Rookie ans Sr training camp dates?

santiclaws said:
Vilardi is not going to be playing center, to say nothing of first line center. Kopi ain't gonna be in the HOF.
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Eh, first line, third line...I refuse to name them "1st/2nd/3rd" lines. I'd treat them fairly equally and prioritize based on matchups.

I do agree that Vilardi is more of a wing nowadays, but there's a few too many RWs (if we want to keep Kempe as a scoring RW) in the top 9 then. He's center "by nature" and if he can play well with our top wingers, then you experiment further. My main point is to pair him with top talent instead of 4th liners and see if he can produce.

Yes, Kopitar is going to the HOF. If Marian Hossa with 3 Cups and without notable awards got in, then a first-time Slovenian in the NHL who happened to become two-time Cup winner who brought the first 2 Cups to LA and won Selke 2 times and Mark Messier award (at least) 1 time and is a through and through professional without any baggage will be, too. Statistically they are very close to each other. There's absolutely no reason not to include him based on past criteria (if they set the bar too low, well, that's their own fault lol).
 
santiclaws said:
Vilardi is not going to be playing center, to say nothing of first line center. Kopi ain't gonna be in the HOF.
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I agree on the first item. Kopi is up there with Doughty as the King most likely to be in the HHOF. He's already got 1000 points and is ahead of his current near peers like Getzlaf and Staal who barely got over the 1000 point mark. He has 2 Cups and captainship. Most important, he's the first guy from his country to play in the NHL and he was a big success story. The voters love that. He's also generally personable to the media and that helps too. Plus individual awards like Selke and Lady Byng. He just needs to keep producing over the rest of his contract and he's in a great position. He'll be 1150-1200 points barring extended injury. And then will be signing shorter and cheaper contracts like Malkin at that point. Quick was one who I still think could miss, although 2021-22 helped a ton. Nobody else from the Cup era has a chance.
 
LAKingSteve said:
Sounds Like Fiala is excited about playing with Kopi:

"Fiala said rather abruptly that he?s never played with a center of Kopitar?s ability during his hockey career to date. While he?s been a part of some good teams in his career, and had some solid linemates he?s rarely been given the opportunity to play on a first line, with a future Hall of Famer skating alongside him. He?s produced nonetheless, despite ice time that?s fallen more in the realm of a second or third line player."
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It just occurred to me that the line of Fiala - Kopitar - Kempe could be called the F*KK line.
 
santiclaws said:
Kopi ain't gonna be in the HOF.
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Of course he is. It's the HOCKEY hall of fame. Not exclusive to NHL success but even if you judge him on NHL feats alone, he's the first Slovenian born player to get drafted, won the cup twice, won the Selke twice along with the Lady Byng and the Messier trophy. 1200 career games played. 1000 points. And on the international stage he carried Slovenia to their first and only Olympics berth in 2014.

Kopitar is a first ballot hall of famer.
 
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