FA 2025 (lets get the discussions in one thread)

Clif said:
I think we all have our own concerns about the defense independent of anyone’s take. Whatever Dom does to land at point projections however doesn’t concern me since his method hasn’t been accurate for the Kings.

It’s also inaccurate to call Dumoulin a low end third pair dman at best. It is accurate to say that about Ceci, which is really driving so many of these takes but that’s just not the whole story.

I don’t take any piece seriously that fails to acknowledge that the Kings legitimately improved their fourth line and backup goaltender.
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The only head scratcher for me is Ceci. Even Perry I understand. But Ceci at $4.5m? I don’t get it.
 
King of Pentacle5 said:
“On defense, the team turned Vladislav Gavrikov, an actual top-pair defenseman, into Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, two low-end third-pair defensemen — at best.”

Why do people like Dom keep saying that the Kings ‘turned’ or ‘got rid of’ Gavrikov? They didn’t ‘turn’ Gavi into anything. He was a FA and didn’t want to sign in L.A. Man, it’s like he just started watching the NHL last season.
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Semantics aside, the Kings lost the guy who was unquestionably their #1 defenseman all season long and their best defenseman in the playoffs and replaced him with Ceci and Dumoulin. They also decided that Spence was too small to have a full-time job in LA (to be fair, I had the same concerns when they decided to go with him rather than invest financially in Durzi and Roy) so they sold low on him. It was terrible asset management but pretty much par for the course for the Kings lately.

The overall lack of vision from the Kings front office is going to doom this team to middle of the pack finishes and then decline as SJ and Anaheim lap us in a couple years.
 
hokiecat said:
Semantics aside, the Kings lost the guy who was unquestionably their #1 defenseman all season long and their best defenseman in the playoffs and replaced him with Ceci and Dumoulin. They also decided that Spence was too small to have a full-time job in LA (to be fair, I had the same concerns when they decided to go with him rather than invest financially in Durzi and Roy) so they sold low on him. It was terrible asset management but pretty much par for the course for the Kings lately.

The overall lack of vision from the Kings front office is going to doom this team to middle of the pack finishes and then decline as SJ and Anaheim lap us in a couple years.
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They may have ‘lost’ him, but not really, imo. He never had any intentions of signing with the Kings org. It’s not like they were outbid on a contract by another team. He just didn’t want to stay in L.A. 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
hokiecat said:
Ouch but spot on. Anyone who is impartial is shaking their head at what exactly Holland got for buckets of cash.
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I don't even need to wait for the season to start to say I'm not a fan of Holland...and it's not just the dumb smile on his face. This team will be on the decline until Luc is gone...and that won't happen until attendance drops. Vote with your feet, Kings fans.
 
Statue4Deano said:
www.nytimes.com

Which NHL teams improved the most this offseason? Ranking all 32

From most value added to least, here’s how each team has changed this summer.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com



Ouch.
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Deano to the board:
This Is The Worst GIF by Parks and Recreation
 
King of Pentacle5 said:
The only head scratcher for me is Ceci. Even Perry I understand. But Ceci at $4.5m? I don’t get it.
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I wanted Perbix but there weren’t many options. Ceci was available. Hiller doesn’t like Spence. Holland has history with Ceci, and he overpaid as one does for UFAs.

It’s extra concerning because we already have Edmundson. I don’t like it but one thing that has made Vegas effective on D apart from real skill is ample size. It’s harder to navigate around bigger bodies. There’s potential under the Kings’ system the d isn’t “better” per se but harder to play against when it matters.

Ugh. I parroted that term. But whatever. That’s the idea.
 
Clif said:
I wanted Perbix but there weren’t many options. Ceci was available. Hiller doesn’t like Spence. Holland has history with Ceci, and he overpaid as one does for UFAs.

It’s extra concerning because we already have Edmundson. I don’t like it but one thing that has made Vegas effective on D apart from real skill is ample size. It’s harder to navigate around bigger bodies. There’s potential under the Kings’ system the d isn’t “better” per se but harder to play against when it matters.

Ugh. I parroted that term. But whatever. That’s the idea.
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Let the hate flow through you…..
 
Clif said:
I wanted Perbix but there weren’t many options. Ceci was available. Hiller doesn’t like Spence. Holland has history with Ceci, and he overpaid as one does for UFAs.

It’s extra concerning because we already have Edmundson. I don’t like it but one thing that has made Vegas effective on D apart from real skill is ample size. It’s harder to navigate around bigger bodies. There’s potential under the Kings’ system the d isn’t “better” per se but harder to play against when it matters.

Ugh. I parroted that term. But whatever. That’s the idea.
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It is odd to have both Edmundson and Ceci on the roster. When Holland picked up Ceci I figured that must mean Edmundson was being included in a trade package, but either that wasn't the case or the deal fell through.

Felt a bit like Holland got into panic mode and reverted to signing whoever he could to fill the roster. At any rate, he didn't trade away draft picks or young talent (outside of Spence) and the roster got bigger and more experience (especially in terms of playoff experience) so it's not a total loss. Overall, between the moves in players on the roster maturing, I think the Kings got better.

I agree with others that this Organization will not take the sizable next step forward until Luc is replaced.
 
DryKing said:
I'm not sure he's worth $10m but given the fact he has been on a steal of a contract for years now - I say give him what he wants.

This would be a good year to run him full time with Byfield and get a gauge on what the future holds.
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10M will only be 8.8% of the salary cap in 2027. If Byfield reaches his potential he’ll be a 15M a season player because of the cap inflation.
 
Statue4Deano said:
10M will only be 8.8% of the salary cap in 2027. If Byfield reaches his potential he’ll be a 15M a season player because of the cap inflation.
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Vilardi just signed for 6 x 7.5M

I don't think 10M is too crazy for Kempe. He can pretty much do everything from scoring goals to playing point on the PP to being a decent fill-in defenseman. He's like the Temu version of Fedorov. The only downside to a 10M deal would be the final years. Otherwise it makes sense to extend him and keep him happy. Maybe try to get him to 9M or 9.9M (trying to work the jersey number in there like with Crosby and even Doughty although Drew's was pretty much just 8 years for #8 or 9.13 for his birthday). 7x$9.X M sounds good compared to Ehlers, IMO.
 
hokiecat said:
Vilardi just signed for 6 x 7.5M

I don't think 10M is too crazy for Kempe. He can pretty much do everything from scoring goals to playing point on the PP to being a decent fill-in defenseman. He's like the Temu version of Fedorov. The only downside to a 10M deal would be the final years. Otherwise it makes sense to extend him and keep him happy. Maybe try to get him to 9M or 9.9M (trying to work the jersey number in there like with Crosby and even Doughty although Drew's was pretty much just 8 years for #8 or 9.13 for his birthday). 7x$9.X M sounds good compared to Ehlers, IMO.
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10M x 7 makes sense to me. But I’d love to see Holland take advantage of the 8 year contract before it goes away. 70M / 8 years =8.75 AAV.

And of course give him the Doughty/Kopi NMC. Kempe should retire a King.
 
www.nytimes.com

Which NHL teams improved the most this offseason? Ranking all 32

From most value added to least, here’s how each team has changed this summer.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
Statue4Deano said:
Ouch.
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I'm far from on board with Ken and the direction Luc wants this team to go into, but...this team has considerably improved what the biggest issue was last season, when they got to 105 points and were able to compete with edmonton for 3 games. The only real issue is whether or not Dumoulin can be 90% of what Gavrikov was. If he can be (and he has a fair number of fans), DD is healthy and Clarke improves, this is a better team than last year.

Yes, the team needs to be healthy come playoff time and the young guys need to improve a bit, especially Clarke. If that happens this team will be good. The concern I have is what happens in 2-3 years.

PS: Kempe for 10 million? Do it. It's not like the Kings can do any better on the UFA market OR have too many assets to trade for a player like that...and he's a complete package. Not a superstar, but that's IMO even better. Less of a distraction.
 
Statue4Deano said:
10M x 7 makes sense to me. But I’d love to see Holland take advantage of the 8 year contract before it goes away. 70M / 8 years =8.75 AAV.

And of course give him the Doughty/Kopi NMC. Kempe should retire a King.
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Kempe at 10 mil per? You pay that man -right f***ing now-. And make doughty agree to take him to Del Frisco’s 3 nights a week on Drew’s dime. Furthermore, Byfield is tasked with laundering Kempe’s pads and ubering him around to the disco every Friday and Saturday evening. It has been decided.

In all seriousness, I know this board likes to blow hard about how many points certain players would score on East Coast teams, but if there’s one guy on this team that would absolutely score 40 goals/90 points a year playing alongside guys like the top end Leafs and Oilers, it is Adrian Kempe.
 
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