Rumor: Planning Ahead: 2019 Off-Season

[SettlementRichie10]

Occasionally players bust, doesn't mean we should discount the top ranked player because it has happened before. The whole Kakko/Hughes competition has been really interesting because the general consensus among online posters is that Hughes will bust and Kakko is much better, meanwhile nearly all scouting groups still have Hughes as number 1 overall. I wonder why all of the posters feel so differently, because I doubt said people have watched more than a handful of both of their games.

Same reason why some people were saying Pietrangelo was a better pick than Doughty back in 2008. Same people also said Hedman was a better pick than Tavares.

It’s just contrarianism. Both Hughes and Kakko will become incredible players. But there’s no doubt Hughes is the consensus #1, if only because he plays a more important position.

 

[deaderhead28]

If they hire McLellan and go after Panarin, everything that they said around the deadline was just fluff. It seems like Luc and Blake are impatient which is exactly what this team does not need right now. They don't need anymore evidence to see that this current team simply doesn't have it now or in the near future.

To be fair,all I heard has been consist that the Kings wanted to get younger,faster and contend in two years.Doesn't seem that plan has changed.They also talked about restocking the assets.Going after college and overseas talent.

 

[DoktorJeep]

Pierre LeBrun states that Todd McLellan is VERY HIGH on Rob Blake's list

will go over interviews with many candidates regardless, but he mentions that there's a lot of familiarity between the two; dating back to Blake's back stabbing days in San Jose

The idea of McLellan is depressing. On top of aww shucks Luc and dopey Blake, we have to see and listen to sad panda Todd stand around in a baggy suit and tell us he doesn’t know why the team sucks.

In what universe is TM the best coach for a rebuilding team? I’d rather have Terry Murray back!

The cherry on top would be that our new head coach was the clown behind SJs all time greatest choke job against the best team in this franchises history. GTFO.

 

[LAKings88]

I pray this is not true. McLellan hasn’t won jack in his career. If we are keeping the vets, I want to get Torts as the coach for just two years. I would love to see him call them out and put them in line.

McLellan, the same coach that lost to LA when up 3-0 in a playoff series? Sharks got better after they tossed him. I will be livid if he is hired. Quennville, Kruger, or Keefe please.

 

[DoktorJeep]

McLellan, the same coach that lost to LA when up 3-0 in a playoff series? Sharks got better after they tossed him. I will be livid if he is hired. Quennville, Kruger, or Keefe please.

Right idea, going after quality, but we’re facing the same issue, competition for what’s available. Last time we did a search, Willie was best “available” to the Kings.

In the summer you have to except there to be more openings. My take is the following guys are all 50/50 or better to get canned after the regular season, barring making the playoffs.

Hitchcock
Bednar
Murray (not canned)
Torts
Boughner
Boudreau
Blashill
Crawford
Willie D

So there is already a decent amount of competition and then you throw a supposed prize like coach Q in the mix and suddenly their may be even more teams willing to get rid of their current guy and expand the pool.

By the time the Kings offer is the best on the table, we might be down to guys like McClellan or even back to Willie D. My guess is that Detroit and EDM are going to be the destinations for Keefe and Quenville, respectively. Just hunches, but I think Yzerman is new wings GM next season and Quenville/McDavid vs Babcock/Matthews is worth a bunch of loonies.

I’m thinking best choice for the Kings is Bruce. He’s the right type of lovable slob who’s good with the media. He’ll rip into the team during practice after another bad performance and get caught on camera with food stains on his shirt. He’s a known face to SoCal fans and is the right skipper for the BLucs fan cruise called the Kopi & Pals retirement tour.

 

[AlphaBravo]

If we did a full rebuild and traded all of our vets, I would like to get a defensive minded bridge coach for two years and then bring back Sutter. I still think his system is superior and could win us cups again.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Man, I hope the Mayor is right on this one...can see Mikey Anderson make the Kings opening night. He's the best King defenseman draftee since DD. Turns 20 May 25. Mikey Anderson > Walker, Phaneuf, Roy, LaDue, Brickley, Forbort.
I was shocked how good he was at the WJC. Best defenseman in tournament. All those #1 draftees - Quinn Hughes, Evan Bouchard, Jokiharu, Brannstrom, Boqvist, Ty Smith - he was as good and probably better than ALL of them. So poised. Awesome on both sides of the puck..great in all 3 zones...teammates and also #1 picks, Samuelsson and K'Andre Miller, didn't look like they were in the same league as Anderson. He's going to be awesome.
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The Mayor John Hoven‏ @mayorNHL
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To read up on Hrenak, see our scouting report here http://mayorsmanor.com/2019/01/la-kings-2019-midseason-top-10-prospect-rankings-honorable-mentions/ … And you really need to know Mikey Anderson. We have him pegged to join the Kings organization next month and he'll eventually wear a letter in LA. Read up now
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[Ollie Weeks]

And Paul LaDue is a top 4 defenceman.

 

[deeshamrock]

If we did a full rebuild and traded all of our vets, I would like to get a defensive minded bridge coach for two years and then bring back Sutter. I still think his system is superior and could win us cups again.

That is a big step backwards. He's too old and his ways are archaic. His cranky, yelling and abrasive approach would fail big time, like it did in LA, after 2 years and that ran it's course. The cracks were forming in the 2014 cup run and it went downhill from there. It especially won't work with youth. He'd ruin them before they had a chance to develop. He was in the right time and place, stepping into the 2012 Situation. Team that was high on leadership and winners and needed a shove. But most of those players were seasoned vets. and I think their success had more to do with the players in that room, playing for each. A special group.

The league now is a much younger and faster one and his system wouldn't work. That said, I hope Blake and Luc are really open to what would be best going forward (forecasting) for the next 5 years or more, given what new kids they have drafted and those that will come. I know he's young, but from what I've read and heard about SHeldon Keefe, I think he's got what it takes to be a top coach in today's NHL.
But maybe Blake is old school and wants a more seasoned out of work coach
Time will tell.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

If we did a full rebuild and traded all of our vets, I would like to get a defensive minded bridge coach for two years and then bring back Sutter. I still think his system is superior and could win us cups again.

They should hire Terry Murray, then replace him with Darryl Sutter, and also bring back Dwight King and Jordan Nolan for a playoff push.

 

[damacles1156]

That is a big step backwards. He's too old and his ways are archaic. His cranky, yelling and abrasive approach would fail big time, like it did in LA, after 2 years and that ran it's course. The cracks were forming in the 2014 cup run and it went downhill from there. It especially won't work with youth. He'd ruin them before they had a chance to develop. He was in the right time and place, stepping into the 2012 Situation. Team that was high on leadership and winners and needed a shove. But most of those players were seasoned vets. and I think their success had more to do with the players in that room, playing for each. A special group.

The league now is a much younger and faster one and his system wouldn't work. That said, I hope Blake and Luc are really open to what would be best going forward (forecasting) for the next 5 years or more, given what new kids they have drafted and those that will come. I know he's young, but from what I've read and heard about SHeldon Keefe, I think he's got what it takes to be a top coach in today's NHL.
But maybe Blake is old school and wants a more seasoned out of work coach
Time will tell.

This above is what people(myself included) said about Sutter verbatim BEFORE he coached the Kings.

Iginla said during his retirement speech post scrum "Sutter was the hardest coach I ever played for, but I respected him the most" Iginla. Sutter is a damn good coach that the Kings moved on from, people should just leave it at that, instead of tying to tear down his legacy all the time.

Also this nonsense about systems. There is like maybe a handful of hockey systems, you should know this watching hockey so much. EVERY SINGLE NHL team plays a small tweaked version of simple systems. It's not the system, it's the PLAYERS EXECUTING that system and forming an (Identity) that makes a team successful. Sutter ruins youth ? Just about every player on the Kings 2012 team was on the correct side of 30-25, and "Youthful"

Also Quennville is just archaic as Sutter, but is somehow better in the eyes of people ? Regardless, Quennville will have his pick and it won't be the Kings.

Keefe would probably be ok, but who knows really.

 

[AlphaBravo]

That is a big step backwards. He's too old and his ways are archaic. His cranky, yelling and abrasive approach would fail big time, like it did in LA, after 2 years and that ran it's course. The cracks were forming in the 2014 cup run and it went downhill from there. It especially won't work with youth. He'd ruin them before they had a chance to develop. He was in the right time and place, stepping into the 2012 Situation. Team that was high on leadership and winners and needed a shove. But most of those players were seasoned vets. and I think their success had more to do with the players in that room, playing for each. A special group.

The league now is a much younger and faster one and his system wouldn't work. That said, I hope Blake and Luc are really open to what would be best going forward (forecasting) for the next 5 years or more, given what new kids they have drafted and those that will come. I know he's young, but from what I've read and heard about SHeldon Keefe, I think he's got what it takes to be a top coach in today's NHL.
But maybe Blake is old school and wants a more seasoned out of work coach
Time will tell.

Nope. This team needs a cranky coach who will be on the players azz 24/7. He won’t ruin the young kids. The kids will have a chance to develop under another coach for two years before he takes over.

Sutters system is also not slow. Under his system the team plays on a fast pace together as a team. The 2014 team would dominate in today’s league. They were not slow at all.

Enough with these soft “players” coach. I want a coach that will hold these guys accountable.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

They should bring back Andy Murray, for accountability, and o-fence.

He got the most out of a rag tag group.

 

[damacles1156]

Nope. This team needs a cranky coach who will be on the players azz 24/7. He won’t ruin the young kids. The kids will have a chance to develop under another coach for two years before he takes over.

Sutters system is also not slow. Under his system the team plays on a fast pace together as a team. The 2014 team would dominate in today’s league. They were not slow at all.

Enough with these soft “players” coach. I want a coach that will hold these guys accountable.

You can get what you seek without bringing back Sutter. I was just trying to point out how ridiculous it is with people now trying to tear down Sutter as (outdated)...Yeah. Sutter was supposedly outdated 15 years ago.

 

[Herby]

I can't wait until this time next year when are are talking about adding another top 5 pick to whichever one we are going to get this year (hopefully coming off a promising rookie year). Starting to finally be able to see a little light at the end of this tunnel.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Dustin Penner told a few Sutter stories on Spittin Chicklets when he was on a few weeks back. Said Sutter would do things like not let the team eat on flights after the game if they lost. Also, told a story about him ripping the wires out of the wall when they were losing a game in the playoffs.

Part of thinks the Kings need a coach like this again. Then the other part makes me think the Kings need a a younger fresher voice like DJ Smith or Sheldon Keene.

 

[The Tikkanen]

I have a feeling it's gonna be Tony Granato since Luc and Blake are in charge.

 

[johnjm22]

IMO there's no way the Kings win those cups without Sutter.

When he was hired people said he couldn't coach in the modern NHL. "He's too old school." That turned out to be nonsense, but people are still saying the same thing today.

I'm not advocating re-hiring him (he's retired anyways), but I bet he could absolutely still coach a team to success today. He's one of the best playoff coaches ever.

 

[LAKings88]

Sutter was LAs best coach. But his tactics grew old.

Blake and Luc will never give him a job back. They ousted him and Lombardi.

Why even bring him up?

 

[King'sPawn]

It's not that Sutter is too old school. It's just that he has a shelf life.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Sutter is doing something more productive with his time, shoveling cow dung on his farm. It's more rewarding than having to coddle a bunch of millionaires who can't be bothered to show up for 60 minutes.

Why is his name even being brought up as a coaching candidate? Hey, how about rehiring John Stevens while we're making unrealistic suggestions? Look at how he got the most productive seasons out of Kopitar, Brown, Doughty, Kempe and Lewis. He's the perfect coaching candidate.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I almost want Marc Crawford back. Definitely Torts if he gets canned. My ideal is Rikard Gronberg, but I know that’s a minority opinion at this point.

 

[johnjm22]

Truthfully I don't think any of us really know who would be a good coach. It's all just guesswork.

I think most coaches are about the same. There's probably a few really good ones, and a few really bad ones. I think Trotz is fantastic for example.

Some will disagree, but I've always liked Bruce Boudreau and think he would be a good coach for developing players.

I think there's a good chance the Kings next coach will be Marco Sturm.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I threw out Bruce B as a candidate in another post, but so much depends on what happens around the league and through the playoffs.

Strum could make sense. It’s low risk in terms of salary and term, given his pedigree as a new nhl assistant. He’s young and an unknown quantity outside his playing career, so you can say you’re looking for new ideas and someone who can connect to the vets and the kids. And he’s easy to fire and move on from if the blame for failure needs to shift around. He’s doesn’t strike me as a guy with gravitas or insiders lined up to anonymously defend him online.

Any new coach will be given time to implement a system and it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it makes sense for the roster. The question is what he’ll do with combos and ice time.

Is he going to be the guy to hold players equally accountablein a pretty shaky situation? Can he figure out a way to get the most out of vets, put prospects in positions to succeed and dole out ice time to players who show on the ice and in the games that they deserve it? Is he able to deal with player egos if he needs to demote a former star when it’s obvious they’re getting exposed on a nightly basis?

Who knows, and probably, who cares. Whoever it is, they’re in for a rough ride.

 

[kovacro]

I almost want Marc Crawford back. Definitely Torts if he gets canned. My ideal is Rikard Gronberg, but I know that’s a minority opinion at this point.

I like Gronberg as well but, I would be shocked if the Kings actually went that route.