Pre-Game Talk: Trade Deadline Shenanigans II

[Omni Owl]

When the trade was first made, Vinny & Mersch had EXCELLENT chemistry together. IMHO, that'll be our secret weapon for the playoffs. If Versteeg is added to that line, all the better.....


Lucic - Kopitar - Gaborik
Pearson - Carter - Toffoli
Mersch - Lecavalier - Versteeg
King - Lewis - Brown

Shore, Clifford


McNabb - Doughty
Muzzin - Schenn
Martinez - Scuderi

Gravel, McBain



Quick
Enroth

Pretty much how I see it, swap King and Mersch if one is playing better than the other, like Sutter usually does. The addition of Versteeg really helps sort out the bottom 6, and I didn't realize he's still only 29. Fits with our group perfectly.

 

[PJ Kings Hockey]

When the trade was first made, Vinny & Mersch had EXCELLENT chemistry together. IMHO, that'll be our secret weapon for the playoffs. If Versteeg is added to that line, all the better.....


Lucic - Kopitar - Gaborik
Pearson - Carter - Toffoli
Mersch - Lecavalier - Versteeg
King - Lewis - Brown

Shore, Clifford


McNabb - Doughty
Muzzin - Schenn
Martinez - Scuderi

Gravel, McBain



Quick
Enroth

Now that's a nice-looking forward lineup, Basilisk.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Agreed on Basilisk's lineup. Deep, deep forward corps there.

 

[gnarls barkley]

i don't know why anyone is worried about our forwards though, that's never been a huge problem in my eyes. it's the defense that's constantly been a revolving trainwreck since Mitchell and Voynov.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Usually when one plays solid the other is a disaster. Score 5 goals and miraculously win or Quick posts a .99 save percentage over 4 games and the Kings can barely score a goal.

 

[Omni Owl]

i don't know why anyone is worried about our forwards though, that's never been a huge problem in my eyes. it's the defense that's constantly been a revolving trainwreck since Mitchell and Voynov.

Its going to be a transition from a less mobile D to a more physical and suffocating one. This year I think they're 2nd in the whole league for goals against or something? Losing Regehr to retirement kind of sucked as well, but I think he knew he was done. That Voynov void really was never filled, except briefly by Sekera. **** you forever Voynov.

 

[Reclamation Project]

Nope, they are the number one ranked defense in the league at 2.27. Again.

 

[TwzKing]

Its going to be a transition from a less mobile D to a more physical and suffocating one. This year I think they're 2nd in the whole league for goals against or something? Losing Regehr to retirement kind of sucked as well, but I think he knew he was done. That Voynov void really was never filled, except briefly by Sekera. **** you forever Voynov.

If Voynov didnt f up, we would still have our first... our D corp would be solid. We would have probably went after Ladd. Its a huge change in the team.

 

[BigKing]

The offense is a concern because they can't score more than 2 goals per game so far without Gaborik.

The lineups with Gaborik are nice and all, but it seems more realistic to pencil him in starting Round 2.

Can they get out of Round 1 against SJ by scoring two goals per game? That is going to be the question.

 

[Omni Owl]

Nope, they are the number one ranked defense in the league at 2.27. Again.

Its so weird because it really doesn't "feel" like they're first in the league. Despite that statistic, I don't really feel that confident in the group like I used to, I still think Doughty is playing way too many minutes. Hopefully Scuds can add some stabilization to that bottom pairing.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

The offense is a concern because they can't score more than 2 goals per game so far without Gaborik.

The lineups with Gaborik are nice and all, but it seems more realistic to pencil him in starting Round 2.

Can they get out of Round 1 against SJ by scoring two goals per game? That is going to be the question.

Why do people keep saying this? Lombardi has said he is hoping to get Gaborik back before the playoffs even start.

And also, you're automatically assuming the Kings will lose the division to Anaheim, which isn't a foregone conclusion at all.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

The offense is a concern because they can't score more than 2 goals per game so far without Gaborik.

The lineups with Gaborik are nice and all, but it seems more realistic to pencil him in starting Round 2.

Can they get out of Round 1 against SJ by scoring two goals per game? That is going to be the question.

Why haven't some people still not learned that under Sutter, there are two teams: 1) regular season team, 2) playoff team.

Until this is no longer the case, why do we doubt it?

 

[Minor Boarding]

Its so weird because it really doesn't "feel" like they're first in the league. Despite that statistic, I don't really feel that confident in the group like I used to, I still think Doughty is playing way too many minutes. Hopefully Scuds can add some stabilization to that bottom pairing.

That's basically the current reality...
We have to overplay Doughty-Muzzin... Other pairings are just fire-drillling vs. proper teams.

 

[KingCanadain1976]

When the trade was first made, Vinny & Mersch had EXCELLENT chemistry together. IMHO, that'll be our secret weapon for the playoffs. If Versteeg is added to that line, all the better.....


Lucic - Kopitar - Gaborik
Pearson - Carter - Toffoli
Mersch - Lecavalier - Versteeg
King - Lewis - Brown

Shore, Clifford


McNabb - Doughty
Muzzin - Schenn
Martinez - Scuderi

Gravel, McBain



Quick
Enroth

No way king plays 4th line minutes Switch him and pearson maybe

 

[bob77]

Why haven't some people still not learned that under Sutter, there are two teams: 1) regular season team, 2) playoff team.

Until this is no longer the case, why do we doubt it?

I liked last year's playoff team. When are people going to realize this isnt anywhere close to the team that won two cups. Imo

 

[Reclamation Project]

Top defense in the entire league. Number 1.

 

[The Night King]

Its so weird because it really doesn't "feel" like they're first in the league. Despite that statistic, I don't really feel that confident in the group like I used to, I still think Doughty is playing way too many minutes. Hopefully Scuds can add some stabilization to that bottom pairing.

It doesn't feel like it because they've had some ugly third periods in which they blew leads.

 

[theMajor]

I liked last year's playoff team. When are people going to realize this isnt anywhere close to the team that won two cups. Imo

?????

2012 Kings roster

Brown - Kopitar - Williams
Penner - Richards - Carter
King - Stoll - Lewis
Richardson - Fraser - Nolan


Scuderi - Doughty
Mitchell - Voynov
Martinez - Greene


this year's team is on par or better in almost every position save the 2nd defense pair. richardson/fraser/nolan as the fourth line!!!!

 

[Little Psycho]

Top defense in the entire league. Number 1.

That's amazing considering the amount of times we have complained about our D this season.

 

[YP44]

?????

2012 Kings roster

Brown - Kopitar - Williams
Penner - Richards - Carter
King - Stoll - Lewis
Richardson - Fraser - Nolan


Scuderi - Doughty
Mitchell - Voynov
Martinez - Greene


this year's team is on par or better in almost every position save the 2nd defense pair. richardson/fraser/nolan as the fourth line!!!!

where's gagne

The foward goup I would agree is on par or better but our D was way better than than now.. I know Martinez is better now than then, but scuderi circa 2012 >>>>> 2016. Lets call Mitchell 2012 and Muzzin a wash. Voynov >> Schenn. Plus greene 2012 is way better than any 6th LA can dish out this year.

2012's D was amazing.

 

[YP44]

That's amazing considering the amount of times we have complained about our D this season.

it's in the timing of defensive breakdowns and the inability to hold onto leads. It used to seem like a lock LA would win if they were leading in the 3rd...now I am not relaxed till the last buzzer

 

[bob77]

Nope, they are the number one ranked defense in the league at 2.27. Again.

You use that term as a way to rank our six man D corps, which is misleading. DS has the whole team contibuting to keeping the goals against down. Its just when everyone is doing this, its hard to score goals then. To be a successful team, they have to find that perfect balance between the two. The team can look really stagnant at times when DS has his grip on the team defensively. Its why hes not impressed with a 9-2 win at all, but says the team played great in a 1-0 loss. Its the DS way though, and the man won two cups doing it that way. But to me, they had two special teams that were able to pull it off. And yes, I believe it's extremely difficult to win hockey games when your focus is slanted so team defensively. The pressure is enormous not to screw up on anything. Its not a natural way of playing the game, but DS made it work twice. I just dont think this current team is capable of playing mistake free hockey like DS expects. In many ways, in winning the second cup, the team abandoned the very stagnant form of the system and began creating offense, which lead to comebacks in a few series. There was a better balance. It'll be interesting to see if this team can find that balance, and make a deep run. Right now, they are looking dysfunctional like last year, and they need to straighten this all out sooner rather than later. They need to be better prior to the playoffs starting, otherwise I could see them struggling in the first round.

 

[gnarls barkley]

i know we are the #1 defense in the league, but i don't put much stock in regular season. how much do we always downplay that type of **** anyways? winning the division, presidents trophy, etc., none of that really matters. it doesn't matter what this defense did in the regular season against all the ****ter squads, in the playoffs there is going to be series against good teams that aren't going to just roll over and die after a couple games.

this year's team needs to figure out if it's going to win games like 2012 (suffocating defense and adequate offense) or 2014 (just outscore everybody), because we sure as **** aren't winning anything with the offense of 2012 and defense of 2014...just saying. Unless Quick also decides that it's 2012 all over again, in which case the rest of the team can basically do whatever they want.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I liked last year's playoff team. When are people going to realize this isnt anywhere close to the team that won two cups. Imo

As long as your core is Kopitar, Doughty and Quick....and they are being led by a dude named Sutter, then you've got the key ingredients which have won two cups.

The 2012 barely made the playoffs, then turned around and had one of the most dominant Stanley Cup runs in the history of the NHL. Have some faith.....

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

My only concern on the blueline is with McNabb and guys being overused or being in some unfavorable matchup situations. I worry about McNabb in the playoffs, he could be a huge mess, similar to what Muzzin was in 2013.

The issue with the team defense is also with the turnovers and how often Quick has had to bail them out. The forwards are also at fault for these turnovers because of their poor coverage on the point, and there are a bunch of forwards of late from Lucic, Carter, Toffoli, Shore, Andreoff, Clifford, Brown, etc. who have constantly been turning pucks over which directly result in counter attacks and scoring chances (and in some cases goals).

They are shooting themselves in the foot quite often during the January-February lulls.