Thread: Loktionov traded for Devils 5th round pick

I miss the days when five points in six games for a recently departed King would produce calls for DL's head. OH NOES - WES LOST THELOKTI!!!!

Originally Posted by Dominic Lavoie

I miss the days when five points in six games for a recently departed King would produce calls for DL's head. OH NOES - WES LOST THELOKTI!!!!

i think it'd be a bigger blip if New Jersey hadn't gone 3-5-2 (so far) after having started the season 7-1-3. that Atlantic Division right know has the teams tripping over each other. Loktionov is highly skilled with pretty good vision, but there was no way he was going to crack a top 2 center spot... especially after winning a championship... Kopitar and Richards have solidified themselves as 1-2 for the foreseable future, and he wasn't able to adapt to playing wing right now. he had to go.

and then there's Lubo. man, still the same old dude taking those 50/50 dive check attempts because the young forward burned you defenseman he's always been... but now he's doing it under protest. it was his delay in making a decision that cost the Kings Thomas Hickey... who hasn't looked to bad in Lon Gyland.

So why are we just giving players away this season? What did we get for Gagne? A roll or duct tape and a bag of Doritos?

Originally Posted by gescom

i think it'd be a bigger blip if New Jersey hadn't gone 3-5-2 (so far) after having started the season 7-1-3. that Atlantic Division right know has the teams tripping over each other. Loktionov is highly skilled with pretty good vision, but there was no way he was going to crack a top 2 center spot... especially after winning a championship... Kopitar and Richards have solidified themselves as 1-2 for the foreseable future, and he wasn't able to adapt to playing wing right now. he had to go.

and then there's Lubo. man, still the same old dude taking those 50/50 dive check attempts because the young forward burned you defenseman he's always been... but now he's doing it under protest. it was his delay in making a decision that cost the Kings Thomas Hickey... who hasn't looked to bad in Lon Gyland.

You had me until the end. I'm pretty sure it sounds more like LongGyland with a soft g followed by a hard G but I'm just being picky.

I wonder about the long-term wisdom of giving away NHL-ready prospects that don't exactly fit into your "system." At what point do your change your system to fit the pool of players you have in the organization?

if you can't win the cup with that system and the talent that you have?

Originally Posted by AlleyAlBee

I wonder about the long-term wisdom of giving away NHL-ready prospects that don't exactly fit into your "system." At what point do your change your system to fit the pool of players you have in the organization?

you don't.

For every Andrei Loktionov that won't succeed under the Kings identity, there's a Keaton Ellerby that will.

Originally Posted by gescom

you don't.

Especially when it's a system that just won you a Cup.

There are still a number of players (in no particular order, Toffoli, Vey, Pearson, Gravel, Forbort, Shore, Andreoff, etc., etc.) in the pipeline that look like they will have a spot within this system.