Rumor: Planning Ahead: 2019 Off-Season Part 2

[Axl Rhoadz]

What would you prefer to inherit, a 19-year-old Anze Kopitar, or a 30-year-old Kopitar? Or 22-year-old Dustin Brown, or 33-year-old Brown? Jonathan Quick at 21, or Quick at 33?

So who do we attribute the cap situation and the loss of assets on?

As Luc Robitaille just recently stated in The Athletic:
"When you go out and you’re down 3-0 (in the 2014 first round versus the San Jose Sharks) and you go on the most historic Stanley Cup run, you believe you’re going to turn it back on. A lot of these guys, their word was, ‘We’re going to turn it on.’ But, there comes a time after a few years you say, ‘OK, guys. It’s just not happening.’ And I think that’s probably what’s happened."

I strongly believe Lombardi would have righted the ship. Unfortunately, we will never know nor is he able to defend himself.

And I blame the cap situation on winning two cups...we all know this, it should be nothing we are surprised about or should be bitching about.

 

[Docgonzo]

While I’m very grateful for what Dean did for the franchise. My one favorite thing about Lombardi was all about acquiring character players yet in 2015 his players had 2 cases of domestic violence and 2 caught with drugs.

 

[Mats26]

I dont think Kupari is ready to start in the NHL but he might at some point in the season...
The Ontario Reign should have a dramatic turn around this season with the influx of talent its about to receive, especially on the defensive end.. I would love for the kids on the farm to make a run in the playoffs and bond, compete and acclimated themselves to the pro game, our organization and a winning atmosphere

I agree they should develop together on the farm. Basically what we will see with our farm team next year will be the beginning of the next gen of core Kings players. Add to that the junior players (i.e Thomas) and 2019 picks and we should be on our way to form a good nucleus in 3-4 years.

 

[Johnny Utah]

If only Vilardi was healthy, Kings would finally...hasn't been years, but would have a few first round pick forwards down on the farm.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Yah, poor Blake inherited such a mess which only happened to include a two-time cup winning core.

I just love reading about what horrible GM that Lombardi was...

An expensive and aging two time Cup winning core. One that also stopped winning for Lombardi, for 3 years, which cost him, and the coach the two time Cup winning core won with, their jobs. Lombardi himself has said it's tougher to stay on top that get to the top. Then we also rip him for making a terrible Lucic trade, in what was an attempt to stay on top. Or, at the time, get back in the race, as the two time Cup winning core had already failed before Lombardi got Lucic.

I don't know if Blake should be docked GM points because the only thing he's really done is not trade draft picks, when it wouldn't be smart for any other GM to trade for any of the old and expensive guys(and they were old and expensive when Blake got the job) that are on the Kings. Should Blake be GM of the year because all he's done is not trade draft picks? No. He did inherit a team, regardless of what they did years ago, that was on the downswing. Thankfully no trade was ultimately made, and all they did was hand Kovalchuk a bunch of money. It only helped the Kings get the 5th pick. Hopefully Kovalchuk was a poison pill, and ruined the locker room, and that's why they came into training camp with zero intention of trying on the ice. Be it in practice, or in games.

Imagine if Blake, by signing Kovalchuk, not only drove this overpaid roster to the brink of insanity, but also limited his own ability to give this roster any reason to care in the future, so he can get higher picks. Maybe he broke away from Robitaille, went rogue, and really tried to bury this roster.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

An expensive and aging two time Cup winning core. One that also stopped winning for Lombardi, for 3 years, which cost him, and the coach the two time Cup winning core won with, their jobs. Lombardi himself has said it's tougher to stay on top that get to the top. Then we also rip him for making a terrible Lucic trade, in what was an attempt to stay on top. Or, at the time, get back in the race, as the two time Cup winning core had already failed before Lombardi got Lucic.

I don't know if Blake should be docked GM points because the only thing he's really done is not trade draft picks, when it wouldn't be smart for any other GM to trade for any of the old and expensive guys(and they were old and expensive when Blake got the job) that are on the Kings. Should Blake be GM of the year because all he's done is not trade draft picks? No. He did inherit a team, regardless of what they did years ago, that was on the downswing. Thankfully no trade was ultimately made, and all they did was hand Kovalchuk a bunch of money. It only helped the Kings get the 5th pick. Hopefully Kovalchuk was a poison pill, and ruined the locker room, and that's why they came into training camp with zero intention of trying on the ice. Be it in practice, or in games.

Imagine if Blake, by signing Kovalchuk, not only drove this overpaid roster to the brink of insanity, but also limited his own ability to give this roster any reason to care in the future, so he can get higher picks. Maybe he broke away from Robitaille, went rogue, and really tried to bury this roster.

Just so I understand how this works, Blake had a 98 point team last season...is that to his credit or Lombardi's?

 

[kings11]

That's the Kings current identity-former Cup Champions. It's been so long only the Kings are holding onto it. Teams aren't scared to play them and really nobody cares. Most of the former Cup Champs are now anchoring the Kings down to the bottom of the standings with lackluster play on the ice and lackluster diet and training programs off of it. This is a fat and happy group that for the most part has accomplished everything they wanted to at the NHL level. What's driving them now?

And you know this because you're there with them everyday right?? Doughty and Quick had shit seasons, Kopitar started off slow yet produced 51 points in the last 61 games and Brownie has had 2 of his most productive seasons...
When you say former Cup Champs im hoping youre talking about Toffoli, Martinez, Muzzin, Pearson and Lewis.. some of which have been shipped off and the rest will be gone this season..

What would you prefer to inherit, a 19-year-old Anze Kopitar, or a 30-year-old Kopitar? Or 22-year-old Dustin Brown, or 33-year-old Brown? Jonathan Quick at 21, or Quick at 33?

So who do we attribute the cap situation and the loss of assets on?

This is the only thing you can really blame on Dean but then again... do you want a GM that cleans house and trades away his superstar 1C, 1D and 1G and gets loads of picks and prospects with <1% chance we get another one of those guys?? or a GM that goes all out spends whats at his disposal to try and win again.. even if it was short sighted... his two worse trades where teh Lucci and Bishop trades.. The Sekera trade was whatever...
^^^ Bolded^^^ is exactly what would have happened because Doughty wouldnt have stayed and there would be no place for a Quick on this team... How bad and for how long do you think a team like that would be... and lets not act like people on here.. yourself and I included, would have accepted that shit for???? We cannot have it both ways.. We Won and we Lost, and thats all there is to it... Move the f*** on

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Well, the number one bullet point on his resume reads "rebuilt the prospect pool in short order".
A big reason he was able to do that was not trading the picks. The fact that he didn't trade picks is also brought up because it shows that he did have a plan to rebuild the pipeline when he took over, otherwise he would have traded bigger pieces at the 2017 deadline.

Look at the pipeline in 2016: Kempe, Gravel, Amadio, Mersch, Forbort, LaDue, Brodz, Auger, Cernak, Clague.
Outside of Kempe, none of those players were expected to have much upside.

Look at the pipeline in 2019: Petersen, Kupari, Vilardi, Grundstrom, Durzi, JAD, Anderson, Clague, Thomas, Phillips.
That list includes 4 players in TSN's list of Top 50 NHL-affiliated prospects(Kupari, Vilardi, Mikey, Thomas), it also will have the 5th, 22nd and 33rd overall added to it.

The reason that people are lauding Blake not trading off picks is that we saw Cernak, Zykov, Jones, Miller, McKeown and 2 1st round picks traded for a season of Lucic, 16 games of Sekera, 5 points from Versteeg and 2 wins from Bishop.

I understand those moves, because Deano was going all in and it makes sense at the time, but you can appreciate that Blake didn't fall into that trap as well. Especially because the team in 2018 was performing very well, Drew was in Norris form, Kopi almost won a Hart and Quick won a Jennings.

If anything, it makes it look even better in retrospect that Blake didn't go HAM at the deadline with such a team on his hands. So yeah, I'm going to give him a good bit of credit for biting his lip and standing pat.

Just so I understand how this works, Blake had a 98 point team last season...is that to his credit or Lombardi's?

I'd like to understand why you're making it so binary?

The team to a large degree last year was one Lombardi put together. However, the lack of depth in the system is also on Lombardi. He had success, he had failures. It's possible to do both.

This upcoming year, however, is THE critical draft and year in Blake's legacy as GM here.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I'm ready to move on, it's that there are others who can't let go. I want Blake to build a younger team while guys like Kopitar, Doughty, Brown, etc. still serve a purpose and at the very least act as the supposed leaders they are supposed to be.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Not disagreeing with the Kovy part but your'e dead wrong about Willie Mitchell..
Other than coming off a bad concussion, he was a damn good Dman that we got on the cheap.. He was not brought in as depth but rather to help create a formidable top 4.. and he did just that

I consider anything below your top two D a depth defenseman. It’s arguable Mitchell was a top two D in 2012 for us, but he wasn’t brought in to be Doughty. That’s my point. Kovalchuk was brought in specifically to play with Kopitar on the top line.

Comes to semantics, I guess. I consider a #3-6 defenseman depth, just like I do forwards #4-16.

 

[kings11]

I consider anything below your top two D a depth defenseman. It’s arguable Mitchell was a top two D in 2012 for us, but he wasn’t brought in to be Doughty. That’s my point. Kovalchuk was brought in specifically to play with Kopitar on the top line.

Comes to semantics, I guess. I consider a #3-6 defenseman depth, just like I do forwards #4-16.

Well shit Ritchie... Those are damn high standards, I consider depth #5-7 on D and bottom 6 on O

 

[LAKings88]

Letang hoping Penguins stay intact: report

Interesting article. Letang thinks teams like Toronto are trying to get young to fast. Points out that older player led teams seem to win.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Letang hoping Penguins stay intact: report

Interesting article. Letang thinks teams like Toronto are trying to get young to fast. Points out that older player led teams seem to win.

It's almost like you need a mix of some kind.

 

[BigKing]

What would you prefer to inherit, a 19-year-old Anze Kopitar, or a 30-year-old Kopitar? Or 22-year-old Dustin Brown, or 33-year-old Brown? Jonathan Quick at 21, or Quick at 33?

So who do we attribute the cap situation and the loss of assets on?

As Luc Robitaille just recently stated in The Athletic:
"When you go out and you’re down 3-0 (in the 2014 first round versus the San Jose Sharks) and you go on the most historic Stanley Cup run, you believe you’re going to turn it back on. A lot of these guys, their word was, ‘We’re going to turn it on.’ But, there comes a time after a few years you say, ‘OK, guys. It’s just not happening.’ And I think that’s probably what’s happened."

Yep. And these dudes rolled right along with it until they were forced to realize that "it's just not happening".

Dean gave them the few years. Then Bluc went ahead and decided that three years was apparently the answer until this past season cut it to 1 1/2.

Blake inherited a rough cap situation and weak pipeline: no arguments from me on those facts. He did the easiest, slam-dunk move to fix the latter: kept his draft picks. When it came to the actual roster, he just rolled with it and then added more salary.

He totally whiffed and set the rebuild timeline back by holding everyone. Now, if they wind up just crushing the 2017, '18 and '19 drafts, it will be a moot point. As it stands right now though, it has been poor-to-mediocre GM'ing at best. Even with DL's failures post-2014, it is hard to just be cool with canning a guy three seasons after Cup #2 because "we got to get this hot GM property in to the position because someone else will hire him" and then have said GM be a real paint-by-numbers, unimaginative GM that has shown nothing to back-up why he needed to be at the helm over DL.

Of course, the answer is most likely that he didn't really have to be the guy but Sutter needed to go and Bluc had Lombardi at his most vulnerable spot and struck while the iron was hot. Spilled milk at this point: I just hope the Muzzin trade and the strong hints about rebuilding are a good sign of things to come. I want Blake to be the best GM in Kings history since that is great for all of us. I'm generally pleased with his moves starting with the Muzzin trade. Hope my slight optimism is rewarded.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[Kingsfan1]

I truly believe we can be competitive and make the playoffs with a depth lineup if we move Lewis , Forbort , Quick for picks prospects and cap space sign character guys like Edler , Strahlman, Ferland who will also play and provide their role the right way

Wagner-Kopitar-Brown
Ferland-Kempe-Carter
Kovy-Prokhorkin-Toffoli
Iaffalo-Amadio-Grundstrom
Clifford

Anderson-Doughty
Edler-Strahlman
Martinez-Roy
Walker

Petersen
Campbell

This lineup would be as deep if not deeper than our cup winning teams. Anderson is ready for the NHL and will become a fan favorite .

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Is there some sort of cannon available that will launch Dion Phaneuf into a black hole?

 

[BigKing]

I truly believe we can be competitive and make the playoffs with a depth lineup if we move Lewis , Forbort , Quick for picks prospects and cap space sign character guys like Edler , Strahlman, Ferland who will also play and provide their role the right way

Wagner-Kopitar-Brown
Ferland-Kempe-Carter
Kovy-Prokhorkin-Toffoli
Iaffalo-Amadio-Grundstrom
Clifford

Anderson-Doughty
Edler-Strahlman
Martinez-Roy
Walker

Petersen
Campbell

This lineup would be as deep if not deeper than our cup winning teams. Anderson is ready for the NHL and will become a fan favorite .

That's completely insane.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

That's completely insane.

I wonder how much he thinks it would cost to sign Ferland, Edler, and Stralman, because it sure as hell won't be cheap.

 

[crassbonanza]

I truly believe we can be competitive and make the playoffs with a depth lineup if we move Lewis , Forbort , Quick for picks prospects and cap space sign character guys like Edler , Strahlman, Ferland who will also play and provide their role the right way

Wagner-Kopitar-Brown
Ferland-Kempe-Carter
Kovy-Prokhorkin-Toffoli
Iaffalo-Amadio-Grundstrom
Clifford

Anderson-Doughty
Edler-Strahlman
Martinez-Roy
Walker

Petersen
Campbell

This lineup would be as deep if not deeper than our cup winning teams. Anderson is ready for the NHL and will become a fan favorite .

I personally think that we can be competitive if TMac has the balls to move Forbort off of Doughty's pairing and bench Phaneuf.

 

[Fishhead]

I not only think we can be competitive, but I think we can make the playoffs next year. All we need is 7 teams in the west to fold and cease operations.

 

[KingsHockey24]

We need to make a trade for a defensemen or sign a UFA D.

Forbort-Doughty
Martinez-Roy
MacDermid-Walker

Ain't gonna cut it.

 

[BigKing]

I actually think they will be much better points wise next season as it would be hard to match last season. Kopitar always seems to play better once he is doubted and I think there will be some energy provided by a new coach. Plus, they will be extremely rested and fresh since the majority of them haven't really played since around January.

I think the forwards will be better, at least. Defense is shaping up to be real rough again which isn't going to be good for Quick.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Some of you know what its like to nerd out on cap-friendly and solve all your teams woes and kill some time and save some $$$ on actual therapy.

Its just depressing, I can’t make it through a single roster revamp without giving up and saying, “have fun Blake.” We are f***ed.

 

[Kingsfan1]

I personally think that we can be competitive if TMac has the balls to move Forbort off of Doughty's pairing and bench Phaneuf.

Sorry meant to say Buyout Phaneuf too . I hope he has the balls