More pressing need? LHD or Goalie?

[aceofpace]

I understand all the talk about getting a big, mobile LHD but you could argue a goalie is a more urgent need. Quick is 37 and in the last year of his contract and Petersen has shown no signs of late that he's the long-term answer. What are the team's plans for that? Any high-end prospects in the next draft?

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[KingsHockey24]

At this point a goalie.

We've got a ton of depth on the back end right now even though 80% of them are RHD.

 

[Statto]

I understand all the talk about getting a big, mobile LHD but you could argue a goalie is a more urgent need. Quick is 37 and in the last year of his contract and Petersen has shown no signs of late that he's the long-term answer. What are the team's plans for that? Any high-end prospects in the next draft?

Even IF Quick and CP have good seasons it’s still the no1 gap in the system, because right now there is nobody obvious in the system that is even going to become a NHL backup let alone a starter. HOWEVER, this is goaltending we are talking about so anything can happen.

 

[KingsOfCali25]

I think they'll sign Quick to a cheap 2 year deal after the season and run him as the backup to Petersen. They'll probably draft a goalie this year but mid to late rounds. They'll wait on what they have with Ingham, Parik and Hrenak.

Hrenak is literally in his first season in the AHL/ECHL and Ingham & Parik just finished their 1st. Give them sometime to adjust to the pro game.

 

[Johnny Utah]

How the hell can the Kings not let Quick retire a King.

They should sign him to a 1-2 deal for anywhere between 1.5 to 3 million.

Kings need a LHD badly.

Edler will be 37 by the end of this season. Bjornfot is proving he's not a game changer - he's not overly physical or overly offensive. Who is left?

 

[123slam]

I think they'll sign Quick to a cheap 2 year deal after the season and run him as the backup to Petersen. They'll probably draft a goalie this year but mid to late rounds. They'll wait on what they have with Ingham, Parik and Hrenak.

Hrenak is literally in his first season in the AHL/ECHL and Ingham & Parik just finished their 1st. Give them sometime to adjust to the pro game.

Something tells me Peterson can't even outplay a 50-year old Quick.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

At the moment: LHD. I don't feel Walker is going to work on the left side of the second pairing, Bjornfot doesn't offer enough offense or physicality, and Edler is old and shouldn't be playing that much

Long term past this year: Goalie

 

[All The Kings Men]

The team finished with the

second best shots against per game
fifth best 5 v 5 shot attempts against per game

in a season where they dressed 14 players on defense and they were missing Drew Doughty for half the season.

I know people have their particular tastes for specific defenseman but the results say defense is not a priority for the Kings

 

[Fishhead]

Defense isn't even a worry to me. When you can roll Anderson, Edler, and Bjornfot on the left that's above average. With the depth shown last year it isn't close to a problem. We will definitely have to wait until waivers are sorted out to see what's going to happen.

Everyone might be a bit worried about Toby, mostly because of the end of last season. He played 9 games after he had that undisclosed injury and was a -9 in those games. It's obvious he wasn't recovered but was put in due to the defensive clusterf*** of injuries. Prior to that he looked good for a 20 year old. He's looked fine in the preseason, initiating contact, blocking shots, and already scored a goal.

The biggest problem I see with Bjornfot right now is both he and Durzi are ideal on the 3rd pairing, and they are like a gasoline fire extinguisher together. But if he's your 3rd pairing guy, your team is in great shape.

 

[Little Psycho]

Definitely a goalie. Every talks about resigning Quick and all which I agree with but a simple injury could sideline him for some time.

 

[johnjm22]

Quick games played last 4 seasons:

2018-19	46​
2019-20	42​
2020-21	22​
2021-22	46​

He turns 37 this season.

The answer is clearly goaltender.

 

[Kudelski37]

Goalie. Too many questions regarding the future of Petersen (play) and Quick (age/contract).

 

[funky]

The team finished with the

second best shots against per game
fifth best 5 v 5 shot attempts against per game

in a season where they dressed 14 players on defense and they were missing Drew Doughty for half the season.

I know people have their particular tastes for specific defenseman but the results say defense is not a priority for the Kings

Some of these numbers are supported by a strong defensive forward core. To simplify things we sacrifice offence to keep pucks out of our own net

There is also the reverse thought that defense brings offense. I definitely don’t see that on our team. We could use a strong offensive defenseman to not only boost or power-play but help that transition from the defensive end to the opponents end. When Drew was out and even when Drew is in the lineup there is no real threat from our backend and the opponents can concentrate on stifling our forwards.

No a defenseman like Clarke changes the game a lot. He has done things in his limited time that his team has not seen since the first couple years of Drew. Things that will make the opponents step back and realize that there are threats from our backend.

I love looking at numbers but they don’t tell the whole game. I know when I play teams that have weak defenseman we basically ignore them and have five guys suffocating three forwards. I see a lot of us in the Kings set up the last few years

I also believe we need a big crease clearing type defenseman. Our defense is very small and are better prospects for the biggest guys in the world.

Don’t get me wrong, I think we have an above average Defence altogether. I just think with a few tweaks we could have a very elite defense core.

 

[funky]

Can I say I am worried about both? With 10.8 million tied up in goaltending this year we won’t be bringing in a goalie unless there is a long term injury. The guy about to retire that takes 5.8 million off for salary cap is not the person I am worried about.

It’s the 5 million dollar noose around Blake’s neck in Cal. If he fails we have 2 more years of a massive cap hit and as much as I love Quick his age and playing style won’t outrun Father Time.

Even if Quick plays well and re-signs dirt cheap (not sure why he would) we have a 5 million dollar anchor if Cal can’t rebound. (Yes bad pun). What do we do with Cal. No team would touch that contract.


Our Defence is average to above average but needs a few tweets to be among the elite. Do we make those moves to bring in better Dman to help out the goalies? Better Defence makes better offence and better goalies.

At the end of the day we have some possible holes in Defence and we have lots of trade chips to get something done throughout the year if need be. If a Dman fails there are plenty of bodies to sub in.

If Cal fails we are screwed. Quick can’t play a massive workload and I see no saviors in sight in our system. With both goalies tying up 11 mil in salary I don’t see how we bring anyone in. We better pray Cal bounces back and hope we snag a great young goalie in a Trade because we don’t have time to wait for a newly drafted goalie to mature and be NHL ready.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Here is why anyone who incessantly refers to context is an excuse maker. Every 24 hours, context changes.

Today, the Kings are waiting to play game 1 of a new season. The context is a playoff team that needs to score more goals in order to make the second round.

That context also assumes a repeat of last seasons strengths. D and goal were the biggest strengths of last years team. So as of today, they aren’t pressing needs.

The context is new goals were addressed getting Fiala. The context assumes the kids will improve and at least make up the departing goals. So everyone who is gone not named Maata.

Ergo, ipso, contexto, the most pressing need is 20’ish extra goals from Vilardi, Byfield, Kaliyev and Durzi, plus 5’ish from Walker.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Kings are getting Fiala, another year of Kayilev, and a full year of Vilardi.

Also, a full year of Doughty, Walker, Durzi.

Hopefully, all those healthy players help.

 

[Sol]

The difference between bombing the season and the playoffs is Quicks health. So goalie

 

[Kudelski37]

Here is why anyone who incessantly refers to context is an excuse maker. Every 24 hours, context changes.

Today, the Kings are waiting to play game 1 of a new season. The context is a playoff team that needs to score more goals in order to make the second round.

That context also assumes a repeat of last seasons strengths. D and goal were the biggest strengths of last years team. So as of today, they aren’t pressing needs.

The context is new goals were addressed getting Fiala. The context assumes the kids will improve and at least make up the departing goals. So everyone who is gone not named Maata.

Ergo, ipso, contexto, the most pressing need is 20’ish extra goals from Vilardi, Byfield, Kaliyev and Durzi, plus 5’ish from Walker.

Goal wasn't a strength last season. The Kings were 20th in save %.

 

[HookKing]

The team finished with the

second best shots against per game
fifth best 5 v 5 shot attempts against per game

in a season where they dressed 14 players on defense and they were missing Drew Doughty for half the season.

I know people have their particular tastes for specific defenseman but the results say defense is not a priority for the Kings

...and the Oilers beat the snot out of them in the playoffs. Defense (size) needs to be a priority.

 

[AbsentMojo]

...and the Oilers beat the snot out of them in the playoffs. Defense (size) needs to be a priority.

Agreed. You have to build a team to survive 4 rounds of playoff hockey.. at least work towards that. The Kings have not done that yet and were exposed v EDM. Helenius was a good pick - need more in the pipeline and hopefully get an LD thats someone like Soucy.

 

[aceofpace]

Added a poll for this.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Goaltending. Without question.

The system sucks right now and an elite/blue-chip goalie is harder to come by imo. There are plenty of stopgaps, but no bluechippers like wallsteadt.

Defense is fine, we have high end in Doughty and bluechippers in clarke, specifically 'needing' an LHD is overblown a bit, as we're looking for a #2-#4 high-end guy, not a #1 necessarily.

Goaltending is a need in short order, LHD is a specific want. The D as a whole is performing well with help on the way; the G as a whole is not, not reliably anyway, and is in really bad shape in the near future.

 

[57special]

I think that you and MN(my team) should make another trade, swapping one of our LHD for one of your RHD prospects. O'Rourke is likely the one who will be ready to be in the NHL soonest(he's already got 33 AHL gp), and seems to fit the bill as a steady, defensively sound Dman with decent size and some toughness. Projections are for him to be a middle pairing Dman, with a good shot. Daemon Hunt is on a similar track, but has more injuries- nothing chronic, things like skate blade cuts, etc.
Lambos is a year behind. Has a higher upside, and has some defensive warts. Had a great camp, FWIW. He would be more costly, and ready probably a year later.

Peart is a nice college player. Great skater, good two way dman. Moderate(not small) size. Is at least two years away from NHL time, if not pro hockey in general.

All are LHD.

 

[Fishhead]

Goaltending is a need in short order, LHD is a specific want.

This is it.

 

[KINGS17]

LH shots are the easiest thing to find in the NHL. Hard to believe the Kings can't find a more than competent LHD.