GDT: GM#23 LA Kings vs Edmonton Oilers @7:30pm 11/25/18

[Raccoon Jesus]

Petersen has already established that he will be an NHL goaltender.

It's now up to him how high his ceiling will be.

I love his initial positioning PLUS reflexes. He's not Quick with the reflexes, but he doesn't need to be.

 

[kilowatt]

Petersen has already established that he will be an NHL goaltender.

It's now up to him how high his ceiling will be.

I love his initial positioning PLUS reflexes. He's not Quick with the reflexes, but he doesn't need to be.

plus its not a shit show every time he plays the puck

feel bad for soupy though, hes gonna get erik ersberg’d

 

[Sol]

I LOVE CAL PETERSEN!

I am pretty impressed by Luff....is a player and will get better in every area.

I HATE, LOATHE, DESPISE, AND REMAIN UNIMPRESSED WITH AMATEUR WILLIE INTERIM DESJARDINS.

AGREED. THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT..

MANAGEMENT NEEDS TO BE EXECUTED.

 

[KingTrouty]

You would think that because of our play the past 4 going on 5 seasons, the Cup envy from the other fanbases would've subsided by now... but it is still strong, their envy. So damn strong and delicious and amusing. If we win the draft lottery, I'm gonna get so f***ing fat on schadenfreude reading the meltdowns on the main boards. Especially from Ottawa fans.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I understand that point. WD may be his own man and wants to do things his way as it should be, but a GM and head coach need to work together. Kovy was producing. Its not like he was 3 points in 10 games like Kopitar. Whatever role WD is looking for him to do, its nuts to try to shape a guy like Kovy into anything other than what he is a pure scorer. Also, it is not helping his trade value. Add it up, and it is not a good move by WD. It may be a short term ploy to wake up the establishment in the room. I think he'd be afraid to do that to Kopi Brown or DD who all deserved that and more.

What IK did with JS doesn't seem to matter for WD. Maybe he's not a fan of pure goal scorers. Maybe he is trying to get something else out of IK, or maybe he accepts who IK is, and doesn't play him because of that acceptance. Can't say for sure one way or the other. We fans rarely know exactly what coaches look for or think. Maybe IK sucks at practice. Or sucks at WD practices. Who knows.

It's not a coaches job to worry about trade value. That's a Blake problem. WD is there to win, however he can get it done. Or at least that's what a coach should do. They can be good or bad at doing it, but their job is to win the game today.

 

[AbsentMojo]

What IK did with JS doesn't seem to matter for WD. Maybe he's not a fan of pure goal scorers. Maybe he is trying to get something else out of IK, or maybe he accepts who IK is, and doesn't play him because of that acceptance. Can't say for sure one way or the other. We fans rarely know exactly what coaches look for or think. Maybe IK sucks at practice. Or sucks at WD practices. Who knows.

It's not a coaches job to worry about trade value. That's a Blake problem. WD is there to win, however he can get it done. Or at least that's what a coach should do. They can be good or bad at doing it, but their job is to win the game today.

I disagree that its just about winning todays game. Sometimes the head coach has to reflect his GMs wishes for the good of the organization.. the simplest example his not playing a guy who has been traded before its commenced.

 

[kilowatt]

So let’s assume that it’ll be pretty hard to trade Kopitar and Doughty. I would imagine the Kings aren’t going to trade any of their younger players, so guys like Luff, Wagner, Kempe, Iafallo and Peterson won’t be for sale. I’d be shocked if Brown is moved. Hoven says Clifford will retire a King. I’d bet Lewis does too. That makes the following players available:

Carter
Kovalchuk
Toffoli
Hagelin
Thompson
Muzzin
Martinez
Forbort
Fantenberg
Phaneuf
Quick

I honestly believe the Kings could get three first round picks from that group. Whether or not the trades happen, I’d bet that Carter, Toffoli, Muzzin, Martinez, and Quick could all potentially fetch a first.

So what could our roster look like next year if we ended up winning the lottery?

Iafallo - Kopitar - Brown
Kupari - Hughes - Vilardi
Wagner - Kempe - Luff
Clifford - JAD - Lewis

Brickley - Doughty
Clague - LaDue
Anderson - Fantenberg

Peterson
Campbell

Obviously not going to happen, but fun to play what if.

 

[mrkolice]

kovi +/- this season: -13. only phaneuf is doing worse with -14.

that's the other side of the coin regarding his production stats.

from what i read it seems that coaching staff (not just wd-40) is deeply disappointed with his defensive game.

 

[kingsfan28]

If I'm Blake, I'd talk to WD and ask him why their 6 mil a year player , who was brought in to score, is benched the entire 3rd in a 2-2 game. This move alone would not get an extension in my book.

 

[vcanuck]

If I'm Blake, I'd talk to WD and ask him why their 6 mil a year player , who was brought in to score, is benched the entire 3rd in a 2-2 game. This move alone would not get an extension in my book.

that won't do anything.

Willie D was the most hated coach the Canucks have had since the Keenan days. he is extremely stubborn and he will drive you insane with his decisions.

when the Canucks were clearly out of playoff contention, management told him to play the younger players more to get a good look and give them experience. You know what free willie did? played his plugs (Megna/Vey) and gave them more ice time and PP minutes.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

If I'm Blake, I'd talk to WD and ask him why their 6 mil a year player , who was brought in to score, is benched the entire 3rd in a 2-2 game.

Probably for the same reason he was benched or a healthy scratch almost everywhere he played: because he is an amazing talent but an entitled punk.

Had to be cuddled since being drafted by the Thrashers. You'd think it was him being imature but he was benched in NJ, and then a healthy scratch as a veteran. Culture problem? Nope, he was a healthy scratch in the KHL in 2016 for several games and stripped of his captaincy.

This isn't Desjardins. Kovalchuk is garbage and locker room poison.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Kovalchuk looked good during Stevens because he wasn't being asked to do anything else, he was essentially free to do what he wanted.

It seems like Desjardins is asking Kovalchuk to be responsible defensively and he either won't, or can't....

 

[fsanford]

Oh sure I give my tickets away to a neighbor, and they win and Brownie gets a hattie.

Because the Pacific, just sucks so bad I suppose anything is possible, but again, this is an either/or business.

Either you make the playoffs, or you need to finish last, being a middling team does not help the situation at all

 

[Ollie Weeks]

If anything, it just gives me zero concern that WD could be sticking around after the season’s end. I know he largely has trash to work with, but nobody told him to eat it.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Really happy to see Peterson taking steps.

Still too early, but I’d come around to the idea of platooning Campbell and Peterson at the NHL level next year.

 

[SFKingshomer]

At least Brownie is still a good player. I hope he retires a King!

 

[KINGS17]

So...with all the criticism we are now seeing of Kovalchuk, can some admit signing him was a mistake?

 

[Multigrain]

What defenseman do you think should be moved first?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

So...with all the criticism we are now seeing of Kovalchuk, can some admit signing him was a mistake?

Or perhaps the Kings have no clue how to use an offensive weapon? This is the team where offense comes to die.

 

[KINGS17]

Or perhaps the Kings have no clue how to use an offensive weapon? This is the team where offense comes to die.

...or perhaps it was a waste of time. This team was never getting out of the black hole with or without Kovalchuk. Just another dumb move (or smart one) designed by AEG, and its lacky Luc, to milk more money from unsuspecting fans.

 

[Fishhead]

So...with all the criticism we are now seeing of Kovalchuk, can some admit signing him was a mistake?

Hard to say. He was playing fine under Stevens, he didn't fall apart until WD showed up. Most of the criticism with Kovy are folks pissed off at his usage. Once the Sutter wore off and Stevens started truly getting his fingerprints on things, this team has completely sucked. It's worse under WD, it's clear why he wasn't hired somewhere after Vancouver. As successful as he was in Juniors and the AHL, I figured he's be a teaching young guys type of coach. But nope. At least he's our ticket to the bottom.

Anyways, I honestly can't evaluate anything that's come of this shitshow. I literally have no idea if a specific player sucks or if it's just one big collective clusterf*** this year that can't be fixed no matter what. If McDavid was on this roster he'd be in the midst of a 6 game pointless streak.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

...or perhaps it was a waste of time. This team was never getting out of the black hole with or without Kovalchuk. Just another dumb move (or smart one) designed by AEG, and its lacky Luc, to milk more money from unsuspecting fans.

After making the playoffs, you know they were going to do something that they thought would give the team a boost, ignoring how pathetic this team looked on the ice yet again in the post season.

I'm just not faulting Kovalchuk, he's still a good player. The problem is ignoring all of the other problems this team had and thinking that just adding Ilya would solve all of those.

 

[Esteban Tornado]

The problem is ignoring all of the other problems this team had and thinking that just adding Ilya would solve all of those.

This is why Blake and Luc should have a short leash and realistically should be fired if this season turns out to be what it looks like it's gonna be.
They had been in a leadership role for at least 2 years before they took their current positions, and didn't know or see the crap show thats on the ice now and the end of last year. And have the audacity to tell us we were Cup contenders.
That is pretty much the definition of incompetence to me.
They could prove me wrong, but I won't hold my breath.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

WD is a disgrace. """He is an interesting player. He relies totally on offense, he’s not a huge checker. His game revolves around offense. The one thing I do like, he’s excited to play. He wants to play, and when I call his name, it’s not like he mopes and goes out there. He wants to get a chance to play. Whenever he’s called, he’s up, right, ready to go. I’m hoping that’ll carry over and he’ll start scoring."""

Sounds like he's talking about a 20 year old rookie that has never accomplished anything...world junior championship Gold, MVP , KHL MVP, Leading scorer, Gold Medal Olympian and 800+ NHL
point scorer.

WD is a disgrace to NHL hockey and even humanity, to have total and utter disrespect. He probably actually believes Nate Thompson, Wagner , Iafallo, and Clifford are better hockey players. and CARTER and TOFFOLI are not playing defense, checking or accomplishing anything!

The last time I checked, Kovalchuk is still leading the Kings in scoring and was one of the 3 best players on the team, before Interim Willie showed up...and had to call someone for directions to Toyota SPorts Center (true story) What an azz. Go back to amateur land.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

...or perhaps it was a waste of time. This team was never getting out of the black hole with or without Kovalchuk. Just another dumb move (or smart one) designed by AEG, and its lacky Luc, to milk more money from unsuspecting fans.

They were out of the black hole without Kovalchuk last year. It stands to reason that he'd help, and that's really not that crazy.

You're trying too hard to be 'right' here. Everyone without an agenda can see his misuse and mistreatment. You're of course correct that his play isn't making a difference this year, but the criticisms aren't about Kovy himself.