Leafs crush Kings in battle of clubs headed in opposite directions - Sportsnet.ca
Eh, one thing this article does get right is that the Kings as how we knew them are gone. This is a new era of Kings hockey and it is clear what must be done. It is time to rebuild. I don't know if a re-tool would work. The only way to rid the lineup of its newfound apathy would be to purge the roster and find a new young guard to carry the team forward like that day Dustin Brown did with our prospects at the practice rink. I don't think leadership can adapt, they must change. It is questionable if just drafting someone like Hughes and kicking out a few players will get us there. We likely need to build a new core around this draft pick. It won't be a quick or easy fix, gonna have to brace for a new era and years of development.
Well stated. Not having the #1 and #2 picks for a few years really hurt. The best forward to come out of the drafts for years (except last 2 drafts) were Toffoli, Pearson and Kempe. Not so great.
And NO defensemen!! Cernak, Miller, etc? The Kings have not had any top 4 D drafted since FOREVER. Not a single one. Forbort is not a top 4. He's looked abysmal of late and Ladue
is much better and should be in. Not that he's any savior, but he can play speed and move into the more offensive game. Clague , Brickley and Strand have promise...even Mikey Anderson.
Then there's the possible top 6 forwards: Vilardi, Kupari, JAD, (top 9 for sure) Thomas and Luff looks better than Pearson. Rempal looks decent. So the last 2 drafts have been pretty
good, but it's that 5 or 6 year period, when ZERO NHL TALENT came from those drafts. It was imperative that they yielded 2 top 6 forwards and 2 top 4 defensemen from those years.