Jusst thibk if bonehead blake didn't make this deal, we would still have Vilardi who will be a consistant 35 goal score, Iaflo and decent player and Kupari, but instead we end up with Keumper who is very inconsistant in goal. Most GM's get fired for making this type of deals but in LA GM gets rewarded.
PLD for Kuemper
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Pevsfreedom
somehow in south carolina
Statue4Deano
Super Star
kingnut
Top Forward
not much else Roy can say. Lazy or not, the optics of his effort were poor.
DarkLeftHand
Super Star
I see PLD like Kopitar, minus the positive results. Imagine the hand wringing around this place if kopitar only produced around a .4 or .5 PPG clip over the majority of his career. He -looks- like he’s not really trying that hard, but consistently, opposing coaches and players will tell you how hard it is to play against him. No one will ever say that about PLD, and therein lies the difference.
Now that they are teammates, what else would he say?
pray4mojo
Top Forward
Would be news if after signing his big, shiny new contract...he Sh*#ts all over his once and future teammate.
Pevsfreedom
somehow in south carolina
What's he gonna say? "Yeah that guy f***in sucks dude get him outta here"?
Heino
Top Forward
He's not going to say it, but he can sure think it.
dannybuoy1
Cause Mitchrock said so
Matt or anyone will not say anything negative about a player. PLD can provide us with the cup of salvation, but if he is not doing anything on the ice, it won't matter.
I hope he does well and becomes the player he is supposed to be.
I hope he does well and becomes the player he is supposed to be.
kingnut
Top Forward
^^^^^
santiclaws
I was in the pool!!
I've seen it speculated (and it was ONLY speculation) that the pickup of Foegle, Jannot and Edmondson, who in addition to being physical are all supposed to be really, really good locker room guys is that the pickup points to a bad locker room. Which could certainly have happened when you have a guy who is likeable enough but is not pulling his weight despite making big $$.
kingnut
Top Forward
If so, where was Kopi, Dewey and Danault? Not saying it all lands on them, but def needed more leadership so to speak. And maybe this will help, speculation of course.
DoubleMinor
3rd Line Winger
Good point.
It was clear to anyone watching this past season that the Kings have culture/leadership issues.
Blake was not shy about this during the exit interviews.
There wasn’t much doubt that the Kings were after leaders who were tough. And it was the right call.
The Kings had become soft and comfortable. They took nights off.
If nothing else, these new guys can impact this team by showing up ready to compete.
It doesn’t matter who you have if they don’t care, if they aren’t committed to success.
Clif
Super Star
My speculation is PLD was a unique locker room problem. He’s not a cancer. On the contrary everyone really liked him. However you cannot make that kind of money and not produce, and you especially can’t lose puck battles the way he did. Can’t see how that doesn’t make everyone else feel they’re taken advantage of. There’s not really a productive confrontation you can have after a while. You can’t get personal. They also likely saw what we saw, not a good fit. But that’s out of their control. So it lingers. Then it festers.
Can’t overstate what a boost it’ll be with this guy off the team. Is Edmundson overpaid? Oh my yes. But he’s not going to phone it in ever. He’s going to hurt people and protect Clarke. And he’ll just be a third LD, not a cornerstone center, so the expectations are different too.
hokiecat
Super Star
I think you are spot on with both points here. PLD was probably a great guy in the locker room but we all saw him losing puck battles that he should have won. With his size, he should have been pushing people around. But he didn't.
Edmundson is going to be an upgrade over Englund. I still can't get over letting Roy walk at 5.8 million and then signing Edmundson at 3.8 million. There should more than 2 million dollars difference between the 2 guys. The signing just feels like another Blake+Bergevin folly where they grossly overpay for a player that they covet. I was listening to NHL radio yesterday or Sunday and they commented that every free agent signing (even Guentzel) was for a reasonable amount. Nobody over paid. And then they followed it up with "well, except for maybe Blake on Edmundson". Dang. That contract would look a lot better at something like 2.25 million per season.
symbology
TEAM LGK
I remember back when the Kings traded for Richards. There were a lot of "hot" discussions on leadership differences between Kopi and Richards. There were a lot of members here that did not like the take of many of us when it came to Kopitar's ability to really lead this team.
This current discussion is bringing back memories.
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DoubleMinor
3rd Line Winger
I don’t find fault with Kopi in any leadership regard. You’ve got to be who you are, got to be true to yourself. Kopi is the quintessential quiet leader we have heard about. He’s a pro, shows up and goes about his job, is good with the media.
But, you do need the guys who will be more than that, the Richards, Williams, Stoll, Greene & Quick types who have that personality.
Kopi is just not that way. That’s why these signings occurred.
symbology
TEAM LGK
No, not his fault. It is just reality.
