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Speculation: LA Kings Offseason Thread

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Schrute farms beets said:
Yeah sorry, i don't get this comment. Fiala works great with young guys. He's shown he does not work that great with Kopi. Fiala + Byfield seems like the best match for the Kings lines. You'll have to do more than the usual Bustfield to make me understand what your logic is here.
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Byfield hasn't shown a great finishing ability & Fiala gets a lot of assists.

Not that I'd be worried about running that line.
 
Schrute farms beets said:
Yeah sorry, i don't get this comment. Fiala works great with young guys. He's shown he does not work that great with Kopi. Fiala + Byfield seems like the best match for the Kings lines. You'll have to do more than the usual Bustfield to make me understand what your logic is here.
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Byfield loses the puck a ton and has a lot of difficulty entering the zone with the puck. Fiala needs players with decent puck protection and passing.

Fiala at his core is a Scorer that draws attention. Byfield has no ability to score a goal. Byfield will be useless for Fiala.
 
Sol said:
Byfield loses the puck a ton and has a lot of difficulty entering the zone with the puck. Fiala needs players with decent puck protection and passing.

Fiala at his core is a Scorer that draws attention. Byfield has no ability to score a goal. Byfield will be useless for Fiala.
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Keep in mind, this is the same brain child that said Quick was mediocre goaltender back in 2010-2011, etc, of anyone on this form, you have to take this guy's "evaluations" with a grain of salt....he has the hockey sense of a fence post.
 
Sol said:
Byfield loses the puck a ton and has a lot of difficulty entering the zone with the puck. Fiala needs players with decent puck protection and passing.

Fiala at his core is a Scorer that draws attention. Byfield has no ability to score a goal. Byfield will be useless for Fiala.
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Can’t wait and see if the 25 pounds he lost at the start of the year had a direct affect on his physical play, etc? Kid came in hot two pre seasons in a row, lost major time to injuries and sickness then gets thrown in this hell year on the top line playing against the best in the NHL.

I think he comes back and thrives with Fiala. Fiala is the Alpha and carries a line. He also has demonstrated he doesn’t need stars to play with to thrive.

Not burying a 20 year old yet.
 
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theathletic.com

NHL offseason trade board: What we're hearing about the Jets' stars, the Leafs' Core Four and other targets

Connor Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele, William Nylander and Erik Karlsson are among the buzziest names who could be moved this summer.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

Expect the Kings to make some noise​

The Kings plan to have their top prospect, Brandt Clarke, in the lineup as an everyday player next season, as well as first-rounder Tobias Bjornfot, who would have to clear waivers to be sent to the minors next in 2023-24 — something that they’re not prepared to risk.

Also: The expectation is they’re closing in on a contract extension with soon-to-be-unrestricted free agent Vladislav Gavrikov. Assuming Gavrikov signs, it means that at least two regulars on the blue line, Sean Walker and Sean Durzi, could be trade bait. The pair start the offseason at Nos. 29 and 30 on the trade board.

Durzi, 24, anchored the second power-play unit for the Kings, can play both the left and the right side and is attractive as a cost-controlled option (signed for $1.7 million next season, after which he becomes a restricted free agent). Walker is older, 28, but he also can play both sides, makes a modest salary ($2.65 million) and showed he was healthy again, playing 70 regular-season games after having major knee surgery a year ago.

The larger question for the Kings is what to do in goal. If they get priced out of retaining pending UFA Joonas Korpisalo, their top two netminding options are Pheonix Copley, who had a quality season after getting promoted from the minors, and Cal Petersen, who was sent to the minors after a dismal year, though he’s being paid like an NHL No. 1 (two more years at $5 million annually). The Kings would have to pay a heavy premium to unload Petersen’s contract, and if they can’t, it’s a lot of hoping and praying that he can rediscover his NHL form.
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funky said:
Can’t wait and see if the 25 pounds he lost at the start of the year had a direct affect on his physical play, etc? Kid came in hot two pre seasons in a row, lost major time to injuries and sickness then gets thrown in this hell year on the top line playing against the best in the NHL.

I think he comes back and thrives with Fiala. Fiala is the Alpha and carries a line. He also has demonstrated he doesn’t need stars to play with to thrive.

Not burying a 20 year old yet.
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Last year the excuse was the players he was playing with, this year playing with better players it’s now the competition? There has to come a time where the excuses are replaced by actual consistent contribution. There have been plenty of players his age or younger who contributed in the NHL, it’s not some impossible thing.

There is a difference between burying/calling a bust and having reasonable expectations. It was a reasonable expectation to have a better player than this by the end of year 3, saying that is not burying or calling a bust, just pointing out a fact. If anyone thinks that is unreasonable they should look at line projections people here had for what the Kings would look like going into this season, they didn’t have a 36 year old 1C.
 
Seems a bit strong calling 99 actual games played as “by the end of year 3”. Isn’t it more like one and a quarter or a fifth seasons? Or 82 + 17 games.

Injuries and illness are difficult for young players, especially when they interfere with preseason and early season games. Maybe we should let him play for another 100 - 150 games before we toss him?
 
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Kingfan1967 said:
ELC contract, LA will need that Cap space, Clarke will be given every chance to play in the NHL.
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Spence is also on an ELC. So they'd have to get rid of two of Roy, Durzi, and Walker would have to go.

Even assuming Spence wastes another season in the AHL, you still need to get rid of one.
 
What is the expectation with Bjornfot, is he going to get another shot in LA? How has he looked on the reign? After a pretty promising start he seems to have vanished.
 
Raccoon Jesus said:
Hope is the strategy, no contingencies.
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I suggest we all do the old hope hand test & post results as they come in.

Hoping for some good feedback.
:laugh:


On a more serious note
King's won with Scuderi, Mitchell, Greene providing the defense & 3 young offensive guys. While not as physical, Roy, Gavrikov, Mikey are three good shutdown guys for today's game. King's have 3 young offensive D to pair with them.

All that's left is to bring in a name big enough to do marketing around as Kopi & Doughty age.

Or just re-sign Gavrikov, move Iafallo & walker & run Pheonix, Cal tandem next year. :popcorn:
 
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