GDT: GM#42 LA Kings vs Tampa Bay Lightning @7:30pm 1/3/19 Halfway to Hughes!

KingsFan7824

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Dec 4, 2003
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You’re mistaken about 2012. The Kings didn’t sneak into the playoffs. In fact, heading into the final weekend of the season, they had the third seed but were virtually tied with Arizona and San Jose. Kings lost both games that weekend, Sharks split, Coyotes won out, Coyotes ended up as the third seed. The “cinderella story” was pretty overblown actually.

NHL standings at the end of play on Sunday, April 1, 2012

Through 79 games, Kings were in first in the Pacific.

I'm not mistaken about where the Kings were on the day they traded for Carter. I'm not talking about the run they went on after that.

Jake Muzzin is shaping up to be a prime trade piece for the deadline. It’s hard to find recent comparables, but last trade deadline NY Rangers traded D Ryan McDonagh and LW J.T. Miller to Tampa Bay for C Vladislav Namestnikov, D Libor Hajek, C Brett Howden, Tampa Bay's 1st-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and a conditional pick in 2019.

So you could see BLuc package Muzzin with a forward like Toffoli for a similar package of players and picks this deadline. I think any of the current top 8 teams in the east, except TBL, would be a good trade partner for a Toff + Muzz package.

Muzzin and Toffoli today aren't worth the same as McDonagh and Miller last year. Unfortunately.

Lombardi is a lawyer with a plan, not an ex-player that took one too many blows to the head. Could Lombardi have never won anything? Sure, but the results speak for themselves. The list of ex-players turned GM that win Stanley Cups is a VERY short list. There's a reason for that.

Blake may very well be a terrible GM, to add to the list of bad ex-player GMs all over the league, but Lombardi was on the razor's edge of being a loser. 11-12 was not going the way he wanted it, until he brought in a friend, and traded the future for today.
 
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johnjm22

Pseudo Intellectual
Aug 2, 2005
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lake may very well be a terrible GM, to add to the list of bad ex-player GMs all over the league, but Lombardi was on the razor's edge of being a loser. 11-12 was not going the way he wanted it, until he brought in a friend, and traded the future for today.
Sometimes there's a thin line between success and failure.

If it wasn't for Sutter and Carter saving the 11/12 season, DL probably would've been fired, gone down as a failure, and would be remembered for making one of the single dumbest trades in franchise history.
 
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Raccoon Jesus

Todd McLellan is an inside agent
Oct 30, 2008
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It's almost like this was said the day these long time Kings losers took control.

It certainly was. I'm not saying anything profound. I just gave Blake a bit of the benefit of the doubt based on his experience in league offices, around the league, and under DL. Thought he may have learned more about vision, long-term planning.


Which is funny, because Lombardi won the way that all these other GMs tried to win. They weren't great at drafting under DL. By the time they won, they had traded tomorrow for today, which is what every GM is Kings history had done. DL just managed to eventually be more successful in the playoffs. His grand plan had the Kings 8th before they got Carter, with a -3 goal differential, and closer to 11th than 7th. Then something just clicked, like it did in 93, but the 2012 version won. Then DL did even more of the same as every other Kings GM, trading even more of tomorrow for today. Or trading tomorrow for the past, however you want to look at it.

Lombardi was well on his way to being the same loser. Bringing his friend literally off the farm as a last ditch effort to save his own job. He recycled a coach. Trading all the future. Bringing friends in. Everything we criticize other GMs in Kings history for. The Richards deal was heading toward that all time franchise bad list. Without the Cups, that's where that trade ends up since Richards burned out. But they won, and did so convincingly in 2012, so we look at it differently. The process was the same as all the other years of Kings hockey though.

We think of DL as a drafter, but he was a trader. Those Cup teams were mostly buy low trades and free agent signings. Sprinkled with some decent picks, and guys like King, who nobody would've guessed was going to be a key to a Cup run.

No offense but I think this is a bit reductive. GMs really only do have several routes to improve teams--stay pat, draft, make trades, sign ufas. Where DL differed was he brought a very clearly articulated "culture" he was building, a development team, renovated the entire infrastructure, and made important hires to develop each. And then he stubbornly stuck to that vision.


Muzzin and Toffoli today aren't worth the same as McDonagh and Miller last year. Unfortunately.

Absolutely not, but at the time of the trade, McDonagh was being seen as an asset in decline that needed a change of scenery and Miller a promising prospect albeit one that hadn't taken another step yet due to team situation.

It's almost as if people will make trades for promising players on bottom-rung teams despite a bad window of performance despite what people around here think and history shows that.
 

WHOneedsSOX

Registered User
Mar 1, 2015
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Kucherov has 69 points already...insane

And he's only 25 yrs old
Isn't 25 pretty much in the middle of his prime though? His will probably last longer than most cause he's just that damn good but it's not as if he'll be getting much better than he already is.
 

kilowatt

the vibes are not immaculate
Jan 1, 2009
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No one on the Kings will end the season with 69 points haha.

haha

No one on the Kings will crack 60 points this year.

Leading scorer probably ends up around 56.

haha cool ya

giphy-downsized-large.gif
 

Steve Zissou

I'll order you a red cap and a Speedo.
Feb 3, 2006
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I think it was during the 1st intermission last night... Stollie and O'Neill urging fans to vote for Kopitar for the 'Last Men In' 2019 All-Star Game Vote.

Last year, yes, but this year Kopi is no where near that caliber.


Holy shitballs even Jeff Skinner was snubbed. :huh:

That dude is 2nd in the league is goals!
 

Ziggy Stardust

Master Debater
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I think it was during the 1st intermission last night... Stollie and O'Neill urging fans to vote for Kopitar for the 'Last Men In' 2019 All-Star Game Vote.

Last year, yes, but this year Kopi is no where near that caliber.


Holy ****balls even Jeff Skinner was snubbed. :huh:

That dude is 2nd in the league is goals!

I recall certain Kings fans being opposed to the idea of adding a Jeff Skinner because he apparently was only productive because he played on a bad team.

They must think because Lombardi said that about a player that it must be true for all productive players on bad teams. I guess being an unproductive player on a bad team is far more valuable, because those guys are dripping with character and intangibles.
 

Steve Zissou

I'll order you a red cap and a Speedo.
Feb 3, 2006
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I wash shocked that Skinner wasn't traded for a whole more - I didn't want to trade for him if it meant giving any picks or prospects, but it appears as if he'll be getting a massive pay day after his performance thus far.
 

damacles1156

Registered User
Feb 5, 2010
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Watched the Replay, what an absolute beat down. The Kings looked like a peewee team trying to play pond hockey against a legit NHL team.
 

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