We need to give Kempe and the team time

[Statto]

There is clearly work to do, there are issues. Of course there are; Kempe has been moved to center and is learning the position. Defensively he has lots to learn and he face offs are patchy. However he is great in the transition, good zone entries and creative offensively and the coaching staff must see an ability to improve his weaknesses. It's a project and one that personally I'm looking forward to watching. However there are so many posts from people looking to make him the new whipping boy. The 'expert' views on here writing him off are the same ones that said (I'm paraphrasing):

1. Stevens is Sutter light. He's not a new voice, he will make no difference.
2. Kopitar is rubbish as he didn't feature on the scoreboard in the FIRST game.
3. Folin isn't good enough for this team.

I could go on.

There seems to be a desperation to successfully predict failure. There seems a need to be able to say "I told you so", it's tiresome. By all means evaluate a game but be balanced and don't draw conclusions (always negative ones) for what it means for the season based on such a small sample size.

The number of posters that jumped on Kopitar after we won the first game was daft. He was fine defensively and his off the puck movement was great. He forced what will be one of the best saves of the season yet because he didn't show up on the scoresheet he gets a bunch of people on his back. There was plenty to like in his game on Thursday and I said it at the time.

Equally I'm not going to say last night means Kopitar is back to his best. We are at game 2 and we are clearly going through lots of changes. It's going to be months before we really know what the new identity of this team is going to be and how everyone fits in. Guys like Kempe, Dowd and Iafallo are going to do some great things but also make a boat load of mistakes. They are inexperienced guys learning on the job so let's give them time and not rush to judgement. It's certainly too early to make Kempe or anyone the new whipping boy.

That all said it's a forum and I'm all for free speech, I just prefer it to be properly considered.

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[USE Fi]

After two games would not say he is defensive liability, just a young player trying to adjust to NHL.

Some people keep saying he is bad at faceoffs and that is true but it should not mean that he cant play now with Kings, look stats of maybe best player in NHL McDavid he has taken total 4 faceoffs in this year in two games Kopitar has taken 43 even Kempe has taken more (12).
If McDavid takes 2 faceoffs a game prob. because Draisaitl is kicked off from circle Kings could make Kempe take less (add center to his line, Andreoff or Dowd) and let him concentrate to play game his way, the way Stevens and Kings like, today, speed from middle of the ice.

Point is he is young and believe that Kings know how to development defensive side of players.
I would look really hard how good Kempe is before i would send him down (to play more minutes) and i'm pretty sure so do Kings.
So many comments; play the kids, let them play and develop.

 

[kilowatt]

One thing I really hope Stevens does is keep the lines together for at least five games before making changes. Sutter would experiment with the lines, then break up that experiment after two periods. We should be encouraging creativity, even if it costs us at times.

 

[HookKing]

One thing I really hope Stevens does is keep the lines together for at least five games before making changes. Sutter would experiment with the lines, then break up that experiment after two periods. We should be encouraging creativity, even if it costs us at times.

The Kings have a very light schedule (w/weak opponents) for the next two weeks. Even the b2b doesn't hurt because the isles are b2b as well. Plenty of time between games to work on things. The real test is the road trip starting in Columbus. Then the 4th line whatever its manifestation will be exposed.

 

[Fishhead]

Criticism of Kopitar hasnt been based on one game. New coach or not, he hasn't been earning his contract in quite a while. This was debated on this board ad nauseous last season. If you are one of the top 10 paid guys in the league, it shouldn't matter who your coach is or who you play with, you should be producing. You really can't blame people for being negative when he dropped such a stinker last year. I can tell you that last night was a sigh of relief, Kopitar looked like himself for the first time since 2016.

And I don't think Kempe is a whipping boy, nor is he being written off, he's simply living up to his billing. He has never shown he's anything but a 3rd liner offensively, but because the cupboards were bare there was nothing else to hang on to. He's Trevor Lewis without the defense, and that's fine. There were some unrealistic expectations for the guy and a lot of folks didn't get a chance to see him in Ontario so they only had draft position and hype to go on.

 

[tonellisghost]

Isn't two games in a little too early for an I told you so finger wagging post? Isn't it? Just saying.

 

[King'sPawn]

Criticism of Kopitar hasnt been based on one game. New coach or not, he hasn't been earning his contract in quite a while. This was debated on this board ad nauseous last season. If you are one of the top 10 paid guys in the league, it shouldn't matter who your coach is or who you play with, you should be producing. You really can't blame people for being negative when he dropped such a stinker last year. I can tell you that last night was a sigh of relief, Kopitar looked like himself for the first time since 2016.

And I don't think Kempe is a whipping boy, nor is he being written off, he's simply living up to his billing. He has never shown he's anything but a 3rd liner offensively, but because the cupboards were bare there was nothing else to hang on to. He's Trevor Lewis without the defense, and that's fine. There were some unrealistic expectations for the guy and a lot of folks didn't get a chance to see him in Ontario so they only had draft position and hype to go on.

There are many degrees of the Kopitar discussion I think you are forgetting. One such topic is the Kings should have traded him or not re-signed him. There have been discussions about his character and his lack of leadership. And yes, production is a big one.

Nobody can honestly say that Kopitar's overall production last year was okay. However, there are a lot of things fans pretend to know which exaggerates the problem.

The funny thing is, the same people who say Kopitar is the problem turn around now and say, "See? Now that he does what I said he should be doing/when he cares, he's a good player!"

As or Kempe, he's a young player who's not very savvy at knowing how to transition his game at the NHL level yet. I unrealistically expected more offense from him, but I'm not even worried about his production right now. I just don't want the play to die when he makes a decision with the puck. Once he reaches that level, he'll be fine.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

I'm fine with giving Kempe time, I'm not fine with continuing to give him time at center. It's a square peg in a round hole, just not going to work

 

[KingCanadain1976]

I was the one bringing up his face offs and I only bring it up because its a area he needs to work on and with Stoll on the payroll its something they can work on after practices. Its going to take time i know but just saying he needs to work on it is all

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I haven't seen much front Kempe to suggest he's capable of full time C duties in the NHL. Unfortunately, he's forced into this position by our lack of center depth.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Kempe should not be playing at center. This experiment will fail, just like when they thrust Andreoff to play center.

Kempe sucked at center in Ontario as well.

 

[Fishhead]

There are many degrees of the Kopitar discussion I think you are forgetting. One such topic is the Kings should have traded him or not re-signed him. There have been discussions about his character and his lack of leadership. And yes, production is a big one.

Nobody can honestly say that Kopitar's overall production last year was okay. However, there are a lot of things fans pretend to know which exaggerates the problem.

The funny thing is, the same people who say Kopitar is the problem turn around now and say, "See? Now that he does what I said he should be doing/when he cares, he's a good player!"

As or Kempe, he's a young player who's not very savvy at knowing how to transition his game at the NHL level yet. I unrealistically expected more offense from him, but I'm not even worried about his production right now. I just don't want the play to die when he makes a decision with the puck. Once he reaches that level, he'll be fine.

You always get those extremists who are for trading your best players, but I think most simply expected more out of him. I don't think anyone outside of Kopitar knows why he had such an off year, Kopi might not even know. But when you are are a top player, you are expected to figure it out. I do think that most fans on here are knowledgeable enough to see that Kopitar played much differently last year than he did when he was considered a top 3 center.

The situations with Richards/Brown/Voynov skewed thinking. Everyone knows Kopi has the talent to bounce back, but "Oh crap, here we go again" is a normal reaction from fans after how quickly the cup core fell apart.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Kopitar’s least productive seasons have occurred in two of the last three years. There has been plenty of reason to be concerned with his play, especially given his contract and status as team captain.

These overreactionary posts from the defensive, oversensitive types are really silly. Kopitar’s play last night should become a norm. It was the complete opposite of his invisible performance in preseason and game one.

 

[Statto]

Kopitar’s least productive seasons have occurred in two of the last three years. There has been plenty of reason to be concerned with his play, especially given his contract and status as team captain.

These overreactionary posts from the defensive, oversensitive types are really silly. Kopitar’s play last night should become a norm. It was the complete opposite of his invisible performance in preseason and game one.

I'm not being over sensitive at all. Last season was poor from Kopitar but it was under a very different set of circumstances including a tuned out coach and a very awkward changing of the Captaincy. But it's done.

My frustration is that our brave new world was one game old and posters seems to expect a switch to be flipped and off we go. As I say it's unrealistic and it will take time, a lot has changed.

Whilst I agree Kopi was invisible in preseason I genuinely don't care about that as for the veterans, in my mind at least, it's about timing and fitness. What I completely disagree with is that he was invisible in game 1. He forced a stunning save and got open several times, whilst that doesn't make him a star of the game he wasn't invisible and he looked like a guy close to finding his game. Last night doesn't mean he's back by any means. I'm expecting some inconsistency from everyone for a bit. Like I said, let's give it a little time as any evaluation right now good or bad, is likely to look dumbass down the line.

 

[Statto]

I haven't seen much front Kempe to suggest he's capable of full time C duties in the NHL. Unfortunately, he's forced into this position by our lack of center depth.

Perhaps. He certainly doesn't fit the position in 'Sutter hockey'. I can only assume/hope Stevens feels that he can grow into the role he wants from him. Maybe it is a case of a round peg in a square hole and if so, I think it's unfair on the kid. We'll see.

 

[member 88115]

Kempe should not be playing at center. This experiment will fail, just like when they thrust Andreoff to play center.

Kempe sucked at center in Ontario as well.

That has been my thought even before this season. He should go back to wing where has had more success. Maybe Fattenberg and Folin make Martinez expandable to use as bait to bring in a solid 3rd liner.

 

[Fishhead]

That has been my thought even before this season. He should go back to wing where has had more success. Maybe Fattenberg and Folin make Martinez expandable to use as bait to bring in a solid 3rd liner.

If he ever starts to get chunky, this is what I'm going to call him

 

[Kingspiracy]

That has been my thought even before this season. He should go back to wing where has had more success. Maybe Fattenberg and Folin make Martinez expandable to use as bait to bring in a solid 3rd liner.

Just out of curiousity, who is the 3c that we'd all be pining after?

When stoll was here, you could just about form a lynch mob on this site. High, wide, penalty.... always in the conversation for overpaid.

 

[member 88115]

Just out of curiousity, who is the 3c that we'd all be pining after?

When stoll was here, you could just about form a lynch mob on this site. High, wide, penalty.... always in the conversation for overpaid.

If Toronto or NJ are still looking for D. I would inquire about Henrique or Bozak.

 

[Kingspiracy]

If Toronto or NJ are still looking for D. I would inquire about Henrique or Bozak.

They would cost a lot wouldnt they? Closer to 2cs than 3cs. It would great if one if the recently drafted kids could fill the roll.

 

[HookKing]

Just out of curiousity, who is the 3c that we'd all be pining after?

When stoll was here, you could just about form a lynch mob on this site. High, wide, penalty.... always in the conversation for overpaid.

That was the declining Stoll or the one trying to be a 2C. The one I want is killer on faceoffs and automatic in the shootout.

 

[KINGS17]

I think Kempe is going to have to find a way to use his speed and quickness more effectively. In general, I like him more as a center in open ice and playing high in the offensive zone, because I think he is a decent play maker. He has been pathetic on the dot.

I am not enamored with his work on the boards. He has a lot more work to do in terms of increasing his strength and there is still time for him to do so.

Folin has been a pleasant surprise thus far.

 

[Sol]

People threw Pearson under the bus pretty quickly whenever he made the team. No surprise the same people are doing the same to Kempe. Gotta give players some time to show themselves.

 

[KINGS17]

People threw Pearson under the bus pretty quickly whenever he made the team. No surprise the same people are doing the same to Kempe. Gotta give players some time to show themselves.

To your point, Pearson had no clue his first call up. He went back down worked on his game with the 1st hand knowledge of what he needed to work on and when he came back up looked like he belonged in the NHL. Maybe Kempe needs to do that. Not saying he has to go down, but he has some perspective now based on real NHL experience.

 

[member 88115]

People threw Pearson under the bus pretty quickly whenever he made the team. No surprise the same people are doing the same to Kempe. Gotta give players some time to show themselves.

Pearson had success in the AHL and earn his spot on the big team. Kempe was given the spot and was critique by Stothers and Futa for production/effort even Kempe himself said he expects more from himself.

I want all our players to succeed, but I feel we are forcing a kid to play a position he is not the best at. Let alone giving him the time in the minors to adjust to the new position.