Player Discussion: Alex Killorn

[Todd1a]

Can we kick
Yanni out of town after this year instead? brain storm something

nope it's going to be Killorn but at least we will get something good in return with his play

 

[aessi]

Killorn is about to go on the Mother of All Cold Streaks any time now.

I have always liked Killorn and defended his contract due to being steady 40p player and good playoff performer but I never thought he could close to ppg player even for half-season.

His contract is looking like a bargain these days. Not sure I want to see him leave after the season. Coop also talked about how he became a big voice in the locker room this season.

I can't remember who it was but some player (maybe it was Strålman) said on an interview that the former older and "leader" players like Callahan, Strålman, Girardi and even maybe Miller leaving give room for new voices. I would hate it if we had to trade him in the summer..

E: Found it out and yes it was Strålman:

Q: It’ll be a little weird next season: You won’t be there, Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi. That’s a lot of leadership there, and you guys have been outspoken leaders. How do you feel about the leadership group that is left with the Lightning?

A: Sometimes, it’s a good thing. You have guys that have to step up. It’s easy to sit back. I’ve been in that situation, too, where you kind of want to (speak up) but there’s already so many guys that do it, so you don’t. So now some guys need to, and maybe it puts a little pressure on them to do it, and I think that can be good. That will help the team; you grow as a player and person when you do it. I still think they have a lot of guys with a lot of experience, and now they added Curtis (McElhinney), too, so I don’t think that’ll be a problem.

Q: I’m sure you saw younger guys step up, too, the last couple of years, right?

A: You had Killer (Alex Killorn), Johnny (Tyler Johnson), Pally (Ondrej Palat), who’s been with the team for a long time. Mac (Ryan McDonagh) is there. And Heddy (Victor Hedman), too. I don’t think there’s a problem in that part of the team.

Anton Stralman Q&A: On the Lightning's playoff stinker,...

 

[The Macho King]

Alex Killorn fan Q&A: How meditation has played role in...

Why do you fall down so much? – Brian S.
Why do I fall down so much? It’s a great question. Everyone has been saying I’ve been falling down less this year. I’ve always been a guy who has been all over the ice like a Zamboni. I always fall, so I don’t mind people joking about it.

Which one of you is Brian S.

 

[These Are The Days]

Alex Killorn fan Q&A: How meditation has played role in...



Which one of you is Brian S.

Matt Watson

 

[waterboy65]

Can we kick
Yanni out of town after this year instead? brain storm something

Agreed- Yanni has been a big disappointment on this team and his no shows in 2 consecutive playoffs is a big red flag to me. I never understood the rush to give Gourde such a big contract. Killer is a solid top nine forward who is showing this year increased goal scoring when paired with a very good C (Cirelli) and an elite scorer in Stammer. While I dont expect his production to hold for rest of the year but if Killer gets to 25 goals and 55 pts, then I absolutely hold onto him.

 

[Zwui21]

Agreed- Yanni has been a big disappointment on this team and his no shows in 2 consecutive playoffs is a big red flag to me. I never understood the rush to give Gourde such a big contract. Killer is a solid top nine forward who is showing this year increased goal scoring when paired with a very good C (Cirelli) and an elite scorer in Stammer. While I dont expect his production to hold for rest of the year but if Killer gets to 25 goals and 55 pts, then I absolutely hold onto him.

The problem I see with Yanni is his usage. If he was playing in the top six he'd probably produce 50-55 points per season, which would be fine.
But having him in the bottom six... eh. We finally got rid of Cally and his 5.8M AAV contract while playing on the 4th line, and now we are stuch with Yanni playing 4th line minutes, while having a 5.16M AAV? That's tough.

I still don't get why and how he was signed for that long, for that much and with a NTC. Only mistake JBB has made so far IMO, beside not trading him away before July 1st last offseason. I know, I knw, it would have not lokked good for the front office to trade him away before his NTC kicked in, but you gotta put what's best for the Team in front of "moral obligation".

 

[DFC]

The problem I see with Yanni is his usage. If he was playing in the top six he'd probably produce 50-55 points per season, which would be fine.
But having him in the bottom six... eh. We finally got rid of Cally and his 5.8M AAV contract while playing on the 4th line, and now we are stuch with Yanni playing 4th line minutes, while having a 5.16M AAV? That's tough.

I still don't get why and how he was signed for that long, for that much and with a NTC. Only mistake JBB has made so far IMO, beside not trading him away before July 1st last offseason. I know, I knw, it would have not lokked good for the front office to trade him away before his NTC kicked in, but you gotta put what's best for the Team in front of "moral obligation".

It's not really a Callahan situation though. Cally was incapable of playing more than a 4th line role, whereas with Gourde, it's just all we have available. I think technically, right now, his line is considered the 3rd line. But it's still a checking line. He'll likely be in the top-six next year though, if/when we're forced to move Killorn.

Gourde's hands aren't great. He has a bunch of other tools, but his hands are below average, IMO. I don't think we'll ever see him break 60 points again, regardless of role, but 40-45 is fine. He's gotta find a way to show up in the playoffs though. His net-front game gets completely taken away once refs stop calling penalties. He just gets bullied.

 

[Stammertime91]

Matt Watson

Matthelangelo Watson*

 

[Byrddog]

You know what Killer has been the rock for this team thus far this season. While he is having a career year he continues to do the other things that made him important to the team in previous years. The boost in offense has just been icing on the cake. I have always like the guy and his game and his ability to pot 15 to 20 a year but I never imagined he could have a shot at 30 but now im really wondering. He is going to have a shot even if he does hit a long stretch of no goals. I doubt that will happen now, IMO Coop will keep his minutes up he could well be a 30-60 guy this season.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Dude's a keeper!

 

[NatoGhost]

Keeper or sell high? That's the problem with selling high, it's hard to do.

Edit: especially when he is out performing others with bigger contracts. Gourde and to a lesser extent, TJ. Both guys I like but both undersized whereas Killorn is not. It will suck if we have to lose Killorn due to our NTC situation, but at least the return should be improved after this year.

 

[These Are The Days]

We need to figure out a way to keep Killer. I don't care if the return for him compared to someone else is gonna be better. If all we are gonna do is trade him just so we can pay other players more money to possibly continue to struggle anyway (looking at you CV, Volkov, and Joseph) then we need to suck it up and trade them instead so that any potential raises are not eating into our cap space. Paquette is also an option as well because even though he is properly paid for the services he brings and is a fairly decent 4C, it's not like we are winning/losing games because of 4C on a regular basis. Also someone like Stephens or ABB may be ready to step in next year for less money. Keep the RFA offers low (i.e no more than $2 million AAV to Sergachev, Cernak and Cirelli) trade anyone else if needed and explore a Paquette trade if necessary.

I've got nothing personal against any of the other players but Killorn is also the one guy (well... Johnson being the other) I actually trust to elevate his game come playoff time. God knows he has over and over again. We may very well win the Cup this year but I'll be damned if we're gonna win another one without him given that Kucherov and Stamkos have combined for like a walloping 1 point in every game 7 we've ever had with them.

Losing Miller sucked the big one. But at least doing that allowed us to pay for Point and sign Maroon and Shattenkirk. Unless we are getting back an absolutely bitchin' prospect (and who would do that for Killorn?) all we are doing is losing Killorn for basically nothing on top of other losses we are bound to sustain just so we can sustain what we already have in RFA's. f*** it... it's not worth it.

 

[The Macho King]

Just sucks that he's not going to score again for the rest of the season.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Already tied his career-high 19 goals (in 81 games in 2016-17) after just 44 games this season.

 

[DFC]

As fun as it is to watch him do this, I don't really think it has any bearing on what he'll do next year. It doesn't feel like, "Hey, Alex Killorn is a 35 goal guy now." It feels more like a guy having the season of his life.

 

[The Macho King]

Hey I'm all about him pumping up that #TradeValue.

 

[These Are The Days]

As fun as it is to watch him do this, I don't really think it has any bearing on what he'll do next year. It doesn't feel like, "Hey, Alex Killorn is a 35 goal guy now." It feels more like a guy having the season of his life.

Nailed it as usual. If he even comes close to this next year we're all gonna pray its with the Lightning. I'm all for the #SaveKiller movement now

 

[DFC]

Just sucks that he's not going to score again for the rest of the season.

Alex Killorn: 19 goals in the first half + 0 goals in the second half = Model of consistency.

 

[Sky04]

Alex Killorn: 19 goals in the first half + 0 goals in the second half = Model of consistency.

You joke but I can see it happening.

 

[DFC]

You joke but I can see it happening.

Me too. Maybe not 0, but I think too many people might be drinking the Kool Aid on Alex Killorn suddenly, at 30, becoming a guy who's going to score 30 goals and 70 points every year for the rest of his contract. We have a very large sample size to draw on with this guy, and, while he's being playing very well this year, he doesn't look like a drastically different player than the player he's always been. Which is a good player, don't get me wrong, but I see a lot of people pretending we should make him untouchable in the midst of the biggest heater he'll likely ever be on.

 

[JoVel]

Me too. Maybe not 0, but I think too many people might be drinking the Kool Aid on Alex Killorn suddenly, at 30, becoming a guy who's going to score 30 goals and 70 points every year for the rest of his contract. We have a very large sample size to draw on with this guy, and, while he's being playing very well this year, he doesn't look like a drastically different player than the player he's always been. Which is a good player, don't get me wrong, but I see a lot of people pretending we should make him untouchable in the midst of the biggest heater he'll likely ever be on.

Nah, you're wrong. Killorn is going to break every single one of Gretzky's records next season. Not just single season records, but career ones as well.

 

[Sky04]

Me too. Maybe not 0, but I think too many people might be drinking the Kool Aid on Alex Killorn suddenly, at 30, becoming a guy who's going to score 30 goals and 70 points every year for the rest of his contract. We have a very large sample size to draw on with this guy, and, while he's being playing very well this year, he doesn't look like a drastically different player than the player he's always been. Which is a good player, don't get me wrong, but I see a lot of people pretending we should make him untouchable in the midst of the biggest heater he'll likely ever be on.

Killorn is very well liked in the organization, it's not so much the fans you have to worry about sipping the kool-aid - it's the management.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I heard Killorn may be a chart god... Not confirmed just a rumor.

 

[The Macho King]

The math is the math. He's gone this offseason barring a huge jump in the cap (which is not projected).

 

[Zwui21]

Keep the RFA offers low (i.e no more than $2 million AAV to Sergachev, Cernak and Cirelli)

That's not even thinkable. Maybe Cernak eventually may agree at a 2 years, 2M AAV (but it's still kinda low), but there is no way either Cirelli or Sergy take that deal