine.

There may be some legitimate critique to be made about having QB/AT in the AHL. But I highly doubt it makes much difference in the long run. If playing in the AHL is going to derail you, then you were never going to make it in the first place.

The main reason Turcotte and QB aren't having much success yet is because of themselves. Turcotte was injury prone in junior, in college, in the AHL. If he were playing for the Senators he wouldn't suddenly become un injury prone. He wouldn't become more talented. Byfield is clearly underdeveloped for the NHL. I highly doubt his production would be much different playing for Ottawa right now.

It all depends on your definition of "much difference" is. I'm not trying to say it would have been drastic, If QB had been in the NHL at 18 I'm not saying he'd be Malkin right now or if Turcotte had returned to WI he was going to end up being Toews. I use those names because those were some comps people discussed leading into the drafts. The reality is the Kings likely drafted guys whos upsides are PLD and Copp/Cogliano. Obviously not great, but also not a total loss. The issue is, will the development choices prevent them from even reaching that?

I think there has certainly been some issues on the evaluation part, although I think if the Rosen rumor about the 2019 draft is true that absolved them from some of it. But for the most part they have picked right around the consensus, and it just hasn't really worked out as hoped. To me it's far more concerning when the development decisions have been so far from the rest of the league and the results have been so bad. The Byfield and Turcotte ones being the main ones, but also the Bjornfot one, I mean who has a guy play two-seasons in the NHL at 19 and 20 and then send him back to the AHL at 21.

One thing I don't understand is you have some in this group who, when it comes to the evaluation part will say "You can't blame Blake, most teams would have taken him there" , which is fine a fine opinion to have, using consensus to defend Blake, but then these same people will completely ignore the fact that those same "most teams" wouldn't have pulled Turcotte from college or put Byfield in the AHL then suddenly consensus no longer matters and it becomes "there are plenty of ways to develop prospects" and "who cares what other teams are doing".

 

[kingsfan28]

If someone told me a professional LA team in a multi billion dollar league had difficulty getting a deal to show their games on TV I wouldn’t have believed you.

This isn't the only team. I think about half the league is in limbo. Really surprised AEG never started a network to showcase all his teams.

 

[kingsfan28]

It all depends on your definition of "much difference" is. I'm not trying to say it would have been drastic, If QB had been in the NHL at 18 I'm not saying he'd be Malkin right now or if Turcotte had returned to WI he was going to end up being Toews. I use those names because those were some comps people discussed leading into the drafts. The reality is the Kings likely drafted guys whos upsides are PLD and Copp/Cogliano. Obviously not great, but also not a total loss. The issue is, will the development choices prevent them from even reaching that?

I think there has certainly been some issues on the evaluation part, although I think if the Rosen rumor about the 2019 draft is true that absolved them from some of it. But for the most part they have picked right around the consensus, and it just hasn't really worked out as hoped. To me it's far more concerning when the development decisions have been so far from the rest of the league and the results have been so bad. The Byfield and Turcotte ones being the main ones, but also the Bjornfot one, I mean who has a guy play two-seasons in the NHL at 19 and 20 and then send him back to the AHL at 21.

One thing I don't understand is you have some in this group who, when it comes to the evaluation part will say "You can't blame Blake, most teams would have taken him there" , which is fine a fine opinion to have, using consensus to defend Blake, but then these same people will completely ignore the fact that those same "most teams" wouldn't have pulled Turcotte from college or put Byfield in the AHL then suddenly consensus no longer matters and it becomes "there are plenty of ways to develop prospects" and "who cares what other teams are doing".

Was the Rosen rumor how he over ruled his scouts and went with his buddy Granto's advise and took Turcotte?

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

Was the Rosen rumor how he over ruled his scouts and went with his buddy Granto's advise and took Turcotte?

Yep. Did the Kings just write off a 104-point season?

All honest indications are that Turcotte has soured into a missed pick, and the Kings will have little to show for the pain of enduring a dismal 2018-19 season in which they entered the lottery with the second-best odds. Plenty of Stanley Cup winners swing and miss with high draft picks; Los Angeles weathered going off the board to select Thomas Hickey fourth overall in 2007 just fine.

The concern here is that Blake diverged from his scouts, and according to three sources, chose Turcotte when Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yannetti had Trevor Zegras, who has 139 points in 180 career games down the road in Anaheim, ranked higher on the draft list. There have also been whispers that Tony Granato, who would coach Turcotte for one year at Wisconsin, strongly advocated for his incoming freshman prior to the draft.

 

[King'sPawn]

One thing I don't understand is you have some in this group who, when it comes to the evaluation part will say "You can't blame Blake, most teams would have taken him there" , which is fine a fine opinion to have, using consensus to defend Blake, but then these same people will completely ignore the fact that those same "most teams" wouldn't have pulled Turcotte from college or put Byfield in the AHL then suddenly consensus no longer matters and it becomes "there are plenty of ways to develop prospects" and "who cares what other teams are doing".

To me, I don't have much of an issue with this. I'm sure some are framing their responses out of loyalty to Blake. And I know I have banged the drum many times about developmental decisions.

But the game of hockey is evolving. From how we scout and draft to how we analyze. Analytics are out there, and some are better than others. But I think it's "okay" to try outside the box thinking and approaches. The biggest detriment to a team, to me, is confining yourself to one way of thinking.

With Turcotte, it didn't work out and it was unconventional. So it looks much worse. If it worked out, it would look genius and challenge others to consider that approach.

I still think there's plenty to criticize the Kings about with development when looking at their body of work. I just don't fault people who are okay with the decision to try something different. But it requires an honesty to acknowledge when that approach hasn't or isn't working.

 

[Sol]

“As Byfield continues to evolve into a dynamic player, the kid gloves have to come off in 2023-24. Well-rounded won’t be good enough. Six-foot-five string-pulling defensive forwards who might not be able to score consistently in the NHL can be drafted well below where Byfield was. Being an excellent backchecker won’t suffice. He absolutely must start producing offense himself. Allusions to “line offense” and his impact on Kempe and Kopitar’s successes were depleted in 2022-23.”

Really well put. I think his “line-success” accolade is as impressive Iafallo killing it with Kopitar. He needs be generator of offense and take big strides this season. He can’t be just a random guy who can make nice passes every 15 games or so.

 

[Johnny Utah]

There is some talk today on a few articles and on some podcasts that there will be some goalies available. Some of the names mentioned would be a perfect bridge between Copley and Portillo - let's admit this is Talbot's last year, he is 36 and only one year younger than Quick.

Vladar in Calgary will be a UFA and Dustin Wolfe, though waiver exempt this year, will be an RFA next season.

Also, in Buffalo, if they think Levi is the guy then one of Comrie or Luukkonen will require waivers.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Roster Preview: LA Kings 2023 Rookie Camp, Plus Tournament Info

mayorsmanor.com

Kings are bringing the size finally!

 

[YP44]

There is some talk today on a few articles and on some podcasts that there will be some goalies available. Some of the names mentioned would be a perfect bridge between Copley and Portillo - let's admit this is Talbot's last year, he is 36 and only one year younger than Quick.

Vladar in Calgary will be a UFA and Dustin Wolfe, though waiver exempt this year, will be an RFA next season.

Also, in Buffalo, if they think Levi is the guy then one of Comrie or Luukkonen will require waivers.

I think the flames should waive Vladar. There is a decent chance he clears and Wolf has nothing to prove in the AHL. I think what they will do is just send down Wolf.

Even if there is a decent goalie on waivers, Kings do not have cap space to put a claim in.

 

[johnjm22]

One thing I don't understand is you have some in this group who, when it comes to the evaluation part will say "You can't blame Blake, most teams would have taken him there" , which is fine a fine opinion to have, using consensus to defend Blake, but then these same people will completely ignore the fact that those same "most teams" wouldn't have pulled Turcotte from college or put Byfield in the AHL then suddenly consensus no longer matters and it becomes "there are plenty of ways to develop prospects" and "who cares what other teams are doing".

I always got the impression that it was Turcotte who wanted to turn pro, more so than the Kings wanting to "pull" him from college. Maybe there's something I don't know?

I think there's other teams that would have given Byfield a stint the AHL. The Kraken did it with Shane Wright. I think LA viewed this as a rare opportunity; some AHL games allows you to give QB a step up in competition while not bringing him along too quickly. Normally you can't do that with CHL players. The other stints IIRC had to do with injury and him looking pretty underdeveloped.

With QB, I'm not saying it was the right decision (or wrong), I just don't think it's as out of bounds as you feel.

I also think you can't really hurt a prospect by brining them along too slowly, whereas you can damage them by brining them along too quickly IMO.

 

[Sol]

I always got the impression that it was Turcotte who wanted to turn pro, more so than the Kings wanting to "pull" him from college. Maybe there's something I don't know?

I think there's other teams that would have given Byfield a stint the AHL. The Kraken did it with Shane Wright. I think LA viewed this as a rare opportunity; some AHL games allows you to give QB a step up in competition while not bringing him along too quickly. Normally you can't do that with CHL players. The other stints IIRC had to do with injury and him looking pretty underdeveloped.

With QB, I'm not saying it was the right decision (or wrong), I just don't think it's as out of bounds as you feel.

I also think you can't really hurt a prospect by brining them along too slowly, whereas you can damage them by brining them along too quickly IMO.

You don’t think you can hurt a prospect by letting them cook too long ? You absolutely can. Players with raw talent only need a little bit of structure to their game. You can absolutely overcoach and stifle raw talent. That’s why a lot of people preach those players to figure it out in the NHL rather than sit in the AHL. That’s a very very bizarre statement. You can easily argue that sending Clarke down last year was not good for his development.

I hope you’re not one of those people who think Adrian Kempe randomly becoming a good goal scorer is a product of needing time to develop. There’s a few posters here who use Kempe taking SIX years since his draft to become a really good player. He was the last pick of the first round. There was no real ceiling to begin with but he randomly became a much better player than expected purely by chance. He’s an anomaly not a case for “cooking” too long.

 

[Herby]

I always got the impression that it was Turcotte who wanted to turn pro, more so than the Kings wanting to "pull" him from college. Maybe there's something I don't know?

I think there's other teams that would have given Byfield a stint the AHL. The Kraken did it with Shane Wright. I think LA viewed this as a rare opportunity; some AHL games allows you to give QB a step up in competition while not bringing him along too quickly. Normally you can't do that with CHL players. The other stints IIRC had to do with injury and him looking pretty underdeveloped.

With QB, I'm not saying it was the right decision (or wrong), I just don't think it's as out of bounds as you feel.

I also think you can't really hurt a prospect by brining them along too slowly, whereas you can damage them by brining them along too quickly IMO.

On Byfield, it just seems like when you have a strategy that has overwhelmingly worked so well for other teams when it comes to what you should do with super elite prospects (guys taken that high in the draft from the CHL), why would the Kings go against that? Was Byfield just the worst forward to be taken that high in the draft? If that is the case, than maybe we should be more critical of the evaluators. Even the Seguin/Thornton strategy of having players who weren't ready to be contributors worked out much better for those teams/players than what the Kings did for QB.

As far as Turcotte, what the player wants to do should have no bearing on the team making the decision that is best for the franchise and the player. Turcotte is not the first player who wished to sign and was told no. Yes, both Wisconsin players (Turcotte and Caufield) made their intentions known to their NHL teams that they wanted to sign after their freshman seasons. One team obliged and the other told their player to return to school. One team sent an undersized player who finished his NCAA year with 1 goal in 19 conference games to the AHL to play a sandpaper game and get destroyed physically and struggle offensively in minor pro hockey, likely damaging the players long-term prospects. The other sent their guy back to school and saw him have a historic season and be ready to have the confidence to jump right into what became a deep run to the finals and carry it over to 48 goals in his last 84 NHL games in his age 21/22 seasons. I don't think Caufield would be doing what he has done in the NHL had he been pulled after his freshman season, and Caufield himself has agreed.

I look at what I saw in year 2 from Beniers, a player who shared a similar pre-draft profile to Turcotte. He gained confidence both offensively and defensively, he got bigger and stronger and prepared his body for the NHL, he assumed more of a vocal, leadership role on the team. All of these things are common occurrences for NCAA players in their sophomore seasons, and that is why NHL teams overwhelmingly decide to keep their players in the NCAA for a 2nd season and then hope to have them jump right into the NHL. The Kings never let Alex Turcotte gain any of those things because the Kings feel that "learning the system" is more important than what Beniers gained playing another year in Ann Arbor, an idea not shared by most of the league.

Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy, Owen Power, Matty Beniers, Cole Caufield, K'Andre Miller, Zach Werenski, Luke Hughes, Kent Johnson, Shane Pinto, Jake Sanderson. If all of these guys went back for a 2nd year in college there is no reason that Turcotte shouldn't have. But I think the issue (and probably the reason for the choices with both guys) is that almost none of these guys played a single AHL game, and the ones who did played very few, and that is never going to fly in the LA organization. They told you as much when Glen Murray said that "Only the McDavid types don't need AHL time". None of the players I listed above, most of whom are either NHL stars or likely on there way to being one, would have been handled the same way by the Kings, and that is a big problem that should be discussed more, but LA unfortunately has a tiny podcast based media that is more worried about being on a buddy-buddy nickname basis with members of the front office than actually discussing the realities of the franchise and how poorly they handle certain things. That is why people like Hoven will never discuss the huge mistakes on Turcotte, from Blake overriding the scouts on draft night to the awful NCAA pull, but instead will just tow the management line and blame it all on injuries and people like Surfin Axl will guzzle the kool-aid.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I guess we should expect a Norris caliber season out of Doughty now.

NHL Star Drew Doughty’s Wife Files For Divorce After 5 Years Of Marriage

Los Angeles Kings star Drew Doughty’s wife has pulled the plug on their relationship after only 5 years of marriage. According to new legal documents, obtained by The Blast, Nicole Arruda filed for dissolution of marriage citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split. In the...

www.yahoo.com

 

[KINGS17]

If someone told me a professional LA team in a multi billion dollar league had difficulty getting a deal to show their games on TV I wouldn’t have believed you.

The Kings should be looking to make a deal with local and regional operators similar to the deal Vegas made for TV. Vegas games will be televised over the air throughout the Mountain West and the team will get ad revenue from those broadcasts.

For games not televised nationally, people in those markets will always know where to find Vegas games (same Knight channel). This is how it's done.

Vegas Golden Knights and Scripps partner on multi-year agreement to air NHL team's games

/PRNewswire/ -- The Vegas Golden Knights and Scripps Sports have signed a multi-year agreement to bring all locally broadcast Golden Knights games for free to...

www.prnewswire.com

The agreement allows The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) to televise all non-nationally exclusive Golden Knights games with full distribution on cable, satellite and over-the-air television. Financial terms are not being disclosed. The deal has obtained the necessary approvals from the National Hockey League.

Scripps will air Golden Knights games on its local station KMCC-TV, which is currently airing programming from ION, Scripps' national entertainment network. ION programming will continue to be available to Nevadans over-the-air, on pay TV and on connected TV platforms through a move to another Las Vegas broadcast channel.

KMCC, channel 34, will be rebranded as an independent station before the 2023-24 NHL season begins. In addition to the Golden Knights games, the new KMCC will broadcast local and national news, local sports and additional entertainment programming. Scripps also owns the Las Vegas ABC affiliate, KTNV, which will provide a strong marketing platform for KMCC and the Golden Knights telecasts and has carried VGK preseason games since the franchise's inaugural season of 2017-18.

 

[Johnny Utah]

https://x.com/nhlrussell/status/1701991749844152753?s=46&t=CAvt9IhT1A2I11FdIsm7Qg

 

[Sol]

I guess we should expect a Norris caliber season out of Doughty now.

NHL Star Drew Doughty’s Wife Files For Divorce After 5 Years Of Marriage

Los Angeles Kings star Drew Doughty’s wife has pulled the plug on their relationship after only 5 years of marriage. According to new legal documents, obtained by The Blast, Nicole Arruda filed for dissolution of marriage citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split. In the...

www.yahoo.com

That suck… she’s already challenging the prenuptial agreements. Damn.