Trade Deadline Thread

[Clif]

And then got taken to the woodshed by the Ducks. The hope is they overpay over the next 2 days making it harder to compete long term.

Getting offer sheeted last summer is hurting them now more than ever.

Bouchard is playing the most embarrassing defense possible at this level. And yet he’s going to demand big money for being a ppg dman. Going to be a good time watching how that works out.

 

[DryKing]

And then got taken to the woodshed by the Ducks. The hope is they overpay over the next 2 days making it harder to compete long term.

Getting offer sheeted last summer is hurting them now more than ever.

Those offer sheets really crushed them, as did not signing those players and using the money to sign vets instead who haven't contributed much (such as Arvi). I mean who would take Arvi at a $4m AAV vs Holloway at slightly under $2.3m AAV at this point?

Bouchard is playing the most embarrassing defense possible at this level. And yet he’s going to demand big money for being a ppg dman. Going to be a good time watching how that works out.

Yeah let's hope they give Bouchard something ridiculous to handicap them in the future. Apparently a decent amount of Edmonton fans are convinced they will sign Rantanen in the off-season as well. Not sure where they plan to get all this cap space from.

 

[orpheus]

Blake?

Boo!

 

[DoubleMinor]

If Bergevin becomes our next GM I will have a really hard time supporting this team. Bergevin had a sizable history of making morally questionable moves during his time in Montreal.

I'm the minority but I actually think Blake is a good, but not great, GM. His biggest failures have come since the time in which Bergevin was brought on as the advisor (with the exception of his weak choices in coaches).

When Blake goes, Luc and Bergevin should go also.

My question for people wanting a GM change is “Who do you hire and what will they do?”
We cannot have any idea on the who or what.

This just becomes an exercise in comparing the present to some magical world where X is hired and all the moves will be great.

There is no way to predict what a change means.

I think we all view DL as a successful GM. But I think there were plenty of criticisms of his moves.
When DL got JW he was injured. When Handzus came in he was a year away from being himself.
The O’Sullivan trade was flamed. Lots of criticisms of those moves. And even Willie Mitchell signing was criticized.

Every GM makes mistakes and every GM makes trades that are questioned.

But I do agree, Blake has been “fine”. Not great. Not bad. But the desire for a nameless GM who will make things better is just not enough.

Now, has Blake earned the right to continue? That’s probably the right question. The Kings are better now than when he became GM. Is that enough? I’m not sure it is. But I have no problem with him staying. And I’d have no problem if he was sent packing.
I’m just not tied to who the GM is because I can’t possibly know how it plays out.

 

[DoubleMinor]

Those offer sheets really crushed them, as did not signing those players and using the money to sign vets instead who haven't contributed much (such as Arvi). I mean who would take Arvi at a $4m AAV vs Holloway at slightly under $2.3m AAV at this point?



Yeah let's hope they give Bouchard something ridiculous to handicap them in the future. Apparently a decent amount of Edmonton fans are convinced they will sign Rantanen in the off-season as well. Not sure where they plan to get all this cap space from.

Yes. I want EDM to open the fault for Bouchard so they can pay he and Nurse 9M to not play defense.

 

[Madness20721]

My question for people wanting a GM change is “Who do you hire and what will they do?”
We cannot have any idea on the who or what.

This just becomes an exercise in comparing the present to some magical world where X is hired and all the moves will be great.

There is no way to predict what a change means.

I think we all view DL as a successful GM. But I think there were plenty of criticisms of his moves.
When DL got JW he was injured. When Handzus came in he was a year away from being himself.
The O’Sullivan trade was flamed. Lots of criticisms of those moves. And even Willie Mitchell signing was criticized.

Every GM makes mistakes and every GM makes trades that are questioned.

But I do agree, Blake has been “fine”. Not great. Not bad. But the desire for a nameless GM who will make things better is just not enough.

Now, has Blake earned the right to continue? That’s probably the right question. The Kings are better now than when he became GM. Is that enough? I’m not sure it is. But I have no problem with him staying. And I’d have no problem if he was sent packing.
I’m just not tied to who the GM is because I can’t possibly know how it plays out.

Blake's first priority two seasons ago should have been to make the team good enough to get past Edmonton in the first round. So what did he do? Nothing, and the Kings lost to Edmonton in the first round for the third straight post season. He should have been fired in the offseason, but he wasn't, and here we are in the same situation again, with the potential of losing to Edmonton in the first round for the fourth straight season.

 

[DryKing]

Blake's first priority two seasons ago should have been to make the team good enough to get past Edmonton in the first round. So what did he do? Nothing, and the Kings lost to Edmonton in the first round for the third straight post season. He should have been fired in the offseason, but he wasn't, and here we are in the same situation again, with the potential of losing to Edmonton in the first round for the fourth straight season.

Is that really a reasonable ask though? Edmonton went all out on trade deadline deals, and FA signings,because they know their best chance to win the Cup is before McDavid extends his contract. In the process they have totally mortgaged their future, however.

Blake should have a more methodical and long term approach to his deals. Sure Kopi and Doughty are aging out, but the Kings best chance to win the Cup is actually after Doughty's contract expires. I would really hate to see Blake mortgage our future on a 1-2 year win now window (repeating what DL did at the end by trading all our top picks for trade deadline rentals and clearing our prospect pool).

Blake has made the team better, but so have other GMs in the Pacific. Thus, the bar is ever moving. In the Cap Era being a good GM is not good enough - the Organization needs luck that their players stay healthy, peak at the right time and they pick up a few home runs in the draft and FA signing/trade market. Blake has had some luck (Laf aclimating quickly, Talbot and Kuemper having bounce back years, etc) but also a good deal of bad luck mixed in.

I'm not giving him a pass, but we also need to be realistic. Not every team is going to draft a Crosby or be fortunate enough to sign a player like Holloway for what seems to be an overpayment only for it to end up being a steal (in more ways than one).

 

[DoubleMinor]

Blake's first priority two seasons ago should have been to make the team good enough to get past Edmonton in the first round. So what did he do? Nothing, and the Kings lost to Edmonton in the first round for the third straight post season. He should have been fired in the offseason, but he wasn't, and here we are in the same situation again, with the potential of losing to Edmonton in the first round for the fourth straight season.

Well, he did bring in PLD but I hesitate to revisit that debacle.
Again, what moves should have been made, at what cost, and with what cap space?
I’m not arguing at all. Just pointing out that there are realities that enter into this.
We are arm chair GM’s to varying degrees. Whether that’s just typical of fans, or more so due to fantasy type leagues, we all feel like there are more or better deals available.

I guess my question here is what exact move two years who would have guaranteed advancing past Edmonton? Who did the Kings acquire, for what player or players, and was that move possible with the salary cap?

I have no idea. But acting like there was a clear, perfect and fair deal that Blake chose not to make doesn’t seem all that likely.

Again, this is my consternation with the anti-Blake sentiment. If there is a better option at GM I’m all for it. Hell, I’d be open to a DL part two if we could get another Cup. But I just don’t have the answers to it.

 

[DoubleMinor]

Is that really a reasonable ask though? Edmonton went all out on trade deadline deals, and FA signings,because they know their best chance to win the Cup is before McDavid extends his contract. In the process they have totally mortgaged their future, however.

Blake should have a more methodical and long term approach to his deals. Sure Kopi and Doughty are aging out, but the Kings best chance to win the Cup is actually after Doughty's contract expires. I would really hate to see Blake mortgage our future on a 1-2 year win now window (repeating what DL did at the end by trading all our top picks for trade deadline rentals and clearing our prospect pool).

Blake has made the team better, but so have other GMs in the Pacific. Thus, the bar is ever moving. In the Cap Era being a good GM is not good enough - the Organization needs luck that their players stay healthy, peak at the right time and they pick up a few home runs in the draft and FA signing/trade market. Blake has had some luck (Laf aclimating quickly, Talbot and Kuemper having bounce back years, etc) but also a good deal of bad luck mixed in.

I'm not giving him a pass, but we also need to be realistic. Not every team is going to draft a Crosby or be fortunate enough to sign a player like Holloway for what seems to be an overpayment only for it to end up being a steal (in more ways than one).

This is really good. So many things have to go right and luck plays a part.
Well said.

 

[Madness20721]

Remember the Frank McCourt days with the Dodgers and how everyone was calling for the firing of GM Ned Coletti, when in hindsight it was McCourt who was hamstringing Coletti so he couldn't get anything done? McCourt was in it trying to make a profit, not to build a winning team. I'm wondering if that is similar to what is happening with the Kings, and it's not really Blake's fault?

 

[Statue4Deano]

Remember the Frank McCourt days with the Dodgers and how everyone was calling for the firing of GM Ned Coletti, when in hindsight it was McCourt who was hamstringing Coletti so he couldn't get anything done? McCourt was in it trying to make a profit, not to build a winning team. I'm wondering if that is similar to what is happening with the Kings, and it's not really Blake's fault?

Not an apt comparison. McCourt’s primary goal was to milk the Dodgers brand of every last drop of revenue he could while keeping overhead down. That’s why he kept the payroll artificially low. Blake and Lombardi before him have had the green light to spend to the salary cap every season.

 

[hokiecat]

I am sensing a bit of Deja Vu. We just went through this same thing last year, where some of us figured we had little chance of winning more than a single game come playoff time.

I think our 4th line is worse this year. I have zero faith in Rob Blake making any moves to make this team better. I was mad at Blake for trading a 2nd and a 4th for a warm body in Tanner Jeannot. Mad at him for signing a "redundant" player in Edmundson. This team needed a LHD to help get the puck up ice to generate some form of offense. What bBake did was bring in another stay at home LHD.

Spot on! Tanner Jeannot is barely a NHL player. And if he is, he's a dime a dozen player. Why are we paying 2.5 million for his supposed toughness? Why did we give up real assets (2nd and 4th) to get him? It is like when Blake traded Lemieux+5th for Zack MacEwen. We gave up a 5th to make the team worse. The 4th line isn't just worse. It has to be one of the worst 4th lines in the NHL. Lewis, Helenius, Jeannot, Thomas is like a who's who of guys with minimal point shares.

I have no idea what the vision for this team is. We added grit over the summer but still aren't a heavy team. St Louis pushed us around last night. And we didn't add that grit for a nickel. Blake spent real assets to get Jeannot and paid Edmundson a lot of money to play 3rd pair LD. We let Roy walk (and Durzi before him) for nothing to keep Spence and Clarke. It is poor asset management with a reactionary approach to addressing issues overe the summer with no overarching plan of what the heck the Kings are trying to achieve. If Blake is here this summer, I expect him to overpay for a goalie or do something crazy since BSD has been such a mess in 2025.

The only silver lining is when I see my hometown Caps, it gives me hope that a rebuild on the fly is possible. You sign a Roy to fit into your top 4 because an idiot team lets a top-4 RD walk. You trade peanuts for Chychrun and add another top-4 with a big shot. You trade for goalie who will get Vezina votes while getting paid next to nothing. And you hit singles with your moves to improve the forwards. So Blake's replacement has a chance to turn things around if intelligent moves are made.

 

[ucsdguy1]

Bring back Leiweke!

 

[DryKing]

Spot on! Tanner Jeannot is barely a NHL player. And if he is, he's a dime a dozen player. Why are we paying 2.5 million for his supposed toughness? Why did we give up real assets (2nd and 4th) to get him? It is like when Blake traded Lemieux+5th for Zack MacEwen. We gave up a 5th to make the team worse. The 4th line isn't just worse. It has to be one of the worst 4th lines in the NHL. Lewis, Helenius, Jeannot, Thomas is like a who's who of guys with minimal point shares.

I have no idea what the vision for this team is. We added grit over the summer but still aren't a heavy team. St Louis pushed us around last night. And we didn't add that grit for a nickel. Blake spent real assets to get Jeannot and paid Edmundson a lot of money to play 3rd pair LD. We let Roy walk (and Durzi before him) for nothing to keep Spence and Clarke. It is poor asset management with a reactionary approach to addressing issues overe the summer with no overarching plan of what the heck the Kings are trying to achieve. If Blake is here this summer, I expect him to overpay for a goalie or do something crazy since BSD has been such a mess in 2025.

The only silver lining is when I see my hometown Caps, it gives me hope that a rebuild on the fly is possible. You sign a Roy to fit into your top 4 because an idiot team lets a top-4 RD walk. You trade peanuts for Chychrun and add another top-4 with a big shot. You trade for goalie who will get Vezina votes while getting paid next to nothing. And you hit singles with your moves to improve the forwards. So Blake's replacement has a chance to turn things around if intelligent moves are made.

The problem with the 4th line, as I see it, is A) it is typically short a player (therein, we really have no 4th line) and B) it lacks identity. Is is supposed to be a checking line, scoring line, line of defensive specialists? Who knows.

I fully agree with you that giving up Roy was a huge mistake (as well as Gav has played, I'd still take Roy over him), and honestly an inexcusable one. Also, I am still upset we got rid of Durzi ashe was a heart and soul player - which is a presence this team really needs.

My opinion is that you aren't giving Jeannot enough credit, though. Jeannot has registered 178 hits this season which is top on the Kings (that's almost double the 2nd highest on the team, Laf, at 94). Additionally Jannot has 31 blocks (4th out of forward). These stats are made even more impressive by the fact he only averages 10:13 TOI per game! Additionally, he hasn't shown the same tendancy to take stupid penalities as Lemieux did and, other than Burrows, is also the only King willing to drop the gloves. At the beginning of the season, he also showed he can score when on a line with talent. True and 2nd and 4th was overpayment, but this guy will pay big dividends in the playoffs, provided we get there.

I've also been pretty impressed with Edmundson. I came in strongly disliking the trade but he has proved me wrong.

Foegele (#1 in takeaways) also adds some grit and was the FA signing I was most excited about. Honestly, this was Blake's best FA acquisition this past summer. People were claiming his 23/24 production was a fluke, but he has proven all the nay-sayers wrong. To get this guy for only $3.5m AAV for 3 years was a total steal.

Thomas has been a ghost, and Lewis (6th on team in hits, 4th in faceoff % [3rd out of centers]), has actually been pretty good despite being at the end of his career. Helenius (81 hits in 28 games) is currently a must on our 4th line.

A 4th line of Jeannot/Helenius/Lewis would actually be good.

 

[symbology]

You have issues with the Edmundson signing?? Weird.

Weird? Do you watch the games? Did you watch last night's first period? Do you watch this teams LHD just fling the puck along the boards and hope for the best. A mobile LHD is what this team needs/needed. Not another version of Mikey/Gavi/Englund. Not at that age, at that price and that term.

 

[symbology]

Well, he did bring in PLD but I hesitate to revisit that debacle.
Again, what moves should have been made, at what cost, and with what cap space?
I’m not arguing at all. Just pointing out that there are realities that enter into this.
We are arm chair GM’s to varying degrees. Whether that’s just typical of fans, or more so due to fantasy type leagues, we all feel like there are more or better deals available.

I guess my question here is what exact move two years who would have guaranteed advancing past Edmonton? Who did the Kings acquire, for what player or players, and was that move possible with the salary cap?

I have no idea. But acting like there was a clear, perfect and fair deal that Blake chose not to make doesn’t seem all that likely.

Again, this is my consternation with the anti-Blake sentiment. If there is a better option at GM I’m all for it. Hell, I’d be open to a DL part two if we could get another Cup. But I just don’t have the answers to it.

This is the way I see things.

Last year at the deadline I thought that moving Roy and Arvy would have been good moves. Blake had no cap space, no assets to make any kind of moves. The Kings had no chance against the Oil Stain, so why not move players for pics that you were going to let walk anyway. Those draft pics could have been used to help this team and it would have been in a better position to start this season.

Blake did not do that? Why? Was just making they playoffs all that mattered even knowing the team had no chance? Was he directed/given orders to just get the team into the PO's. Is being "competitive" all that is required of him? The Kings front office talks about building a winner and hoisting another cup, but their actions consistently say otherwise.

 

[DoubleMinor]

This is the way I see things.

Last year at the deadline I thought that moving Roy and Arvy would have been good moves. Blake had no cap space, no assets to make any kind of moves. The Kings had no chance against the Oil Stain, so why not move players for pics that you were going to let walk anyway. Those draft pics could have been used to help this team and it would have been in a better position to start this season.

Blake did not do that? Why? Was just making they playoffs all that mattered even knowing the team had no chance? Was he directed/given orders to just get the team into the PO's. Is being "competitive" all that is required of him? The Kings front office talks about building a winner and hoisting another cup, but their actions consistently say otherwise.

I think there is a question in my mind about how committed the Kings are to winning right now. As another poster noted, the window for this team may have to wait until Kopi and DD are gone. Those two are costing the Kings over $15M.
Of course, I assume the mandate from AEG is to sell tickets and get into the playoffs, which is kind of happening.
The org can’t announce that this team is 3 years away and still sell tickets.

I know Blake is the GM and also believe he has authority to suggest moves, but I suspect AEG would sign off on moves before he makes them.
I’m not entirely sure that this is unique to the Kings. I also could easily be mistaken. How would I know??

I know also that some feel Luc is part of the decisions but I don’t see if that way. I think Luc is there to deal with city leaders and sponsors, he’s more the business side and I think does really well with that. Just my opinion on him.

As for Arvy and Roy, IF the message was make the playoffs then Roy stays. Arvy I don’t believe had much value at the deadline.

There are always going to be things we don’t know. We are on the outside. So we try to read the tea leaves and make educated guesses.

 

[ICE24]

Sell at this deadline, and make moves during the offseason. I'm not married to any of the players. The one player I would be disappointed in losing, would be Laffy.

Kings are not going anywhere this season, so if they have a chance that someone will overpay for one of their players, do it. Each team in the Pacific is getting better except for maybe Seattle. This is the time to better your roster for the future before teams like the Ducks and Sharks swim past you.

 

[LAKingSteve]

Blake holding a press conference tomorrow after the trade deadline hits. Gotta feeling that means no moves.

 

[LAKingSteve]

Sounds like the asking price for Rantanen was too steep...think Moore, Clarke, Greentree, 1st round pick plus other pieces...if the rumors are correct.