PLD for Kuemper

In full disclosure I'm a PLD fan but the brutal truth of the matter is he's now on his 4th team before the age of 26, before he retires he will be this generation's Michel Petit(that's for you old timers). My biggest gripe with Blake is the stunning lack of grit this team doesn't have and if you take Englund out of the lineup we have virtually none of it especially if Grundstrom doesn't come back. We were not going to beat Edmonton this year with Villardi,Iafallo and Kupari so giving them up for a swing at Dubois is the part of doing business and although we were in the bargain bin with goaltenders that's not why we lost either IMO. We need a guy like Maroon on the 4th line or something similar as I'm sick of seeing arguably our best player Kempe leading the way into scrums, we need someone who when he hops over the boards the other team goes "heads up!"
 
Rogie-Vachon said:
"The Kings just traded Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a 2024 second-round pick for Darcy f***ing Kuemper"

"And to think it only cost you Vilardi, Iafallo, Kupari, and a 2nd rd pick to get him."

"Rob Blake shouldn’t have a job gave up all those assets for what Kemper to come back like selling the house and the cars just to get a bike you had in Highschool"

"Wow wow wow great job there Blake. Nothing like giving away all that talent for this guy and now we get a 34 year-old goaltender on the end of his career what’s next maybe they should just let you go. You’re a horrible GM."

Then Helene chimes in: "
When Blake acquired Dubois from Winnipeg last June, Blake represented Dubois as a key piece in the Kings’ ascent toward Stanley Cup contention, the big, physical center who’d give them strength up the middle and allow them to compete with bigger teams in the West. Dubois—who raised red flags about his commitment when he asked his two previous teams to trade him—was never that player for the Kings, never consistently productive at center or on the wing under Todd McLellan or Jim Hiller, who succeeded McLellan.

Remember, too, that Blake had designated Cal Petersen as the Kings’ goalie of the future and signed him to an extravagant three-year, $15-million contract. His future was limited, and the Kings have since made do with journeyman goalies.

If Blake can make that big a mistake with Dubois and other smaller missteps like Petersen, how much can he be trusted to make the right moves to get the Kings back into Cup contention? Yes, he fixed the Dubois mess but he shouldn’t have made that trade in the first place. That’s a huge failure in judgment."
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Nailed it.
 
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Statue4Deano said:
Darcy Kuemper is 34 years old. Signed for 3 more years at 5.25M cap hit and he’s coming off an .890 save % season.
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Still an upgrade over Talbot. He will also play behind a better defensive team.

I don't think
Rogie-Vachon said:
Then Helene chimes in: "
When Blake acquired Dubois from Winnipeg last June, Blake represented Dubois as a key piece in the Kings’ ascent toward Stanley Cup contention, the big, physical center who’d give them strength up the middle and allow them to compete with bigger teams in the West. Dubois—who raised red flags about his commitment when he asked his two previous teams to trade him—was never that player for the Kings, never consistently productive at center or on the wing under Todd McLellan or Jim Hiller, who succeeded McLellan.

Remember, too, that Blake had designated Cal Petersen as the Kings’ goalie of the future and signed him to an extravagant three-year, $15-million contract. His future was limited, and the Kings have since made do with journeyman goalies.

If Blake can make that big a mistake with Dubois and other smaller missteps like Petersen, how much can he be trusted to make the right moves to get the Kings back into Cup contention? Yes, he fixed the Dubois mess but he shouldn’t have made that trade in the first place. That’s a huge failure in judgment."
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And in all of this, Petersen and PLD debacle and no mention of dude signing 35 year old Kovalchuk to a 3 year 6 million + per after 5 seasons out of the NHL. That alone should have been the red flag. Let alone signing a guy with potential to hit 80 points to an 8.5 per deal? Seriously, wtf does he have a job?

I think Darcy is better than Talbot by far. I am okay with him being our number one and going with him and David. Many of you know I could not believe Cam was our goalie. This is fine. What is not fine is how this keeps happening. Hopefully with 3 million in space, we can help not only bring somebody big, and strapping to be what PLD could not be.

Also trade Drew now while we can. Just thought I would add that in.
 
dannybuoy1 said:
Also trade Drew now while we can. Just thought I would add that in.
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That would be nice - trade Drew to a contender and let him take a run at another Cup while freeing up cap space on the team to begin to move forward (as it's unlikely we contend for the Cup next season).
 
Lots has been made about Kuemper's recent performance, but his career save % is 914. If he's playing in front of our D this is a good upgrade. And removing PLD from what clearly was an unsettled locker room is clearly a plus. The fact that Blake made this deal clearly shows he knew he a mistake.
 
S4Deano hit the nail on the head. We take a year to try and get him right, and if it pays off, it’s brilliant. If he’s garbage, Rittich carries the ball and he gets sent down, or we trade for a goaltender, and he gets bought out. We realize $6M-7M in cap savings long term by not having the PLD contract weighing us down,

Buying out PLD would have been more punitive for a much longer period.
 
Blake got out of that PLD contract like....

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Statue4Deano said:
The Kings just finished a season where they got elite goaltending results from two goalies nobody else wanted. I’d say that just about makes up for most of that bad Petersen deal. He also grabbed a kid who could be the next long term #1 for a 3rd round pick in Portillo.

Of all the things to criticize Blake about his goaltending moves are very very low on the list.
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What I saw in Portillo during the Fire Birds series was terrible play. He was slow to react and just got worked. I hope this kid can improve, however, as the competition got better he got worse.
 
dannybuoy1 said:
Also trade Drew now while we can. Just thought I would add that in.
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Kopi too...he deserves to play for a contender. I'd love to see him play behind Barkov or some other ridiculously talented first line center. Just as long as they don't go to Edmonton.
 
salami said:
Kopi too...he deserves to play for a contender. I'd love to see him play behind Barkov or some other ridiculously talented first line center. Just as long as they don't go to Edmonton.
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Both Kopi and Drew would have to agree to it. I don't think Kopi does, would not be surprised if Dewey waived his NMC at this point. Made it clear he wants another run at a cup, gotta believe the doesn't necessarily think this team is capable.
 
Statue4Deano said:
The move always felt premature to me. Like he was trying to force the team into contender status by giving them a final piece. Only problem was once the player hit the ice it was pretty apparent it was an oil and water mixture. He didn’t add anything and instead stuck out in the worst way with his poor effort. Completely counter to the supposed ethos of the team: hard work, defensive effort, structure.

I suppose there’s something to be said for having the guts to take the big swing and then having the awareness to admit you struck out.

Sucks that the assets are gone but that’s the pain of a valuable lesson learned.
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I am encouraged by Blake saying in the presser they need to do a better job of finding players that fit, so hopefully this truly is a lesson learned. Dean made his mistakes in SJ before he made mistakes in LA. Every GM whiffs. There was logic in the PLD trade and it was a disaster, but to get out without any retention is practically recovering unscathed in the big picture.

As for the assets, your other post put it perfectly that apart from Vilardi the Kings didn’t lose anyone of value, both to the team and in a trade. Vilardi was a high impact player and that hurts to lose straight up, but it is survivable. What is not survivable is having a contract take up so much room for a player who not only doesn’t produce offensively at that level, but cannot play on the other side of the puck at even an average level.

It was a Calgary game where PLD got outmuscled badly right in the crease by a much smaller player who then got a goal where it really sunk for me in that the Kings would never win with him on the team. He’s gone. Nevermind anything else. He’s gone.
 
Clif said:
I am encouraged by Blake saying in the presser they need to do a better job of finding players that fit, so hopefully this truly is a lesson learned. Dean made his mistakes in SJ before he made mistakes in LA. Every GM whiffs. There was logic in the PLD trade and it was a disaster, but to get out without any retention is practically recovering unscathed in the big picture.

As for the assets, your other post put it perfectly that apart from Vilardi the Kings didn’t lose anyone of value, both to the team and in a trade. Vilardi was a high impact player and that hurts to lose straight up, but it is survivable. What is not survivable is having a contract take up so much room for a player who not only doesn’t produce offensively at that level, but cannot play on the other side of the puck at even an average level.

It was a Calgary game where PLD got outmuscled badly right in the crease by a much smaller player who then got a goal where it really sunk for me in that the Kings would never win with him on the team. He’s gone. Nevermind anything else. He’s gone.
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I think everyone involved on the Kings side including the fanbase is just relieved they never have to spend another minute talking or commenting on Dubois. A collective turning of the page was badly needed.

That being said I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if PLD gets back to being a 30 goal scorer as early as next season.
 
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