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Roster Talk: News, Theories, Lineups, Rumors Etc. New Season Cometh!

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Herby said:
Kings defense is going to be pretty bad this season outside of the top pair. Lots of pressure on DD and Muzzin who are going to have to play half the game, and lots of pressure on the offense, the Kings can't afford down years from as many forwards as they had last year. The Kings are going to have to be a more offensive oriented team this season to contend.
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I agree with you on the offense defense balance being different. If you want to play a bunch of defensive forwards, it doesn't do you any good if the D have troubles breaking the puck out and getting hemmed in.

I'm not so convinced on the Schultz-Ehrhoff pair. They looked horrible last game against a poor Colorado team, and Schultz-Ehrhoff played the other Colorado game in Denver together. I'm hoping for the best, but wouldn't be surprised to see the worst.

I think McNabb-Martinez has a better chance.

It's going to be hard to not give up any goals at all when there are some cracks in your armor.

It's a new year, but so far I don't see much difference. Sure, it's the preseason only, but ALOT of it looked too familiar to me.

We'll see. Hope I'm way off base.
 
BigKing said:
Yep. Absolutely need the Top 6 to remain healthy. Losing Pearson and his speed killed them last season.

Need the Bottom 6 to not be a giant black hole of offense as well.

Doughty not going to play less minutes, that's for sure. Nice to say it, but Sutter is going to give him 25 minutes again because this team needs him out there for that long.
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It wouldn't surprise me to see DD hit 30 right out of the gate tonight.
 
BigKing said:
Yep. Absolutely need the Top 6 to remain healthy. Losing Pearson and his speed killed them last season.

Need the Bottom 6 to not be a giant black hole of offense as well.

Doughty not going to play less minutes, that's for sure. Nice to say it, but Sutter is going to give him 25 minutes again because this team needs him out there for that long.
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I agree on everything. The difference between us and many other teams at this point is depth, we can't weather injuries like others can.

I think the bottom 6 will be a pleasant surprise this year but if they're not that's more pressure on the top six...

And unfortunately agree on Doughty. Thankfully he showed up in great shape, but ugh.

I don't think our D is as bad as people keep letting on; it's just a combination of being spoiled over the last few years (honestly top to bottom 2012-2014 Kings were a sneaky elite unit because folks around the league don't give proper credit to Scuderi, Mitchell, et. al.) and working in new players. I expect them to be a bit of a tire fire to start as guys figure out the system/rotation. I predict Ehrhoff especially will take a beating around here till like game 10. But the raw talent as a group is there, just needs chemistry and execution, and that takes time.
 
Fishhead said:
It's possible, but really how much different is this defensive corps than last years, who allowed the fewest shots in the league, and tied for the 4th fewest goals against? Basically it's Regher out, Erhoff in. I think it's more likely they maintain the status quo or close to it, rather than seeing a major regression. It's pretty amazing that they led the league with fewest shots allowed when they are one of the lowest in blocked shots. This group is more stifling than they get credit for.

Both McBain and Schultz were moving parts last year, that really hasn't changed. From what Forbort showed in camp, if he keeps that up the defense might even end up better.
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100% agree. People look at the names and aren't impressed. What matters is results. I think it's likely Doughty will be as good or better than last season. Same with Muzzin. I think it's also likely that Martinez will play more games this season and McNabb will continue to get better. I think having Ehrhoff for the season (knock on wood) is better than having Voynov for 6 games and Sekera for 16. I think it's likely we'll see less of Greene this season as well. All of those things look like positives to me! Also, defense is played by 6 man units and that's something team is very good at.
 
markisonfire said:
Wish Forbort was playing instead of Schultz.
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I think it relates more to the fact that Schultz has been practicing with Ehrhoff now for about 10 straight days. And, like I said, only played against Colorado, and struggled, so..... Forbort will definitely be getting his opportunity soon. That's because the bottom two D pairs are likely to struggle a bit, and so, unlike last year, I think this year the team is going to be taking some looks at different combos, with or without injuries. Look for Gravel to get a few games in also. They can interchange him and Forbort like nothing because they don't have to clear waivers. By the time the trade deadline rolls around, who knows how much more Schultz, Greene, and perhaps another are playing or are even around.
 
Shots against is not really that telling a stat, it's the quality of the chances.

Since winning the cup we have lost Mitchell, Regehr and Voynov and replaced them with Ehrhoff, Forbort and McNabb. That is a massive drop off. Thankfully we have the talent up front to make up for the defensive shortcomings.
 
Fishhead said:
It's possible, but really how much different is this defensive corps than last years, who allowed the fewest shots in the league, and tied for the 4th fewest goals against? Basically it's Regher out, Erhoff in. I think it's more likely they maintain the status quo or close to it, rather than seeing a major regression. It's pretty amazing that they led the league with fewest shots allowed when they are one of the lowest in blocked shots. This group is more stifling than they get credit for.

Both McBain and Schultz were moving parts last year, that really hasn't changed. From what Forbort showed in camp, if he keeps that up the defense might even end up better.
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Didn't LA lead the league in puck possession? Cannot block shots or allow the other team to shoot when you have the puck.
 
The Kings don't have a #3 d-man, someone to anchor a second line pairing, that is the biggest issue.

I think it would be in the Kings best interest to break up Doughty-Muzzin by the second half of the year to balance out the pairings.
 
Herby said:
The Kings don't have a #3 d-man, someone to anchor a second line pairing, that is the biggest issue.

I think it would be in the Kings best interest to break up Doughty-Muzzin by the second half of the year to balance out the pairings.
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Possibly. I get the sense that DL wants to see what he has in Ehrhoff and/or Forbort/McNabb before making a trade splash. You know if we see it, he's not going "oh okay defense is fine!"
 
Most king pickups take close to 20 real games to be comfortable with our system I think that Ehrhoff will be the same.As i said in another thread hes starting to do little things (like hitting the net on pp and making a decent first pass out of the zone) I have hope he ll fit in better the longer he plays. I am more worried about losing over 1000 games experience up the middle then i am our defense.
 
Brad Doty said:
Possibly. I get the sense that DL wants to see what he has in Ehrhoff and/or Forbort/McNabb before making a trade splash. You know if we see it, he's not going "oh okay defense is fine!"
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I still have high hopes for McNabb based on how he played last year before the baffling benching. He looked like he was on his way to being that 2nd pairing d-man, but has yet to regain the confidence he lost after the benching.

I am still not a Forbort believer as anything more than a #6 in the NHL, if he can't beat out Jeff Schultz at this point you have to question how much better he will really get, this is not a kid anymore.

Johnny Utah said:
Ehrhoff is the #3 at this point. This is how I would rank them.

Doughty
Muzzin
Ehrhoff
Martinez
McNabb
Greene
Schultz
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Agreed with the rankings and that is the issue, Ehrhoff is not a #3 on a contending team, not even close. The Kings have a much better chance of someone developing chemistry with Doughty (maybe McNabb) and letting Muzzin move down to solidify the 2nd pairing than any of these guys becoming a #3.

KingCanadain1976 said:
Most king pickups take close to 20 real games to be comfortable with our system I think that Ehrhoff will be the same.As i said in another thread hes starting to do little things (like hitting the net on pp and making a decent first pass out of the zone) I have hope he ll fit in better the longer he plays. I am more worried about losing over 1000 games experience up the middle then i am our defense.
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Ehrhoff is not bad, not saying that, but he is not being put into a position to succeed in his current role. As for 28 and 10, it doesn't matter how many games they played in their primes, they were the two biggest jokes on the team last year and it's pretty telling one signed for peanuts and the other one can't find work. It's basically impossible for the Kings to get worse play from the 3C and 4C than they got last year, unless Jamie Lundmark and Matt Ryan are added to the roster.
 
few things:

1) AMart is better than a lot of you are giving him credit for. His numbers from last season are roughly equivalent to Seabrook, if that tells you anything. He stays healthy and that's your #3, and not that close.

2) We lose toughness going from Regehr to Ehrhoff (let's be honest, that's who he's really replacing), but people forget that Reggie - and I love the guy - was pretty much a dumpster fire last year too, he was just overshadowed by the rest of the ****show.

3) Losing Mitchell is probably the biggest blow here (aside Voynov) since that was a guy we could have chosen to retain in hindsight (of course, that's 20/20) - but let's not forget that these guys gutted their way through the '14 Ducks series with Schultz instead of Mitchell. Can they do it a whole season? that's another story, but like I've repeatedly said before - I fully believe that Schultz is a just a temporary stopgap for Greene being injured, I don't think what you see on opening night here is any way representative of the actual ideal roster. Forbort can clear waivers, I don't think it was a knock on his ability in comparison to Schultz - just smart asset management for the time being.
 
Herby said:
Ehrhoff is not bad, not saying that, but he is not being put into a position to succeed in his current role. As for 28 and 10, it doesn't matter how many games they played in their primes, they were the two biggest jokes on the team last year and it's pretty telling one signed for peanuts and the other one can't find work. It's basically impossible for the Kings to get worse play from the 3C and 4C than they got last year, unless Jamie Lundmark and Matt Ryan are added to the roster.
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I think out of Martinez mcnabb schultz greene Forbort Ehrhoff is best suited to play 3 So dealing with what we have we are the best option to start I would like to see Martinez given the shot if he doesn't work. I think your misunderstanding why i am "more worried about the centers then the defense". I think yes we may give up a bit more goals over all however i think we more then score that The difference more goals to me will = more wins. I expect toffoli pearson carter kopitar lucic to have big years Brown to bounce back Also i think more offence from there defense will help I think that dispute crap years both stoll and Richards make key plays that win games that come with experience. Stoll also wins key draws that sorta thing maybe lessened I think faceoffs will be a key thing especially winning them in overtime. Untill shore and Weal and Andreoff show they can win faceoffs it will be a concern .I am very happy with this team's overall makeup this year.
 
When you start seeing the C down low all the time helping the D break the puck out, you will then realize why it's hard for our F to score on the other end of the rink. When you're watching, count the number of times this happens, especially in the bottom two pairings.
 
efhank said:
When you start seeing the C down low all the time helping the D break the puck out, you will then realize why it's hard for our F to score on the other end of the rink. When you're watching, count the number of times this happens, especially in the bottom two pairings.
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This has nothing to do with the lineup tonight as its been this way for a few years now. The system they use is always going to cause issues scoring.
 
Herby said:
Alec Martinez is nowhere close to Brent Seabrook.
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YP44 said:
I agree with this
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not close to prime Seabrook, but AMart keeps improving and Seabrook is declining rapidly.

it's closer than you'd think - and regardless, AMart is head and shoulders above Ehrhoff in my opinion - health is going to be the main concern for both of those guys, but Ehrhoff has to learn a new system too so he's obviously going to look shakier early on.
 
Seabrook and Martinez are like as polar opposite as defensemen can be in style AND role. Even if the metrics add up, it's just a strange comparison.
 
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