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Speculation: LA Kings Offseason Thread

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Sol said:
I might be biased but I see some Holmstrom traits with Vilardi. Amazing close to the net, hard to move, high hockey sense, and great hands. I wouldn’t personally trade a player like that when they’re so uncommon. You need a player like that that’s lethal in front of the goal. Vilardi can make any shot turn into a high probability rebound goal. That’s unique to me.

That’s why I said that I think if we were to choose the players that really drive the Kings in terms of offense I’d choose Vilardi and Fiala. No one else on this team is as good at creating something out of nothing.
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Vilardi, Fiala and Kempe are the most dynamic scorers on the team. Vilardi definitely has some Holmstrom in him, but I think definitely a higher ceiling on the offensive end.

lumbergh said:
Agreed. I think Lizotte is a really good 4th line center and together with Iafallo can really be 2/3 of a highly effective possession line and an excellent penalty killing pair.

I'm on the fence about whether to keep Grundstrom. He can bring the physicality to the forecheck, but doesn't bring the consistency. Kupari is faster than Grundstrom and has a higher ceiling, but hasn't put a decent season together yet.
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Hoping Kupari can embrace that role, because he is fast and can have a great forecheck (and score). I'm on the fence with Grundstrom as well. I think we need to think about some complementary players on that 4th line that could also fill in other places.
 
YP44 said:
wonder how serious of an offer Blake through out there.
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I'd assume it was a similar situation to Chychrun where Blake wasn't going to trade Byfield or Clarke, regardless of the other picks/players involved (difference being that Nashville was ok taking NHLers with cap back as they did with Barrie). Can't imagine there was a scenario without them wanting Byfield or Clarke.

FSL KINGS said:
Cause Blake calling about Ekholm wouldn't have asked Nashville if they had a goalie they were moving?

I'll check again, but don't think there's enough cap for Gavrikov Vilardi & a 23 man roster or paying a goalie much over 1 mill. Something else needs to happen.

3C, could just fill with Lizotte or Byfield. Getting Todd an center he can trust might help keep Kopi's time down during the season to not wear him out.

Hellebuyck: was creeping on the WPG section & they think he is wearing out playing 60 games a season & slipping a bit in the playoffs. Seems like a good fit. WPG is looking for players & not picks.
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Afaik you're right on the cap front. I have to imagine Durzi and/or one of Iafallo/Arvidsson end up being moved to open more cap space for some improved toughness and a 1A goalie. Winnipeg def over worked Helle, give him 50-55 games and a lower shots against per game and they're probably right about avoiding a wear out
 
Schmooley said:
People say this kind of stuff and its false. Ekholm didnt return a player like Byfield or Clarke. Chychrun didnt. Eichel didnt.
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Just because they didn't end up getting it, that doesn't mean it's false to assume that's what was being asked for (and for Nashville, it would've been Saros+Ekholm, not just Ekholm). Plus, Arizona had waited too long on Chychrun and avoided taking on any cash back, and Buffalo was dealing with an injured player who wanted out, and still got a great prospect in Krebs
 
kinghock said:
Kassian, Lucic or Reaves is not what Kings need.
Carson Soucy or Zadorov are.
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The kings definitely need someone to play real heavy and drop the gloves if need be.. Lucic would be perfect for the bottom line and Soucy as the 3rd pair would be ideal
 
kings11 said:
The kings definitely need someone to play real heavy and drop the gloves if need be.. Lucic would be perfect for the bottom line and Soucy as the 3rd pair would be ideal
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The Oilers outskilled and outrun us.
How Lucic will help here is far beyond me

We are beaten easily because we have aging vets.
Adding Lucic to that will make it worse
 
Kurrilino said:
The Oilers outskilled and outrun us.
How Lucic will help here is far beyond me

We are beaten easily because we have aging vets.
Adding Lucic to that will make it worse
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They outhit us and played a physical style that has been this teams weakness.. let me guess, you’d add smaller, more offensive minded players?? No right, we need size, grit and toughness.
You know, the kid of toughness and physical that helped the VGK beat the oilers..
 
Kings need to look at the following players for the 3rd pair LHD to play with either Durzi or Spence. Let's assume Clarke starts in the AHL...

Dillon
Logan Stanley
Nick Seeler
Nathan Beaulieu

I think a forward the Kings will look hard at especially if the Wild sign Reaves is Foligno. The Wild need scoring. I would also look at Reaves, Lucic and Kassian. Especially Reaves. I would love to see Byfield and Reaves together and he's cheaper than the other two.
 
Johnny Utah said:
Kings need to look at the following players for the 3rd pair LHD to play with either Durzi or Spence. Let's assume Clarke starts in the AHL...

Dillon
Logan Stanley
Nick Seeler
Nathan Beaulieu

I think a forward the Kings will look hard at especially if the Wild sign Reaves is Foligno. The Wild need scoring. I would also look at Reaves, Lucic and Kassian. Especially Reaves. I would love to see Byfield and Reaves together and he's cheaper than the other two.
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I’ve been advocating for Dillion the past 3 years and all everyone says is that he’s too old for a rebuilding team.. I think rebuilding has gone out the window
 
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I think if byfield doesn’t take a big step forward this year than the Kings should trade by January imo before his value plummets any more.
 
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kings11 said:
They outhit us and played a physical style that has been this teams weakness.. let me guess, you’d add smaller, more offensive minded players?? No right, we need size, grit and toughness.
You know, the kid of toughness and physical that helped the VGK beat the oilers..
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Nope i want size and speed.
 
I like Dillon a lot - he was on the list of players who bullied the Kings this year and that wasn't just me - that was straight out of Alex Faust's mouth.

Tkachuk, Cogliano, Nurse, Zadarov, Dillon - the list is long...
 
Also, I hope Blake doesn't overpay for Saros or Hellebuyck -

Vegas has 5 goalies - one will likely retire because of injury and bankruptsy (Lehner) - Thompson is their future and under contract, so they will sign one of the UFA's - Hill, Quick or Brossoit - so two of those guys will walk. There are a lot of other names of goalies who will make 1.5 to 3 million, I would go for one of those.
 
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Sol said:
I think if byfield doesn’t take a big step forward this year than the Kings should trade by January imo before his value plummets any more.
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I mean, at that point, I don't think you'd get anything back for him other than a mid-late draft pick. You might as well keep him and see if he pans out by age 23-24 then dump him at 20-21. They turned down Jack Eichel to keep him. Might as well keep rolling the dice till the end, imo.
 
Last edited:
With Petersen and Walker gone and Gavrikov re-signed, we can check a couple boxes off our offseason to-do list.

From here, I'd propose the following:
1. Re-sign Korpisalo or sign a relatively cheap UFA goalie (Varlamov on a 2 year sub $3 million deal please)
2. Re-sign Vilardi to a 3 year, $4-$5 million bridge deal
3. Add size/toughness to 4th line or bottom d pair
4. Re-sign remaining RFAs

It might be hard/impossible to accomplish all 4 of these things with the current cap situation so I'd explore some trades in the process. To me, the 4 items above are more important than keeping all 3 of Iafallo, Moore, and Arvidsson. So I'd explore trade options on those guys and see if you can't re-coup some picks/prospects while also freeing up more cap and opening up a top 9 winger spot in the lineup. I'd also obviously dish Durzi - Hopefully receiving at least a decent pick/prospect in return.

If they dish one of AI/RV/Moore and Durzi... They should have enough cap to accomplish all 4 remaining to-do list items mentioned above and go into next season with a pretty sick squad.

Arvidsson - Kopitar - Kempe
Moore - Danault - Kaliyev
Fiala - Byfield - Vilardi
Grundstrom - Lizotte - Reaves
Extras: Turcotte, Kupari or JAD

Anderson - Doughty
Gavrikov - Clarke
Moverare - Roy
Bjornfot

Varlamov
Copley

Idk about you guys. But I'd be pretty damn content with that kind of roster going into opening day.
 
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If Blake manages to move Durzi and keep all three of Iafallo/Arvidsson/Moore, I will gladly give him his flowers.

Shoring up LHD, clearing RHD logjams, and clearing cap were three of an arguable four top priorities for the offseason, and so far Blake has addressed all three.
 
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If we have to move one of Moore or Iafallo I would love to bring back Lucic for the toughness on a cheap 1 year deal to play 3rd or 4th line wing. Flame away.
 
There were three "bad" contracts going into the offseason (Petersen, Walker, Moore). They couldn't trade Moore as the just signed him as the "hometown guy" to an overpriced contract. But moved the other two which is a win in my book. They got their LHD defenseman signed (Gavrikov). They can move Durzi, Lizotte, and Grundstrum for more cap to sign a goalie but doubt they will do that. Or they move one of Iafallo/Arvidsson.

Iafallo--Kopitar--Kempe
Moore--Danault--Arvidsson
Fiala--Byfield--Vilardi
Kupari--JAD--Kaliyev
Fagemo

Anderson--Doughty
Gavrikov--Clarke
Bjornfot--Roy
Moverare

Copley
XXX

I don't see a way to get bigger/tougher to play against if they don't move Iafallo and Arvidsson and give the kids the spots.

I would move all of Iafallo, Arvidsson, Durzi, Grundstrum, Lizotte to revamp the bottom 6 and put the team in the kids hands.

Found out what Florida wants for Knight and pick up some big boys for the 4th line. Sign guys like Bjugstad, Khaira, Ritchie, Austin Watson, Mikkola. Maybe even trade for Zadorov.

Kempe--Kopitar--Vilardi
Moore--Danault--Kupari
Fiala--Byfield--Kaliyev
Ritchie--Bjugstad--JAD
Fagemo, Watson

Anderson--Doughty
Gavrikov--Clarke
Mikkola--Roy
Bjornfot

Knight
Copley
 
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