Glad they realized it now but all of Bluc's moves so far seem to be reactionary as opposed to visionary.
And they'll probably be considered reactionary until...I don't know when. I really can't think of a move that could be made that wouldn't be reacting to this season. Maybe trading Campbell while his value is high, instead of being desperate to get rid of Quick in reaction to Quick's year. If they don't get the 1st pick, and they believe Hughes is a franchise player, maybe trading whatever pick they do get, plus Kupari or someone like that, would be visionary.
You hear things about trading guys like Toffoli, Lewis, Forbort, and maybe Clifford at next years TDL, because they will be UFAs and easier to move. Which makes sense, but if they suck next year, the returns will be 3rd to 7th round picks or scrubs.
That's likely just reality though. You can't force other teams to give you something good. What would any of those 4 have gotten the Kings this year? Clifford is having a good year, for Clifford. But in general, he's a bottom line guy. How much more than a mid round pick would he bring back?
I genuinely believe they just can't stand playing for that **** behind the bench.
They've played like crap since training camp though. A lot of these guys had really good years under Stevens in 17-18, and they looked disinterested in September. He's not good, but this season is not WD's fault. If nothing else, the players earned WD as their coach.
This is how I see it playing out. Campbell is in the same situation Jones was in, playing well but stuck behind the starter. He may have more value than Quick, just move him to the east and keep him away from EDM, or CAL.
And Bernier, and Kuemper, and even Scrivens. However, no reason to limit where Campbell could go. The Kings need as much value as they can get, because so many other players on the roster have such little value for one reason or another.
Campbell and Peterson are rumored to be the goalie tandem next season.
That's the best case scenario, but you have to be able to get rid of Quick first, and the cons outweigh the pros for Quick at the moment. The best pros are that he won the Conn Smythe 7 years ago. Maybe that he kept a dead team from getting embarrassingly swept last year by giving up 5 goals every game.
People need to pump the brakes with the Ontario stuff. Heard it with Carter and now with Quick, it's just not going to happen, the Kings aren't going to be seen as that type of team, it would hurt greatly in signing UFA's, and for what, 900k in cap savings? GTHO.
And the Richards situation isn't a comp, the guy was abusing drugs and was 100000x worse on the ice than Carter or Quick have looked this season. Not even Phaneuf has been as bad as he was in 2014-2015.
Yeah, the league even made the rules so that you don't get much out of trying to stash big contracts in the AHL. Plus Richards even ended up back on the roster, and it was in the middle of a season. Not from the get-go.
I would classify this as just that, 2 younger goaltenders that they need to make decisions on in the not to distant future and a 3rd that's older and only getting worse. Burying Quick would have nothing to do with cap savings, or they can carry 3 and never play him, they could probably get away with it because the AHL affiliate is right down the road and half the team will be waiver exempt anyway.
They won't put Quick in the AHL because of money. They also won't keep him in the press box as the 3rd goalie because of money. If they can't trade him, he will be the #1 to start the season, because of money.
Petersen played great for us, but he didn't play too well down in Ontario. Why not go into next season with Campbell and Quick and give Petersen another year? In 35 games, he had a 4.09 GAA and a .895 SV%. His numbers with the Kings were tremendously better (2.61 GAA, .924 SV%) but that's a pretty big drop in Ontario from last year to this year. If the Kings can find a taker for Quick or a good deal for Campbell, I'd say pull the trigger, but let's not pretend that Petersen is a guaranteed all star or anything.
That's what makes it all complicated. Quick is old with term, Campbell is a UFA after next year, and Petersen is young, but not too young, and already a RFA this summer. Campbell is trying to make up for a lost career, Petersen wants to get his going, and you're selling low on Quick.
What could we fetch for Petersen I wonder? He was a free asset after all, and if he has the opportunity to start somewhere, could he fetch a late first?
He's proven even less than Jones in 2015. He's already older than Varlamov when the Caps traded him. Plus those younger goalies were traded for picks in the following season, and Petersen probably hasn't shown enough for a team to bank on him. Andersen had a couple years in the NHL before the Ducks traded him. So probably not a 1st.
