Rumor: Planning Ahead: 2019 Off-Season

[kingsfan28]

WD is the smartest thing Blake has done so far. Literally any other coach and we are in the black hole.

I thought about this too. If Blake and Luc got fed up 10 games ago and realized what a fraud he is, then let Sturm take over, we may be battling the Ducks for 10th/11th/13th place in the western conference.

 

[yankeeking]

You have to think there is something to the whole WD tank commander role, remember when we were looking to finish low enough to get DD and DL brought up Ersberg who was terrible in the "A" and the SOB played well and almost screwed the whole thing up , leaving this clown in assured us of no worse then a top 5 pick , getting a cozen, turcotte or byram might not be as sexxy as the top two but are pretty good hockey players

 

[LAKings88]

Willie is Blake’s biggest misstep so far.

I took my 5 year old daughter to a practice last Sunday. It was pretty empty. She got some waves and smiles from a few players. Kovy had a big smile for her.

Willie seemed to skate around mostly by himself if I remember correctly. Ranford, Sturm, and Lowry, ran most of the drills.

 

[kingsfan28]

Here's an idea, last game [or games] of the season, healthy scratch WD have him watch the game from the pressbox and let Sturm coach. Tell him we wanted to get the young guy some experience behind the bench as the coach.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I liked Bernstein’s article and I have a feeling us fans will be shocked this summer by the moves.

Maybe I’m high or something but I don’t mind Carter as much as Phaneuf. An aging forward who still put up over 10 goals after missing most of last season due to an injury is way better than a terrible aging D man who doesn’t hit, score or pass anymore and has only 5 points and a -21. I watched Phaneuf skate right in front of Quick in that Montreal game and give the puck away that led to a goal; he is terrible. I think Carter has a chance to rebound, Phaneuf is in major decline. Carter is only 2 seasons removed from scoring 30 goals as well.

 

[KingsHockey24]

f*** WD.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Here's an idea, last game [or games] of the season, healthy scratch WD have him watch the game from the pressbox and let Sturm coach. Tell him we wanted to get the young guy some experience behind the bench as the coach.

Fire WD with three games left of the season and have Rob and Marco coach the final few with a line-up like this:

Kovalchuk-Kopitar-Brown
Iafallo-Kempe-Toffoli
Leipsic-Carter-Grundstrom
Clifford-Lewis-Brodzinski

MacDermid-Doughty
Martinez-Roy
Forbort-Walker

 

[KingsFan7824]

I don't think it's going to be a quick process. It took a full year before the Rangers traded Zuccarello and Hayes after their rebuilding letter. They had no reason to keep them for those 12 months, but they ended up having to keep them for those 12 months. Trades are not easy in a hard cap league.

Kopitar - has to want to leave, going nowhere.
Kovalchuk - has to want to leave, that extra year hurts value, and with anyone but WD he might play.
Brown - still has 3 years left on the contract, and he'll be 35 in Nov.
Carter - still has 3 years left on the contract, a couple months younger than Brown, but just an awful season in every way.
Toffoli - you're selling low before next season starts, so little reason not to keep him and see if he can increase his value as a rental for the deadline, there's no rush.
Lewis - nobody needs Lewis in Oct, so he's a UFA deadline trade.
Clifford - nobody needs Clifford in Oct, so he's a UFA deadline trade.
Iafallo - he'll get his contract, and play somewhere on the top 3 lines.
Grundstrom - he'll get a chance.
Kempe - he'll get his contract, and play somewhere on the top 3 lines.
Wagner - might have a spot to lose.
Leipsic - I guess who knows at this point.
Brodzinski - I guess who knows at this point, but he's free to find a place to play if it's not here.

Doughty - has to want to leave, going nowhere.
Phaneuf - future cap hits don't necessarily matter, but the question is do you buy him out and leave him on the books for 4 years, or just wait his contract out for 2 years? Do you wait to buy him out in June 2020? There's no expansion issue. Whatever they do with him is whatever. There's no real good option, there's no necessarily bad option, so whatever.
Martinez - the easiest player to trade as of March 23rd, 2019. Keep him, trade him, either way.
Forbort - nobody needs Forbort in Oct, so he's maybe a UFA deadline trade.
Roy - seems to have a chance at a full time spot.
LaDue - still signed for cheap, and still hasn't proven anything one way or another.
Walker - seems to have a chance at a full time spot.
MacDermid - I guess who knows at this point.

Quick - still has 4 years left on the contract, and already 33. I'm firmly in the camp that says it's not going to be easy to trade him because of the contract and age. It's been a while since the best big game goalie in the league has either won or played in a big game. You can say that's not his fault, the Kings haven't been all that good, but does that tip the scale toward him being a system goalie? If so, who needs a regular system goalie locked in for 4 more years at a $6m cap hit when he's already 33 years old? There's no former team to save the day like in the Luongo situation.
Campbell - if you want to trade a guy at the height of his value, instead of holding onto him too long and letting his value sink due to an increased sample size and/or a larger contract, you trade Campbell this summer, and Petersen gets the full time backup job, and his ice time increases over time as Quick just gets older.

I think the ball will get rolling a little quicker by the 2020 deadline, but my guess is not too much will be different in Oct 2019. Nobody needs old and overpaid players. The league is either getting younger or it isn't, and we all keep hearing that it is. As usual, it's not even the age, it's the term. You could easily trade Carter or Brown if they had 1 year left, or even better, were already going to be UFA's this summer. If people are thinking Kupari is going to make the team next year, or if they get a top 2 pick this year, or somehow Vilardi actually steps on the ice ever again, my guess is it's the Leipsic's or Brodzinski's that are shown the door and allowed to walk, over somehow getting rid of Carter.

My thought process is always assume(because we're not in the GM office) the easiest move will be made first. So if there's a choice between a multi-year buyout, or letting a marginal player walk in free agency, more likely than not, my guess is you'll see the marginal player walk before the buyout. If the league is getting younger, the odds of trading older players with 2, 3, 4 guaranteed years remaining on a deal are decreased. If Blake can manage to clean house this summer, I'm not against it. I'm just not expecting it.

 

[King'sPawn]

I am definitely planning for a WD free 19/20 season.

 

[johnjm22]

I think one of Blake's biggest mistakes may end up being not moving Toffoli this year. Supposedly he had an offer but held out for a better return. Now TT's value is even lower.

At this point, I just want Toffoli gone. Getting rid of him is addition by subtraction. All he does is take up a roster spot that keeps younger (and probably better) guys out of the lineup.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I am definitely planning for a WD free 19/20 season.

I still can't decide if it's Rob blake being a subtle genius in hiring him.

I think one of Blake's biggest mistakes may end up being not moving Toffoli this year. Supposedly he had an offer but held out for a better return. Now TT's value is even lower.

At this point, I just want Toffoli gone. Getting rid of him is addition by subtraction. All he does is take up a roster spot that keeps younger (and probably better) guys out of the lineup.

I disagree. I think he'll have higher value as a rental and I think the odds are better that he rebounds than plays worse next year.

Everyone's production is depressed. I have to think this is rock bottom.

Edit: But I guess it does depend a whole lot on what the offer on the table was.

 

[Little Psycho]

7 D again?! And oh hey, Carter is still on the roster.

 

[Seventyx7]

#keepWilliehereforLafreniere?

 

[Peter James Bond II]

I am definitely planning for a WD free 19/20 season.

I think Kovy should wear his Olympic Gold Medal in the room and ask WD if he ever wears his Bronze one.

 

[DoktorJeep]

What are the odds that the core of Kopi, Brownie, Drew and Carts are all pointing fingers at Phaneuf and Kovalchuk to blame for this teams bad season.

 

[johnjm22]

I disagree. I think he'll have higher value as a rental and I think the odds are better that he rebounds than plays worse next year.

Everyone's production is depressed. I have to think this is rock bottom.

Edit: But I guess it does depend a whole lot on what the offer on the table was.

Well it is a contract year for him.

I think Luff and/or Brodz should both be regulars in the lineup. Toffoli helps prevent that from happening.

 

[Jason Squirties]

What are the odds that the core of Kopi, Brownie, Drew and Carts are all pointing fingers at Phaneuf and Kovalchuk to blame for this teams bad season.

What are the odds that a message board poster comes up with this idea?

 

[AzKing]

This rebuild is going to take 3 seasons including this year. It won't be quick. We will be drafting in the Top 10 again next year and that is the way it should be. You have to take a couple of steps back and then move forward. By 2021-22, even if the Kings were stuck will all of their contracts the whole time, the only guys they will be still on the hook for are Kopitar, Doughty, Brown and Carter. Brown and Carter will be off the books the next year.

If they are going to do this then do it the right way.

 

[DoktorJeep]

What are the odds that a message board poster comes up with this idea?

Dion and Kovy live outside the MB bubble, which makes it hard to gell with the boys.

 

[crassbonanza]

What are the odds that the core of Kopi, Brownie, Drew and Carts are all pointing fingers at Phaneuf and Kovalchuk to blame for this teams bad season.

In the article Kovalchuk discusses getting a lot of support from his teammates and how that has helped him stay positive.

 

[Jason Squirties]

In the article Kovalchuk discusses getting a lot of support from his teammates and how that has helped him stay positive.

It's more fun to make things up.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Well it is a contract year for him.

I think Luff and/or Brodz should both be regulars in the lineup. Toffoli helps prevent that from happening.

Ah, yeah, I hadn't really considered the 2nd part.

 

[KingsFan7824]

7 D again?! And oh hey, Carter is still on the roster.

Of course Carter is still on the roster. What else would you really expect to happen?

What are the odds that the core of Kopi, Brownie, Drew and Carts are all pointing fingers at Phaneuf and Kovalchuk to blame for this teams bad season.

They haven't played well enough to point any fingers anywhere. The whole team wasn't ready to play an NHL game from the start of training camp. Does anyone want to even know what opinions Kopitar/Brown/Doughty/Carter have? Maybe Brown has distanced himself a little bit from the other 3, but that trio has been under constant criticism from fans.

Well it is a contract year for him.

I think Luff and/or Brodz should both be regulars in the lineup. Toffoli helps prevent that from happening.

The reality of a hard cap. It's not going to help Luff that he can be sent to Ontario next year without clearing waivers either. The same reality that hinders the Kings from being able to trade an underperforming winger, who isn't a top winger in the league when he's on his game anyway. If we know Toffoli does nothing if he's not scoring, everyone else knows that too. We know for sure that Toffoli shouldn't be getting any sort of large contract beyond next season from the Kings, so at least there's that. His last day in this organization should be no later than June 30th of 2020.

 

[LAKings88]

This rebuild is going to take 3 seasons including this year. It won't be quick. We will be drafting in the Top 10 again next year and that is the way it should be. You have to take a couple of steps back and then move forward. By 2021-22, even if the Kings were stuck will all of their contracts the whole time, the only guys they will be still on the hook for are Kopitar, Doughty, Brown and Carter. Brown and Carter will be off the books the next year.

If they are going to do this then do it the right way.

Depends on Hughes/Vilardi/Kupari.

I know it’s pie in the sky, but I believe those three could change things fast.

Unlikely, but possible.

For the record, I still think LA picks 5th.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Those...those might be the most thoughtful, mature, good Doughty quotes I've ever seen.

Lineups; Kovalchuk; coach relationships (and even the Trash Can Incident) - LA Kings Insider