They also forget that if they won the last game of the regular season they're 3rd in the conference.
Speculation: LA Kings Offseason Thread
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- May 9, 2014
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He’s what still 20 yrs old, has missed serious playing time with illness and injury whilst only being played with suitably skilled line mates since January. I’m not worried yet but he needs to take a big step this year. I still think he can be a 1C.
Oh s**t wait you're right, actually.
The main point of my post was just....... There is a certain level of randomness to playoff success at the end of the day. Amazing teams lose. Teams that look mediocre win. Yes you have to build your team to be as strong as possible and yes 'just sneaking in' is never good enough.
My point was there's a certain level of, 'wellllllll hopefully it all comes together' when going no playoff runs. Vegas couldn't have possibly known going into the playoffs: 'yeah our goaltending is going to be great... We have Adin Hill to lead us to the cup'..... They were probably moreso thinking 'wellllllllll hopefully one of these guys catches fire' and then were lucky enough that Hill did.
Even being $14 million over the cap and a 'true cup contender'... Vegas doesn't win jack if they don't randomly have a mediocre goalie get hot. So yeah.... There's some randomness and luck involved in addition to yeah, building the best team you can.
bmr
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- Jan 23, 2013
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If the 2012 team faced the 2014 team, which do you think would have fared better in a series?
What are you talking about? Florida won the Presidents Trophy last year. They were not a bad team at all. Statistically what the Kings did does not happen in the NHL and still does not happen in the NHL. Vancouver was just as hot coming into the playoffs.
All The Kings Men
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- Apr 7, 2016
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2012 without a doubt. The best Quick. The best Brown. The best Richards.
SettlementRichie10
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- May 6, 2012
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No clue. It would be a hard fought series. 2012 team had a virtually perfect blueline 1-6, and Richards still playing at a high level. 2014 had resurrected Gaborik, and insane depth at forward. Tough to say.
When did I say Florida was a bad team?
bland
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- Jul 1, 2004
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No, it isn't.
And it was a terrible idea to trade for Eichel. So bad, in fact, that I am still surprised that Blake didn't do it.
The best path was a slow, nurturing rebuild with focus on developing the high picks for prime roles at the cost of immediate success - especially since they weren't going to be winning anything anyway.
Problem was impatience from management, not the quality of the kids drafted. No way in hell do you trade Byfield for a B-lister like Dubois.
Absolute nonsense.
The rebuild has essentially already failed. Byfield isn't going to save this team in a few years, and he's not helping anything now. If he becomes a 60 pt all situation type center like Dubois I'd be shocked.
The best course of action is to go all in with what's left of Kopitar/Doughty/Danault/Kempe/Fiala.
Lt Dan
F*** your ice cream!
Vote4Lubo
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No Name The Nameless
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If I hear this parroted one more time…
Byfield just doesn’t show it. No matter the age, you always see something out of young players that make you say, “he just needs time”. Byfield doesn’t need time. He needs a lobotomy.
Then he will be awarded $10 mill like the other 60+ point center we got in recent history
SettlementRichie10
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- May 6, 2012
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Sad but 100% true.
We all have such whiplash from Blake’s pitiful attempt at a “rebuild” we may as well have kept players like Martinez all along. A shot blocking veteran LHD was exactly what the team needed this year.
lol, all in with the core that has proven that they don't have what it takes?
That sounds great
We must watch different games, Byfield shows great speed, dangling and playmaking skills.
Surely not on a constant base yet. but it will come
Well that's completely false, or you didn't watch him last year....
Herby
How could Blake have known?
They are one year apart and some Kings media people are acting like Vilardi is 18 and PLD is 25.
I am not really for trading for PLD, but he has scored 60+ points three times in the NHL. Even had Vilardi stayed healthy last year his projection was 53 points over 82, PLD's projection was 71 points over 82. That is a pretty big difference. And there is less concern about "career year" because PLD has done it multiple times and did not have a shooting% 3.5 points higher than career average.
And on the Yanetti interview, these guys are so funny, talking about how any single year is so important for player development (they are right!), meanwhile this is the same organization that completely butchered the development path of Turcotte and Byfield. There was a clear and easy path for both and they chose the Kings way, then he goes on podcasts and says how important one year can be, really buddy? No shit. But ofcourse, unchallenged by Pravda, just like with the Glen Murray comments last summer.
Yannetti is my favorite interview of the year though, he is the type of guy who could con you out of money, and then when you go to his house to beat the crap out of him, he talks you into a new investment project and you write him a check and leave. It's something else, the guy is one of the best talkers I've ever heard in the sports industry, where that is usually frowned upon.
You know when the fact is pointed out "Byfield has been the least productive Top 3 pick since 2007" that the 36 other players he is being compared to were also 18-19-20. It's not some impossibility for players age 18, 19, 20 to produce in the NHL, especially ones taken 2OA.
Herby
How could Blake have known?
You know I agree with you about what they should have done from the start, but there are some reaches here.
The slow rebuild went out the window when Danault and VA were brought in. It took eons for people to finally realize it, but I think we all agree that was the case.
I would have agreed with you that trading for Eichel was a mistake if they had stuck with the more traditional rebuild, but they didn't. Their committed goal was to try and win again before 11 and 8 were retired, they were presented with a unique opportunity to trade for a player who would have given them 3 playoff runs with Kopitar still under contract to the Kings and they passed on it.
As far as the quality of the kids, come on man, look at what Turcotte and Byfield have done since being drafted. You really think those were going to be the type of players to be the stars of the next generation? They had a fork in the road when they realized those were underwhelming picks, they could have tried to bring in veterans to play the roles expected of the kids and double down on winning with 11 and 8 or they could have done a complete rebuild. Once they committed to the trade for veterans strategy they should have just been all-in when a unicorn ended up on the trade market. They didn't, lost in round 1 and then traded a stud prospect for a player much less impactful than the one they passed on 8 months before.
johnjm22
Pseudo Intellectual
- Aug 2, 2005
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Swapping out PLD for Vilardi would be a minimal upgrade, if at all. Perhaps a downgrade. And Vilardi's cap hit would likely be about half of PLD's also.
The reason PLD's point rate was higher, is because of the PP and total TOI/G. Gabe's P/60 was 2.28, PLD's was 1.78.
PLD was 8th in P/60 on his own team.
On top of that, Vilardi's net penalties is fantastic, while PLD is a net negative.
AND Vilardi is better defensively. By a wide margin.
If Blake attempts to trade Gabe for PLD he should be fired immediately.
Herby
How could Blake have known?
Your PP points are valid. But you should also point out that Vilardi typically draws much easier checking matchups than PLD, who is frequently facing the other teams checkers. Todd splitting up Fiala and Kopitar was smart because it allowed Fiala (and Vilardi) to get easier matchups.
deaderhead28
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- Jul 3, 2010
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I don't hate Byfield, but I would trade him for the right deal cause I don't think he pans out close to Kopitar or a 1st line center.
bland
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- Jul 1, 2004
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Yeah, but those player reputations aren't shared by the organization that is hell bent on a slow boil plan.
And besides, Eichel really isn't THAT special of a player. He is damn good, but he isn't carrying the load for Vegas - he is allowed to just play his game surrounded by quality players in a well coached system who are all pulling in the same direction.
Eichel wouldn't have moved the needle here, just like Fiala didn't move it last year. The Kings problems aren't a lack of quality players, it the lack of on-ice leadership, a lack of passion, a lack of size and grit along the wings and defense, mediocre goaltending, and piss-poor coaching. Eichel doesn't change ANY of that. The Kings would be the exact same team they were last year, just with Eichel in place of Fiala - a bubble playoff team with no ability to rise up further.
So no, it would not have been a good idea to acquire him. The team has major infrastructure deficiencies that won't be offset by bringing in name players. They need to rid themselves of the Cup aspirations by severing ties with older players, draft and develop more than just two types of player, and invest more time than cap space to establish a new foundation. Nothing will change here until they take a step back.
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