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GDT: pre-season LA Kings vs Vancouver Canucks @6:00pm 9/24/18

Kopi looked like where he left off from last season so happy about that.

Anybody miss Forbort? I know it's still early but Brickely and Fanta look like they can hold down the fort.
 
Seventyx7 said:
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Kovalchuk looks pretty bad from what I have seen... Obviously too early to be worried, but hopefully this is just preseason Ilya and he shakes the rust off.
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I don't think he looks bad To be honest. It's a timing issue with him that most players figure out after a bit. The positive about Kovy that gives me a lot of hope is his hands, shooting, and being able to go through players which tells me he has still got it

Fishhead said:
I’ve only seen Kovy struggle with positioning and where he’s supposed to be on the shorter surface. His stick handling and shooting seems to be on target. Once he gets that extra half step by figuring out that first part he’s going to be a handful.
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Yes, exactly. He's looked very dangerous with the puck, once he gets in a rhythm he will be a big threat.


Dexter Sinister said:
Also, someone mentioned earlier in the thread about Doughty being slow to come off the ice, in the 1st. Yeah it was pretty scary watching him slowly get up and skating straight to the bench, but obviously he was okay.
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Yeah, that was me, did he get hit up high? He went down hard and took a while to get up
 
Kylo Ren said:
Kopi looked like where he left off from last season so happy about that.

Anybody miss Forbort? I know it's still early but Brickely and Fanta look like they can hold down the fort.
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I personally don't miss Forbort, I feel like the Kings have a good mix of Dmen as it is with different styles. Bringing in Forbort for someone like Fanta you get rid of a good shot (creative player) from the blue line for a one dimensional defensive Dman. Obviously forbort is better defensively, but you can make the case the Kings would be better off having more utlitity rather than redundancy.

So, no I don't think the Kings miss Forbort. But if the defense ends up sucking, then they should bring him in.

As people above have said, Brickley ALREADY is above more seasoned defenseman. He shouldn't lose his spot because of tenure. He's extremly well positioned and smooth. I haven't seen him make panic errors that Muzzin/Forbort do which already puts him above for me.

But this is pre-season, you will know what the needs of the team really are once regular season starts.
 
Sol said:
Yeah, that was me, did he get hit up high? He went down hard and took a while to get up
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It happened at the other end of the ice, so I'm not sure but it looked like he was favoring his leg a little when he was skating back to the bench, but it could have just been cobwebs from a high hit.
 
Dexter Sinister said:
It happened at the other end of the ice, so I'm not sure but it looked like he was favoring his leg a little when he was skating back to the bench, but it could have just been cobwebs from a high hit.
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Oh, I saw him get hit, and he fell hard.
 
I think Brickley is at or above Forbort’s level right now, he is essentially what I hoped to see in Forbort as he developed. His poise was apparent right away even in the single game he played last year, sample size be damned. That said, it’s a long season and keeping that up over a NHL schedule is an extreme challenge for a rookie. It’s becoming clear that Brickley is NHL level already, he just needs to show he can handle the night in, night out of playing in the league.

There’s no reason to rush Forbort back before he’s completely ready, which is great.
 
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Yeah the Canucks threw a few hard hits at the very beginning of the game. Kings got wise and started to avoid the hits. There were a few times the Canucks went for a big hit, but no one was there and they ate a face full of glass.
 
Also, if anyone goes to the Salt Lake Shootout next year, avoid sitting in the upper level corners. You won't see about 1/4 of the ice. (although you you do have a good view of 3/4 of the ice)
 
While I've seen only four games so far and that is a small sample size, there are a lot of overreactions on here to last night's game.

Forbort is better than Fantenberg. Fantenberg would not outscore the goals he will allow if he ate as many minutes as Forbort. You have last night's game for Fanta and then you have last Thursday night when he was a disaster. He's going to look fine some nights and then trash on others while Forbort is going to be steadier. Fanta's offensive contribution is not enough to overtake Forbort's steadiness as this team is not as hard up for scoring as they were in Sutter's last year.

A reason for that would be Brickley can contribute the same amount of offense as Fanta while being a better player. There will be growing pains there but his ceiling is much higher and he already has a good offensive mind.

8/6/27/3/24 locked in.

LaDue and Brickley have more upside than Fanta with LaDue possessing the RHS. I am not high on LaDue's defensive game but he has offensive upside.

MacD provides something nobody else offers out of those competing for a final spot but the question remains if he is good enough to play on a good team at the NHL level and it is a valid question.

Brickley can go down without waivers but I think he is better than LaDue and Fanta already, or at least similar with much more upside. Playing with Doughty is a great way to learn on the job and might be best for his development. If he is the best choice as it relates to winning games right now and helping him reach his potential v. losing a press box/Ontario shuttle defenseman, you keep him up on the club. This is the second game in a row he's been paired with Doughty. This was a coup of a signing for Blake and it is only a one-year deal. He's seeing NHL ice sooner rather than later.

8/6/27/3/24/78/38

I think that is how they will break. Hopefully they don't lose MacD or Fanta but I believe they will lose one of them. I think either would be welcomed by any franchise in the league as a minute eater for their minor league team and a potential first call-up. If we only lose one, we all know which one I'd be okay with leaving.
 
Dexter Sinister said:
Also, does this mean the NHL plans to expand to SLC in a few years? Oh and Bailey almost fell off a motorcycle during intermission. It was him and the Jazz mascot....Jazz mascot was steering, went to turn and put too much gas (no traction on ice) and when the tire finally caught, it fishtailed. Not sure if Bailey was planning on getting off the bike at that time or not lol, but he stayed on his feet.
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oppss! misread your post
 
Over reactions like Matt Greene being fast enough for the modern NHL before back injury? ;)
 
I didn't realize LaDue and Fantenberg were the same age (26). The biggest difference between the two is that LaDue defends like he's 19 or 20. That's not a real good thing. Trade bait?
 
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BigKing said:
Here's a lukewarm take:

If Deryk Engelland can be a regular on a Cup finalist, Matt Greene would be just fine.
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The player who got exposed by his prior team, hmm. Interesting. Engelland isn't as slow as Greene was though if you actually watch him play.
 
Dexter Sinister said:
Also, does this mean the NHL plans to expand to SLC in a few years?
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Not likely, once Seattle's in the league will be at 32 teams, seems unlikely to expand beyond that. These games are usually about capturing young fans and getting more kids into the sport. More out of market viewers, more tv revenue, but also growth for the youth leagues. Playing preseason games in LA isn't really going to add any more fans or revenue, but giving kids in SLC a chance to see Kopitar and Doughty live in their own backyard might lead to a bit of a boost.
 
redcard said:
Not likely, once Seattle's in the league will be at 32 teams, seems unlikely to expand beyond that. These games are usually about capturing young fans and getting more kids into the sport. More out of market viewers, more tv revenue, but also growth for the youth leagues. Playing preseason games in LA isn't really going to add any more fans or revenue, but giving kids in SLC a chance to see Kopitar and Doughty live in their own backyard might lead to a bit of a boost.
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That makes sense. Before they started their season, Vegas came through these "uncharted waters" (Idaho, Utah, Montana, etc.) to attract new fans.....and it worked. Lots of Knights fans out this way. I see a lot of other random team fans from time to time as well.
 
BigKing said:
I think that is how they will break. Hopefully they don't lose MacD or Fanta but I believe they will lose one of them. I think either would be welcomed by any franchise in the league as a minute eater for their minor league team and a potential first call-up. If we only lose one, we all know which one I'd be okay with leaving.
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If they get claimed,if I recall correctly, they go onto the claiming teams opening night roster automatically. The claimant cannot just assign them to the AHL. I think it’s very unlikely that MacD gets claimed as he’s never going to play more than a small handful of games each year. I don’t think anyone will commit to him being on their roster for the first month (or is the minimum 2 weeks).

I think Fantenberg has a little more upside and his game probably suits playing out east a little more. He’s cheap and any team with questionable blue line depth will kick the tyres on him, for sure.
 
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