Speculation Predictions for the 23-24 season

jammer06 said:
I love Lewis, but im just hoping he still has enough to play on the 4th line still. His metrics last year were not spectacular of the good type.
Click to expand...
His most important role on next year's team will be a glue guy. He will replace Iafallo in that role
 
jammer06 said:
He can be a glue guy, I just don't want him to be glue and an anchor pulling everyone else down.
Click to expand...
I don't expect him to play every game, probably not even half of them.
But his work ethic, positive attitude, etc will be great for the young kids. I know he was a great influence on a young Doughty
 
jammer06 said:
He can be a glue guy, I just don't want him to be glue and an anchor pulling everyone else down.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I loved Lewis and he earned the unsung hero award the entire time he was here. That said, I don't think any contending team wants a Trevor Lewis in their every day roster. He kills the offense for both teams. His contribution should be in the locker room as a mentor as opposed to big ice time. His return is a feel good story; it probably feels better the less key ice time he gets. The best case scenario is someone like Turcotte or Madden steals Lewie's ice time as the season goes on.
 
Always felt a little bad for Lewis. He plays the game 100% right. Responsible, trustworthy, with a good sense in both zones, but is just completely snakebitten offensively.
 
Clif said:
Lewis scored more than Kupari last season. Sayin’
Click to expand...

Exactly. He had 20 points with 12 TOI, which is close to his best LA Kings' years, production wise.

But he wasn't brought in for the production, of course. On the 4th line and the 2nd PK unit he'll be a very nice addition. Also, he played 80 and 82 games in the past 2 regular seasons plus 12 games in playoffs in 21-22. I'm sure he has at least one more good season in his tank. Add in the leadership qualities and it's a very nice package at a minimum salary.

Whoever is of the opinion this is a "meh" signing is a bitter Rob hater. ;)
 
Goal tending.

Kings are carrying more in retained salary then they are paying their two goalies, combined. If LA hits the playoff they may do so with the lowest paid goalie tandem in modern NHL history. Jack, Conner and Leon are licking their chops. Heard Troy Terry sent Blake a thank you note.
 
Sultanic said:
McLellan is still the coach, meaning a passive approach, and a stubborn insistence on top loading the roster while talented kids are square pegged into roles that don't fit their skill sets.

I would like to see:

Byfield - Kopitar - Kempe
Fiala - PLD - Kaliyev
Moore - Danault - Arvidsson
Grundstrom - Lizotte - Lewis
Fagemo, JAD

Bjornfot - Doughty
Gavrikov - Roy
Anderson - Clarke
Spence

But with the terrible cap management from Blake and a coach who has repeatedly tried to forces things that he should know won't work, I expect to see:

PLD - Kopitar - Fiala
Kempe - Danault - Arvidsson
Moore - Lizotte - Lewis
Grundstrom - Byfield - Fagemo
 JAD

Anderson- Doughty
Gavrikov - Roy
Englund - Clarke
Bjornfot

With Spence and Kaliyev sent down due to cap.

So while the opportunity for balance is there, I have no hope for this staff to find it. The 1-3-1 won't go, there is still no jam along the boards, they won't be able to protect leads, and the horrible PK won't get any better.

In short, the Kings subtracted from one strength to add to another, while not addressing any weak points, have suspect goaltending, very little muscle, and are relying largely on players that have never won a damn thing. They will be another easy first round out.
Click to expand...
I like that you gave the rolling four lines of balanced hockey and the let's-try-and-make-the-Sports-Centre-(TSN)-highlight-reel lines. Danault being a solid third liner is breaking my heart.

*gulp*


Let's top load the EFF out of this team. If it's going to be an eventual dumpster fire, squeezing pure joy out of it is not the worst thing in the whole world. Right? (rhetorical)
la-kings-phillip-danault.gif
 
Bollocks said:
Exactly. He had 20 points with 12 TOI, which is close to his best LA Kings' years, production wise.

But he wasn't brought in for the production, of course. On the 4th line and the 2nd PK unit he'll be a very nice addition. Also, he played 80 and 82 games in the past 2 regular seasons plus 12 games in playoffs in 21-22. I'm sure he has at least one more good season in his tank. Add in the leadership qualities and it's a very nice package at a minimum salary.

Whoever is of the opinion this is a "meh" signing is a bitter Rob hater. ;)
Click to expand...
I wonder what the PK forward pairs will be. I'd like to see, in no particular order, Juice/Lewie, Kopi/Dubois, and Danault/Lizotte.
 
Best line up across the board for forwards and defense we’ve had in a while. Defense clearly better with Gavrikov and without Durzi.

Goaltending a wildcard…can Copley carry the load? Also a bit miffed Copley didn’t get one start in the playoffs to say the least to try and change momentum which leads to my next point- Coaching. The King of not calling a timeout and putting players in positions of weakness we saw last year with TMac…Would be folly to think this season will be different.
 
Bollocks said:
With the team improved and more stable and with *hopefully* a considerably more stable goaltending duo (I really don't think it's too much to ask for a combined sv. % in .905-.915 range)
Click to expand...
I just want to point out that Copley's SV% for last season was a .903 in 37 games. Cam Talbot is 36 yrs old. The chances that these two have a combined SV% near .915 would probably be the biggest surprise of the season if it were to happen. Somewhere around a .900-.905 would be more realistic. And that would still be a pretty solid upgrade over what we saw in net last season as a team. But if the Kings compete for top of the division this coming season, it seems really unlikely that it'll be because of goaltending.

You mention that with the team is more improved and more stable, and that they should be competing for the top spot, but i think the idea that the team is more stable is maybe not true. I think they improved. But im not sure they're more stable. They are integrating new players, and existing players into bigger roles, and i still think they're finding their footing with respect to team identity. I think that winds up being a struggle early on. Additionally, i think the pacific is improving, and it'll be a little tighter there. I certainly expect them to compete for a top 3 spot in the pacific, but im not as bullish as some that guys like clarke or bjornfot are going to come in and immediately improve and stabilize the bottom pair, or that a goalie tandem of copley and talbot is going to suddenly be anything more than adequate.

I agree with what a lot are saying, and that this is maybe a better team than people realize, but i also see hurdles that i expect the team to struggle with early on, so that my prediction.
 
Between the Angels and Tigers doubleheader on Bally’s this afternoon, I saw an ad for tonights Kings vs Blackhawks game at 5:00pm. I had no idea they had already started the season. Looking forward to this matchup.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ice24 said:
Between the Angels and Tigers doubleheader today on Bally’s this afternoon, I saw an ad for tonights Kings vs Blackhawks game at 5:00pm. I had no idea they had already started the season. Looking forward to this matchup.
Click to expand...
Just goes to show you what a mess Bally's is
 
Bollocks said:
Exactly. He had 20 points with 12 TOI, which is close to his best LA Kings' years, production wise.

But he wasn't brought in for the production, of course. On the 4th line and the 2nd PK unit he'll be a very nice addition. Also, he played 80 and 82 games in the past 2 regular seasons plus 12 games in playoffs in 21-22. I'm sure he has at least one more good season in his tank. Add in the leadership qualities and it's a very nice package at a minimum salary.

Whoever is of the opinion this is a "meh" signing is a bitter Rob hater. ;)
Click to expand...

Devil's advocate typing, under Sutter, yes that's true. Under TMAC:
200w.gif



This is a glorified PTO or a suck up to the 2012 bandwagoners.
 
I predict a first round exit and people celebrating Blake's performance as a GM, again.

I'm also expecting a lot of injuries since they will be going with 21-man rosters.
 
Bollocks said:
People really forget how atrocious the Kings' goaltending was for the first half of last season. 31 games at .876 and 10 games at .868.
Click to expand...
Oh, I don't think any of us have forgotten. My season seats are above the Kings defend twice end....you could tell from the first shot against if Cal was gonna make any actual saves that night (usually the answer was "no"). And Quickie was just a disaster. By Thanksgiving we were all hoping for the EBUG to need to be called upon every night.
 
Nyssa42 said:
Oh, I don't think any of us have forgotten. My season seats are above the Kings defend twice end....you could tell from the first shot against if Cal was gonna make any actual saves that night (usually the answer was "no"). And Quickie was just a disaster. By Thanksgiving we were all hoping for the EBUG to need to be called upon every night.
Click to expand...

My son and i were at the kings/coyotes game where kings almost blew 5-0 lead….quick was horrible and everyone in our section was on edge with every coyotes shot. With average goaltending Kings win division handily.

My other prediction…. First game that goes into OT- tmac will roll kempe kopi doughty even in Clarke, Kaliyev & Dubois are killing it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Now Chirping

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom