Lucic and Kings begin extension talks

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
Would honestly rather see this money spent on a legit top 4 Dman, its a way more important position than a left winger, even of Lucic's caliber.

Given the history of being able to bring to free agents to LA, and the lack of pieces they have to acquire a player in the off-season when the competition is greater, I don't see them being to acquire a defenseman unless it's someone who has already been in LA for some amount of time, maybe retaining whoever they get before Monday, if it's someone like Hamhuis.
 
Would honestly rather see this money spent on a legit top 4 Dman, its a way more important position than a left winger, even of Lucic's caliber.

Would rather see Lucic resigned and some other wingers money spent on a top 4D.
 
I just want to know how DL is going to work this out.
I really want him signed but man it's going to be hard with the cap.

Scuds and Vinny retire. If Greene comes back he's dealt in the offseason. Nolan won't be ready for the start of next season, and if he is it's either him or Clifford getting dealt because he's expensive on the 4th line. Lewis walks.

Toffoli - Kopitar - Pearson
Lucic - Carter - Gaborik
Brown - Shore - King
Clifford/Nolan - Dowd - Mersch

Doughty - Muzzin
Martinez - McNabb
Forbort - Schenn
Gravel

Quick - Budaj

Not pretty but it'll have to do, and even then I don't know if it works money wise. If it doesn't you can always look at moving Martinez (which aint pretty with all of the d men below him) or one of Brown/Gaborik (which will make the roster even uglier).
 
There's no reason or pressing need to make hopeful assumptions that Scuds is going to vanish. I reserve all that energy for Greene.

Keep Brown, and you can afford Lucic. Trade and retain on Brown, you can keep Lucic and Schenn. Buyout Brown, you can keep Lucic, Schenn, and a reasonable Lewis, and look hopefully to a rising cap in 2-3 years. Or just jettison Lewis and say "By Grapthar's hammer, what a savings," and have no trouble giving every RFA their bump.
 
it's actually kind of interesting that we see vastly different perspectives from the guys that come through.

Ehrhoff didn't seem particularly thrilled about his time here, and Sekera obviously didn't like it enough to stay either despite a relatively comparable offer by most accounts.

Then you have guys like Vinny and Lucic who can't seem to stop talking about how much they love everything about the team and organization.

Actually makes a lot more sense looking at how Dean and company target certain players based on how they'd fit in with the team, versus guys who were picked up because there basically wasn't any alternatives - Versteeg is quickly looking to end up in that latter boat as well unfortunately. Scuderi is another shining example of a guy who probably no one else in the league would take a 2nd look at except the Kings, and they were able to bring him back at a steep discount because of that.
 
it's actually kind of interesting that we see vastly different perspectives from the guys that come through.

Ehrhoff didn't seem particularly thrilled about his time here, and Sekera obviously didn't like it enough to stay either despite a relatively comparable offer by most accounts.

Then you have guys like Vinny and Lucic who can't seem to stop talking about how much they love everything about the team and organization.

Actually makes a lot more sense looking at how Dean and company target certain players based on how they'd fit in with the team, versus guys who were picked up because there basically wasn't any alternatives - Versteeg is quickly looking to end up in that latter boat as well unfortunately. Scuderi is another shining example of a guy who probably no one else in the league would take a 2nd look at except the Kings, and they were able to bring him back at a steep discount because of that.

Funny enough, Ehrhoff and Sekera have been on losing teams for most of their careers and couldn't be leaned on in games that matter (though Ehrhoff did have a pretty good peak) whereas Vinny and Lucic are key players on winners....hmmm

Sutter probably busted their balls too much for their liking, and Sekera had moments of brilliance, but they weren't within the system, they were improvised. He seemed pretty uncomfortable from the get go really. Though to be fair he didn't get to play enough to acclimate.
 
Scuds and Vinny retire. If Greene comes back he's dealt in the offseason. Nolan won't be ready for the start of next season, and if he is it's either him or Clifford getting dealt because he's expensive on the 4th line. Lewis walks.

Toffoli - Kopitar - Pearson
Lucic - Carter - Gaborik
Brown - Shore - King
Clifford/Nolan - Dowd - Mersch

Doughty - Muzzin
Martinez - McNabb
Forbort - Schenn
Gravel

Quick - Budaj

Not pretty but it'll have to do, and even then I don't know if it works money wise. If it doesn't you can always look at moving Martinez (which aint pretty with all of the d men below him) or one of Brown/Gaborik (which will make the roster even uglier).

That just makes the already painfully slow D much worse. You can't ice a D with 1 puckmover. DL's priority should be to get a top 4 puckmoving right-handed Dman.
 
There's no reason or pressing need to make hopeful assumptions that Scuds is going to vanish. I reserve all that energy for Greene.

Keep Brown, and you can afford Lucic. Trade and retain on Brown, you can keep Lucic and Schenn. Buyout Brown, you can keep Lucic, Schenn, and a reasonable Lewis, and look hopefully to a rising cap in 2-3 years. Or just jettison Lewis and say "By Grapthar's hammer, what a savings," and have no trouble giving every RFA their bump.

Thank god there's no Preissing.
 
So everyone else is on board with dumping Brown and keeping Lucic right? Haven't spoken with a lot of Kings fans until recently, but Lucic obviously a better player than Brown is. Plus this gives Kopitar/Doughty the captaincy.
 
So everyone else is on board with dumping Brown and keeping Lucic right? Haven't spoken with a lot of Kings fans until recently, but Lucic obviously a better player than Brown is. Plus this gives Kopitar/Doughty the captaincy.

You don't even need to add the keep looch part.

Most would be willing to simply get rid of Brown for nothing... His play is no where near his cap hit, and at his best moments he is a bad contract you accept for nostalgia, loyalty and leadership...
But getting rid of him is not that easy.
 
Lucic is such a hard guy to determine his value. 18-20 goal scorer, 45-50 point scorer but is looking for 30 goal scorer money. $6 million for a guy who doesn't play in every situation and doesn't score a ton of goals but man he sure is a big part of the team. I absolutely want him back next season and beyond but a 6-8 year, $6-7 million a year deal seems like another Brown situation.
 
Lucic is such a hard guy to determine his value. 18-20 goal scorer, 45-50 point scorer but is looking for 30 goal scorer money. $6 million for a guy who doesn't play in every situation and doesn't score a ton of goals but man he sure is a big part of the team. I absolutely want him back next season and beyond but a 6-8 year, $6-7 million a year deal seems like another Brown situation.

A 20 goal scorer on our team in this system is really a 30 goal scorer.
It's been since 2009-10 since this team has even had a 30 goal scorer.
And right now it looks like we likely won't have one this year as shocking as that seems. I thought Toffoli would hit it but he's gone ice cold. It only takes a small hot streak for him to make it but now it's not sure.

As to the money and term. I agree with where you are going there. And don't think we should be signing another player over 6M really.
 
Lucic brings size/physicality to the top 6 and doesn't completely destroy offense. Easily worth 6M.
 
Face it people, you could bring Patrick Kane to this team and he may not even crack the 30 goal mark. The Kings system does not allow for it. I don't think we should be determining Lucic's worth based on purely goals scored. Frankly, as much as everyone complains about our weaknesses this season, this year is turning out to be one of the best seasons I have seen since the modern Kings era (circa 2010-present). Take a step back and look at the standings. We could realistically finish first in the entire western conference, and I think a large part of that has to do with the identity Lucic brought to this team. Last year was a disaster and the team got torn apart with all that was going on. This year, we finally got some leadership back and I credit Lucic for helping do that. Signing him is a huge priority and I think he is worth $6MM, even if it means playing scrubs in the bottom six.
 
Face it people, you could bring Patrick Kane to this team and he may not even crack the 30 goal mark. The Kings system does not allow for it. I don't think we should be determining Lucic's worth based on purely goals scored. Frankly, as much as everyone complains about our weaknesses this season, this year is turning out to be one of the best seasons I have seen since the modern Kings era (circa 2010-present). Take a step back and look at the standings. We could realistically finish first in the entire western conference, and I think a large part of that has to do with the identity Lucic brought to this team. Last year was a disaster and the team got torn apart with all that was going on. This year, we finally got some leadership back and I credit Lucic for helping do that. Signing him is a huge priority and I think he is worth $6MM, even if it means playing scrubs in the bottom six.

You're not crazy.



It's sometimes hard to have perspective because this team is maddening with their constant no-pulse play but if we're honest, they've actually been incredibly consistent since Sutter came aboard (in terms of results, not game to game or even week to week, heh).

Looch has become a big part of the fabric of the team and though I'm not sure how we'll keep him, I can't imagine the team without him at this point, and all the right things are being said.
 
You're not crazy.



It's sometimes hard to have perspective because this team is maddening with their constant no-pulse play but if we're honest, they've actually been incredibly consistent since Sutter came aboard (in terms of results, not game to game or even week to week, heh).

Looch has become a big part of the fabric of the team and though I'm not sure how we'll keep him, I can't imagine the team without him at this point, and all the right things are being said.


I agree, I think we have a tendency to try to compare ourselves to other teams. We have stomped through the playoffs because of how we grind other teams to death. We are the Amoeba of hockey, its not sexy but very little can stand up to it 1v1.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad