Shultzyfeelinirie25
Registered User
- Jun 29, 2018
- 370
- 250
future
- Thread starter Shultzyfeelinirie25
- Start date
cyclones22
Registered User
Last season under TMc they reverted back to a more possession style philosophy. Rather than just getting out-shot every single game for the past season and a half. The Kings underlying numbers were good. The problem was that they had the worst special teams on the planet for about half a season. Penalty kill got better and the power play got slightly better which was still terrible. The defense was middle of the pack and the goaltending was better than average to good, but the offense was pretty much the worst in the league.
If these new kids can provide some offense to complement Kopitar, like they did once Vilardi was inserted into the lineup, then we're looking at probably an 80 plus point season coming up. Then challenging for a playoff spot the season after. Now if Byfield turns out to be a franchise level player sooner rather than later then all bets are off.
If these new kids can provide some offense to complement Kopitar, like they did once Vilardi was inserted into the lineup, then we're looking at probably an 80 plus point season coming up. Then challenging for a playoff spot the season after. Now if Byfield turns out to be a franchise level player sooner rather than later then all bets are off.
Realistically, about two or three seasons. Depends on the trajectory of their blue-chip prospects, especially Turcotte and Byfield, and to a lesser extent Bjornfot and Petersen.
Let’s casually say that Byfield, Turcotte and Vilardi are considered Blue Chip prospects ...
... followed by a bigger pool of A talent with Björnfot, Kaliyev, Fagemo, Kupari, Grans, etc. ...
... and a real strong list of B+ prospects in JAD, Thomas, Dudas, Madden, etc.
Björnfot played 3 NHL games and looked like he belonged.
Vilardi played all of 10 games, but the Kings won 8 of those with him on the roster. 0.7 PPG for Vilardi, which is rather nice.
So ...
As a Kings fan, I’m compelled to be optimistic and say we have a chance to be in the hunt for the 8-seed. I absolutely must say Vilardi will go off after his 10-game cup of coffee and become a swell 2C pivot with at least 25/50 on the season. And Byfield will surprise in his 3C role, force Blake to keep him in LA, and revive Carter into a 30+ goal season.
But then I wake up and realize most of these kids are actually asking Carter to buy their beers for them for the long Fortnite sessions while we all wait.
It will be a couple seasons before things start to click.
... followed by a bigger pool of A talent with Björnfot, Kaliyev, Fagemo, Kupari, Grans, etc. ...
... and a real strong list of B+ prospects in JAD, Thomas, Dudas, Madden, etc.
Björnfot played 3 NHL games and looked like he belonged.
Vilardi played all of 10 games, but the Kings won 8 of those with him on the roster. 0.7 PPG for Vilardi, which is rather nice.
So ...
As a Kings fan, I’m compelled to be optimistic and say we have a chance to be in the hunt for the 8-seed. I absolutely must say Vilardi will go off after his 10-game cup of coffee and become a swell 2C pivot with at least 25/50 on the season. And Byfield will surprise in his 3C role, force Blake to keep him in LA, and revive Carter into a 30+ goal season.
But then I wake up and realize most of these kids are actually asking Carter to buy their beers for them for the long Fortnite sessions while we all wait.
It will be a couple seasons before things start to click.
The maturation of the defensemen will determine how quickly the Kings progress.
Sol
Smile
- Jun 30, 2017
- 22,989
- 18,551
2-3 seasons I feel like is a safe projection with the amount of talent they have.
Lt Dan
F*** your ice cream!
Making the playoffs in 2-3 seasons , competing for the cup in 4-5
I have a bit more rosy outlook. I see us making a run at a spot finish maybe 19th or so. Then making it to playoffs next year
Raccoon Jesus
Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Yeah, provided everyone is playing to standards, Kopitar and Doughty alone are enough to make this team a blackhole team. I think they have a shot at some good depth this year and Petersen/Quick workload split and health should be of great benefit. I'm gonna say they're the 3rd wildcard spot and just hope we win the lottery for Power
Also the Pacific by and large kinda sucks
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Rorschach
Who the f*** is Trevor Moore?
Earlier before the draft, I thought Blake would stack the team to start winning now and hopefully progress to contendership within a couple seasons. Now, after this draft, I think he feels he has a ton of young guys starting to help the win now, spearheaded by Vilardi but also with guys like Roy and Lizotte coming in. Then, 2/3 years from now, a new and major infusion will come in, spearheaded by Byfield. In between will be coming in guys from the previous drafts like Kupari, Clague, Turcotte, etc.
So I think Blake has this masterplan of having one big, 6 year window. I think this is his lesson-learned from the Lombardi years where our window was just like 3 years even though we were hoping for 5 years...towards the tail end, due to cap and other things, our vets started to fail us (due to various criminal enterprises) and Lombardi started trading the future for quick fixes like Sekera and Lucic. That essentially slammed shut our window that should have been longer (the trading of futures and the failures of vets). Instead, Blake wants a constant infusion of new, significant young talent for four-five years.
So I think Blake has this masterplan of having one big, 6 year window. I think this is his lesson-learned from the Lombardi years where our window was just like 3 years even though we were hoping for 5 years...towards the tail end, due to cap and other things, our vets started to fail us (due to various criminal enterprises) and Lombardi started trading the future for quick fixes like Sekera and Lucic. That essentially slammed shut our window that should have been longer (the trading of futures and the failures of vets). Instead, Blake wants a constant infusion of new, significant young talent for four-five years.
Kings ranked 9th in the league in confidence in front office by fans. Conducted by the Athletic.
9. Los Angeles Kings
“Very encouraged by the team’s commitment to scouting and prospect development.”
“Rob Blake and company have generally done a good job of cleaning up the salary cap mess (and also just waiting for the years to tick by on bad contracts). The rebuild has been patient and deliberate but now appears ready to progress to the next stage. Now the test becomes whether they can convert this stockpile of prospects into legitimate NHLers, or whether they can leverage some of them in trades for established players to help the Kings get back to contending. I’m optimistic they’ll be in the playoff hunt in 2021-22 and contending soon after.”
“For a rebuild, the LA Kings are doing everything right, as far as I can tell. I’m excited for the future – which is much more than I can say for the past four years.”
“Really the biggest concern I see moving forward in LA is on the back end. If Cal Petersen isn’t the answer in goal, who is? And if Drew Doughty isn’t a true No. 1 by the time this team is ready to compete, who will be? There’s some real high-end talent up front, lots of great depth, but I don’t know if I see a top-pairing defender in the system who can help drive some offence.”
It’s funny what a strong rebuild, the second overall pick and a deep prospect pool can do toward fan confidence. That’s especially true in stark contrast to the Chicago Blackhawks at the bottom of the list, who were spinning their wheels in the mud trying to salvage any last drop of competitiveness. Those two teams had comparable runs and the difference between how each team approached the aftermath is what’s setting Los Angeles up to potentially get back to contention one last time with past core members Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty.
No team is currently more confident in its own drafting and developing than the Kings, who have one of the strongest prospect pools in the league, if not the strongest. That category is weighed the heaviest here as it’s generally viewed to be the most important and that really helps the Kings make a big push up these rankings, going from bottom five to top 10 as the fruits of the rebuild begin to be realized.
The fans are a lot higher on roster building than they perhaps should be – the rebuild isn’t over yet – and cap management because of the Doughty deal, but they’re right to feel confident in Los Angeles’ overall vision. The Kings front office is doing it the right way.
9. Los Angeles Kings
“Very encouraged by the team’s commitment to scouting and prospect development.”
“Rob Blake and company have generally done a good job of cleaning up the salary cap mess (and also just waiting for the years to tick by on bad contracts). The rebuild has been patient and deliberate but now appears ready to progress to the next stage. Now the test becomes whether they can convert this stockpile of prospects into legitimate NHLers, or whether they can leverage some of them in trades for established players to help the Kings get back to contending. I’m optimistic they’ll be in the playoff hunt in 2021-22 and contending soon after.”
“For a rebuild, the LA Kings are doing everything right, as far as I can tell. I’m excited for the future – which is much more than I can say for the past four years.”
“Really the biggest concern I see moving forward in LA is on the back end. If Cal Petersen isn’t the answer in goal, who is? And if Drew Doughty isn’t a true No. 1 by the time this team is ready to compete, who will be? There’s some real high-end talent up front, lots of great depth, but I don’t know if I see a top-pairing defender in the system who can help drive some offence.”
It’s funny what a strong rebuild, the second overall pick and a deep prospect pool can do toward fan confidence. That’s especially true in stark contrast to the Chicago Blackhawks at the bottom of the list, who were spinning their wheels in the mud trying to salvage any last drop of competitiveness. Those two teams had comparable runs and the difference between how each team approached the aftermath is what’s setting Los Angeles up to potentially get back to contention one last time with past core members Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty.
No team is currently more confident in its own drafting and developing than the Kings, who have one of the strongest prospect pools in the league, if not the strongest. That category is weighed the heaviest here as it’s generally viewed to be the most important and that really helps the Kings make a big push up these rankings, going from bottom five to top 10 as the fruits of the rebuild begin to be realized.
The fans are a lot higher on roster building than they perhaps should be – the rebuild isn’t over yet – and cap management because of the Doughty deal, but they’re right to feel confident in Los Angeles’ overall vision. The Kings front office is doing it the right way.
Raccoon Jesus
Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Yet, he still can't resist taking a swipe at Doughty 
What a f***ing clown.
I do really typically like this yearly update though. At least the comparison between public perception and a team's own fans. As usual, though, his lack of hockey knowledge around the league is on display in the analysis.
What a f***ing clown.
I do really typically like this yearly update though. At least the comparison between public perception and a team's own fans. As usual, though, his lack of hockey knowledge around the league is on display in the analysis.
Yet, he still can't resist taking a swipe at Doughty
What a f***ing clown.
I do really typically like this yearly update though. At least the comparison between public perception and a team's own fans. As usual, though, his lack of hockey knowledge around the league is on display in the analysis.
A lot of people are turning the page on Doughty this offseason in particular. Hopefully he’s been reading and using it as bulletin board material.
Sleeping Dog
Fan Since ‘68
I’m concerned that shortened seasons in NHL, AHL & CHL will impact our plans to return to being a contender. Less games for our young players to mature.
rajuabju
The One & Only
3 Seasons away (ie, we become contenders in 2022-2023, and probably very serious threats the following year) , and its simple why:
1) We have a tonnage of prospects. We need 1-2 years to give various prospects the opportunities to win roles, see what shakes out of our pipeline. Also need said prospects to gain some NHL experience. Absolutely should not rush anyone.
2) Blake is hoarding cap space right now, rightly so. I expect he will make some moves in the next off-season when we free up an additional $9Million in cap space as the $6M Kovy termination fee ends and the Phaneuf buy-out drops from $4M to $1M
3) The following off-season we will have room to make more moves, another $11M comes off the books from Brown & Carter contracts.
4) I suspect this will be the last year of Quick being our #1. Hopefully Peterson gets 25-35 games this year, and by next season its a role reversal with Quick becoming an expensive backup. This to me is the big question mark in all of our hopes... Is Peterson going to be a legit #1 goalie? We have no real backup plan ATM (of course we can go trade/UFA route, but I'd much rather spend those dollars elsewhere if we can have cheap homegrown talent in net).
Thus, the timeline for Blake is simple: See what prospects make the NHL. Begin re-signing our existing players who earn it. Next off-season look for UFA's and/or trades, and following off-season is when to move our chips "All-In"
Hopefully, by the time we are ending our next rebuild, we're no longer paying Mike Richards his Bobby Bonilla money.
1) We have a tonnage of prospects. We need 1-2 years to give various prospects the opportunities to win roles, see what shakes out of our pipeline. Also need said prospects to gain some NHL experience. Absolutely should not rush anyone.
2) Blake is hoarding cap space right now, rightly so. I expect he will make some moves in the next off-season when we free up an additional $9Million in cap space as the $6M Kovy termination fee ends and the Phaneuf buy-out drops from $4M to $1M
3) The following off-season we will have room to make more moves, another $11M comes off the books from Brown & Carter contracts.
4) I suspect this will be the last year of Quick being our #1. Hopefully Peterson gets 25-35 games this year, and by next season its a role reversal with Quick becoming an expensive backup. This to me is the big question mark in all of our hopes... Is Peterson going to be a legit #1 goalie? We have no real backup plan ATM (of course we can go trade/UFA route, but I'd much rather spend those dollars elsewhere if we can have cheap homegrown talent in net).
Thus, the timeline for Blake is simple: See what prospects make the NHL. Begin re-signing our existing players who earn it. Next off-season look for UFA's and/or trades, and following off-season is when to move our chips "All-In"
Hopefully, by the time we are ending our next rebuild, we're no longer paying Mike Richards his Bobby Bonilla money.
Choralone
Registered User
He's hung up on Doughty's contract from an accounting perspective. Kings aren't getting enough WAR per dollars... a bloo bloo bloo. But Kings fans know the contract isn't in the way of anything - except moving him, if that's the way they want to go.
cyclones22
Registered User
Well, unfortunately not every writer on The Athletic is worth your money. If there were WAR for columnists on the site, he'd be dead last. He is the blister pack. The annoying plastic you discard to get to what you really want.
