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Kings News: Marian Gaborik (with 50% Retained) to Kings for Matt Frattin + 2nd + Cond 3rd

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Legionnaire said:
Actually, we have Manchester to where we can actually develop our OWN players instead of having to split time with some other team or have them scattered all over or in the IHL. Thank you PA, TL, and DT.

I think people really underestimate what a difference that has made in terms of the development of players and a "team" concept. From the top down all the way to the Reign. It has made a huge difference.
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The problem with Manchester during that era was that Kevin Gilmore had no idea what he was doing.
Development in Manchester was a joke, especially consisted to now. You have a player like Muzzin singing with the Kings because hec had heard how good their development was.
 
I remember our farm system being so depleted of defensemen that Lombardi felt forced to draft Hickey and Teubert over BPA.
 
Rorschach said:
I remember our farm system being so depleted of defensemen that Lombardi felt forced to draft Hickey and Teubert over BPA.
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Those awkward moments when you realize Hickey was claimed through waivers and Teubert basically fell off the face of the Earth.
 
What really hurts is that Hickey was still a good player. He will definitely pan out as a long term NHL'er and likely a 3-4 guy in my opinion. So, not only did we waste the pick, but ultimately we lost an asset that still had a lot of utility and at least some value for nothing. At least Lombardi turned Teubert into Penner, but Hickey is probably our Quincey.
 
Quattro said:
Reminder to the posters here: we won TWO STANLEY CUPS. Time to let it go.

:sarcasm:
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Mike Richards sucks. So does Slava Voynov.

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Herby said:
The Garon-Labarbera disaster in 2006 was certainly the final nail in the coffin, the Kings bring in Demitra, Roenick and Conroy to go along wth young up and comers like Frolov, Cammalleri, Gleason and Brown and then that is what you get as the goaltenders, a couple of fringe AHL/NHL guys.

That 2005-2006 team would have been a middle of the road playoff team with average goaltending, DT completely botched the handing of the goaltenders in that season and was gone afterwards, never getting a chance to see the greatest player the franchise had ever drafted up to that point in Kopi play a game for a DT managed team.
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I like Kopitar a ton but its still a few more years before I put him ahead of this guy

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kingsfan said:
I like Kopitar a ton but its still a few more years before I put him ahead of this guy

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Love Luc, but he was a one dimensional goal-scorer, one of the great goal scorers, no doubt but Luc Robitaille at no point in his career was as good a player as Kopitar is right now.
 
Kopitar controls all 200ft of ice, Doughty controls his entire Defensive zone.

Kopitar/Doughty are dominant players.
 
Herby said:
Love Luc, but he was a one dimensional goal-scorer, one of the great goal scorers, no doubt but Luc Robitaille at no point in his career was as good a player as Kopitar is right now.
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I agree over an entire career if we get to that point, but so far by the sheer volume of his work I give the nod to Luc.

Now if Kopitar plays another 4-5 years as a King and continues to produce, I'd likely come on board with you, assuming Quick or Doughty haven't laid claim to that title either.
 
When it's all said and done, I think Doughty will be the greatest player in franchise history.
 
Herby said:
Love Luc, but he was a one dimensional goal-scorer, one of the great goal scorers, no doubt but Luc Robitaille at no point in his career was as good a player as Kopitar is right now.
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Kopitar is very good but Doughty is better. Doughty has a bigger impact on a game-to-game basis and he has a higher ceiling.
 
damacles1156 said:
Kopitar controls all 200ft of ice, Doughty controls his entire Defensive zone.

Kopitar/Doughty are dominant players.
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Kopitar's defense is better than his offense. He's elite in his own end. He's never shown the ability to be elite in the offensive zone. His career high is 34 goals and 81 points. Until he hits a point per game, I don't think it's correct to say he controls the offensive portion of the ice.
 
Thrice said:
Kopitar is very good but Doughty is better. Doughty has a bigger impact on a game-to-game basis and he has a higher ceiling.
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I think Kopitar is more consistent than Doughty as far as his game presence. However, Doughty has more of the killer instinct that I believe Kopitar is lacking. It's almost like you have to piss Kopi off to get the most out of him.

Kopitar is an elite center and one of the best in the league - but he still needs to develop more of a killer instinct (especially in the playoffs). There are too many times where he is passive and needs to take control of the play. I think a lot of that gets masked by having Gaborik on his line, because he is one of the best finishers on the team. Brown will also handle all the physical elements and that leaves Kopi to being creative. Still - i'd like to see more sense of urgency in his game at key moments.
 
Thrice said:
Kopitar's defense is better than his offense. He's elite in his own end. He's never shown the ability to be elite in the offensive zone. His career high is 34 goals and 81 points. Until he hits a point per game, I don't think it's correct to say he controls the offensive portion of the ice.
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Seems kind a silly, since he did score 81 pts in 82 games.
 
Gentle Ben Kenobi said:
The problem with Manchester during that era was that Kevin Gilmore had no idea what he was doing.
Development in Manchester was a joke, especially consisted to now. You have a player like Muzzin singing with the Kings because hec had heard how good their development was.
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Ugh, nothing but 25-28 year old AHL lifers with a prospect sprinkled in and the team still couldn't make it past the first round of the playoffs. At least now the core of the team is legit prospects and guys that are 21-25 with a veteran or two. That first round though...
 
And not a single goalie or defensemen came through the system of being drafted, developed, and became a mainstay with the team during the Dave Taylor era of player development.

That lack of emphasis can set an organization back for many years, and it took a long time for the Kings to recover from it. As we saw with Lombardi, took him 3 years to clean things up, 4 years to start seeing results, and 6 years to achieve the ultimate prize.

It's also a credit to Lombardi's emphasis on player development that the organization is able to make some big trade deadline moves and not miss a beat or give up so many assets that it sets the organization back. Voynov comes through and enables them to trade Johnson for an elite goal scorer in Jeff Carter. Guys like King, Nolan and Clifford came up and replaced dead weight like Moreau, Hunter and Westgarth. Out goes Bernier, in comes Jones. The Kings lose Scuderi, they trade for Regehr (fully knowing Scuderi would walk as a UFA), and Muzzin steps in as Doughty's D-partner. Toffoli and Pearson are promoted, enabling the team to get rid of dead weight like Carcillo, Fraser and Frattin and to make a move for a legit top line winger in Gaborik.

Without player development, the Kings wouldn't have the luxury of making all of these moves that have led them to become two-time Stanley Cup champions.
 
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kingsfan said:
I assume the 'development' part is why you don't count Lubomir Visnovsky?
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Yeah Lubo was an NHL ready guy when he was selected. Him and Huet were their best overage picks. Lilja to some degree since he lasted in the NHL as a depth defenseman, but then you had a guy like Bednar who didn't last.

Lilja spent some time in Lowell and Huet spent some time in Manchester, but Lilja was 25 and Huet was 27 when they were brought in and Lubo was 24.
 
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