Rumor: Planning Ahead: 2019 Off-Season Part 2

[Ziggy Stardust]

When the Flyers trade for the rights of a UFA player, they tend to get him signed. For those who were hoping the Kings would sign a UFA center, cross Kevin Hayes off your lists.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Highlights:

Maybe the next Kings jersey should put three crowns on it, so Kempe will continue to play with the confidence he did with Team Sweden! But then, Kupari might have issues! Disregard.

 

[YP44]

Maybe the next Kings jersey should put three crowns on it, so Kempe will continue to play with the confidence he did with Team Sweden! But then, Kupari might have issues! Disregard.

hey it's better than the current jerseys

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[KINGS17]

First time I ever was able to attend one of these Dustin Brown was a rookie and I was sitting next to Jim Fox. Jim was telling me what his brother that of Brown since he lived near where Brown played junior hockey.

The Kings were not so guarded in those days. You might get to strike up a conversation with Dean Lombardi or Ron Hextall. Before Lombardi's days it wasn't unusual for Andy Murray to chat up the fans.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Yeah, I still don’t see any clear plan out of this franchise. No clear path communicated to the fans. Just a bunch of corporate double speak about rebuilding but not rebuilding.

 

[KINGS17]

Yeah, I still don’t see any clear plan out of this franchise. No clear path communicated to the fans. Just a bunch of corporate double speak about rebuilding but not rebuilding.

Trying to make the playoffs with this roster is a fool's errand.

 

[YP44]

Yeah, I still don’t see any clear plan out of this franchise. No clear path communicated to the fans. Just a bunch of corporate double speak about rebuilding but not rebuilding.

I didn't hear any of that coming out of Chicago or Pittsburgh either. Boston I think acknowledged need for a re-tool and the Rangers have been most transparent about a rebuild.

It's hard to sell season tickets and announce a rebuild. I am hopefully whatever vision or plan this team will become clear through this offseasons transactions.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Yeah, I still don’t see any clear plan out of this franchise. No clear path communicated to the fans. Just a bunch of corporate double speak about rebuilding but not rebuilding.

They did clearly communicate yesterday about their involvement in the LA Pride Parade....because that's really important and has so much to do with a winning product on the ice.

 

[Mats26]

www.nhl.com
Speed with size. That should be the Kings new motto. Get fast, stay big. Anze Kopitar is big (6-foot-3, 225 pounds) and he's not going anywhere, but he needs some speedy wingers to help drive his game to be better than it was this season, when he had 60 points (22 goals, 38 assists) in 81 games, down from 92 points (35 goals, 57 assists) in 82 games last season. Drew Doughty can still skate and move and cover 200 feet, but a bigger yet mobile defenseman by his side would make Doughty more dangerous and allow him more freedom to be a playmaker too. That's just two examples. The Kings have a long way to go toward building a roster that can win in the NHL today. They have some assets to work with, including forwards Adrian Kempe, Austin Wagner, Mike Luff, Carl Grundstrom and Jaret Anderson-Dolan. Kempe, Wagner, Luff and Grundstrom are all at least 6-foot. Anderson-Dolan is 5-11. They're all 22 or younger. But the Kings need more. They need higher-end NHL players, not prospects. And they need to have size and speed. That's the only way they rebuild into a contender.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Yeah, I still don’t see any clear plan out of this franchise. No clear path communicated to the fans. Just a bunch of corporate double speak about rebuilding but not rebuilding.

I'm still not sure what they could say. They can't really rebuild, because they likely can't get rid of the guys people want them to get rid of, who are the guys you would trade if you were going to rebuild. If they say they're going to try to compete, everyone will get mad at them, because of course they can't compete with the players on this roster.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[Choralone]

Good interview. He doesn't come across as the drooling idiot posters here describe.

 

[KINGS17]

Good interview. He doesn't come across as the drooling idiot posters here describe.

I don't think Luc is even close to being in the same league as Dean Lombardi.

I certainly don't think the Kings are anything like Boston several years ago where one draft can turn it around, and I worry about the comparison to Montreal and being "one win from being in the tournament". Montreal's performance last season is fine for a young up and coming team, which is not the case for Montreal. It absolutely sucks being in the black hole like that when a team has a roster like the Canadiens or Kings.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I'm still not sure what they could say. They can't really rebuild, because they likely can't get rid of the guys people want them to get rid of, who are the guys you would trade if you were going to rebuild. If they say they're going to try to compete, everyone will get mad at them, because of course they can't compete with the players on this roster.

They could be honest and forthright with the fanbase like Lombardi was back in 2007.

“We’re not where we want to be. We’re proud of what this organization has accomplished in the last decade and the culture blah blah blah. But we understand it’s time to rebuild for the future. Due to our current contract situation, we will be exploring many options to best support the Los Angeles Kings into the future. We are committed to the same long term mindset that brought us 2012-2014, which means we may have to make short term sacrifices. Nevertheless, you will still be seeing many exciting young players on the ice at Staples Center over the next few years, and soon enough, another championship team.”

Ticket sales are tanking already. People are not stupid. Ticket sales tanked in 2007-2009, and then they had the most financially successful years in the history of the franchise.

 

[KINGS17]

I'm still not sure what they could say. They can't really rebuild, because they likely can't get rid of the guys people want them to get rid of, who are the guys you would trade if you were going to rebuild. If they say they're going to try to compete, everyone will get mad at them, because of course they can't compete with the players on this roster.

That's where you're wrong.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I don't think Luc is even close to being in the same league as Dean Lombardi.

I certainly don't think the Kings are anything like Boston several years ago where one draft can turn it around, and I worry about the comparison to Montreal and being "one win from being in the tournament". Montreal's performance last season is fine for a young up and coming team, which is not the case for Montreal. It absolutely sucks being in the black hole like that when a team has a roster like the Canadiens or Kings.

Are there levels between Lombardi and drooling idiots, or is it Lombardi, and all below him are drooling idiots?

 

[KINGS17]

Are there levels between Lombardi and drooling idiots, or is it Lombardi, and all below him are drooling idiots?

Definitely levels between Lombardi and drooling idiots, and Dean made a ton of mistakes. I just trust that he learns from them, because the guy is pretty good at critical self evaluation.

 

[KingsFan7824]

They could be honest and forthright with the fanbase like Lombardi was back in 2007.

“We’re not where we want to be. We’re proud of what this organization has accomplished in the last decade and the culture blah blah blah. But we understand it’s time to rebuild for the future. Due to our current contract situation, we will be exploring many options to best support the Los Angeles Kings into the future. We are committed to the same long term mindset that brought us 2012-2014, which means we may have to make short term sacrifices. Nevertheless, you will still be seeing many exciting young players on the ice at Staples Center over the next few years, and soon enough, another championship team.”

Ticket sales are tanking already. People are not stupid. Ticket sales tanked in 2007-2009, and then they had the most financially successful years in the history of the franchise.

Are 2019 Kings in the same logistical position as the 2007 Kings? That team didn't have any contracts weighing the roster down.

That type of paragraph would be enough though? That's honest and forthright? I figured it had to be something a little stronger than that. If that's acceptable, he pretty much said that in one of the articles that was just linked to.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

Interesting article except the conclusion they seem to come to is that the Kings can't really emulate any of the 3 teams they used as examples (BOS/CHI/TOR) because the Kings situation is totally different. So, I didn't grasp the point of the article other than the Kings are in a tougher spot than the other teams are/were.

As a Hawks fan I did get a chuckle on an anonymous quote saying/whining the Hawks must have a horseshoe up their ass. My response is I hope it stays up there.

 

[KINGS17]

Interesting article except the conclusion they seem to come to is that the Kings can't really emulate any of the 3 teams they used as examples (BOS/CHI/TOR) because the Kings situation is totally different. So, I didn't grasp the point of the article other than the Kings are in a tougher spot than the other teams are/were.

As a Hawks fan I did get a chuckle on an anonymous quote saying/whining the Hawks must have a horseshoe up their ass. My response is I hope it stays up there.

Yeah, the part of the article pertaining why the Kings aren't like this team was the better side of each argument.

 

[Bandit]

Good interview. He doesn't come across as the drooling idiot posters here describe.

I don't think anyone thinks he's a drooling idiot. He's a grinning idiot.

 

[BigKing]

This quote is pretty weak:

We knew probably by the end of next season, we’d have to make some drastic changes. The way our team performed, we just basically moved everything up by a year and a half.

Translation: We thought we had two years of being a contender once we took over the team and then would have to make drastic changes at the end of the 2020 season.

So what do you do? Sign a 35 year old to a 3-year deal that takes him past the off-season where "drastic changes" would have to occur. Anyways, we've mostly agreed that they just wanted to drain every drop of cash they could from riding the Cup guys out for as long as possible and this quote does nothing to dispel that notion. What would constitute drastic changes at the end of the 2020 season? Certainly not anything with #8/#11 since they have apparently moved up the drastic change timeline to roughly the day Muzzin was traded.

I love the Muzzin trade and hope it is a sign of smarter moves to come from Blake and Co. because his work at the NHL level has been a disaster. His only saving grace so far is prospects that the jury is still out on but at least those picks were kept and the Muzzin trade added more in the prospect/pick regard. If we see major contributions from the 2017, '18 and '19 draft classes, most of this will be forgiven and/or forgotten but man, so far, their initial plan for this team since they took over is hot garbage when it comes to managing the big club and the assets on it. Only part of their initial plan that has been good was to not trade anymore picks which was kind of the easiest thing to figure out after DL moved so many.

 

[The Tikkanen]

The Kings are just a legit#2 dman, 2 legit stay at home dmen, a legit #2 and #3 center and a 3rd and 4th line away from being contenders. So they're right there.