The answer is: You draft one. Shame Blake traded away so many 1st and 2nd round picks in the recent past...
Trade Deadline Thread
- Thread starter Bigshot
- Start date
JC6388LAKings
Super Star
Admittedly, yeah I was too young to remember those times. I am, however, old enough to remember dreading to see SJ and Chicago in the WC playoffs in the 2010s, especially the Thornton-led Sharts. And the Toews-and-Kane era Hawks were excruciating to watch too. And don't get us started about those two teams' fanbases...
Oh yeah, and the Sedin twins-era 'Nucks from 2008-2013 were unlikable to watch too.
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MiketheKing
Super Star
Hooray. This early exit from the playoffs if we make it at all will be the end of the Blake regime
DoubleMinor
Top Forward
Interesting that the other day I read that EDM was not hesitant to trade their #1 picks because they would rather have an NHL player than the 25-30 pick. Kinda made sense to me.
If you’re talking to 5-10 overall I get the attraction to the pick. But the draft is scouting, developing and hoping.
The real benefit to the picks of course is getting a young player without giving up assets AND the low salary and cost certainly for a few years. You need that to build a contender.
The Kings are really in the building stage still so those picks are certainly valuable, but the unfortunate part is they do well enough in the standings that their picks are pretty far down the list. Kind of a no-man’s land with 1st round picks.
Statue4Deano
Super Star
Vegas has also taken the route of trading 1st round picks for NHL talent.
DarkLeftHand
Super Star
I agree with this method. You could trade your 1st round pick every year and still be able to fill your roster with FA signings and more importantly, astute 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round drafting. 5/6/7th round picks are longs shots, but the Kings have done fairly well with later round picks. They have not done so well with 2nd overall, 5th overall, and an 8th overall in recent history, so I would much rather see them make shrewd deals for guys with a year or two left on active deals. However, probably better to make these trades in the off season or just prior to the draft, so you’re not competing with desperation suitors looking to overpay for that ‘final piece’. Or at the very least, do this EVERY OTHER draft, even if it means packaging your 1st and 2nd round picks together for a player who is comparable to 2nd line forward talent or 2nd pair Dman. This method should conceivably guarantee you a bonafide NHL’er, as opposed to a scenario like the 2019 draft where we spent 2 1st round and two 2nd round picks on Turcotte, Bjornfot, Kaliyev, and Fagemo. I imagine the Kings could have brought two solid players back if they traded the 5th and 50th overall together, and the 22nd and 33rd together. At least a player like Eichel or Reinhart. Obviously some manner of strategy would need to be implemented to do this productively, but there are a few teams who seem to have figured out the puzzle, like Vegas.
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I feel like we are going to be in the "building stage" for the rest of my lifetime now. We had a great pipeline and now it's all gone due to the "pipeline" never getting a chance to play - except for the ones who are doing well on other teams now.
mugs
TEAM LGK
Ooh, coming strong with the power of the jinx.
DarkLeftHand
Super Star
Same as it ever was, except for that brief 3 year window with Cup, conference final, Cup. The Kings did not look like world beaters just prior to the mid season turn around when Sutter was hired in the 11/12 season. Nor did they look terribly sea-worthy in the immediate aftermath of the 2nd cup. I would still posit the theory that with a few tweaks of fate here and there over the last 3 years, this team would be an entirely different animal. We don’t need to go down the specifics of that revisionist history Road, as we’ve covered it ad nauseam, and you all know the drill.
Birdman
TEAM LGK
/me climbs up on his soap box….
If the pipeline had any actual NHL capable size and talent, they’d be playing in the NHL by now. They filled the pipeline with all the “skill” guys that Luc wanted. The problem is, they all got kept getting hurt before they made the NHL which stunted their development, and that’s because they are too damn small. At the end of the day, you can’t defy the laws of physics,
Luc wants skill because he wants the sizzle to sell tickets. The problem is, they forgot about the steak.
For those that want to argue that doesn’t win in the “New NHL” don’t actually watch the playoffs for the war of attrition that they are, and they definitely didn’t see us get pushed around the last little while by the playoffs teams that have shifted into playoff mode already.
JC6388LAKings
Super Star
And this is one of the many reasons why many people outside of Vegas hate the Knights. They somehow get good luck finding NHL talent and consistently field a robust roster even if it seemed like they're dealing away their high-round draft picks. It was only a matter of time until they eventually won the cup two seasons ago with this method, even though they came close to winning the cup in their very first, inaugural season. McPhee and his FO managed to beat the system in a way that's considered borderline cheating.
Rog or Reg?
Super Star
You're never getting your Team of Giants, Birdy!
Rog or Reg?
Super Star
I agree 100% and I've been saying this for years. I'm not a coach or a GM or an ex-player, but I have eyes and the eye test says we're getting pushed around in the playoffs year after year after year.
Were just too damn small.
This is why I'm all in favor of a complete rebuild from the ground up. Bring in new management and develop a new philosophy of big and gritty. The smallish high-skill player experiment is failing.
We lose far too many board battles and one-on-ones. And the big teams eventually just wear us down.
JC6388LAKings
Super Star
Well, the rat Marchand is now a Panther. Now he gets to join fellow pest Tkachuk, and the defending Cup champions have become stronger and more unlikable. With Chara, Lucic, Bergeron, Krejci, and now Marchand gone, it's the end of an era for Bruins fans.
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Clif
Super Star
Yeah Soucy wouldn’t be some big upgrade, I just like the player. Edmundson has been more stable and healthy than I thought he would be. Credit due there.
I do think plus minus is a little skewed. Kings play such a stingey system. Clarke has a higher plus minus than Brock Faber. Weird but true.
DarkLeftHand
Super Star
Good riddance, I say. If ever there was a fan base that deserves a Buffalo-esque level of failure from their team, it’s the Boston faithful.
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