Here is my take on our GM.
It's no secret I am a big Flake hater. Although a lot of years have elapsed, I recall vividly him holding DT hostage in 2001 and wouldn't resign therefore leading to him being dealt to Colorado. Then signing for LESS money in the offseason.
In a game the next season we were losing 4-2 to Colorado at home late in the game. (It was the only game Andy Murray was ever thrown out of so you know the officiating was bad). Leads to a Colorado 2-man advantage. Instead of just passing the puck along the perimeter waiting for the clock to expire, Flake takes this long slap shot by Felix Potvin. Totally unnecessary.
And as everyone has alluded to, the PLD trade (perhaps one of the worst in club history), the Cal Pedersen extension, and how some of the young players have been handled.
All of that, but what really pissed me off is the end of season presser with him and silver hair. Basically insulting the fans and calling us one big happy family and getting together for holidays or whatever ridiculousness he spewed out. We had just been eliminated by our long time hated rivals for the 3rd year in a row. Us fans were pissed. They should have been too. He should have said we are angry and we are doing X, Y, and Z to try and get better. He didn't say any of that. That is what really made me angry and put me over the edge.
In his defense, I thought in the offseason and this year he has been EXCELLENT. The Foegele signing is arguably the best offseason signing by any team. Edmonson as well. The Kuzmenko trade looks genius right now, but let's see how he does in the playoffs and going forward. Getting Kuemper was spectacular also. He righted a lot of his wrongs.
IMO if the Kings beat the Oilers he will be extended. If not, he will be and should be shown the door. 7 years under his watch with no playoff series wins and 11 seasons overall is unacceptable.
If I recall the story about Blake not re-signing with the Kings way back when, I don’t know that it was all that simple. If what I heard is correct Blake was under a lot of pressure from the players union to sign a maximum contract. The Union was attempting to increase salaries by getting the top players to sign for as much as they could get. I want to say Pronger had just signed a big deal around that time. It complicated the negotiation that was not going to be easy to begin with.
I don’t know that my takeaway from the press conference was anything but Blake making it clear he was disappointed, unhappy, and somewhat disgusted with the season. I thought he was careful with his words but he felt the team was not willing to pay the price, needed to more competitive and resilient. He wasn’t wrong.
As for losing to Edmonton three years in a row, the Kings lost to a good team even though I’m nauseous admitting it. Losing to that team is hardly an embarrassment, although I will say the Kings have been less competitive as those three series have evolved, seven game series, six game series, and last year the five game series. That is not looking like progress to be sure.
As for rehashing the Cal & PLD moves, hindsight is harsh. But Cal was positioned to be The Goalie at the time. Had Cal performed as expected that contract would have looked fine. Cal flopped. PLD on paper was a good move. It would have given the Kings center depth that they desperately needed. The strategy was right. The player was wrong. That IS on Blake. There was enough evidence to be concerned about PL being the player we needed. Again, that’s on Blake. But to get out of that without losing cap space or a top prospect AND getting Keumper is almost too much to ask for.
The handling of young players is a valid point. But without looking at all the recent picks, I don’t know that we can be too critical about how Byfield, Turcotte and Clarke have been handled. Both QB and Turc were delayed by injury and illness. Clarke I think was managed well. He wasn’t ready. I wasn’t sure he was ready this year. But Blake /Hiller went with him and he has surpassed my expectations, especially on the defensive side.
I get frustrated with our young players access to the NHL level. We see other teams quickly promote high picks, but the Kings don’t. The Kings picks often don’t pan out and the players languish until they have no value. But I don’t know if it’s bad drafting/scouting, bad development, or players just not meeting their projected value. I also don’t know that it’s unique to the Kings.
As for Blake, some fans have residual resentment over Blake leaving the Kings. I wasn’t immune to it, and couldn’t stand him when he was with Colorado or SJ. Made me sick. But it’s water under the bridge by now, speaking only for myself.
I have always felt he has done enough to keep his job. I don’t think he’s been a bad GM. None of them bat .1000. But my main concern has also been: who is brought in, and what will they do? The nameless replacement isn’t enough to toss Blake aside.
I do believe we need to see how the playoffs go before deciding on Blake. This season has been a very big improvement. Good moves have been made. The criticisms Blake noted at the press conference were addressed. But at some point it’s still a results-oriented job. We need to see some positive results.
