Hiller gets multiyear Extension

[symbology]

Turcotte and Thomas are replacing the likes of Lizotte and Lewis/Grundstrom. Nevermind impact in their first full rookie seasons. Will they be a significant drop-off from those players? No. Biggest issue perhaps is missing Lizzo on the PK, but hopefully Thomas does decently there.

Was Laf an impact player this season? No, but he notched double-digit goals and assists and was among the team’s leaders in hits. Negatively his analytics were also atrocious away from DuBois. But a good year for experience.

If we’re looking for young players to finally get a rookie season under their belts and Laf and Spence to up their production and defensive responsibilities, then we’ve got some highlights this next season to enjoy. The bar isn’t exactly that high.

I agree that there may not be a significant drop off in play, but the drop off will not be insignificant either. There will be many more mistakes. It is likely that there will be times when Hiller runs 3 lines more than he should, especially the first half of the season. The question of who takes up minutes on the PK would need to be answered.

The problem that I see is this team could use an upgrade in these positions, not any kind of drop off. Significant or otherwise.

This team’s window to do damage in the playoffs is probably 2 years. Blake has been making moves that align with that IMO.

Speaking of Laf, he really should have played in the AHL this past year. However, he outplayed Kaliyev, a player who had played in 140 NHL games and was a more experienced player.

The way I see it this team could use an upgrade for 4 of the bottom 6 positions. Hopefully Laf improves his strength and improves his overall play next year. He has played a full NHL season and should be better prepared next year. That would leave the Kings with needing to at a minimum maintain the level of play for the other 3 of the bottom 6. Again, the goal should be to improve, not maintain the status quo. The Kings have no players in the AHL that have any significant amount of NHL game experience. I expect that “at the absolute best” we see the same level of play that we had this past year. That likely means we will see the same results.

 

[symbology]

I totally can see that. He's a perfect guy to fill the bottom 6 role and contribute with a timely goal or hit in the playoffs. If he ends up being a late bloomer, that would be awesome but there's no shame in being a bottom 6 staple for the rest of the decade. Homegrown and cost effective are great adjectives BTW.

Put him on the 3rd line with Danault and let Danault show him the way. If he improves his shot and hits the net more often he could pot 20 goals. PLD set him up plenty of times this past year. It just seems that Laf liked to hit the glass more so than the net.

 

[symbology]

Two years from now we’re looking at what should be an outstanding bottom 6 in:

Danault, Moore, Turcotte, Laf, Thomas, Lee, and Helenius.

I could see Moore getting moved at some point before then. Gotta have money for Kempe’s next contract anyway.

Also at that time you have Byfield, PLD top centers and Kempe and Fiala top wingers. Will remain to be seen how the rest of the top 6 wings come together. Don’t see it from the group mentioned, but gotta have depth and I think this team is still poised to have it.

Yes, but the Kings need a better bottom 6 next year in order to compete in the last years of Kopi's career.

 

[dneprovec]

There's some rumors that Kings and Calgary in trade talks PLD for Huberdeau
Here's the link but I don't know how credible is that guy is.

It starts at 17:30 mark

 

[symbology]

There's some rumors that Kings and Calgary in trade talks PLD for Huberdeau
Here's the link but I don't know how credible is that guy is.

It starts at 17:30 mark

For LA Kings stuff, he has zero credibility. He reports on Kings rumors that were debunked 2 days prior. He does not watch, or pay attention to the Kings at all. He just regurgitates stuff he finds online. No insider info at all as far as I can tell. Especially when it comes to the Kings. So, for Kings stuff he is a waste of time IMO.

Also, Huberdeau has a cap hit of 10.5million. Why on earth would the Kings trade one 8.5mil problem for a 10.5mil one?

 

[dneprovec]

For LA Kings stuff, he has zero credibility. He reports on Kings rumors that were debunked 2 days prior. He does not watch, or pay attention to the Kings at all. He just regurgitates stuff he finds online. No insider info at all as far as I can tell. Especially when it comes to the Kings. So, for Kings stuff he is a waste of time IMO.

Also, Huberdeau has a cap hit of 10.5million. Why on earth would the Kings trade one 8.5mil problem for a 10.5mil one?

Like any Canadian blogger aka insider

 

[Clif]

I agree that there may not be a significant drop off in play, but the drop off will not be insignificant either. There will be many more mistakes. It is likely that there will be times when Hiller runs 3 lines more than he should, especially the first half of the season. The question of who takes up minutes on the PK would need to be answered.

The problem that I see is this team could use an upgrade in these positions, not any kind of drop off. Significant or otherwise.

This team’s window to do damage in the playoffs is probably 2 years. Blake has been making moves that align with that IMO.

Speaking of Laf, he really should have played in the AHL this past year. However, he outplayed Kaliyev, a player who had played in 140 NHL games and was a more experienced player.

The way I see it this team could use an upgrade for 4 of the bottom 6 positions. Hopefully Laf improves his strength and improves his overall play next year. He has played a full NHL season and should be better prepared next year. That would leave the Kings with needing to at a minimum maintain the level of play for the other 3 of the bottom 6. Again, the goal should be to improve, not maintain the status quo. The Kings have no players in the AHL that have any significant amount of NHL game experience. I expect that “at the absolute best” we see the same level of play that we had this past year. That likely means we will see the same results.

Yes, but the Kings need a better bottom 6 next year in order to compete in the last years of Kopi's career.

Disclaimer up front, I’m more concerned about this team two years from now and beyond than I am about Kopi’s window. Said it before but this team looked like it was steadily moving on a COL-like rebuild path. While I am not sure they have top 6 wingers in the pipeline barring something special from Pinelli or Ziemmer, I see a solid roster in the future that can be legit competitive with a few moves made to bolster the top six and LD.

Re: a dropoff, I don’t see how these kids are a dropoff at all from Lizotte, Grunstrom, and Lewis. Might even be an upgrade. There will be a loss with Arvy that was felt this year and still needs to be addressed. This team needs another forward to play in the top 6.

On that note, want the bottom 6 to be better? Play Danault and Moore as the third line like you said. Laf, Turc, Thomas with them - whomever shows best. Gotta give PLD one of Byfield, Kempe or Fiala. And then he needs another talent. I believe Joshua, who became the ultimate 3rd line star this season/playoffs, could still be a top 6 winger if deployed with Kopi. That’s the kind of guy Kopitar just loves. Then PLD gets one of Kempe or Byfield and Fiala.

Lastly, there’s not much cap. You need these young players to play minutes. Even Lizzo and Grundy are too expensive next year.

 

[Clif]

Like any Canadian blogger aka insider

He started by saying “I came across this idea on social media.”

I didn’t get farther - did I miss anything good?

 

[jammer06]

Put him on the 3rd line with Danault and let Danault show him the way. If he improves his shot and hits the net more often he could pot 20 goals. PLD set him up plenty of times this past year. It just seems that Laf liked to hit the glass more so than the net.

Once again I would like to point out the basic math of the NHL. This year in the regular season there were 139 skaters that scored 20 goals or more, 3 of those defenseman. There are 32 teams, thats 96 first line players. Thats 192 skaters on the first and second lines. Teams are not supposed to be built with guys on the third line that score 20 goals. Any team with more than 5 20 goal scorers is typically in the very top of the league offensively (the top teams invariably have someone touching near 50 or basically worth 2.5 top 6 players). Simply put people need to respect how hard it is for a player to get that many goals in this league.

 

[symbology]

Once again I would like to point out the basic math of the NHL. This year in the regular season there were 139 skaters that scored 20 goals or more, 3 of those defenseman. There are 32 teams, thats 96 first line players. Thats 192 skaters on the first and second lines. Teams are not supposed to be built with guys on the third line that score 20 goals. Any team with more than 5 20 goal scorers is typically in the very top of the league offensively (the top teams invariably have someone touching near 50 or basically worth 2.5 top 6 players). Simply put people need to respect how hard it is for a player to get that many goals in this league.

I get it, and I said he "could".

As a rookie this kid had 12 goals for the season all the while missing the net on a huge number of great scoring opportunities. He may have had as many or more grade A scoring chances than any other player on the team. He did a good job getting to a scoring area and PLD got him the puck rather frequently.

Also, the context of the convo was hoping he would improve all aspects of his game. Not that he "would" be a 20 goal scorer.

 

[symbology]

He started by saying “I came across this idea on social media.”

I didn’t get farther - did I miss anything good?

Yeah, I did a quick search and it seems that conversation started as "the two worst contracts in the league". That seemed to turn into, trade them 1 for 1. The fact that this clown used that online chatter to fill in minutes for his "show" tells you all you need to know.......

 

[jammer06]

I get it, and I said he "could".

As a rookie this kid had 12 goals for the season all the while missing the net on a huge number of great scoring opportunities. He may have had as many or more grade A scoring chances than any other player on the team. He did a good job getting to a scoring area and PLD got him the puck rather frequently.

Also, the context of the convo was hoping he would improve all aspects of his game. Not that he "would" be a 20 goal scorer.

I get it too, and it's very similar to the argument back when Kaliyev got 14 playing majority of his time between lemiuex and lizzote without the pp time. He wasn't always doing the wrong things, but it doesn't always pan out.

So long as this team has access to a talent like pld or Fiala getting third line exposure they have depth, the issue is no final 4 team typically gets there without a major statistical leader in goals assists or points. The last cup team that pulled it off was the 19 Blues who benefited from a team game and hot goalie nearly as much as the 2012 kings

 

[symbology]

Disclaimer up front, I’m more concerned about this team two years from now and beyond than I am about Kopi’s window. Said it before but this team looked like it was steadily moving on a COL-like rebuild path. While I am not sure they have top 6 wingers in the pipeline barring something special from Pinelli or Ziemmer, I see a solid roster in the future that can be legit competitive with a few moves made to bolster the top six and LD.

Re: a dropoff, I don’t see how these kids are a dropoff at all from Lizotte, Grunstrom, and Lewis. Might even be an upgrade. There will be a loss with Arvy that was felt this year and still needs to be addressed. This team needs another forward to play in the top 6.

On that note, want the bottom 6 to be better? Play Danault and Moore as the third line like you said. Laf, Turc, Thomas with them - whomever shows best. Gotta give PLD one of Byfield, Kempe or Fiala. And then he needs another talent. I believe Joshua, who became the ultimate 3rd line star this season/playoffs, could still be a top 6 winger if deployed with Kopi. That’s the kind of guy Kopitar just loves. Then PLD gets one of Kempe or Byfield and Fiala.

Lastly, there’s not much cap. You need these young players to play minutes. Even Lizzo and Grundy are too expensive next year.

When looking at offensive skill, Turcotte and Thomas are upgrades. It is on the defensive side of things trying to play against the other teams top line (on the road) that I have concerns with. Reading plays (at NHL pace), possitioning, strength are all aspects of the game that I can see taking a hit. Having more offensive skill is not going to do them a lot of good if they cannot defend well enough in order to spend quality time in the offensive zone. Lizotte was a beast of a forechecker and was decent offensively. In the regular season he was very solid and one of the better 4th line centers in the league.

I think Thomas looks like a better more well rounded player. That might just come down to his strength and size over Turcotte.

 

[Bollocks]

You're just jealous because I was right about PLD. I can sympathize.

Maybe.

Honestly, though, IDK what the rant is about.

The quality of said banter gets down the more whiners are out there constantly going on about the same issues over and over. It's one of the reasons I became much less active over here over the years, since DL left. Half the board got on the Rob hate wagon before he even started without even considering what he interviewed for, what goals he was given and I'm sure many of the most consistent whiners on here shell out a decent amount of money for this "half-product" of a half-@ssed ownership every year. It's like buying a cr@p product that breaks 1 month after warranty over and over again. (Note the lack of "you" used here, as I have no idea if you behave like this or not, so don't get upset.

If I see Rob making a stupid trade, then hell yeah it annoys me that he is making a negative move which is going to make my Kings entertainment worse. As a fan of the team, I don't want to see those kinds of moves because it means I'm wasting my time following them closely.

Rob made some stupid moves, some stupid but irrelevant moves (or maybe even genius ones, like Desjardins hire that forced the retool basically), a bunch of solid moves and some really good/borderline fantastic moves. He is what he is, a GM in his rookie job that has a lot to learn and despite that is still better than majority of other GMs, because the Kings got from a total wreckfest devoid-of-depth-and-talent post-DL to a team that is reasonably talented, has decent depth (albeit dwindling a tad lately) and performs well above average. He's failed to learn how to build a winner so far, sure, but DL didn't build a winner either until he did. How many active GMs have successfully built a winner?

But if you think many (or any of us) really give a flying F about being right/wrong/whatever on a internet message board, then wow. That's just insane.

You'd be surprised. Internet does some icky things to some people's brains. Teens become suicidal because someone 20000 miles away said something. And why do you think a few beers is enough for some adults to get into an actual fistfight with someone over being right over something? I don't know anyone here personally, maybe you do and know there are no active members or lurkers in a liable mental state. In that case I will never bring this up again.

But anyways, thank you for calling me insane for trying to instill some positive perspective (for people who are potentially in a bit of a poor mental state that could be downed further even by such "meaningless" negativity) on this board that will not in any way, shape or form negatively impact on how this team is lead and how it performs.

Don't get me wrong - you're absolutely free to post anything you want about anything, I'm just making some general observations about the state of the LGK fanbase, and if I maybe alter one one pair of eyes a bit and cause someone a less stressful experience of their hobby in this generally f***** up world, that's great.

 

[Bollocks]

When looking at offensive skill, Turcotte and Thomas are upgrades. It is on the defensive side of things trying to play against the other teams top line (on the road) that I have concerns with. Reading plays (at NHL pace), possitioning, strength are all aspects of the game that I can see taking a hit. Having more offensive skill is not going to do them a lot of good if they cannot defend well enough in order to spend quality time in the offensive zone. Lizotte was a beast of a forechecker and was decent offensively. In the regular season he was very solid and one of the better 4th line centers in the league.

I think Thomas looks like a better more well rounded player. That might just come down to his strength and size over Turcotte.

But being better offensively and especially having better finishers that skate well (so, not Kaliyev) forces the opponent to respect you more, making them less likely to pummel you in your own end since they can't afford to take as many risks in order to maintain the pressure, make the perfect pass into a dangerous area etc.

I don't know how good/complete Fagemo's play 5 on 5 is but having a capable goalscorer as he seems to be in the bottom 6 would maybe work well given that Turcotte is supposedly a good playmaker. Add some toughness in Lee and maybe it works.

 

[symbology]

But being better offensively and especially having better finishers that skate well (so, not Kaliyev) forces the opponent to respect you more, making them less likely to pummel you in your own end since they can't afford to take as many risks in order to maintain the pressure, make the perfect pass into a dangerous area etc.

I don't know how good/complete Fagemo's play 5 on 5 is but having a capable goalscorer as he seems to be in the bottom 6 would maybe work well given that Turcotte is supposedly a good playmaker. Add some toughness in Lee and maybe it works.

Fair point. We are talking about young players and regardless, they still need to be able to defend.

 

[ICE24]

It seems that some here don't like Laf's game and believe he is not a top six forward. Then again, some of those same people were loving Turcotte before he even played a game with the Reign.

 

[DryKing]

It seems that some here don't like Laf's game and believe he is not a top six forward. Then again, some of those same people were loving Turcotte before he even played a game with the Reign.

Laf has one key talent which Turcotte, so far, has lacked - the ability to stay healthy. Beyond that, he is a bottom 6 forward with the potential to be more.

Also, at the time of the draft why wouldn't someone love Turcotte? He was arguably a steal for us on draft day and likely would already have established himself as a top 6 NHL forward had he stayed healthy.

Comparing Laf to Turcotte is like comparing apples to oranges. One is a physical energy forward who has so far overachieved and the other is a highly skilled playmarker constantly plagued by injuries who has yet to establish himself in the NHL.

 

[Halfwall]

It seems that some here don't like Laf's game and believe he is not a top six forward. Then again, some of those same people were loving Turcotte before he even played a game with the Reign.

The only real problem with Laf is he has no shot. If, he can drastically improve that he can definitely become a top six forward.

 

[ICE24]

Laf has one key talent which Turcotte, so far, has lacked - the ability to stay healthy. Beyond that, he is a bottom 6 forward with the potential to be more.

Also, at the time of the draft why wouldn't someone love Turcotte? He was arguably a steal for us on draft day and likely would already have established himself as a top 6 NHL forward had he stayed healthy.

Comparing Laf to Turcotte is like comparing apples to oranges. One is a physical energy forward who has so far overachieved and the other is a highly skilled playmarker constantly plagued by injuries who has yet to establish himself in the NHL.

I won't go as far as a steal for the Kings because he was still on the board so some GM's knew his limits.