Is Rob Blake the Problem?

[Papa Mocha 15]

I've been thinking about this the past few days. Does LA have a sense of direction aside from be patient while we draft? Does LA pull the trigger now and just fire him before he really makes a mistake?

Some moves have been questionable but every leader is going to get questioned until they build off some success. I remember when DL was selling off the prior team, he was bringing back prospects and pics that were young, unproven but hungry.

Is it too soon to pull the plug on him? I think so. I think we need more of a visionary for this team. I'm not seeing a sense of direction. The moves he's made so far have been minor but too questionable. I don't like everything about this article but maybe LA breaks this off before they get in too deep. This is starting to feel like staying with a high school sweetheart a few summers too long.

Rob Blake: Super Villain?

"Mad Scientist? Master of Disaster is more like it. Apparently the only magic you created in your laboratory was a mysterious potion that you used to hoodwink the media and the fans for a couple of years. Many of us bought into your “plan” and still spend thousands and thousands of dollars on season tickets, fan events, merchandise, and road trip. Maybe you should be called the Alchemist. I don’t know, but I do know this...
You’re nothing but a mirage of a good GM. A fountain of miscommunication. Bad decision after bad decision. Congratulations on your evolution to Super Villain. How in the world did you let this happen? And how did you make my prophecy about the AHL super team you will dress at the Stadium Series next week come true so fast?"

Posted a poll for kicks.

Click to read more...

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Never been a fan of Blake....I’d still like to understand why DL was fired, biggest organizational mistake in the last 20 years.

With that said...no, I’m not sold Blake is the problem, but I also don’t believe he’s the solution. Kinda like knowing that Terry Murray would never take this team to a cup final.

 

[LAKings88]

The plan is clear, rebuild and turnover the roster for more speed and skill.

It’s a slow grind.

Blake and the organization (not all on Blake) have done ok since admitting the team needs a rebuild.

The Kovy fiasco is a bit of a black eye tho.

 

[bland]

The problem? No.

A problem? Yes.

 

[crassbonanza]

The problem was trading every single prospect and pick we had for rentals leaving the cupboard barren. That is it. The Kings no longer have depth pieces to help the veterans as they age. There is not a single GM in the league who could have righted this ship. I will say that it is interesting that you are worried about him really making a mistake, when most of his moves have been fairly calculated. He stood pat at his first trade deadline, sticking to his plans of a re-tool rather than going for a rental. He has made shrewd moves that have brought back good value and his drafting appears to have been stellar so far(I know this is too early to tell).

I know people hate Blake and he may turn out to be a shit GM, but based on what he was dealt I don't think it is fair to call him a mirage of a GM who has made bad decision after bad decision.

 

[crassbonanza]

The Kovy fiasco is a bit of a black eye tho.

This is my biggest complaint regarding Blake/management. I hate how they handled that whole thing.

 

[Fishhead]

I can't tell if Blake is the problem yet. It's more what he does once the younger guys start filtering in that will dictate if he is or not.

This team has so many problems it's hard to pinpoint one anyways. I don't think the polling tool supports enough options to list them all.

 

[HookKing]

The plan is clear, rebuild and turnover the roster for more speed and skill.

It’s a slow grind.

Blake and the organization (not all on Blake) have done ok since admitting the team needs a rebuild.

The Kovy fiasco is a bit of a black eye tho.

Apparently some people don't want to accept that the "sense of direction" in a rebuild is straight down. GM's hate rebuilds for a reason -- they don't really work do they?

 

[Seventyx7]

Look what he inherited... He hasn't been perfect, but bad was the only direction the Kings were going to go. At least they are going full bad instead of black-hole bad.

 

[Choralone]

The trade deadline is two weeks away. Can't we all hold off on the hot takes until we see what happens then?

 

[kingsholygrail]

I'm not a fan but this is his what 3rd year? I want to give him a couple more seasons and if it's still bottom of the barrel, jettison him.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Ask yourself these questions:

- What has gotten better with Blake?
- What has gotten worse with Blake?
- Who was managing the team when these cited problems occurred, how long have these problems existed, and are they being remedied?
- Is the team’s present/future/cap situation better or worse with Blake?

I feel like many biased fans still resent Blake since 2001 and continue to hold that against him, thus some opinions and thoughts on him presently are tainted with personal feelings as opposed to rational thought.

What type of results was anyone here expecting from the time he took over to now?

 

[Reaper45]

I dont like the guy 100%. But, his college FA signings have been good as well as his drafting. His trades have been 50/50. His free agent signings, obviously mainly the Kovalchuk disaster, suck. Is he THE problem? I dont think so. Do I think another GM could do better? Probably.

 

[bouncesonly]

From the article's comments:

1. The Kings (to my eyes at least) are THE WORST passing team in the league. They have been for a few years. They want to "play fast" but with the complete inability to string more than one pass together (or even get out of their own zone most of the time) they are doomed to be a plodding team.

Hmm.....I feel the Kings have improved and generally do a decent job getting out of their own zone and into the offensive zone more quickly than before. Now what goes on in the o-zone..........

 

[BigKing]

He misjudged what he inherited. He's been reactionary instead of proactive.

He killed the 2019 draft on paper and did well to move Muzzin for a nice return.

Believing he's done a good job up to this point is an exercise in blaming basically everything on Lombardi, absolving Blake of any responsibility--outside of Kovalchuk--for presiding over two of the worst seasons in Kings history. It is also based on assuming that the prospect pool is going to mostly live up to the hype.

I echo bland's sentiment that he isn't the problem but he is a problem as his greatest accomplishment has been drafting guys scouted by the same staff that couldn't draft well for the prior 8-9 seasons. His tangible efforts have been middling at best which is why I believe he is a problem as I don't have a ton of faith that he is the guy to push this over the top in the event this prospect pool is for real.

If he quit or were to be fired, I obviously wouldn't be upset but I'm also not clamoring for it. I think I'd actually prefer that he stay and either reap the benefits of his draft classes or take the fall for them not living up to the hype. It would be real Rob Blake fashion though to step aside, have the prospect pool really pan out and then get credit for what a great GM he is and would have been if he wanted to.

 

[kingsholygrail]

They definitely suck at passing. I don't think even Detroit is as bad at passing. For some reason the Kings alone seem to handle the puck like a grenade.

 

[redcard]

Are we not exactly where we thought we'd be?

We knew we'd be in last place, we knew there would be veterans gradually leaving the lineup, and we knew we'd be picking up a high pick.

The glaring mistake of the Kovalchuk signing didn't hurt us, it just cost Uncle Phil some pocket change. Yes, they told us they thought we were still competitive but we finished 30th anyway. Its not like we signed Kovy, finished 9th in the West, and got stuck with the 15th pick. Maybe the vets could have garnered a slightly better pick if we traded them last season, or maybe not.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Wonder what would have happened if the Kings only fired Sutter and kept Lombardi. Could he go thru his second rebuild as GM?

Was it his loyalty to Sutter that got him canned?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

People want us to tank...and are also upset the team is tanking. big shrug.

Blake isn't the problem.

I'm not convinced he's the solution either, but given his moves to get younger will take time to bear fruit, I have a hard time laying into him yet.

Stay. For now. End of next year will give us a better picture.

 

[tbrown33]

Ask yourself these questions:

- What has gotten better with Blake?
- What has gotten worse with Blake?
- Who was managing the team when these cited problems occurred, how long have these problems existed, and are they being remedied?
- Is the team’s present/future/cap situation better or worse with Blake?

I feel like many biased fans still resent Blake since 2001 and continue to hold that against him, thus some opinions and thoughts on him presently are tainted with personal feelings as opposed to rational thought.

What type of results was anyone here expecting from the time he took over to now?

Oooh, I know

- What has gotten better with Blake?
the pipeline
- What has gotten worse with Blake?
the pro team
- Who was managing the team when these cited problems occurred, how long have these problems existed, and are they being remedied?
Lombardi, many years, and yes, slowly
- Is the team’s present/future/cap situation better or worse with Blake?
much better

 

[Steve Zissou]

@Papa Mocha 15 I'm far from a Blake apologist, or really anything that requires a title, but if you are going to pronounce him a "Master of Disaster" coupled with "bad decision after bad decision" then you better prepare to debate his moves and or bring to the table what you would have done differently. Because hell, at least you have hindsight to use to your advantage. But you didn't do that, did'ja sport?

As much as Blake thought this team was still competitive, you also need to lay blame at the feet (or skates) of the veterans who helped steer this ship into the rocks with their lack of leadership. Because at this in no time they (the vets) have zero idea of how to get the motor running again. Looks like this shit storm is only going to get worse before it gets better.

 

[Fishhead]

I can't think of anything Blake has done that has really hurt the team. Maybe hang onto vets that should have been moved out, but it takes two to tango and we don't know if any offers were there. His worst moves have been FA signings, which don't cost any assets but then again some of his better moves were signings as well. He signed Iafallo, who is 2nd in scoring on the team and has improved since he got here. Same with Sean Walker, excellent improvement and a great signing. The jury is still out on some of the other signings, but they don't look bad. He got Porkins to come over, which I'm not sure DL could have done. Of course the prospect pool is highly regarded by everyone who rates those sort of things, so drafting is a plus. There's a definite shift in the players they consider now compared to DL.

There's been way more positives than negatives, but as I said before the real test is when those young players have to take over. Lombardi's strength was knowing when to push all in, and it resulted in a couple cups. We won't know for a while if Blake can make that determination and make the right moves.

 

[HeadInjury]

To answer the question, I do not believe Blake is the problem. Can he build a Cup contending team? Don't know. We aren't there yet. We are dismantling and rebuilding and I think he's doing okay with that so far. A lot of that just depends on whether recent draft picks develop as we hope or do they go the way of Lauri Tukonen instead.

 

[cyclones22]

Blake isn't THE problem. At last season's season ticket holder meeting, he and Luc specifically pointed to this off-season to get rid of a lot of guys who were "blocking youth" from being on the team. They knew that the players in the pipeline needed to earn their way onto the team, but that some veterans were going to be traded/not re-signed to clear the way for them. They admitted that the next couple of seasons were going to be tough sledding. Acquiring draft choices and making the correct draft choices were going to be key in this rebuild. So far, the Kings pipeline is pretty much universally considered top 5 at worst, top of the heap at best. So on that front, so far so good. This season will net another top 5 draft choice (can we please win the #1 pick for the first time ever? And no, their expansion year doesn't count) and hopefully another late 1st or more second rounders. I'll start complaining by this time next season if I'm not seeing some systematic improvements in creativity, goal scoring and special teams. Hell, top half of the league in PK/PP would be great. At least the team isn't routinely being out-shot every game along with sucking at everything else like last season.

 

[kingsboy11]

Wonder what would have happened if the Kings only fired Sutter and kept Lombardi. Could he go thru his second rebuild as GM?

Was it his loyalty to Sutter that got him canned?

This was always my theory that AEG probably wanted Sutter out, but Lombardi was too proud and loyal to let him go so AEG canned them both. I have no way to prove this, but that's my speculation. I would've given Lombardi another chance if he got rid of Sutter.

As for the question of Blake, I think he's done okay. I don't blame him for thinking they could compete again after getting rid of Sutter and they looked quite good their first season under Stevens, but man that Vegas series should've been a wakeup call that the team needed a shakeup. The good news is that it has been recognized and the drafting has been spectacular the past 3 years. I'm willing to be patient for this team, but man it is not pretty to watch at the moment.