The shift to BLuc

[Raccoon Jesus]

I do think, for better or for worse, Blake and Luc are much more in tune with AEG than DL was. That's not a positive or negative for either group, really. But Blake is clearly much more of a company man than Lombari, haha. If Blake gets fired he'll have a very amicable press conference and prepare his resume for his next role; DL's tenure ended with him drinking beer in a garage with his players.

I will say, as I've said before, Blake doesn't subscribe to sunk cost fallacy and I truly appreciate that. And, with Quick and even Petersen, he's proven he can be pretty cutthroat. But--I don't see the killer instinct in him or TM to make the ballsy move that will get us past the first round. Or, even if Blake does, TM is going to 1-3-1 his way out of it as in the past.

I said before there's no long-term vision and I still stand by that. The asset management has been poor and they're just about out of racetrack with cap space, waiver eligibility, prospects, picks, and cheap contracts without getting out of the first round, the price of trying to open the window too early for one group (Byfield, Clarke), too late for another (Kopitar, Doughty). This year is their best shot for the next few, in which they really need to be recouping assets. I DO think DL had proven he had a better long term vision and though NO GM gets the opportunity for a 2nd rebuild I would have preferred DL to do it with a well-articulated plan rather than with Blake's uber-secretive cloak-and-dagger bullshit where guys disappear with day to day injuries for months and the only deep reporting on the org is state-released propoganda.

That being said--they have put an entertaining product on the ice that is one of the fastest teams in the league with the best offense and the best defense and that can't be totally glossed over. But if they fail in the first round again--every way we view them will have to be colored by that. This is truly a make or break year and it took 7 years (+ several more in the org) to get here, coming up on a decade without a series win.

 

[KINGS17]

I do think, for better or for worse, Blake and Luc are much more in tune with AEG than DL was. That's not a positive or negative for either group, really. But Blake is clearly much more of a company man than Lombari, haha. If Blake gets fired he'll have a very amicable press conference and prepare his resume for his next role; DL's tenure ended with him drinking beer in a garage with his players.

I will say, as I've said before, Blake doesn't subscribe to sunk cost fallacy and I truly appreciate that. And, with Quick and even Petersen, he's proven he can be pretty cutthroat. But--I don't see the killer instinct in him or TM to make the ballsy move that will get us past the first round. Or, even if Blake does, TM is going to 1-3-1 his way out of it as in the past.

I said before there's no long-term vision and I still stand by that. The asset management has been poor and they're just about out of racetrack with cap space, waiver eligibility, prospects, picks, and cheap contracts without getting out of the first round, the price of trying to open the window too early for one group (Byfield, Clarke), too late for another (Kopitar, Doughty). This year is their best shot for the next few, in which they really need to be recouping assets. I DO think DL had proven he had a better long term vision and though NO GM gets the opportunity for a 2nd rebuild I would have preferred DL to do it with a well-articulated plan rather than with Blake's uber-secretive cloak-and-dagger bullshit where guys disappear with day to day injuries for months and the only deep reporting on the org is state-released propoganda.

That being said--they have put an entertaining product on the ice that is one of the fastest teams in the league with the best offense and the best defense and that can't be totally glossed over. But if they fail in the first round again--every way we view them will have to be colored by that. This is truly a make or break year and it took 7 years (+ several more in the org) to get here, coming up on a decade without a series win.

The part about Lombardi not being a company man is true since Lombardi basically ran a psyop on Leiweke during the Kovalchuk contract negotiations.

 

[JeanBlanc]

As for emphasis on speed and offense, three of Blake's first four 1st round picks were a slow Vilardi, a character center with questionable offensive upside for a Top 5 pick and Bjornfot who had next-to-zero offensive upside.

I mean, offense and speed. Vilardi was an offense pick, Turcotte was a fast, high-scoring center, and Bjornfot was a fast, balanced defender with borderline elite skating. I'm not sure how that violates an emphasis on speed and offense in picks..

 

[JeanBlanc]

I kind of feel that Blake didn't know what the hell he was doing and actually didn't want to deviate too much from Lombardi in a lot of aspects. I think he got his coach, gave him a five year deal right off the hop and then started building the roster with an eye on fitting this system.

I think that's a product of being a first time GM. It's rare that a first-timer would come in and shake everything up all at once. The pattern is to see what's going on. Then change things slowly.

It can often take time to articulate one's contrasting philosophy and the practical application of that contrast.

 

[BigKing]

I mean, offense and speed. Vilardi was an offense pick, Turcotte was a fast, high-scoring center, and Bjornfot was a fast, balanced defender with borderline elite skating. I'm not sure how that violates an emphasis on speed and offense in picks..

I guess if you take a forward as high as Vilardi, it is for offense but they also most likely just went with their BPA on the board.

Bjornfot wasn't their BPA if I recall correctly but they wanted defense and felt their was going to be a run on defensemen so they took him early. Looks like they should have let the run happen at this point but hopefully he pans out.

I would hope the #5OA isn't slow and can't score. Point is he was lauded for play driving and character over skating and scoring so I feel like my point stands.

Lombardi drafted Kempe in 2014 in the first round. Lombardi was obviously all about speed and scoring at that point. Hell, Lombardi--the guy who apparently hated skating as an asset--drafted Hickey at 4OA.

It's funny: other fan bases thought of the Kings as slow grinders and we always had to dispel that notion. Now it feels like our fanbase buys into that as well. You don't run that gauntlet of teams in 2014 simply by being big and heavy: they played fast and had guys that could skate too.

 

[bmr]

But--I don't see the killer instinct in him or TM to make the ballsy move that will get us past the first round.

Team has been improving each year and he has made some pretty big trades/signings (Fiala/Danault/Gavrikov/PLD (still TBD). Ballsy doesn't necessarily mean better. If we keep flaming out in the early round(s) of the playoffs then I will agree that we need to make a bigger move.

 

[Nasti]

Maybe it‘s been said but Blake’s glaring weakness has been how he misidentifies who “the guy” should be. Petersen, Fiala, and PLD. I’m sure some people will argue Fiala shouldn’t be on the list but he should be. He’s not a guy who can carry your team to the top and he’s a total bonehead.

 

[KINGS17]

Maybe it‘s been said but Blake’s glaring weakness has been how he misidentifies who “the guy” should be. Petersen, Fiala, and PLD. I’m sure some people will argue Fiala shouldn’t be on the list but he should be. He’s not a guy who can carry your team to the top and he’s a total bonehead.

Fiala would be a nice addition to an up and coming team as a scoring winger, say the Kings of 2010, but he definitely is not in "the guy" category. He isn't even in the same league as Mr. Game 7.

 

[Kurrilino]

But--I don't see the killer instinct in him or TM to make the ballsy move that will get us past the first round.

I you need an all in move to get past round 1, you are doing something wrong as GM in general.
We will end up with more PLD's if we try another all in until the point where we have no prospects and picks left

 

[Nasti]

Fiala would be a nice addition to an up and coming team as a scoring winger, say the Kings of 2010, but he definitely is not in "the guy" category. He isn't even in the same league as Mr. Game 7.

It would be like the 2009 Kings acquiring Gaborik. More of a final/missing piece.

 

[Bandit]

I guess if you take a forward as high as Vilardi, it is for offense but they also most likely just went with their BPA on the board.

Bjornfot wasn't their BPA if I recall correctly but they wanted defense and felt their was going to be a run on defensemen so they took him early. Looks like they should have let the run happen at this point but hopefully he pans out.

I would hope the #5OA isn't slow and can't score. Point is he was lauded for play driving and character over skating and scoring so I feel like my point stands.

Lombardi drafted Kempe in 2014 in the first round. Lombardi was obviously all about speed and scoring at that point. Hell, Lombardi--the guy who apparently hated skating as an asset--drafted Hickey at 4OA.

It's funny: other fan bases thought of the Kings as slow grinders and we always had to dispel that notion. Now it feels like our fanbase buys into that as well. You don't run that gauntlet of teams in 2014 simply by being big and heavy: they played fast and had guys that could skate too.

Playing fast is different than being fast. Austin Wagner was fast. Dude couldn’t play fast to save his life. Playing fast requires a decisive brain and passing ability.

 

[King'sPawn]

Playing fast is different than being fast. Austin Wagner was fast. Dude couldn’t play fast to save his life. Playing fast requires a decisive brain and passing ability.

That's why Vilardi's speed never bothered me. The way he processed the play made up for his deficiencies.

 

[KINGS17]

It would be like the 2009 Kings acquiring Gaborik. More of a final/missing piece.

I dunno, we all know Scuderi was "the piece".

 

[Rorschach]

I think DL got fired purely for making too many bad financial decisions, costing Anschutz a lot of money for very little...and he had other problems too, many of which were unlucky/out of DL's control. So with the financial blunders that hurt the owner a lot and no other "but he's good on these other things so, they will save him for now, including not firing Sutter", he got fired. I have a feeling Blake and McLellan for sure, their necks are on the line, big time, thus the dumping of Quick and all the big moves to get PLD and unload a lot of useful/semi-useful players as cap dumps to get PLD.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I will never understand why Lombardi was unceremoniously shown the door just three rough years after a Cup win, whereas Blake is in year infinity of absolutely zero postseason success and he’s not on the hot seat.

DL must have made enemies within the organization or was not in tune with ownership. Because that just doesn’t make sense.

 

[Rick Knickleback]

I will never understand why Lombardi was unceremoniously shown the door just three rough years after a Cup win, whereas Blake is in year infinity of absolutely zero postseason success and he’s not on the hot seat.

DL must have made enemies within the organization or was not in tune with ownership. Because that just doesn’t make sense.

I'm not nearly dialed into the palace intrigue as much as some around here, but the impression I got was clear: Luc saw himself as the "old guard" of the LAK (see Dionne, Taylor, Vachon, Blake, Gretz and his pals) whose legacy was threatened by Deano, both by his cup successes as well as his IDGAF personality about such things. It didn't take much for Luc to give him the shiv, especially since he had seemed to ingratiate himself with the ownership (which mystifies me, but so much does these days as I get older). It also explains why Luc (and Blake) were unwilling to tell Doughty to shut it a few years back when he popped off about the "rebuild." They wanted to signal that the issue was DL, not them.

Again, that's just, like, my opinion, man. But that's the vibes the whole thing gave off in 2017. It was ridiculously premature, by any reasonable metric.

EDIT: for the record, Luc the player is an all-timer. But I do think his track record as part of the management team does diminish his reputation a bit, especially when you account for the in-game "experience" now. It's funny: I feel the opposite about Blake. He was a turd a couple different times as a player for us, so much so that I think his jersey should not be hanging in the rafters (put Lappy or Matty up there instead if we need to acknowledge that era). As a GM, I think he's trying. He's in over his head at times, but that's less a crime than a malevolent approach. He's clearly no Deano though.

 

[tigermask48]

I will never understand why Lombardi was unceremoniously shown the door just three rough years after a Cup win, whereas Blake is in year infinity of absolutely zero postseason success and he’s not on the hot seat.

DL must have made enemies within the organization or was not in tune with ownership. Because that just doesn’t make sense.

It was pretty well documented that the reason DL was fired was he flat out refused to get rid of Sutter. That's it, 100% full stop.

I do think at that point, once people in the Kings heard DL and Sutter were out, that Luc and Blake swooped in with a "minimum effort, maximum profit" plan to replace Sutter with Stevens and keep the roster intact. But I don't think there was anything inherently malicious in there actions towards DL.

I think they just saw an opportunity for a slam dunk where they remove Sutter, name Stevens coach, and contend for another cup. Stevens as Head Coach was pretty much the most low effort thing they could do and that's not the actions you'd normally see from people who did something malicious to take over. You'd see them immediately start putting their people into big positions. That didn't happen for about a year and even to this day people Lombardi hired are still here.

 

[CarlSneep]

I always figured Dean was going to re-tool the team and trade some sacred cows (trading for Ben Bishop makes more sense if you’re planning on trading Quick that off-season) and AEG stepped in to prevent that.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

It was pretty well documented that the reason DL was fired was he flat out refused to get rid of Sutter. That's it, 100% full stop.

I do think at that point, once people in the Kings heard DL and Sutter were out, that Luc and Blake swooped in with a "minimum effort, maximum profit" plan to replace Sutter with Stevens and keep the roster intact. But I don't think there was anything inherently malicious in there actions towards DL.

I think they just saw an opportunity for a slam dunk where they remove Sutter, name Stevens coach, and contend for another cup. Stevens as Head Coach was pretty much the most low effort thing they could do and that's not the actions you'd normally see from people who did something malicious to take over. You'd see them immediately start putting their people into big positions. That didn't happen for about a year and even to this day people Lombardi hired are still here.

I understand that was the reason cited.

It’s just f***ing absurd to me that Rob Blake is getting as much rope as he wants whereas Dean was ultimatum’d out the door.

I agree Sutter needed to go and likely Dean, too. I just wish this organization would apply the same cutthroat Belichekian “results or die” rules to the current regime.

 

[tigermask48]

I think for better or worse Luc and Blake are here until Kopitar and Doughty are gone unless something extreme happens.

It feels like they've convinced Uncle Phil they can still win with those two in LA and moved the goalposts to there. So until Kopi and Drew retire, Phil can't really really say they failed.

Now let's say the team misses the playoffs this year. With the stated goal of contending then that feels like an extreme enough failure for changes to be made or at least called for.

It's sad but I strongly disagree with the structure of this team, but I'm still a fan of this team and 99% of the players (not you PLD!). So I've kind of found myself reveling in both It's successes and failures. If the Kings are winning, awesome, hope another cup is the end. If they are losing, well great, that means Blake, Todd, and Luc are hopefully gone soon.

 

[tigermask48]

I always figured Dean was going to re-tool the team and trade some sacred cows (trading for Ben Bishop makes more sense if you’re planning on trading Quick that off-season) and AEG stepped in to prevent that.

To me that trade always felt like DL trying to salvage that season after Quick got hurt. Bishop was at the time a guy that could win games, and with Quick hurt it exposed a huge hole on the depth chart. One that hilariously enough has still yet to be sufficiently filled.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Nuclear hot take: the single most detrimental organizational move to happen with the Kings over the past two decades was losing Lieweke for Beckerman.

Lieweke had a ton of issues but he really cared and wanted to win. Beckerman is a soulless company man and everything he touches withers on the vine.

I don’t think a guy like Beckerman would’ve ever hired a guy like Dean Lombardi.

 

[Johnny Utah]

BTW, is it surprising that Lombardi still doesn't have a GM or AGM job. He's basically a part time scout of the Flyers after winning two cups.

 

[King'sPawn]

BTW, is it surprising that Lombardi still doesn't have a GM or AGM job. He's basically a part time scout of the Flyers after winning two cups.

He said on the Cam and Strick podcast that he didn't want to be a GM anymore. Too many other duties he doesn't enjoy.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

BTW, is it surprising that Lombardi still doesn't have a GM or AGM job. He's basically a part time scout of the Flyers after winning two cups.

He specifically said he got a lot of calls for GM jobs after LA, but turned them all down. He doesn’t want to be a GM anymore.