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Speculation: What happens when Doughty comes back?

bland said:
Pay attention to more than stats and you will see a kid shying away from contact, alligator arming pucks under pressure behind the net, getting beat from the wall to the crease, consistently getting outbattled in front of his net and giving the blueline on rushes with little effort.

He has clearly hit the wall. And he HAD to be called out early this year because his offense was coming at the expense of amateur shit show defense.

Growth isn't linear. He took a forward step this year to NHL regular, then hit a learning curve when he was getting abused in his own zone. Hiller was right to put the shackles on him so he can learn how to adapt his NHL offensive skill to meet the defensive requirements of his position. There has been absolutely nothing wrong with the way he has been handled this year.
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He may be having a rough patch but the causes could be many including his partner, the ridiculously conservative system, being demoted from PP1 etc. He needs to play through it and not be further blocked from development.. or we'll end up with another Kaliyev. This organization has proven it cant grow offensive talent time and again.. it devalues it. This is f***en terrible organization from top to bottom - anyone with eyes can see it.
 
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kingsholygrail said:
Who hasn't hit a wall the last month? Kempe? I think that's it.
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None more than the kid defensemen who has seen his duties lightened for a couple of weeks now.

Has nobody noticed how Spence has taken over his spot on the PP and in key situations? Did everyone miss how they bumped Clarke up the forward spot for half of a period?

This has been in the works for a month now as Doughty has grown nearer.
 
Trash Panda said:
Burroughs gives up just as much against as Clarke, only he is a black hole where offense & posession goes to die.

I’ll hear arguments that sitting Clarke a game could be beneficial for him & his development, but it definitely isn’t better for the team right now.

And baby, Rob has pigeonholed himself into the now in a bad type of way.
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Sure, but there is no investment in Burroughs.

And I would argue that of the Kings 6 regular defensemen this season, Clarke is overall the one least likely to hurt the team by sitting. He lost his PP spot to Spence, who has been outstanding since mid December. If they are serious about a run (which we all know isn't what they should be doing), then Clarke is 7th on the depth chart. He isn't generating much offense at the moment.

Let him rest, he isn't going anywhere.
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Rob Blake can't be that big of a moronic asshole, could he?
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bland said:
None more than the kid defensemen who has seen his duties lightened for a couple of weeks now.

Has nobody noticed how Spence has taken over his spot on the PP and in key situations? Did everyone miss how they bumped Clarke up the forward spot for half of a period?

This has been in the works for a month now as Doughty has grown nearer.
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Yea the month where they can barely score and are losing ground in the standings everyone noticed
 
bland said:
Sure, but there is no investment in Burroughs.

And I would argue that of the Kings 6 regular defensemen this season, Clarke is overall the one least likely to hurt the team by sitting. He lost his PP spot to Spence, who has been outstanding since mid December. If they are serious about a run (which we all know isn't what they should be doing), then Clarke is 7th on the depth chart. He isn't generating much offense at the moment.

Let him rest, he isn't going anywhere.
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He isn’t going anywhere until Blake realizes that he is one of his few remaining trade chips with value, that is.

But yeah, I get it, I just don’t like it.
 
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Some guy making $700k hits the wall. Who cares he’s the top scoring D. Results don’t matter if they can be measured, only if they are metaphysical.

Is he even able to buy a beer? No, coach Jimbo is completely sauve as he wisely turns a tiger into a kitty cat one stupid comment to the press at a time. Guys making more who coast on their reputation and invisible intangibles are the true backbone of our hidden winner.
 
tigermask48 said:
From the link above:
"Despite the internet being abuzz with what this means, it was most likely nothing more than a coach going with who he believed were the six-best defensemen on that particular night."

Looks at final score of the game. Well that was a pretty good own goal by Hiller wasn't it.
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-team struggling to generate offense

-dress Burroughs over Clarke
 
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There's no way Clarke is not one of the top 6 DMen on this team. That's just stupid talking.

Now if they came out and said:
We are looking to give everyone a rest here & there and especially Clarke due to the long, rough NHL season. He's played great, but an occasional rest day to reset is good for him (& others) long-term.
That has some merits and you can sell. Not one of the top 6 -- that's BS.
 
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DingerMcSlapshot said:
Skating is brutal. He looks really bad.
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He still takes too long to move the puck up ice. They are talking about him like hes the savior out there like they didnt just get beat with him two days in a row.
Still hard to believe Hiller broke up a team on a winning streak. And then decides to keep trotting out a team on a losing streak without making changes.
When you see that trade tree posted earlier, the bad teams of the mini rebuild, last years collapse that got Todd fired, lack of playoff success, and now this years skid in progress its just crazy that management gets away with it without having to face any pressure. In another market theyd be grilled and would probably have been fired by now.
 
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Not gonna blame Drew for management's insistence on playing him full minutes on a back to back after not playing hockey this year and coming off a major injury in his 30s

No pro is going to go to the coach and say 'please cut my playing time' much less one as enthusiastic as drew

I'm all for a good pile on but this one isn't fair to DD
 
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Raccoon Jesus said:
Not gonna blame Drew for management's insistence on playing him full minutes on a back to back after not playing hockey this year and coming off a major injury in his 30s

No pro is going to go to the coach and say 'please cut my playing time' much less one as enthusiastic as drew

I'm all for a good pile on but this one isn't fair to DD
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No I dont want to pile on Drew. Its not his fault. The problems were there before the Florida games he played. But putting him in and telling us how great he is isnt the solution.
 
He's 35 years old, he should not be expected to be some savior or a top defenseman on a contender. It's the same situation as with Kopitar, he should be a real asset as a secondary piece, a great 2nd pairing defenseman, had they been able to draft and develop his replacement. Kopitar and Doughty wouldn't be a problem if they were what Seguin and Benn ended up being in Dallas, instead of still being expected to play the roles they played a dozen years ago. At least in the case of Doughty, the scouts actually made a great pick and drafted his replacement, and Blake traded it away for Kevin Fiala.
 
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Herby said:
He's 35 years old, he should not be expected to be some savior or a top defenseman on a contender. It's the same situation as with Kopitar
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Yea well they shouldnt play him nearly 30 minutes a game then. Also Kopitar is looking worn out now compared to earlier in the year. You cant just put prospects in the AHL to learn Kings hockey then secondary roles in the NHL and expect them to take over when the leaders go cold.
Maybe its time to spread Drews minutes to others and put Byfield between Kempe and Turcotte or Fiala and see what happens.
 
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