Speculation: 2020-21 News/Rumors/Roster Thread Part IV

[Lt Dan]

Hanzal, he's so hot right now, Hanzal

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Luckily as far as I know Deslauriers hasn't been traded to the Wild yet.

Well, this happened a few weeks ago.

 

[Lt Dan]

Well, this happened a few weeks ago.

He needs to do that to Fiala tonight

 

[deaderhead28]

This was the game that had the atrocious traffic situation?? How'd you manage?


Anyway, it's me, that Pens fan again. What all did Hextall do in his most recent role as "Senior Advisor" with LA before he was hired by Pittsburgh?

Sorry for all the questions?

I live in the area and had no issues coming to the game.The issue for us was leaving cause some fan decided to jump off a Railroad crossing killing them by the entrance of the AFB North gate that shut things down until they opened the south gate a hour later.There was only two gates.

 

[deaderhead28]

Same, and agreed!

We sat next to a group of King fans from California.One is kinda well known with his King beard and crown he wears at Kings games on the road.He also came with a Kings fan who had pink hair and she too was well known for followimg the team from road game to road etc.The group of fans were awesome.

Even Daryl Evans visited with us before the game taking pictures and just talking hockey.Night before we went to the Kings fans meet up in downtown Colorado Springs to meet Nick,Daryl and won a Sign Quick puck in the raffle.

 

[BringTheReign]

We sat next to a group of King fans from California.One is kinda well known with his King beard and crown he wears at Kings games on the road.He also came with a Kings fan who had pink hair and she too was well known for followimg the team from road game to road etc.The group of fans were awesome.

Even Daryl Evans visited with us before the game taking pictures and just talking hockey.Night before we went to the Kings fans meet up in downtown Colorado Springs to meet Nick,Daryl and won a Sign Quick puck in the raffle.

I know both of those two (they're awesome), and we also went to the downtown meetup! That's rad that you won the signed puck; my wife won a shirt, but like you said, the real treat was getting to talk to Nick, Darryl, and the all the other fans. It seems so damn long ago now when it was only a year.

 

[YP44]

Any word on AA(mco)? He must have had a serious case of covid

I thought he had a groin injury? Did he not come back play half a game and get hurt?

 

[Fat Elvis]

I thought he had a groin injury? Did he not come back play half a game and get hurt?

Frking talking about Frk. AA had the vid

 

[YP44]

Frking talking about Frk. AA had the vid

right..got it swapped in my head...thanks for clarifying

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I wonder if the Kings will wind up having to protect 4 dmen, or if they opt to send assets to Seattle in order for them to take on a specific player, like Olli Maatta.

Let's say Iafallo is unsigned (and Seattle can still select him), Kings opt to protect four dmen. The four I'd go with are: Doughty, Roy, Clague, Strand.

Walker is thus left exposed and likely the most attractive player available on the blueline. Keep in mind, he'll be turning 27 this November. Don't think they'll have much interest in the likes of MacDermid or Maatta.

Up front, Kopitar, Kempe, Andersson, Grundstrom are the forwards I think should be protected. Frk, Athanasiou, Iafallo, Brown, Carter, Moore, Lizotte, Wagner, Luff exposed.

I don't know if they touch some of those more expensive contracts, and I don't expect most of those forwards to be attractive options for Seattle.

Looking at the assets the Kings do have, they have two 2nds, two 3rds, and two 4ths in the upcoming draft. Do you peddle a pick and a prospect and/or players for Seattle to take a specific player?

That's what Dave Taylor wound up doing when Nashville joined the league in order to protect the team from losing Jere Karalahti. The Kings wound up sending Marian Cisar, Vitali Yachmenev, Jan Vopat, and Kimmo Timonen to Nashville, and giving up Timonen wound up being a very regrettable decision.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Walker would be a good add for Seattle. Good contract, in his prime, ability to move up and down lineup and play in different situations. Bummer to lose him but between him and Strand, Strand seems to bring elements Walker doesn't imo--but we have all year to figure out what he is, thankfully.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Walker would be a good add for Seattle. Good contract, in his prime, ability to move up and down lineup and play in different situations. Bummer to lose him but between him and Strand, Strand seems to bring elements Walker doesn't imo--but we have all year to figure out what he is, thankfully.

I find that others, like Clague, can bring what Walker provides on the blueline. Whereas Strand, as you mentioned, brings a different element that the team was lacking on the blueline, which is a dman who can use his size to move the puck out of his own end.

Strand really does have the potential of becoming another Muzzin on the Kings blueline: an unsigned and unheralded prospect who quickly rose up the ranks after a couple of seasons in the minors. I always remember Strand standing out in preseason games as being one of the better performers on the blueline, and he was usually a late cut. I think he's had to deal with some injuries as well that limited the amount of games he's played in the AHL, which may have possibly prevented him from earning call ups earlier in his career.

Just looking up his bio, Strand turns 24 today, and he's the fourth youngest player on the blueline, after Bjornfot, Anderson and Clague.

 

[cyclones22]

Strand seems to be everything that Forbort isn't in a right handed package.

 

[Reaper45]

Maybe it’s just me but I’d trade Walker before losing him to Seattle. And I don’t think Andersson has done enough to warrant being protected.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Maybe it’s just me but I’d trade Walker before losing him to Seattle. And I don’t think Andersson has done enough to warrant being protected.

Given his age and potential, I’d consider protecting him. He’s 22. He hasn’t done enough yet, but I like his motor and slight edge that he plays with.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Maybe it’s just me but I’d trade Walker before losing him to Seattle. And I don’t think Andersson has done enough to warrant being protected.

It's not just you. Walker is awesome. And he's an unfair advantage on the bottom pair but he's acquitted himself well even as a #2. I agree that he's an absolutely shitty asset to just 'lose' which is why if he's exposed he's most likely guaranteed to be gone. It's a tough thing to see, Kings finally figuring out the defense and getting some guys outperforming their role just in time to lose them...

 

[cyclones22]

Given his age and potential, I’d consider protecting him. He’s 22. He hasn’t done enough yet, but I like his motor and slight edge that he plays with.

Plus the Kings invested a 2nd round pick in him. I don't think they do that to just expose him to Seattle.

Regarding Walker, couldn't they actually trade him to Seattle with the agreement they expose him to the draft with stipulations? Or Walker + you have to select player X for a draft choice?

 

[Mats26]

The original plan was probably that Drew, Roy and Walker will be protected. Plan B depending on Clague we go with 4D protected or back to 7F-3D-1G. Now with Strand, it's looking like we need to come up with Plan C. lol

 

[cyclones22]

Kings have 42 games (assuming no cancellations) to figure out who to protect.

 

[YP44]

The original plan was probably that Drew, Roy and Walker will be protected. Plan B depending on Clague we go with 4D protected or back to 7F-3D-1G. Now with Strand, it's looking like we need to come up with Plan C. lol

good news is Seattle can only take one

 

[BigKing]

I think it was already trending towards making some sort of deal RE: expansion. Kings have so many prospects and picks that you'd probably rather give that up--especially a pick--than just lose someone that can help contribute now or a year from now.

 

[Fat Elvis]

Maybe it’s just me but I’d trade Walker before losing him to Seattle. And I don’t think Andersson has done enough to warrant being protected.

He's the same age and draft year as JAD, Vilardi and Anderson. Those 3 all got at least 1 full year in Ontario playing in the same system they are now. I would even have Andersson play a few weekend series with the Reign so he could play big minutes in all situations and gain that comfort and confidence. Kid is fine, WE need to be patient.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Clague is making Walker look expendable.

And some fans/bloggers are saying Strand is making Big Mac look expendable. I don't believe that. But if the Kings want to go that route, then give Boko Imama a shot on the 4th line.

 

[cyclones22]

I think it was already trending towards making some sort of deal RE: expansion. Kings have so many prospects and picks that you'd probably rather give that up--especially a pick--than just lose someone that can help contribute now or a year from now.

I think it's definitely a possibility. The one thing is that GMs in general now see how Vegas capitalized on that in building their team now. They killed it in the trade market. Luc lamented about that either in a season ticket holder meeting or an online segment. That being said, the Kings should only concern themselves with their own house and not someone else's. If it turns out that Clague, Strand, Andersson, Grundstrom etc are absolute keepers, then it makes sense to part with a future pick instead of the sunk cost of the original pick to draft the player and development investment.

 

[cyclones22]

Just a reminder of our own prospect ranking voting results from our looong offseason:

1. Quinton Byfield, F - 87.1%
2. Gabriel Vilardi, F - 85.9%
3. Alex Turcotte, F - 90.2%
4. Tobias Bjornfot, D - 44.6%
5. Arthur Kaliyev, F - 76.6%
6. Samuel Fagemo, F - 54.8%
7. Mikey Anderson, D - 51.0%
8. Tyler Madden, F - 51.1%
9. Rasmus Kupari, F - 55.2%
10. Helge Grans, D - 43.9%
11. Akil Thomas, F - 45.6%
12. Kale Clague, D - 40.8%
13. Jaret Anderson-Dolan, F - 54.2%
14. Brock Faber, D - 46.8%
15. Kim Nousiainen, D - 30.4%
16. Cole Hults, D - 41.1%
17. Jordan Spence, D - 44.9%
18. Kasper Simontaival, F - 32.1%
19. Aidan Dudas, F - 35.3%
20. Lukas Parik, G - 37.9%
21. Martin Chromiak, F - 33.3%
22. Jacob Moverare, D - 34%
23. Sean Durzi, D - 34%
24. Jacob Ingham, G - 45.1%
25. Alex Laferriere, F - 54.9%
26. Aatu Jamsen, F - 22.9%
27. Matthew Villalta, G - 47.6%
28. Ben Meehan, D - 45.7%
29. Andre Lee, F - 30.4%
30. Austin Strand, D - 31.4%
31. Juho Markkanen, G - 32.4%
32. Mikey Eyssimont, F - 30.2%
33. Bulat Shafigullin, F - 33.3%
34. Johan Sodergran, F - 43.9%
35. Braden Doyle, D - 53.7%
36. David Hrenak, G - 55.6%
37. Daniel Brickley, D - 35.1%
38. Markus Phillips, D - 48.6%
39. Alexander Dergachyev, F - 74.4%

#2 is a regular in our top 6, #4 is the future of our blueline, #7 is a regular in our top pairing at worst top 4, #12 has become a regular and looks top 4 or at worst a good #5 defenseman, #13 looks like a good prototype middle six forward and #30 looks like he has the goods to be at worst, a solid #5 or #6.

That's why it's so damn great to have a deep prospect pool. The deeper the pool, the more bullets in the chamber to hit targets. 2 of our players are from our top 5 prospects, so that's to be expected for them to show out. But we still have 7 of our top 10 prospects marinating, including #1, #3 and #5 and 15 of our top 20. I wouldn't be shocked either if anyone outside of the top 20 hit either. Strand was freaking #30 (I'm sure in part because of his draft pedigree - undrafted).

If anything, these young guys playing well has made me even more excited about the rest in the pipeline and why I bought the AHL TV package. Look at that freaking list. Something we were hoping for too was that their presence and hunger would energize the vets who matter and though it may not have happened on day 1, it looks to be happening now.