Hiller Hotseat Thread

[Illegal_Stick]

Think of the basic psychology of Hiller’s choices:

Kempe has been struggling. He takes the team on his back in the final minute, embarrasses a literal Selke nominee to get that puck to Clarke.

Clarke keeps emerging and scores a very important goal. A goal that can show he is ascending to the next level.

Neither are on the ice to start overtime.

And I know Fiala had a good game, but we also know he struggles with hockey iq and you already have a center out there with the same issue. So now even Fiala walks away from a game that he helped get to OT, knowing he blew it.

 

[hokiecat]

I haven't seen anything from Turcotte to suggest that he is a top 6 center in the NHL. He has a severe case of Austinwagneritis. Needs a dozen great chances to score one goal. 13 goals in 144 NHL games does not a 2nd line center make. I'm not entirely convinced he's a good 3C. Yeah, he hasn't had a ton of minutes, but his offensive upside is very, very limited.

This!!!!

This board is flat out delusional at times. QB is not a first line player. Full stop. He's been in the league for years. He's scoring at 0.65 points per game or something. He's probably the 10th best player in his draft class. Turcotte is middle 6 but undersized and doesn't seem to make his linemates significantly better. Clarke is a 3D like Ghost and not a true top line defenseman. Kupari, Tobi, Kaliyev, etc were all draft flops who are replacement level. The 2 picks who hit (Vilardi and Faber) were traded away.

Kopi and Doughty played at a super high level for longer than most NHL players. But now they're showing their age. And they were never replaced.

This team lacks high end talent everywhere and the farm has ZERO impact players. People are excited about Greentree. Give me a break. His former linemate Protas has more upside. Hiller is not good but he's playing the only card he has. He has to try to win 2-1 because the team lacks top skill and there's no future where we're adding top skill.

Hiller is doing his best with the dog crap roster that Blake and KH gave him. They exchanged Gavrikov and Spence for Ceci and Dumoulin; WTF did you think was going to happen?

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

This!!!!

This board is flat out delusional at times. QB is not a first line player. Full stop. He's been in the league for years. He's scoring at 0.65 points per game or something. He's probably the 10th best player in his draft class. Turcotte is middle 6 but undersized and doesn't seem to make his linemates significantly better. Clarke is a 3D like Ghost and not a true top line defenseman. Kupari, Tobi, Kaliyev, etc were all draft flops who are replacement level. The 2 picks who hit (Vilardi and Faber) were traded away.

Kopi and Doughty played at a super high level for longer than most NHL players. But now they're showing their age. And they were never replaced.

This team lacks high end talent everywhere and the farm has ZERO impact players. People are excited about Greentree. Give me a break. His former linemate Protas has more upside. Hiller is not good but he's playing the only card he has. He has to try to win 2-1 because the team lacks top skill and there's no future where we're adding top skill.

Hiller is doing his best with the dog crap roster that Blake and KH gave him. They exchanged Gavrikov and Spence for Ceci and Dumoulin; WTF did you think was going to happen?

But you can’t deny that Hiller was to blame for Danault’s ZERO goals …..

Oh wait, it appears his new coach in MTL seems to have the same problem.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Hiller is doing his best with the dog crap roster that Blake and KH gave him. …

Blame the roster all you want. Hiller is one of the worst coaches in the league. If he were fired tomorrow he wouldn’t get another Head Coaching gig in the NHL next season or the season after or the season after that. It is very likely Hiller is done as an NHL Head Coach after his Kings run ends.

 

[DryKing]

This!!!!

This board is flat out delusional at times. QB is not a first line player. Full stop. He's been in the league for years. He's scoring at 0.65 points per game or something. He's probably the 10th best player in his draft class. Turcotte is middle 6 but undersized and doesn't seem to make his linemates significantly better. Clarke is a 3D like Ghost and not a true top line defenseman. Kupari, Tobi, Kaliyev, etc were all draft flops who are replacement level. The 2 picks who hit (Vilardi and Faber) were traded away.

Kopi and Doughty played at a super high level for longer than most NHL players. But now they're showing their age. And they were never replaced.

This team lacks high end talent everywhere and the farm has ZERO impact players. People are excited about Greentree. Give me a break. His former linemate Protas has more upside. Hiller is not good but he's playing the only card he has. He has to try to win 2-1 because the team lacks top skill and there's no future where we're adding top skill.

Hiller is doing his best with the dog crap roster that Blake and KH gave him. They exchanged Gavrikov and Spence for Ceci and Dumoulin; WTF did you think was going to happen?

Other picks that hit: Laferriere (3rd round), Spence (4th round), Anderson (4th round)

Potentials: Helenius (2nd round), Lee (7th round)

Let's also be honest, everything 2022 - 2025 is TBD.

It's not all doom and gloom but the Kings really need to stop trading away draft picks and prospects and start rebuilding their farm (and team along with it).

As for Protas having more upside than Greentree, that could be but who cares. Both Protas brother's look good and Washington got a potential steal in the 3rd round but that doesn't take anything away from Greentree or what he can become.

 

[Moog]

Blame the roster all you want. Hiller is one of the worst coaches in the league. If he were fired tomorrow he wouldn’t get another Head Coaching gig in the NHL next season or the season after or the season after that. It is very likely Hiller is done as an NHL Head Coach after his Kings run ends.

Absolutely! Excellent points!

Good coaches with bad rosters, when fired, land on their feet and get hired pretty quick.
Bad coaches with bad or good rosters, when fired, disappear into the abyss.

It's really quite odd to me that after a decade plus, there are still Kings fans that are apologists for the FO and bad coaches. This team is a mess from the FO, coaching staff, to the roster.

Stop being apologists! Demand better from your team/ownership!

 

[MonkeysUncle]

Blame the roster all you want. Hiller is one of the worst coaches in the league. If he were fired tomorrow he wouldn’t get another Head Coaching gig in the NHL next season or the season after or the season after that. It is very likely Hiller is done as an NHL Head Coach after his Kings run ends.

100% Luc and Kings continue to dig this team further and further away from being a winning organization on the ice. If Hiller hasn't been fired yet, he wont be this year. The biggest issue is that Luc and he convinced Holland that all they are is a scorer away from competing and they will give legit assets to get one and they will still fail.
It is time for ownership to stop the bleeding now!

 

[hokiecat]

Blame the roster all you want. Hiller is one of the worst coaches in the league. If he were fired tomorrow he wouldn’t get another Head Coaching gig in the NHL next season or the season after or the season after that. It is very likely Hiller is done as an NHL Head Coach after his Kings run ends.

I'm not saying he is good and I agree that he'll probably be back to assistant at best when he gets fired (playoff shenanigans last year should be a career killer tbh) but he's dealt a pretty bad hand.

IDK what good coach is going to come here. We don't have a McDavid, Carlsson, Celebrini, Bedard, MacKinnon, etc. Not even a sniff of up and coming young talent like a Utah. We've got pretty good older players and prospects who have not panned out. So I don't think we are a premiere destination. And whatever coach comes here is probably going to use a similar strategy of competing hard and trying to win defensive struggles because that is all the roster supports.

 

[symbology]

Blame the roster all you want. Hiller is one of the worst coaches in the league. If he were fired tomorrow he wouldn’t get another Head Coaching gig in the NHL next season or the season after or the season after that. It is very likely Hiller is done as an NHL Head Coach after his Kings run ends.

I get it, and kind of agree with you. However, I believe that he has the best winning percentage of any coach in Kings history, so ??????

 

[Statue4Deano]

I know most everyone

I get it, and kind of agree with you. However, I believe that he has the best winning percentage of any coach in Kings history, so ??????

12 Regulation Wins this season. 31st in the NHL. 7 OT/SO wins. Winning percentage is pretty meaningless since ties were eliminated.

 

[symbology]

I know most everyone

12 Regulation Wins this season. 31st in the NHL. 7 OT/SO wins. Winning percentage is pretty meaningless since ties were eliminated.

Yes, this year has been pretty awful. Below are last year's numbers. Much different. 43 of 48 wins were RW's. As much as we hate what happened last playoffs and what has happened this year so far, overall he has a pretty good record. I just have to disagree that he is one of the worst coaches in the league. He had this crappy team almost beating Vegas last night. This crappy team beat the Wild twice and took out the Oilers.

I just feel that he is getting all the heat when Luc/Blake/Holland should get as much if not more.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Yes, this year has been pretty awful. Below are last year's numbers. Much different. 43 of 48 wins were RW's. As much as we hate what happened last playoffs and what has happened this year so far, overall he has a pretty good record. I just have to disagree that he is one of the worst coaches in the league. He had this crappy team almost beating Vegas last night. This crappy team beat the Wild twice and took out the Oilers.

View attachment 13695

I just feel that he is getting all the heat, when Luc/Blake/Holland should get as much if not more.

I blame all of them. However I don’t think this team is bad. I see them as a high floor low ceiling team. I’ve said this from training camp and it’s exactly how the season has played out. This is a playoff roster but they aren’t good enough to go deep into the playoffs.

Hiller does not get the most out of this very flawed roster. That’s not to say he’s the biggest problem. He’s just the easiest to fix.

 

[DryKing]

Yes, this year has been pretty awful. Below are last year's numbers. Much different. 43 of 48 wins were RW's. As much as we hate what happened last playoffs and what has happened this year so far, overall he has a pretty good record. I just have to disagree that he is one of the worst coaches in the league. He had this crappy team almost beating Vegas last night. This crappy team beat the Wild twice and took out the Oilers.

View attachment 13695

I just feel that he is getting all the heat, when Luc/Blake/Holland should get as much if not more.

Starting to agree with you. Realistically we shouldn't have been able to compete with Vegas last night, yet we took them to overtime. As much as we need to recognize Hiller's weaknesses, we also need to give him credit when it is due. Kings don't complete last night without good coaching.

He was also really strong last regular season and then threw it all away come playoff time, and was a very good HC in the juniors, known for strong player development. It hasn't seemed to translate to the NHL as of yet, but he does have potential.

Success in Junior Hockey (WHL):

• Awards: Hiller earned the Brian Kilrea Award (CHL Coach of the Year) and the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy (WHL Coach of the Year) in the 2011-2012 season.
• Tri-City Americans: He coached the Tri-City Americans for several years, leading them to division titles, a conference title, and the WHL Championship series.
• Player Development: He was known for developing young talent and fostering strong player-coach relationships, a skill praised by former players and colleagues.

Luc needs to be center stage when it comes to accountability, imo. He's allowed the Organization to get to this point and it still does not seem to have a clear vision forward.

 

[Bollocks]

I'm not saying he is good and I agree that he'll probably be back to assistant at best when he gets fired (playoff shenanigans last year should be a career killer tbh) but he's dealt a pretty bad hand.

IDK what good coach is going to come here. We don't have a McDavid, Carlsson, Celebrini, Bedard, MacKinnon, etc. Not even a sniff of up and coming young talent like a Utah. We've got pretty good older players and prospects who have not panned out. So I don't think we are a premiere destination. And whatever coach comes here is probably going to use a similar strategy of competing hard and trying to win defensive struggles because that is all the roster supports.

Look what Tippett managed to do with those Yotes teams...

There are coaches that get the best out of underdog teams. And then there are coaches like Hiller where if the team is winning, it's likely in spite of them, not because of them.

 

[hokiecat]

Other picks that hit: Laferriere (3rd round), Spence (4th round), Anderson (4th round)

Potentials: Helenius (2nd round), Lee (7th round)

Let's also be honest, everything 2022 - 2025 is TBD.

It's not all doom and gloom but the Kings really need to stop trading away draft picks and prospects and start rebuilding their farm (and team along with it).

As for Protas having more upside than Greentree, that could be but who cares. Both Protas brother's look good and Washington got a potential steal in the 3rd round but that doesn't take anything away from Greentree or what he can become.

I don't know if your list of picks is supposed to be encouraging or not.

IMO, it is mostly doom and gloom. Helenius is not going to be an impact NHLer. I'd bet huge on that. I feel like he's going to be the next Amadio or other generic bottom 6 guy. Probably the same with Lee. Laffy is the best in the list but he's a top 6 guy, not an impact NHLer. Mikey is a defensive D on a solid contract. Spence is a 4-6D with very good offensive skills but his impact is limited due to his size, especially in the playoffs. But the Kings could certainly use another puck mover on the roster.

Where's our Carlsson? Our Celebrini? Our Gauthier? Blake and the development team whiffed when we had our 3 top-10 picks. We don't have a replacement for Kopi or Doughty.

The Athletic (Pronman) just ranked the top players under 23. Kings had 2-- Clarke (#89) and Greentree (#134). Protas was #50 (and part of the reason I mentioned him was I have concerns if Greentree last season was all that good or aided by Protas; Rob Pearson was believed to be a great scorer because he played on Lindros' wing). The Ducks had 7 with 5 in the top 30. Sharks were similar. The Kings pushed all of their trade chips in to get PLD, Fiala, and Gavrikov. If we go to a rebuild, this roster and the futures are a lot closer to Edmonton, Tampa, Vegas etc than Ducks, Sharks, Blackhawks. We'll be neck and neck with Vancouver in terms of "you thought you were good for too long and now you're starting at square one".

TBH, I don't know what to do. Rebuild is always attractive but with rising cap, I think there is a potential avenue to make some hockey trades and take on "overpriced" players because cap space is not at a premium but people generally still act like it matters.

 

[DryKing]

I don't know if your list of picks is supposed to be encouraging or not.

IMO, it is mostly doom and gloom. Helenius is not going to be an impact NHLer. I'd bet huge on that. I feel like he's going to be the next Amadio or other generic bottom 6 guy. Probably the same with Lee. Laffy is the best in the list but he's a top 6 guy, not an impact NHLer. Mikey is a defensive D on a solid contract. Spence is a 4-6D with very good offensive skills but his impact is limited due to his size, especially in the playoffs. But the Kings could certainly use another puck mover on the roster.

Where's our Carlsson? Our Celebrini? Our Gauthier? Blake and the development team whiffed when we had our 3 top-10 picks. We don't have a replacement for Kopi or Doughty.

The Athletic (Pronman) just ranked the top players under 23. Kings had 2-- Clarke (#89) and Greentree (#134). Protas was #50 (and part of the reason I mentioned him was I have concerns if Greentree last season was all that good or aided by Protas; Rob Pearson was believed to be a great scorer because he played on Lindros' wing). The Ducks had 7 with 5 in the top 30. Sharks were similar. The Kings pushed all of their trade chips in to get PLD, Fiala, and Gavrikov. If we go to a rebuild, this roster and the futures are a lot closer to Edmonton, Tampa, Vegas etc than Ducks, Sharks, Blackhawks. We'll be neck and neck with Vancouver in terms of "you thought you were good for too long and now you're starting at square one".

TBH, I don't know what to do. Rebuild is always attractive but with rising cap, I think there is a potential avenue to make some hockey trades and take on "overpriced" players because cap space is not at a premium but people generally still act like it matters.

I agree with you, and feel you a spot on - I really just mean to say that I do not think a full rebuild is the answer. We have some good core pieces but they will not take us to promised land. We need to start holding on to our draft picks, drafting well (which gives me pause sticking with Yanetti - though I know others are high on him), focusing on player development, and you make a good point - likely acquire "overpaid" players from other teams (such as Petterson) or overpay in free agency.

As others have mentioned, we also need to rebuild the culture and clean house higher up in the Organization.

 

[Statue4Deano]

The Athletic (Pronman) just ranked the top players under 23. Kings had 2-- Clarke (#89) and Greentree (#134). Protas was #50 (and part of the reason I mentioned him was I have concerns if Greentree last season was all that good or aided by Protas;

Pronman is wrong about Clarke. Not just about how he projects his ceiling but about his current skills. He marks him as having Poor skating. This is simply untrue. Even if you just base his skating on straight line top speed he’s ranks in the 68th percentile. Beyond that he looks quicker and more agile this season vs last.

He also ranks him as having Below Average compete. I don’t know how you can watch him play and say he doesn’t compete on even an average level. That’s just silly.

Clarke is well on his way to being a 20+ minute per night 1st pairing D man. And that’s with a boat anchor around his neck in Edmundson and a dumb ass Head Coach who still finds a way to play bums like Duomolin and Ceci more as recently as last month.

 

[dannybuoy1]

Blame the roster all you want. Hiller is one of the worst coaches in the league. If he were fired tomorrow he wouldn’t get another Head Coaching gig in the NHL next season or the season after or the season after that. It is very likely Hiller is done as an NHL Head Coach after his Kings run ends.

Remember when Lombardi fired Murray and brought in Sutter? Remember what he said?

He said its hard for me to believe that Dustin Brown was at the end of his career when he was struggling. Its hard to believe that Mike Richards is at the end of his career. He brings in Sutter, chemistry changes.

So with that, its hard for me to believe that 104 point season this team is a giant sh*t sandwich this year.

I love Gavi, and he is missed, but the Kings are 5th in the league in goals allowed. There is no cohesion and that is on the coach and coaching staff. Almost every player is playing on their own. Doughty is done and needs to be moved down the line and not play more minutes. Clark needs to take the reins and build the D around him.

Kopi should be on the 3rd line and special teams. Basically the new Danault.

They need a player that will change that room. Doughty has had 10 years, it sure as hell is not him or has ever been him. Kopi is to an extent, but not the game changer he once was.

But the bottom line is there is no cohesion. The system is not only broke. It sucks.

This may be the longest I have ever posted on this board in 20 years. LOL

 

[What party?]

This!!!!

This board is flat out delusional at times. QB is not a first line player. Full stop. He's been in the league for years. He's scoring at 0.65 points per game or something. He's probably the 10th best player in his draft class. Turcotte is middle 6 but undersized and doesn't seem to make his linemates significantly better. Clarke is a 3D like Ghost and not a true top line defenseman. Kupari, Tobi, Kaliyev, etc were all draft flops who are replacement level. The 2 picks who hit (Vilardi and Faber) were traded away.

Kopi and Doughty played at a super high level for longer than most NHL players. But now they're showing their age. And they were never replaced.

This team lacks high end talent everywhere and the farm has ZERO impact players. People are excited about Greentree. Give me a break. His former linemate Protas has more upside. Hiller is not good but he's playing the only card he has. He has to try to win 2-1 because the team lacks top skill and there's no future where we're adding top skill.

Hiller is doing his best with the dog crap roster that Blake and KH gave him. They exchanged Gavrikov and Spence for Ceci and Dumoulin; WTF did you think was going to happen?

 

[ICE24]

Fire Hiller, you still have the same players. Add a couple of players and overpay at the deadline, sneak in the playoffs and lose in the first round or most likely not make it at all. The Kings whomever they add, are not beating a Colorado or anyone in the East.

It would be easier to just blow up this team and try to keep Laffy and Clarke. In five years, hopefully you have a team that could compete. I'm over the add a piece, this is not 2012 or 2014. You have to have the correct pieces in place before you add.