Speculation: LA Kings Offseason Thread

[GoldenBearHockey]

I have no idea what you are talking about.

Draisaitl was +4 in 6 games against us while Kopitar was -3
Do you see any difference here?

Trying to be a smart ass might help you delusion but hockey is played in reality

For the playoffs, Draisaitl and McDavid WERE BOTH NEGATIVE PLAYERS....

So....according to you.....THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF A GAME....

That's what you said....

 

[Statto]

I absolutely agree that an executive lying is within the realm of possibility. But none of Blake’s actions indicate he was lying.

He said he believed this team was a contender. Then they made the playoffs. Then he added a big AAV player in Kovalchuk, and continued adding veterans from there.

His actions directly supported his stated words. He didn’t start trading away players for futures until two years into his tenure as GM. And now he’s right back to his old ways, loading up on veteran talent to try and compete with Kopitar and Doughty.

Blake has never wanted to rebuild. He always wanted to win another Cup with Kopitar and co. All of his actions suggest this, in addition to his words. It can’t get any clearer.

I should clarify, something I realise I didn’t make clear (caught up arguing the point). I beleive he was given a brief to get another run out of the old core… I don’t know how he felt about it. I’m sure if he hated the idea he’d not have taken the job, however I do think he attempted to do what was asked of him before being given the green light to rebuild. I’m certain whomever got that GM job was going to be trying to get another run, because that was what Luc wanted.

However him saying he believed the team was a contender is nothing more than rhetoric that plenty of guys say whether they truly believe it or not. I wouldn’t disagree with him wanting another run with #11 and #8 but I’ve always felt that a)given the option he’d have done the rebuild sooner and b)had he done so he’d have had more of a chance at succeed with #8 and #11. My view ultimately is my gut, my read of his tones, inflections, body language, choice of words etc. I can’t give you specifics but there was a moment I said to myself “he’d rather be rebuilding“. I’m normally a good read of things, but I’m far from infallible.

As I said I may be wrong, easily so, but it’s equally naive to think that there’s not a good chance that Luc set the brief to go for another run. Anyway I’m going in circles now.

 

[Kurrilino]

San Jose is rebuilding, so they traded for Erik Karlsson......

But out of the 8 teams in the division, you just admitted...TWO are rebuilding....not 5

I do not care if a team is admitting to the rebuild, if you give away your star players, you are rebuilding.

Calgary lost Tkatchuk and Gudreau, Seattle traded away their franchise player

I absolutely love the thought of you being so miserable about this team over the last two seasons. That f***ing makes my day, thank you.

Actually the last 5 years if that helps make your day even better.

 

[Kurrilino]

For the playoffs, Draisaitl and McDavid WERE BOTH NEGATIVE PLAYERS....

So....according to you.....THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF A GAME....

That's what you said....

May i ask how +4 is negative?

Also you are twisting words here.
Negative core players will still affect the outcome of a game in the meaning you are losing.

Oilers + players against the Kings made them moving on, same players being - made them leaving the playoff against Vegas.
This actually supports my statement and reality.

You can now try to twist words even more or come up with religious like lying but the fact is that our players who are paid to dominate are on the wrong end of domination.
If you somehow see that different, so be it

 

[DoktorJeep]

BLuc didn’t lie when they stood up in public with Beckerman and claim the team was a couple of tweaks away from being a champion again. They 100% believed and meant what they said. Which is great.

But anyone not on the payroll was right to be skeptical based on zero collective track record of success and less than zero time spent on scheduling candidates for interviews.

To think that Blake speaks in coded language to give political cover to his pathetic record of actions is truly drinking the deepest purple shade of koolaid.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I do not care if a team is admitting to the rebuild, if you give away your star players, you are rebuilding.

Calgary lost Tkatchuk and Gudreau, Seattle traded away their franchise player


Actually the last 5 years if that helps make your day even better.

Seattle had a franchise player?

Calgary lost Tkachuk and Gaudreau but gained Weegar, Huberdeau and Kadri....how the f*** is that rebuilding?

May i ask how +4 is negative?

Also you are twisting words here.
Negative core players will still affect the outcome of a game in the meaning you are losing.

Oilers + players against the Kings made them moving on, same players being - made them leaving the playoff against Vegas.
This actually supports my statement and reality.

You can now try to twist words even more or come up with religious like lying but the fact is that our players who are paid to dominate are on the wrong end of domination.
If you somehow see that different, so be it

You didn't know that both McDavid and Draisaitly were minus players for the playoffs?? And yet you are still arguing this?

 

[Kurrilino]

Seattle had a franchise player?

Calgary lost Tkachuk and Gaudreau but gained Weegar, Huberdeau and Kadri....how the f*** is that rebuilding?



You didn't know that both McDavid and Draisaitly were minus players for the playoffs?? And yet you are still arguing this?

Funny enough, Seattle declared Giordano the face of the franchise, just to trade him away.

Huberdeau and Kadri are old and done like Kopitar.
Their experience is enough to score here and there but hurting the team in the long run.
Calgary made the mistake a couple of time to cling to their vets just to have a playoff appearance.
This time, it's not enough anymore.

We can argue the playoff stuff right here since we talk about different things.
While i talk about a playoff series, you talk a complete playoff run.
If your #1 players has +14 because he was +21 in 3 games but -7 in the other 4 games you are simply out regardless the +14.

But his is not the point, Draisaitl had +4 and Kopitar -3... that's it.
If Kopitar would have +4 and Draisaitl -3, the Oilers would be out, how difficult can this be

 

[funky]

Funny enough, Seattle declared Giordano the face of the franchise, just to trade him away.

Huberdeau and Kadri are old and done like Kopitar.
Their experience is enough to score here and there but hurting the team in the long run.
Calgary made the mistake a couple of time to cling to their vets just to have a playoff appearance.
This time, it's not enough anymore.

We can argue the playoff stuff right here since we talk about different things.
While i talk about a playoff series, you talk a complete playoff run.
If your #1 players has +14 because he was +21 in 3 games but -7 in the other 4 games you are simply out regardless the +14.

But his is not the point, Draisaitl had +4 and Kopitar -3... that's it.
If Kopitar would have +4 and Draisaitl -3, the Oilers would be out, how difficult can this be

Huberdeau was 28 at the time of the trade and after the trade they signed him to an 8 year 84 million dollar contract.

I don’t see rebuilding teams do that.

If it’s one player, I might give it to you, but then they turn around and sign Weegar for eight years

To top it all off, then reach out and sign a 32-year-old Kadri for six years. I can’t think of a team in history that was going to rebuild and go out and sign three after they’re prime players that take up almost 30% of their cap. space.

I would think a rebuilding team would have let these types of players go for prospects, picks etc

 

[Kurrilino]

Huberdeau was 28 at the time of the trade and after the trade they signed him to an 8 year 84 million dollar contract.

I don’t see rebuilding teams do that.

If it’s one player, I might give it to you, but then they turn around and sign Weegar for eight years

To top it all off, then reach out and sign a 32-year-old Kadri for six years. I can’t think of a team in history that was going to rebuild and go out and sign three after they’re prime players that take up almost 30% of their cap. space.

I would think a rebuilding team would have let these types of players go for prospects, picks etc

This is why i said they don't know yet that they are rebuilding.
They are already playing like a rebuilding team and it's getting really ugly 1-2 years from now on

 

[Basilisk]

Great post, Sol.

1) I don't know who "Sol" is, but I used to have an anonymous FB account named "Solomon Grundy" until FB cracked down on anonymous accounts 5-6 years ago & took it away.

2) This reminds me of the time 15-16ish years ago when some guy on Letsgokings.com assumed I was a poster named "Chawdran (sp)" .....I was not then and am not now.......

 

[bland]

1) I don't know who "Sol" is, but I used to have an anonymous FB account named "Solomon Grundy" until FB cracked down on anonymous accounts 5-6 years ago & took it away.

2) This reminds me of the time 15-16ish years ago when some guy on Letsgokings.com assumed I was a poster named "Chawdran (sp)" .....I was not then and am not now.......

Chadrawn knows who he is.

 

[Kudelski37]

Rob Blake added veterans, including a costly free agent, for the first two years of his tenure.

He didn’t trade away players for futures until 2019.

His actions DIRECTLY support the claim that he meant what he said in 2017. Are you drunk?

The additions in the summer of 2017 do NOT support the claim Blake meant the Kings were contenders. The highest paid addition was Cammi at 1 mil/1 year, with a possible 200k bonus that was not met, after he had been bought out that off-season. The next highest paid guys were a college free agent, Iafallo, and a North American rookie, Fantenberg, at 925k. Folin and Kuemper made even less and had about 200 NHL games between them. The lack of depth led to Brooks Laich not only getting a tryout, but eventually a 650k contract. These aren't the moves a team makes if they expect to go from 8 points outside the playoffs to contending in a few months. It looks more like a team that was set up to sell players at the deadline if/when the team struggled due to the cheap one year deals.

 

[Statto]

Well, Kopitar had 4 points in Game 1 on 3 secondary assists and a clutch goal. One assist was just a lofted clearance from his zone that was later turned into a chance up ice and another was a gift off of a faceoff on a play in which he never actually touched the puck. The third was a run of the mill pass to Arvidsson who made an unbelievable bang-bang play to Iafallo for the winner.

Kopitar is a hell of a player, but a lot of the points he generates are off of just smart, regular hockey plays. That doesn't cheapen them at all - they all matter.

The point of concern is that while he collects the most points on the team he isn't really pushing the pace of the game offensively in the Kings favor like other top line centers. He was a non-factor in the last three games of the series. He doesn't force teams to scheme against him, he isn't a driving force on the power play, he isn't creating the same amount of chances that top teams first lines do so that the Kings can carry momentum. He is just one hell of a hockey player who does so many things well.

I think that’s fair. He’s a lower level 1C now, certainly Offensively and Danault is a decent 2C. IF they get Byfield to 2C level by the end of the season then that would be huge but that is absolute best case scenario. Byfield at that level would be a bit more of a wild card as would Clarke be, if he settles quickly. Teams would suddenly have to plan for our offence whereas they don’t seem to at the moment, not significantly. Most top teams needs something unpredictable which is why not finding a way to keep Clarke on the roster last year was their biggest mistake IMO.

 

[bland]

The additions in the summer of 2017 do NOT support the claim Blake meant the Kings were contenders. The highest paid addition was Cammi at 1 mil/1 year, with a possible 200k bonus that was not met, after he had been bought out that off-season. The next highest paid guys were a college free agent, Iafallo, and a North American rookie, Fantenberg, at 925k. Folin and Kuemper made even less and had about 200 NHL games between them. The lack of depth led to Brooks Laich not only getting a tryout, but eventually a 650k contract. These aren't the moves a team makes if they expect to go from 8 points outside the playoffs to contending in a few months. It looks more like a team that was set up to sell players at the deadline if/when the team struggled due to the cheap one year deals.

No, total opposite.

Instead of using the opportunity for a clean slate and having a come to Jesus meeting with the fans to show that the only way forward was to break it down, Blake squeezed every available cent of the cap to bring in vets to win immediately. There was no money to bring in anyone substantial until the summer they had room for one swing and spent it all on Kovalchuk.

Blake has done absolutely nothing but tread water in his time as GM. Muzzin was the first step of the rebuild because his contract was ending the next year and there was no way to retain him. If he had a year or two left, no, I don't think the rebuild would have started at that point.

 

[Magicman]

BLuc didn’t lie when they stood up in public with Beckerman and claim the team was a couple of tweaks away from being a champion again. They 100% believed and meant what they said. Which is great.

But anyone not on the payroll was right to be skeptical based on zero collective track record of success and less than zero time spent on scheduling candidates for interviews.

To think that Blake speaks in coded language to give political cover to his pathetic record of actions is truly drinking the deepest purple shade of koolaid.

To me it really doesn't matter in any case.

Whether it was PR to keep folks in the seats while they stockpiled for a rebuild down the road, or treaded water hoping to squeeze another run out of the "core" or they truly believed their statement when Lombardi was fired.

"But with that level of accomplishment comes high expectations and we have not met those expectations for the last three seasons. With the core players we have in place, we should be contending each year for the Stanley Cup. Our failure to meet these goals has led us to this change."

In any case they have failed across the board. What small strides forward have been met with large strides back. I know some will point to, hey look second most wins ever and second most points ever...

The odds are stacked against the Kings if Kopitar and Doughty continue to be 1C and 1D. This is not a knock against them, but they are aging and nobody really believes they will magically turn 27 again.

I don't see Byfield with a 60+ point improvement nor do I see any other player making a giant leap either. This leaves the Kings, IMO, basically being the same team as last year, hoping to make the playoffs with Doughty logging 25+ minutes and Kopitar logging 20+ minutes.

This I believe is not a recipe for success.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

No, total opposite.

Instead of using the opportunity for a clean slate and having a come to Jesus meeting with the fans to show that the only way forward was to break it down, Blake squeezed every available cent of the cap to bring in vets to win immediately. There was no money to bring in anyone substantial until the summer they had room for one swing and spent it all on Kovalchuk.

Blake has done absolutely nothing but tread water in his time as GM. Muzzin was the first step of the rebuild because his contract was ending the next year and there was no way to retain him. If he had a year or two left, no, I don't think the rebuild would have started at that point.

I hope you all have a great day and fantastic weekend…try not to spend too much time crying over what Blake did 6 years ago.

 

[johnjm22]

Blake's approach when he got here was "Let's wait and see" and in the mean time start retaining picks/prospects again.

You can argue that was the incorrect approach, but it certainly wasn't the 'go all in, we're a contender!' approach people are trying to imply it was.

At Blake's introductory presser, he was just giving the PC answer.

Up until this year, I've been mostly okay with Blake.

 

[Schrute farms]

Blake's plan from Day 1 has been no plan at all. It's been wait & see, reactionary, deal with things as they come, etc. He's Mr. No Plan. So how can you have an opinion on his Plan when there is no plan to take fault with and/or praise.

All i ask of the team's that i root for is that they have a plan (both ST & LT). Whether that plan fails or succeeds ultimately does not matter (besides my enjoyment of such) when it comes to evaluating them. Have a Plan is all i ask. The worst is a GM/FO that has no plan at all and is basically a boat aimlessly float with the tides in the ocean.

 

[bland]

I hope you all have a great day and fantastic weekend…try not to spend too much time crying over what Blake did 6 years ago.

 

[Lt Dan]

Seattle had a franchise player?

Matty Beniers Stats And News

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They have one

 

[Kudelski37]

No, total opposite.

Instead of using the opportunity for a clean slate and having a come to Jesus meeting with the fans to show that the only way forward was to break it down, Blake squeezed every available cent of the cap to bring in vets to win immediately. There was no money to bring in anyone substantial until the summer they had room for one swing and spent it all on Kovalchuk.

Blake has done absolutely nothing but tread water in his time as GM. Muzzin was the first step of the rebuild because his contract was ending the next year and there was no way to retain him. If he had a year or two left, no, I don't think the rebuild would have started at that point.

The Kings were 4.4 mil under the cap on opening night, not at the cap. They simply filled roster spots with cheap players. They added a couple of rookies, a couple of mid-20s year olds with ~100 games spread over a few seasons , and a couple of guys trying to stay in the league that the Kings got rid in November 2017. If they blew up the roster, they would have brought in similar if not the same players.

This looks like the guy that is tired of his girlfriend and is doing everything to have her dump him. I think Blake was trying to get the 2018-2019 results in 2017-2018 to force ownership to allow a rebuild, but the cup core and Kempe spoiled his plan.

 

[Lt Dan]

Kings Offseason: What Will the Pending Free Agents Sign For?

It’s going to be a tricky summer for Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake, he has to find a way to improve this team with limited cap space and big free agents to re-sign. Step one is making a decision on those free agents and fitting them all into $7.85 million of cap space. […]

lahockeynow.com

 

[Telos]

Kings Offseason: What Will the Pending Free Agents Sign For?

It’s going to be a tricky summer for Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake, he has to find a way to improve this team with limited cap space and big free agents to re-sign. Step one is making a decision on those free agents and fitting them all into $7.85 million of cap space. […]

lahockeynow.com

Really good article. Pretty much the exact situation with likely numbers. It is going to be up to Blake. This is the season where he either earns his pay or should be shown the door, IMO. Hell, if I were running things at AEG I would have already fired him and TMac, and then hired Dubas

 

[Reaper45]

1) I don't know who "Sol" is, but I used to have an anonymous FB account named "Solomon Grundy" until FB cracked down on anonymous accounts 5-6 years ago & took it away.

2) This reminds me of the time 15-16ish years ago when some guy on Letsgokings.com assumed I was a poster named "Chawdran (sp)" .....I was not then and am not now.......

Chadrawn

 

[YP44]

Blake's approach when he got here was "Let's wait and see" and in the in the mean time start retaining picks/prospects again.

You can argue that was the incorrect approach, but it certainly wasn't the 'go all in, we're a contender!' approach people are trying to imply it was.

At Blake's introductory presser, he was just giving the PC answer.

Up until this year, I've been mostly okay with Blake.

I want to hate Blake, but i have been ok with most of his moves to. Every GM will have a couple that do not work .