Offseason GDT III

[YP44]

Kings will keep Kopitar, Carter, Toffoli, Pearson for sure. That's 4. I think the Kings would be open to leaving Gaborik and Brown available because of age and contracts. Shore, Clifford, Nolan, Andreoff would all be exposed. 50-50 on King but he will be a UFA.

Defense is tough. Doughty and Muzzin for sure. I would even say Martinez but then McNabb could be swooped up. This also limits the Kings from pursuing a top 4 d man this summer knowing that McNabb and the UFA or trade asset could be exposed.

I feel like Brown and Gaborik are basically protected just due to their deals. So LA basically can ensure 9 forwards are not exposed.

D is tough. McNabb or Martinez will be exposed. They could select Forbort too.

 

[tsanuri]

One thing that has gotten no attention that i have seen is what division would Vegas play in. Obvious pacific, but would anyone move to the Central?

One div would need 7 teams and I have no problem with it being the Kings, just wondering what lowers total league travel the most.

It's already been said if it's Vegas they play in Pacific. And that would give us 8 and the central 7 unless they do 2 teams.

 

[tsanuri]

I feel like Brown and Gaborik are basically protected just due to their deals. So LA basically can ensure 9 forwards are not exposed.

D is tough. McNabb or Martinez will be exposed. They could select Forbort too.

I can see them taking Brown even if it is a long shot.
He is well liked and active in the community he plays in.
That is a big plus for an expansion team.
He is a proven leader.
Another big plus
He is American
And since it looks like Vegas that is another plus
His salary could go either way
They will likely have to make the floor which this year was almost 53M

 

[YP44]

It's already been said if it's Vegas they play in Pacific. And that would give us 8 and the central 7 unless they do 2 teams.

makes sense figured that is what it would be but was wondering if Arizona would be best served in the central. Just in case Seattle does come in

 

[tsanuri]

makes sense figured that is what it would be but was wondering if Arizona would be best served in the central. Just in case Seattle does come in

They are in the same time as the Pac all but 4 months out of the year. Because they don't use DST.
And considering where Seattle is with an arena that is a long shot to say the least.
But it does hurt trying to add another team in the Pac time zone for sure

 

[YP44]

They are in the same time as the Pac all but 4 months out of the year. Because they don't use DST.
And considering where Seattle is with an arena that is a long shot to say the least.
But it does hurt trying to add another team in the Pac time zone for sure

Wonder if Seattle does eventually get a team if Calgary and Edmonton move over.

realignment always perks my interest

 

[tsanuri]

Wonder if Seattle does eventually get a team if Calgary and Edmonton move over.

realignment always perks my interest

I think the hard sell there is it could only be one of them moving.
Otherwise you have 9 teams in the central.
Unless you are talking about the expansion to 36 teams.
Ok there is it I opened that can of worms.

 

[YP44]

I think the hard sell there is it could only be one of them moving.
Otherwise you have 9 teams in the central.
Unless you are talking about the expansion to 36 teams.
Ok there is it I opened that can of worms.

no one other team from the central would have to come to the Pacific (colorado)...no matter what a team will be player out of time zone.

 

[kingsholygrail]

So when they expand, will some of our posters get drafted to the new boards?

 

[Trolfoli]

All this talk about desperately needing speed and skill and youth still fails to resonate with me. The Kings didn't have problems this year because their lineup top to bottom was slow. We have a ton of average speed skaters and quite a few above average.

We PLAYED slow because the defense could never generate a crisp breakout. I really don't believe this rhetoric that the team is too slow or somehow behind the times. They're not. But they are missing quality transition defensemen. Mitchell wasn't a great skater, but he had a tremendous first pass out of the zone. He always made the right play to get the puck to a centerman and generate a rush.

Doughty and Martinez are pretty much all we have left in that regard. Muzzin is a great skater and all around solid defenseman, but he still struggles with transitional decision making. When Martinez went down, we had one defenseman capable of generating a rush. It's that simple.

It doesn't matter how fast your forwards are when Schenn or Scuderi or whoever are derping around the defensive zone under forecheck pressure, incapable of breaking out the puck.

I really don't think our forward corps deserves much attention, especially on the wing. It's all about fixing the defense. That should be, and I believe is, Lombardi's number one priority. We need another young PMD and a veteran shutdown defender, as well. Then, if there's money left, you look at the wings.

Lombardi spent all his assets on a sexy name at wing last offseason and look where it got us. Rotating King for Mersch or whoever else we can scrounge up in the pipeline will be a lateral move at best.

I agree with this and would like to expand a little. Kings need to make a decision if they want to go back to the 2012 style of defensing teams to death, or if they want to move toward a faster transition and bring the guys specifically for their plan. They may not be the same types. Although they probably need another PMD either way.

Well he did have that nice streak of ZERO goals (with 2 assists) in 24 games, including playoffs, to finish up the season. That's not useful. We're talking Nick Shore level futility there. The fact is that the Kings need more from their bottom six and they're not getting it. How King ended up with equal minutes per game as Pearson AND top line minutes in the playoffs is (S)utterly incomprehensible.

You hit the nail on the head with the reasons to trade King. If opening up that $1.95 million cap hit means being able to afford Lucic, then yeah, you definitely do that, 'cause right now he's just taking up (cap) space on this team.

The centers were Kopitar/Carter/VL. The best defensive center was Kopitar. Kopitar was being used in a heavily defensive role. It makes sense to put King with him in that case. The problem is with the lack of depth at C, causing Kopitar to play a 3rd line role.

So when they expand, will some of our posters get drafted to the new boards?

Don't get your hopes up. No expansion board will pick me up! I'll be harder to get rid of the Brown!!!


Fixing the D:
-Kings aren't going to lose someone of Martinez's value without moving them for assets.
-If you can't completely fix the D in one year, with the expansion and other factors, then you pick up the foundation pieces that are the tricky ones to get your hands on.
-RHD 2nd pair is a big need, and there aren't a lot of options to fill that. Luckily the Kings have Martinez, but that position should be upgraded.
-Yandle would be a good PMD for the second pairing and would make it so the RHD could be a defensive guy and not a puck mover. May make it easier to fill the position if the Kings don't need specifically a R-PMD.
-Muzzin: Look at a Muzzin/Trouba swap. WPG needs a top pair LHD, Trouba is only 22 years old. I doubt they would go for a Martinez swap, but if Lombardi can pull that great. This could lead to a Yandle/Trouba second pair, leaving the Kings needing to fill the position next to Doughty. The spot next to Doughty is probably the easiest position to fill because Doughty can play just about any role.
-Martinez: I'm fine with bringing him back, but if there is an upgrade that can be brought in, UFA, he can always be moved. I'd target teams like Buffalo, MTL (maybe Arizona, not sure what they're doing) All of these teams need LHD, they all have high picks this year, and none of the D in the draft are NHL ready. Buffalo wants to turn the corner. MTL, Price is getting older and they don't need to be waiting around. Arizona probably has the time to wait for D to develop.
-Picking up one of the high end D in the draft would be a good move, because the Kings have time for that player to develop and they are expansion protected. It doesn't really make sense to trade for a nice young, near NHL ready D that isn't expansion protected.

-Benning: Lombardi needs to be talking to Benning daily. Fleece Van please!

Edit:
????/Doughty
Yandle/Trouba
????/LaDue

Fill in the ???'s with McNabb/Gravel/Forbort, or someone from the draft/Martinez trade.

Edit/Edit
Scuderi/Doughty
Muzzin/Schenn
McNabb/McBain

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Devils just acquired Marc Savard's cap hit (which can be placed on LTIR) from the Panthers and also gained 2nd round selection in 2018 for helping out Florida's cap situation.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/devils-acquire-marc-savards-cap-hit-deal-panthers/

The New Jersey Devils have acquired forward Marc Savard and a 2018 second-round pick from the Florida Panther in exchange for or forwards Graham Black and Paul Thompson, the clubs announced Friday.

Savard has not played since 2011 due to injury, but the addition of his $4,027,143 cap hit will help bring the Devils closer to the salary cap floor.

The Panthers have effectively cleared some space under the cap with free agency season around the corner.

Maybe Shero will also take on Dustin Brown

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

Sometimes I wish someone would invent an app that would remove all mentions of non-hockey sports from my favorite hockey Twitter posters' tweets. No wrestling, no baseball, no soccer, no basketball, no chipmunk waterskiing, nothing. Just blank space and hockey.

 

[HookKing]

Some interesting things could come out of this expansion draft. There may be an interesting way for DL to retool the roster, get younger and still be competitive. Teams that are scared of losing young prospects ready to hatch from the AHL and others already on the roster (also eligible for the draft) might be open to some 1 for two trades.

For example, swapping out someone like Muzzin for a solid D (but not as good as Muzz) and maybe get a 3C along with the dman. Others like Martinez, Toffoli, even Carter if the two returning pieces can exceed the loss of the one. Do this enough times and the pain of losing just one player is highly diminished.

I assume DL already has an army studying every team's situation.

 

[KingsKnight]

Four years ago.

 

[Trolfoli]

Four years ago.

@ 1:20 game time, William throws a bad pass back to his D without looking.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

So when they expand, will some of our posters get drafted to the new boards?

I work at Black Knight, so LV BK's will be my 2nd favorite team.

Go Kings Go
Go Knights Go

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

2012...*sobs uncontrollably*

 

[Scottkmlps]

2012...*sobs uncontrollably*

An epic run. Complete domination from beginning of the playoffs to the end. We won't see a run that dominant in a very long time from any team. Absolutely everything clicked at the exact same time at the perfect moment.

 

[Mad Brills*]

leaf fan here, but interesting post from friedman's 30 thoughts:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-remembering-greatness/

27. Looking at those expansion rules, can’t help but wonder if that is the long-term solution for Los Angeles and Dustin Brown. The Kings have told Brown his contract is untradeable. He is not listed as having an agent, and that’s a step he needs to take. This is where a good one can really help a client, using their own connections to see if anything shakes loose. If not, an expansion team in Vegas could be the right fit, assuming the Kings provide it with proper incentives.

 

[That70sline]

wat u guys think
Barrie for martinez n king
Sign Yandle 5.5ish

No lucic

Defence is tops

mcnabb doughty
Muzzin barrie
Yandle greene/forbort

Doughty plays 27 mins
Muzzin n barrie 20ish
Greene/forbort plays 12ish
Mcnabb plays 17
Yandle plays 12 with greene and 10 with doughty
(Roughly)

Forwards suffer a little but at least our blueline will help drive the play, put up sum points of there own..

And if we loose yandle to expansion so b it... We dont give up assets for him anyways...

Top 5 goalie , top five defence,

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

leaf fan here, but interesting post from friedman's 30 thoughts:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-remembering-greatness/

Definitely not the first time this has been discussed, but more interesting to see it from Friedman.

 

[KopitarFAN]

wat u guys think
Barrie for martinez n king
Sign Yandle 5.5ish

No lucic

Defence is tops

mcnabb doughty
Muzzin barrie
Yandle Gravel

Doughty plays 27 mins
Muzzin n barrie 20ish
Greene/forbort plays 12ish
Mcnabb plays 17
Yandle plays 12 with greene and 10 with doughty
(Roughly)

Forwards suffer a little but at least our blueline will help drive the play, put up sum points of there own..

And if we loose yandle to expansion so b it... We dont give up assets for him anyways...

Top 5 goalie , top five defence,

Pipe dream, but fixed it anyway.

 

[AlphaBravo]

I agree with this and would like to expand a little. Kings need to make a decision if they want to go back to the 2012 style of defensing teams to death, or if they want to move toward a faster transition and bring the guys specifically for their plan. They may not be the same types. Although they probably need another PMD either way.



The centers were Kopitar/Carter/VL. The best defensive center was Kopitar. Kopitar was being used in a heavily defensive role. It makes sense to put King with him in that case. The problem is with the lack of depth at C, causing Kopitar to play a 3rd line role.



Don't get your hopes up. No expansion board will pick me up! I'll be harder to get rid of the Brown!!!


Fixing the D:
-Kings aren't going to lose someone of Martinez's value without moving them for assets.
-If you can't completely fix the D in one year, with the expansion and other factors, then you pick up the foundation pieces that are the tricky ones to get your hands on.
-RHD 2nd pair is a big need, and there aren't a lot of options to fill that. Luckily the Kings have Martinez, but that position should be upgraded.
-Yandle would be a good PMD for the second pairing and would make it so the RHD could be a defensive guy and not a puck mover. May make it easier to fill the position if the Kings don't need specifically a R-PMD.
-Muzzin: Look at a Muzzin/Trouba swap. WPG needs a top pair LHD, Trouba is only 22 years old. I doubt they would go for a Martinez swap, but if Lombardi can pull that great. This could lead to a Yandle/Trouba second pair, leaving the Kings needing to fill the position next to Doughty. The spot next to Doughty is probably the easiest position to fill because Doughty can play just about any role.
-Martinez: I'm fine with bringing him back, but if there is an upgrade that can be brought in, UFA, he can always be moved. I'd target teams like Buffalo, MTL (maybe Arizona, not sure what they're doing) All of these teams need LHD, they all have high picks this year, and none of the D in the draft are NHL ready. Buffalo wants to turn the corner. MTL, Price is getting older and they don't need to be waiting around. Arizona probably has the time to wait for D to develop.
-Picking up one of the high end D in the draft would be a good move, because the Kings have time for that player to develop and they are expansion protected. It doesn't really make sense to trade for a nice young, near NHL ready D that isn't expansion protected.

-Benning: Lombardi needs to be talking to Benning daily. Fleece Van please!

Edit:
????/Doughty
Yandle/Trouba
????/LaDue

Fill in the ???'s with McNabb/Gravel/Forbort, or someone from the draft/Martinez trade.

Edit/Edit
Scuderi/Doughty
Muzzin/Schenn
McNabb/McBain

I don't understand why people keep penciling in LaDue into next year's lineup. LaDue wont even come up for a cup of coffee next year. He has not played a full season in the AHL and the Kings simply do not rush (especially defenseman) into the professional lineup without at least a few years of experience in minors.

 

[kingsholygrail]

leaf fan here, but interesting post from friedman's 30 thoughts:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-remembering-greatness/

"Tougher than a night in jail." I'm gonna use this in the future some time.

 

[The Tikkanen]

I don't understand why people keep penciling in LaDue into next year's lineup. LaDue wont even come up for a cup of coffee next year. He has not played a full season in the AHL and the Kings simply do not rush (especially defenseman) into the professional lineup without at least a few years of experience in minors.

Like Jack Johnson?