2017 Offseason Thread: Changes Incoming 2.0

[KingTrouty]

No!!! That #11 may be our next Kopitar.

It's essentially a top 10 pick - do not trade it.

Just curious, was this board tracking Kopi prior to him being drafted by us?

 

[King'sPawn]

Just curious, was this board tracking Kopi prior to him being drafted by us?

I wanted the Kings to draft Kopitar before the lottery was done. I was pissed at falling to 11 because I didn't think he'd fall.

 

[Herby]

Just curious, was this board tracking Kopi prior to him being drafted by us?

No one expected him to fall to the Kings.

The stupidity of Columbus, Ottawa, San Jose, Chicago and Vancouver may have been the most fortunate thing to happen to the Kings in the history of the franchise.

Kopitar could have played in the NHL at 18, he was a star from the second he stepped on the ice as a 19 year old rookie. Someone with his size and skill should never have made it beyond #4. I think had he been from Toronto or Detroit he would have been the #2 pick.

 

[kovacro]

Gaborik to Vegas for 11th OA
Muzzin+Kempe for Drouin+Namestnikov
Sign Bonino
Sign Mcilrath

Drouin-Kopitar-Brown
Pearson-Carter-Toffoli
Namestnikov-Bonino-Brodzinski
Clifford-Dowd-Lewis

Forbort-Doughty
Martinez-McIlrath
Fatenberg-LaDue
*McNabb

Quick
Campbell

Dylan McIlrath as a top 4 NHL defenseman. You're a funny guy.

 

[kovacro]

Just curious, was this board tracking Kopi prior to him being drafted by us?

I remember his old man playing for the Yugoslav national team back in the early 80's so I figured Anze came from good stock and then watching some of his highlights and reading more about him, you had the feeling he could translate his game successfully to the NHL.

Was thrilled when LA selected him.

As noted earlier, if he was a Canadian or American kid, he would of went sooner but because he came from tiny Slovenia, I'm sure some teams took that into account and it aided in him slipping down the board.

 

[KingTrouty]

Thanks for the feedback, fellas!

I was in the Army during that time (and married to a woman who despised sports/we're divorced ), so I wasn't around the team during that time. There's a gap in my diehard fandom from about 2001-2007, didn't get more than cursory glances of our team; Kopi was drafted when I was overseas.

Again, much gracias!

 

[LAKings88]

Just curious, was this board tracking Kopi prior to him being drafted by us?

I remember jumping for joy when he fell to LA.

 

[Stimpythecat]

Thanks Doug!

http://thecomeback.com/puckdrunklov...r-not-drafting-anze-kopitar-back-in-2005.html


I think I saw another GM say on a nhl show that he didn't draft Kopitar because he was from Slovenia. Burke maybe?

 

[Stimpythecat]

Garth's corner seems to think the price for vegas taking Brown is this year's 1st and a 2nd.

If Blake trades his 2017 first round pick (#11) and a second rounder to the Vegas Knights in the days to come, George McPhee will take Kings forward Dustin Brown's bloated $5.88M AAV (5 seasons remain on deal) off Rob Blake's hands.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/GARTHS-CORNER/Hometown-Haircut-For-Toffoli-Cap-Space-For-EK9/6/85622

Brown isn't totally useless. I'd rather use the pick to dump Gaborik because a replacement for what Brown produced still has to be paid a decent amount.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

I'd chalk that last bit up to the speculation of some guy named "Garth."

 

[Stimpythecat]

Thanks Doug!

http://thecomeback.com/puckdrunklov...r-not-drafting-anze-kopitar-back-in-2005.html


I think I saw another GM say on a nhl show that he didn't draft Kopitar because he was from Slovenia. Burke maybe?

Nope. Was the same GM - MacLean.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maclean-explains-why-he-picked-brule-over-kopitar/

 

[Reclamation Project]

Garth can keep his ****** proposal. RUBBISH!

 

[kingsfan28]

Garth's corner seems to think the price for vegas taking Brown is this year's 1st and a 2nd.



http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/GARTHS-CORNER/Hometown-Haircut-For-Toffoli-Cap-Space-For-EK9/6/85622

Brown isn't totally useless. I'd rather use the pick to dump Gaborik because a replacement for what Brown produced still has to be paid a decent amount.

Too much to send back just to dump a contract. We need to stock the prospect pool, and losing a first and a second to save cap space is just a waste. We're going to need cheap contracts in the next 3 seasons and signing another forward to replace Brown that produces at least 15 plus goals and 20 assists will cost about 3-4 mil. There's nobody in the minors capable of that at the moment.

The key word in that Sabers bias "Kane to the Kings" article is the word "IF". And IF cows could fly...

 

[Stimpythecat]

I totally agree it's too much.

Sometimes I wonder if these pundits actually follow the teams in they write about.

 

[kingsfan28]

Nope. Was the same GM - MacLean.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maclean-explains-why-he-picked-brule-over-kopitar/

I don't remember the article but the reason Kopitar was found was that our top notch scouts were looking for the next Zetterberg [Esa Pernis anyone] in the Swedish league and accidentally saw Kopitar playing. It was just dumb luck.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Dylan McIlrath as a top 4 NHL defenseman. You're a funny guy.

I know I know; it certainly doesnt look the best. But we need a Regehr/Mitchell/Greene replacement that can clear the front of the net and add some toughness to our back end.

 

[Reclamation Project]

It's hilarious to see people clamoring for Regehr while most of this board **** all over him while he was here.



I'll be covering this, along with numerous other forgotten hair gems, tonight at Spandex Sam's. Be there or be square. - E5

 

[Kingspiracy]

I know I know; it certainly doesnt look the best. But we need a Regehr/Mitchell/Greene replacement that can clear the front of the net and add some toughness to our back end.

I wouldn't be against getting Mcilrath as a 6-7 option. I agree that we are missing a bit of snarl. I think that Nabber is supposed to be the tiger and not the stripe painted cat.

 

[Brodeur]

Nope. Was the same GM - MacLean.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maclean-explains-why-he-picked-brule-over-kopitar/

Since the 2005 Draft was a last minute affair, teams' scouts were relegated to the hotel rooms rather the draft floor. Fast forward to about the two minute mark of this behind the scenes video.

When Minnesota takes Benoit Pouliot at #4, the Columbus scouts erupt in joy since they know they're getting Brule or Kopitar. Also bonus hilarity points for the Columbus scout's reaction on the phone call informing him that Montreal would be taking Price. Just imagine if Montreal had taken Brule like everybody said they should. Columbus would have been defaulted Kopitar.

At the time, Brule over Kopitar wasn't outrageous. As they mentioned in the video, Brule was supposed to have been the western Canadian version of Crosby. I remember the hoopla around the top prospects game that year and how Crosby skipped it while Brule had a good game. I remember some posters on HF saying how Crosby was afraid to go head-to-head against Brule.

Thank teams 7-10 for passing on Kopitar too. I wish I could find the thread circa 2007 where I was arguing with a Sens fan who was still insistent that Brian Lee was a better pick for them than Kopitar. "We already have enough scoring" and naturally Ottawa went from 2nd to 23rd in offense. "We don't have the cap space, so we'd lose him to an offer sheet anyways. 7+ years of Brian Lee is better than 3 years of Kopitar" was his next bit of logic.

If I ever got to talk with a scout/GM for a couple minutes, I'd love to ask if the 2005 Draft was more difficult since nobody knew where they were drafting until a week beforehand. Normally teams might focus on the later months on a handful of guys since they'd have a reasonable idea of where they'd be picking. But 2005 you didn't know if you were picking 5th or 25th.

 

[kings11]

Do we have any interest in Jordan Eberle ??? or is the FO focused more on guys like Drouin, Kane or Oshie.

I wouldn't mind Eberle and the #22 overall for one of our defensemen...

 

[kings11]

As you guys will soon notice, I have the day off and i'm bored... So here's one more CapFriendly roster for our KINGS.... GKG

Signings
Paul LaDue... 3/775k-875K... he's taking a pay cut
Kevin Gravel...3/750k-850k......^^^
Jonny Brodzinski...3/725k-750k....^^^^
Kurtis MacDermid...3/650k....Goon, but can actually play
Nick Shore...3/675k... or some other cheap option

Sent/Stashed in the AHL
Jeff Jackoff
Kyle Clifford

LTIR
Matt Greene


Trades
LAK
2017 2nd rd draft pick via LVGK
LVGK
Brayden McNabb
Nic Dowd

LAK
Evander Kane... UFA at seasons end
#8 OA.. (Timothy Liljegren, hopefully)
BUF
Alec Martinez.. 4 x $4
#11 OA ( we swap because Amart is locked down on the cheap)

#8 OA, 2- 2nd, 3rd, 2-4th, 2-5th, 6th .... 9 potential draft picks or maybe move back into the 1st round..

Forwards
Evander Kane - Anze Kopitar - Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson - Jeff Carter - Marian Gaborik (likely LTIR to start the season)
Dustin Brown - Adrian Kempe - Jonny Brodzinski
Trevor Lewis - Nick Shore - Jordan Nolan

Defense
Derek Forbort - Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin - Paul LaDue
Oscar Fantenberg - Kevin Gravel
Kurtis MacDermid...we really need some muscle

Goaltending
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell

And we'd still have over $2 million to either replace some bottom 6 guys or stand pat....

 

[LAKings88]

Not getting the 8OA in that package.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Do we have any interest in Jordan Eberle ??? or is the FO focused more on guys like Drouin, Kane or Oshie.

I wouldn't mind Eberle and the #22 overall for one of our defensemen...

Is that defenseman McNabb? I want no part of Eberle, he's soft, floats, cherrypicks, and is overpaid

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Since the 2005 Draft was a last minute affair, teams' scouts were relegated to the hotel rooms rather the draft floor. Fast forward to about the two minute mark of this behind the scenes video.

When Minnesota takes Benoit Pouliot at #4, the Columbus scouts erupt in joy since they know they're getting Brule or Kopitar. Also bonus hilarity points for the Columbus scout's reaction on the phone call informing him that Montreal would be taking Price. Just imagine if Montreal had taken Brule like everybody said they should. Columbus would have been defaulted Kopitar.

At the time, Brule over Kopitar wasn't outrageous. As they mentioned in the video, Brule was supposed to have been the western Canadian version of Crosby. I remember the hoopla around the top prospects game that year and how Crosby skipped it while Brule had a good game. I remember some posters on HF saying how Crosby was afraid to go head-to-head against Brule.

Thank teams 7-10 for passing on Kopitar too. I wish I could find the thread circa 2007 where I was arguing with a Sens fan who was still insistent that Brian Lee was a better pick for them than Kopitar. "We already have enough scoring" and naturally Ottawa went from 2nd to 23rd in offense. "We don't have the cap space, so we'd lose him to an offer sheet anyways. 7+ years of Brian Lee is better than 3 years of Kopitar" was his next bit of logic.

If I ever got to talk with a scout/GM for a couple minutes, I'd love to ask if the 2005 Draft was more difficult since nobody knew where they were drafting until a week beforehand. Normally teams might focus on the later months on a handful of guys since they'd have a reasonable idea of where they'd be picking. But 2005 you didn't know if you were picking 5th or 25th.

It's a shame we can't go back to read threads from 2005, but I was able to dig this up from a post I wrote from 2013 with a collection of write ups from Kopitar's draft year and scouting reports.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1415171&highlight=2005

 

[johnjm22]

The most likely scenario for next year is that Brown, Gaborik, Muzzin and Martinez are still on the roster, and we lose Lewis to the expansion draft.

Depending on the cap, that gives the Kings about 5M to work with. I'd like to see Blake go after a 3rd line center, and take chance on a cheap winger.

UFA Centers:
Joe Thornton
Mike Fisher (Likely Retiring)
Mike Ribeiro (Unlikely to play in the NHL again?)
David Desharnais
Martin Hanzal
Brian Boyle
Nick Bonino
Matt Cullen (40 Years Old)
Dominic Moore
Jordan Weal
Sam Gagner

UFA Wingers:
Patrick Marleau
Patrick Sharp
Alexander Radulov
Jarome Iginla
Brian Gionta
T.J. Oshie
Jaromir Jagr
Justin Williams
Thomas Vanek
Jiri Hudler
Viktor Stalberg
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
Patrick Eaves
Radim Vrbata
Kris Versteeg

We can go into the next season with a pretty good roster with out giving up any future assets.