Clif
Super Star
They should all go this summer. I would like to see if someone actually hires Newell Brown, though he has inexplicably lasted this long. Legends never die.
Hiller Hotseat Thread
- Thread starter Birdman
- Start date
Statue4Deano
Super Star
Cleaning house from top to bottom would get me thinking about buying season tickets again.
hokiecat
Super Star
The defense sucks. We added 2 more big stay at home guys. There is more to defense than just keeping the puck out of the net. Other teams add a "modern" defenseman (saw that term on Twitter) and the Kings add throwback lumbering guys who cannot generate high quality zone exits and entries.
The Kings were already relying on Doughty to be the PP QB at age 100 and they added 2 more big, slow guys in their 30s to long-term deals. That's malfeasance. I mean, we pretty much traded Spence for nothing. And there were rumors this summer about going after Byram in Buffalo. That would have been the smart move-- get a young puck mover who plays on the left side. Instead, KH got us the defensive slog.
Forward scoring down for a few reasons IMO. First, the aging guys are going to decline. Second, QB is fools gold and always has the allure of breaking out but he never does. Third, mid-career guys like Kempe and Fiala (plus Laffy) simply have maintained rather than improving. But that isn't super suprising. You've got the Kings offensively-inept defense trying to feed them the puck. Aside from Clarke, who is realistically expected to deliver a stretch pass leading to a breakaway. IMO, the offensive decline is more of a symptom of the roster building than bad luck or coaching.
DryKing
Power Forward
Agreed but the coaching continues to give us grade school line combinations. We want Byfield to be our top Center? Let's pair him up with 3rd/4th line wingers. Our best winger? Well let's pair him up with a AHL (at best) winger and a 3rd line winger attempting to play Center.
I mean look at this nonsense? I get trying to spread out talent between the lines, but where does that leave Kempe - attempting to mainly generate solely his own scoring opportunities?
It's just a comedy of errors with this Organization, at this point.
Malott – Laferriere– Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Armia
Fiala – Turcotte – Kuzmenko
Lee – Helenius – Ward
VCRW
Classic player
One can only hope. Glad I missed this one. I read they only had 3 shots total on 5 PPs. And 1 actually went in!!! This team defines pathetic.
waynet
Super Star
Pretty much nailed it. A ponderous D crew with virtually no offensive contribution. Reliant on mosh pit hockey along the boards to bog down opponents. Produces dull, low scoring games, frequent OTs where skill and speed are premium and mosh pit strategy doesn't work.
Compound the OT disadvantage by the absurd notion that starting an old, slow Dman for the 3x3 track meet is a good idea.
If you had a minute uptick in goals this season from our forwards, you're talking about winning a whole bunch more games than they have in a razor tight division. When you have 20+ OT games, and your forward group is mismanaged, even a slight uptick of better line combos/coaching is the difference between playoffs and early summer. Say what you want about DD or Ceci or Doom, but not having our forwards contribute like they did last year is what bombed the season.
K-Man #32
#1 Kings fan In The World
Unfortunately....
nhlrumors.com
NHL Rumors: Jim Hiller Safe in Los Angeles For Now
The Los Angeles Kings will stick with head coach Jim Hiller through the rest of the season for now but there could be a change this summer.
nhlrumors.com
Pevsfreedom
somehow in south carolina
It would get me thinking about watching again.
HiFi
Wildcard!
So we’ve given up on this season?Unfortunately....
NHL Rumors: Jim Hiller Safe in Los Angeles For Now
The Los Angeles Kings will stick with head coach Jim Hiller through the rest of the season for now but there could be a change this summer.
XPantericA
What's it doing now?
Well, the organization recently fired a head coach after this roster (plus/ minus a few) stopped scoring goals. Last year, Hiller got them all to overachieve with a very respectable 105 point campaign. Fast forward to now, and they're still very much in the thick of the playoff race - even though the PP is terrible and many, many players have significantly regressed in terms of scoring touch. No one can consistently finish. Yes, the futility of the Pacific Division as a whole is the reason they're even in the hunt, though things are starting to crystalize a bit as Vegas and Edmonton start to differentiate and pull ahead.
I am no Hiller apologist, but seeing the situation from the perspective of the front office, I am not surprised they haven't pulled the trigger on a new coach yet. I think the team needs to go in a new direction in terms of system and structure, but new coach or not, they aren't going to achieve that with this group of forwards and a lack of puck-movers on the blue line other than Clarke. It would be a wheel-spinning move, unfortunately. Retool, rebuild, restructure, or whatever term you prefer... it's clear that it is time. Thankfully they've got a big contract coming off the books, and the portential to move one or two others soon.
VCRW
Classic player
Ontario is currently in first place in the Pacific division, and they are scoring goals. That tells me there must be some young(ish) talent on that roster. I sure hope the Kings don’t let Hiller ruin what is being developed for too much longer. There are strong players coming up from Juniors next year who I hope will never fall under Hiller’s gross mismanagement.
HeadInjury
2 Late to Change My Name
Two of Ontario's three highest scorers are on the Kings roster now (Lee and Ward). The third is Chromiak. Maybe should give him a try.
By the way, Eric Portillo is playing well. He's 9-1-1-1 with a 2.33 GAA and a .912 save percentage. (The AHL separates OT losses and SO losses in the stats.) Health has been a big issue for him.
symbology
TEAM LGK
What is one big reason why the forwards, or defensemen are not generating as much offense this year?
The Kings have given up more goals this year so far, compared to how many fewer goals they have scored. Their scoring is down, but the D is down even more.
To me it comes down to player management. In other words, coaching.
Bollocks
Super Star
The Kings have a really good start point for a retool, if it were to be greenlighted. There are some very good pieces on this roster, these pieces just don't make a good complete puzzle as some key pieces are still missing. Therefore a lot of value can be obtained via trades.
For next season:
Top 6: Kempe, Byfield, Laferriere, Turcotte, Lee, Moore
Bottom 6: Malott, Helenius, (Armia), (Foegele), Chromiak, Alexandrov, Connors...
D: Mikey, (DD), Clarke, Moverare, (Ceci), Kirsanov, Burroughs, Wooley (?)
(Kuemper), Forsberg, Portillo
Traded: Perry (deadline 26), Kuzmenko (deadline 26), Fiala (draft 26), Dumo (draft 26), Edmundson (draft 26), Kuemper (draft 26/deadline 27), DD (draft 26/deadline 27), Foegele (deadline 27), Armia (deadline 27).
Dump Ceci at minimal cost when opportunity arises.
There's also opportunities to take on a bad contract reclamation project or two to fill the holes on the roster and trading for a young player or two looking for an opportunity (if ONT guys prove not worthy of NHL time).
Suck for 2-3 years and hope for the best in the draft. I doubt the ownership greenlights a proper, heavy rebuild that would last longer, so moves would be made in 3rd year to try and make the team competitive again.
Oh, and replace Hiller in order to avoid alienating the remaining players on the team. Hire a coach known for developing young guys. Maybe avoid making the same mistake twice and give Lord a chance, like it maybe should've been given to Sturm in the past.
MonkeysUncle
4th Line Grinder
That won't happen till someone finds whatever he has over Luc that is preventing his firing
Well, since none of the lines are very good, perhaps we'll finally run 4 lines!?!