Speculation: LAK GM Search

[Raccoon Jesus]

Brad Holland hasn’t been with the Oilers for a year, but if the Kings do bring him in, I don’t think it’s the worst thing. Most Oilers fans had a favourable opinion of him. It’s been mentioned in this thread already, but he was more analytically driven and had some good insights on key signings and trades. Optics are obviously not good, but he’s probably a good person to have in the FO.

I actually don't hate him, it's just the optics--especially becasue that's what keeps happening around here, bring your cronies.

How much do you want to bet he's the AGM getting groomed though

 

[BigBrown]

Looking at the bright side, I suspect Holland should be strong willed and experienced enough to shut down some of the dumb ideas that could come from Luc. A rookie GM might not have the balls to say no to the boss.

On the other hand I'm not sure I trust his judgement.

 

[Lt Dan]

I actually don't hate him, it's just the optics--especially becasue that's what keeps happening around here, bring your cronies.

How much do you want to bet he's the AGM getting groomed though

100%

 

[Statto]

I get bringing in someone you are comfortable with, especially if you might be next on the block. However Holland’s recent record makes him a highly questionable choice. That’s as enthusiastic as I can be currently.

I’ll judge an GM on what they actually do but I’m worried.

 

[Statto]

I actually don't hate him, it's just the optics--especially becasue that's what keeps happening around here, bring your cronies.

How much do you want to bet he's the AGM getting groomed though

I think I’d be less worried if he got the job instead of his old man.

 

[GameNight]

I'm gonna try and be positive here! I'm looking at this Holland hire as a hail mary for Luc and his future with the organization. NOT a long term thing, but a last ditch attempt.

Say what you will about what Holland recently did in Edmonton, I don't disagree. However- did he not outfit the Oilers with a group of bastards to support McDrai? What did DL say about what every army needs?

2001: Holland signed UFA Luc in Detroit. Nearly 25 years later, Luc returns the favor. Beautiful. I think this time Luc ends up taking his GM's advice, rather than the way things were between He, Bergevin and Blake. Luc and Kenny did win the Cup the first time around, and Luc even came back to LA for his day with the Cup.

Hiller, being a graduate of Babcock College, as were McLellan, Woodcroft, and DJ -well, let's just say we know what Holland thinks of Babcock Babs. Jeff Blashill incoming. HELL, maybe even Bill Peters! WHAT the HELL, bring Babs himself! Luc and Ken be like, I can't believe Anaheim passed on all these!

I have no doubts they will be working on convincing Kopi to stick around beyond this season, and with the skates still on.

Enjoy the show and kiss those draft picks goodbye!

 

[North]

So cool we get to hear from all the oilers fans today. What a treat.

Yes. We all know he sucks. Thanks for stopping by.

I’m an Oilers fan but he didn’t completely suck.

When Chiarelli was kicked to the curb, he left us with very little in the way of NHL depth.

Holland came in and built up our NHL depth and made us a playoff contender.

Were there mistakes? Yes.

Nurse extension, Jack Campbell, salary cap issues (those were mainly inherited from Chiarelli but Holland didn’t really handle it well either).

He never did solve our goaltending issues.

Having said that, he did a lot more good than bad for us.

 

[doguitar]

Holland is concerning to me. I'm not nearly as invested of a fan as I used to be and this move has the potential to make me check out.

I wasn't nearly as negative about Blake as the rest of this board and with Blake choosing to leave what is probably the most sought after job in Hockey then Luc replacing him with Holland, I'm now completely convinced that Blake was a good GM handcuffed by Luc.

I'll hope for the best but this off-season is has the potential to be a turning point in my fandom.

Holland also had the worst team in the league from a GF% when 97/29 were not on the ice for 3/5 years.

Were you comparing that to other teams without their top two players on the ice?

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Blake's downfall was thinking that some players he thought were going to contribute didn't and he squandered a lot of draft choices in the mix of bad trades and FA signings plus development sucked and approach to development...Not sure if Holland is the answer...can the Kings revive the Ghost of Jake Milford minus the 1st round give aways...Kings don't need Sam McMaster and Blake type GM's...

 

[MonkeysUncle]

Holland is concerning to me. I'm not nearly as invested of a fan as I used to be and this move has the potential to make me check out.

I wasn't nearly as negative about Blake as the rest of this board and with Blake choosing to leave what is probably the most sought after job in Hockey then Luc replacing him with Holland, I'm now completely convinced that Blake was a good GM handcuffed by Luc.

I'll hope for the best but this off-season is has the potential to be a turning point in my fandom.



Were you comparing that to other teams without their top two players on the ice?

That's all we can do is hope for the best, but if there is bright side if it fails. I guess Lucs gone and they'll clean out all upper management. I am intrigued as he seemed to get the Oilers to another level, of course 97 helps, but didnt seem to be getting to the next level and hopefully he learned from that Nurse contract and walks away from Gavrikov. Heck 65% of that contract could go towards Marner
I hope he goes the trade Routw for Left D

 

[Herby]

It never really mattered who he hired, people are gonna bitch about everything.....

And you'll be there defending every thing Robitaille does, just as you defended all of Blake's bizarre moves that nobody else in the league would have made.

The team has not won a playoff series or a division title in eight years under the leadership of Robitaille, perhaps the complainers were right?

Now that Blake is gone from the organization can we get an honest assessment of these moves.

1. Byfield in the AHL at 18?
2. Turcotte in the AHL at 19?
3. Clarke's handling in age 19 and 20 seasons?
4. Not making the trade for Eichel?
5. Making the trade for PLD?
6. Making the trade for Fiala?
7. Letting Roy walk for nothing
8. Letting Gavrikov hit UFA and probably the same result as Roy

It's not surprising at all that this team hasn't won anything under these guys, but I guess it's just people complaining about everything.

Maybe people wouldn't "complain about everything" if the team did something like win a playoff series. (3rd longest drought in the NHL)

 

[chris kontos]

Why not bring in a LLM?
That way we can evolve the team into being a groundbreaking organization that has eliminated human input (except for players of course) and reduced the game of hockey to numerical judgements based on statistical trends. Think of the cost savings! We could progress further having games played by holographic representations of players playing hockey projected on to an extremely fine mist of water thus eliminating the pesky players, thier salaries, injuries and all the rest of thier tiresome antics.
Numbers are the answer. Its futile to resist.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

And you'll be there defending every thing Robitaille does, just as you defended all of Blake's bizarre moves that nobody else in the league would have made.

The team has not won a playoff series or a division title in eight years under the leadership of Robitaille, perhaps the complainers were right?

Actually....it's WAY more 'bizarre' to shit on absolutely anything and everything the org (that you are supposedly a fan of) does.

It would make WAY more sense to me if you just came out and said you hated the team, I would have so much more respect for you.

 

[Herby]

Actually....it's WAY more 'bizarre' to shit on absolutely anything and everything the org (that you are supposedly a fan of) does.

It would make WAY more sense to me if you just came out and said you hated the team, I would have so much more respect for you.

Almost as bizarre as calling the job Rob Blake did as GM a "Master-class" and saying how a season that ended with two playoff wins was a historical season.

Once again, what under the leadership of Robitaille am I supposed to be excited about?

Zero playoff series wins
Zero division titles
Zero star players drafted and developed

But yeah, people are just complaining for the sake of complaining.

BTW is under 75 words short enough for you? If not, I can write my next post in crayon to bring it down to your level. Lmk.

 

[kingsfan28]

That's all we can do is hope for the best, but if there is bright side if it fails. I guess Lucs gone and they'll clean out all upper management. I am intrigued as he seemed to get the Oilers to another level, of course 97 helps, but didnt seem to be getting to the next level and hopefully he learned from that Nurse contract and walks away from Gavrikov. Heck 65% of that contract could go towards Marner
I hope he goes the trade Routw for Left D

Do you remember how hard it was to find a really good LHD? 10 years until they got Gav. He's not going anywhere, and it would be totally insane to trade high end assets to replace him because you let him walk. Good LHD's are the hardest thing to find.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

I would do Marner and Ekblad.

With the Cap going up the Kings have 13.9 M give or take for raises to Gavrikov,Kuz and Laf...Kings paid Gav 5.8 M,Kuz 2.7 M and Laf was on ELC contract...they all deserve raises...the way I figure Gav deserves at least 9 M Kuz up to 7.0 M and Laf 3.0...those raises plus non signings of most current UFA's eats at least 10.5 M of the Cap of 13.9 available more or less...no to Marner and Ekblad they are going both be North of 10 M each and yes to Gavrikov,Kuzmenko and Lafferriere leaving some money to play with...how about Kubalik or some other Russian...Raid the Devils...give Chromiak a chance...

 

[Herby]

Do you remember how hard it was to find a really good LHD? 10 years until they got Gav. He's not going anywhere, and it would be totally insane to trade high end assets to replace him because you let him walk. Good LHD's are the hardest thing to find.

What if he wants to play in the Northeast (which a lot of Russians seem to prefer) or wants to play for a contender?

The original contract never made sense (what a shock), now it's either let him walk or you give him his retirement contract up until he's 36 or 37.

 

[chris kontos]

I think any change from the devil's trinity of luc burgerbin and blake is positive. Its well accepted that luc and burger dont know shit. My opinion was that blake had the hell manipulated out of him by those other two and was really never his own man/gm.
If nothing else, maybe holland can create enough palace discord and infighting that somehow an adult from aeg will step in and burn it down to the ground and change the mission from retirement security to winning a cup.

 

[kingsfan28]

What if he wants to play in the Northeast (which a lot of Russians seem to prefer) or wants to play for a contender?

The original contract never made sense (what a shock), now it's either let him walk or you give him his retirement contract up until he's 36 or 37.

So what if he's 36 when he retires. What if his family loves it here, like his wife and kids, which from I heard is true . He decides to stay, you pay him market value, especially with the cap going up and the team doesn't spend another decade finding his replacement. His would be the one contract I'd be willing to pay for.

 

[foshizzle]

Holland is concerning to me. I'm not nearly as invested of a fan as I used to be and this move has the potential to make me check out.

I wasn't nearly as negative about Blake as the rest of this board and with Blake choosing to leave what is probably the most sought after job in Hockey then Luc replacing him with Holland, I'm now completely convinced that Blake was a good GM handcuffed by Luc.

I'll hope for the best but this off-season is has the potential to be a turning point in my fandom.



Were you comparing that to other teams without their top two players on the ice?

Yeah.

I think the article was on OilersNation- but the premise was based on reliance of the top 2 scorers and ranked teams on GF%. Holland was also horrible with cap management.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The only realistic way to make me happy at this point...and it won't be this year

Hire Holland, bring on Janko or Darche as AGM with the intention of grooming them for 1-2 years out
Kick Robitaille out of president of hockey ops and send him to business ops solely
Take your ill advised stupid swing at the Kopitar farewell tour, but without giving up futures
Kopi Retires, Holland retires, turns club over to AGM Janko, new president of hockey ops can be whoever he works well with
Be transparent that the above is actually the vision and not something we're stumbling into as the visioon changes every 2 years

In other words not bloody likely

 

[Johnny Utah]

My moves:

-Make a pitch at Marner - he has ties to Hiller and DJ Smith and LA is not the Toronto market that torments him.
-If Marner doesn't bite, sign Brad Marchand or Jamie Benn to a 1-2 year deal. This is a typical Holland move. Kings went hard after Marchand and Benn spends summers in LA - I've seen him 3X in the past few years here. The Kings need some grit in the top 9.
-Let Gavy walk and sign Aaron Ekblad. Bigger and more offensive.
-Russell Morgan suggested trading Spence for Vince Dunn - that would shake things up. He also suggested the Kings signing Roslovic.
-Re-Sign Jeannot.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

So what if he's 36 when he retires. What if his family loves it here, like his wife and kids, which from I heard is true . He decides to stay, you pay him market value, especially with the cap going up and the team doesn't spend another decade finding his replacement. His would be the one contract I'd be willing to pay for.

Agreed we’re going to sign him to a dumb deal. That’s baked in.

We’re probably going to trade 2 of the following guys.

Edmundson (3.85)
Fiala (7 million)
Spence (1.5)
Moore (4.5)


Expect Holland to bring in guys like Tuch, rakell, Bennett. I’d be very surprised if Marner signs here, but we’re looking at 10-12 aav and 7 years. We’re going to be right at the cap and it’s going to be an old club. Maybe Doughty goes on IR to start the season for cap relief. Who knows.

 

[chris kontos]

Jack roslovic is exactly the kind of plsyer the kings dont need. Russelmorgan should become his agent if he likes him that much

 

[King'sPawn]

I will say, if Emerson is moved to another position, that gives me hope. It shows a willingness to deviate from the status quo, and an interest in bringing in better qualified and capable personnel.

Ken Holland's not a first choice, but if he brings in extra, I welcome the change.

Also important to note that Ken Holland's brother has been a scout for Dallas for the past 20 years, so he also has ties to Janko. Not saying he'll bring him in for certain, but if the plan is to transition him to be the next GM in a year or two, it might be a good sell.

Another reason not to be disappointed with the Kings not bringing Janko right away: Dallas is still in the playoffs. They may contend for the cup. Since the Cup final will end 1-2 weeks before the draft and free agency, the Kings can't wait that long to see if someone will become available.

I don't know if that's the plan, and I don't want to give false hope. But if the Kings didn't expect Blake to quit, getting a short-term GM like Holland while the playoffs are ongoing isn't the worst thing to happen, provided they have something bigger in mind.