Rumor: 2018-19 Kings News/Rumors/Tidbits

[RocketKing]

It’s also killing the Kings.

i’m starting to think Forbort is the Nick Shore of our D corp

 

[Magicman]

Okay, well let's take a look at some contending teams that play a speed game.

Where would Iafallo fit in on Toronto, Tampa Bay, Nashville, or an up and coming Colorado club? I don't think it's on any of these team's first lines.

Never said he was 1st line, just that he would be much better on a quicker team.

 

[Herby]

Forbort a healthy scratch, what a week after Pearson was? Kempe barely above that level.

You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure out the real reason the Kings have fallen on hard times.

 

[crassbonanza]

Here was my process as the Kovalchuk signing happened:
1) Oh man hopefully it is not a lot of term...signs 3 year deal. Ok not great but not bad
2) hopefully since it was 3 years it was a good cap hit. I then hear it is over $6M. Well **** I say guess that is not too bad. as long as there is not a NMC for Seattle expansion
3) I hear there is a NMC....well ****

He has been entertaining to watch and still has great skill. I just am not happy with the term, hit and conditions of his deal. Seems like LA paid all 3 to get him and got bent over on the negotiations. I get that there were other teams bidding but still.

I think the question is what would you rather have used the cap space on? The 3 year contract is basically the bridge between this generation and the next, any player that would be more valuable than Kovalchuk and available as a free agent would want more years and cost more. It seems like a perfectly fair contract that allows Blake to continue his re-tool and gave the players some ammunition for the core to take another shot.

 

[YP44]

I think the question is what would you rather have used the cap space on? The 3 year contract is basically the bridge between this generation and the next, any player that would be more valuable than Kovalchuk and available as a free agent would want more years and cost more. It seems like a perfectly fair contract that allows Blake to continue his re-tool and gave the players some ammunition for the core to take another shot.

Skinner or an upgrade to defense.

 

[tomd]

Iafallo scored both of his goals this year in a single period against the worst team in the league...and the second of the pair was into an empty net. Once Brown comes back, Iafallo should be put on the 3rd line where he belongs. An Iafallo-Kempe-Lewis line would provide some speed and energy that other teams would have to respect. Might even get Kempe out of his funk although that is asking a lot at this point.

 

[YP44]

Quick is injury prone, and isn’t going to last the duration of his contract, certainly can’t carry a team through a rebuild. He needs to go somewhere else with better players in front of him. Otherwise it’s a waste of talent and money spent.

Played 68 games last year and over 70 each of the 2 years before his injury season. His style is nerve racking and I would agree is likely he is more injury prone but it's not like he is the only goalie to have missed games (Crawford and Gibson come to mind). If a team blows LA out of the water with an offer sure but otherwise I keep him.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Forbort a healthy scratch, what a week after Pearson was? Kempe barely above that level.

You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure out the real reason the Kings have fallen on hard times.

Crappy drafting, sure. But doesn’t that negate your point that we shouldn’t have traded draft picks for Sekara/Lucic? Kind of a wash isn’t it?

 

[member 88115]

The Brown-Kopi-Kovy was so bad, they got spit up in a preseason game.

 

[Sol]

i’m starting to think Forbort is the Nick Shore of our D corp

Not a bad comparison since Forbort pretty much can't do anything well except poke check.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

Played 68 games last year and over 70 each of the 2 years before his injury season. His style is nerve racking and I would agree is likely he is more injury prone but it's not like he is the only goalie to have missed games (Crawford and Gibson come to mind). If a team blows LA out of the water with an offer sure but otherwise I keep him.

He’s not going to be able to be starting 70 games a season anymore. His style won’t hold up here with the rebuild coming. It’d be a waste to keep him here.

DL knew this and that’s why he traded for Bishop, although I speculate he was making moves to breakup the band (core).

 

[crassbonanza]

Skinner or an upgrade to defense.

Skinner would cost assets to trade for and is going to ask for a 7-8 year deal and I assume will be asking for more than his current 5.75 million dollar contract. As for defense, probably the best option available was De Haan who signed a 4 year deal for 4.55 million. He would likely be better than Forbort/Fanta/LaDue, but enough to put another 4 million+ player on the blue line? Especially one that plays more of a defensive role?

 

[YP44]

Skinner would cost assets to trade for and is going to ask for a 7-8 year deal and I assume will be asking for more than his current 5.75 million dollar contract. As for defense, probably the best option available was De Haan who signed a 4 year deal for 4.55 million. He would likely be better than Forbort/Fanta/LaDue, but enough to put another 4 million+ player on the blue line? Especially one that plays more of a defensive role?

More so looking at this offseason when Skinner would be a UFA.

 

[lexlavender]

The Brown-Kopi-Kovy was so bad, they got spit up in a preseason game.

To be fair, Kovy gave no shits during the pre-season

 

[KingPuckChoo]

To be fair, Kovy gave no ****s during the pre-season

***researching on when Kovalchuk last gave a shit about something***

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Forbort a healthy scratch, what a week after Pearson was? Kempe barely above that level.

You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure out the real reason the Kings have fallen on hard times.

People will want to bang on the usual scapegoats, but frankly everyone but Alex Iafallo is terrible, no?

By all means pick a player and use them as a punching bag, now's the time, but let's not pretend it's all Derek f***ing Forbort or the 4th line.

 

[Herby]

Crappy drafting, sure. But doesn’t that negate your point that we shouldn’t have traded draft picks for Sekara/Lucic? Kind of a wash isn’t it?

Well, no, because you can't just stop drafting in the 1st round and trade the picks for established players, the system is set-up where you have to have productive players on ELC's. And if you don't, well then you end up like the Kings the last four years.

Just pointing out that while we want to talk about coaches sucking or players underperforming the biggest reason we are where we are is the fact that the Kings have developed one player since the 2012 cup win who has been either a top 6 forward or a top 4 d-man (Toffoli a 2nd line rw). I can't imagine any teams in the NHL could be worse.

The way to fix that is to accumulate more picks and prospects and the way to do that is to trade older, declining assets. My biggest worry is that Blake is going to give this core yet another chance and trade more picks or prospects (like he tried to do for Patches), especially if the ticket or tv numbers start dropping and Luc gets involved.

 

[Herby]

People will want to bang on the usual scapegoats, but frankly everyone but Alex Iafallo is terrible, no?

By all means pick a player and use them as a punching bag, now's the time, but let's not pretend it's all Derek ****ing Forbort or the 4th line.

I'm not picking on Forbort or the 4th line. At the micro-level it's not Forbort, Kempe or Pearson's fault. Just pointing out that they are two nor three more first round slots that the Kings are basically getting nothing from. Pearson is aging in dog years. Forbort is what he is, Kempe I still have some hope but he's trending down bigtime.

 

[SFKingshomer]

They don't have the option of doing a "scorched earth" style rebuild. How many contenders can fit Kopitar, Doughty, or Quick on their roster while also trading top assets? It just doesn't happen in a cap world. Blake and Lucs hands are tied...

 

[Sol]

People will want to bang on the usual scapegoats, but frankly everyone but Alex Iafallo is terrible, no?

By all means pick a player and use them as a punching bag, now's the time, but let's not pretend it's all Derek ****ing Forbort or the 4th line.

Problem with Forbort is he struggles getting the puck out the most.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Just curious,

What do people here, expect from a guy like Forbort....try to keep the sarcastic answers to a minimum.

I watch him, he makes mistakes, everyone does...but he's no worse than Muzzin/Martinez etc, what is everyone actually expecting from him?

 

[tomd]

They don't have the option of doing a "scorched earth" style rebuild. How many contenders can fit Kopitar, Doughty, or Quick on their roster while also trading top assets? It just doesn't happen in a cap world. Blake and Lucs hands are tied...

This is true. Doughty, Kopitar, and Quick would never allow the Kings to do a full rebuild. In fact, I'm sure that Blake & Co made assurances to Doughty that LA would be SC competitive for the foreseeable future.

 

[Herby]

Just curious,

What do people here, expect from a guy like Forbort....try to keep the sarcastic answers to a minimum.

I watch him, he makes mistakes, everyone does...but he's no worse than Muzzin/Martinez etc, what is everyone actually expecting from him?

He is worse than Martinez and Muzzin, Forbort has zero offensive game.

And to answer your question, alot of the Forbort dislike is the result of where he was drafted, yes not fair, not his fault but that is a big reason for it.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

He is worse than Martinez and Muzzin, Forbort has zero offensive game.

And to answer your question, alot of the Forbort dislike is the result of where he was drafted, yes not fair, not his fault but that is a big reason for it.

Right, but what I am asking, is what are the expectations for him....people dislike him for a varied of reasons, but what expectations, he's not worse than Martinez or Muzzin, not this year in a vaccuum anyways.

 

[Sol]

He is worse than Martinez and Muzzin, Forbort has zero offensive game.

And to answer your question, alot of the Forbort dislike is the result of where he was drafted, yes not fair, not his fault but that is a big reason for it.

If it wasn't for his draft year I doubt he'd be on the team considering how neutered his game is. His first passes are awful and he can't get the puck out