KINGS Claim Nikita Scherbak

[GoldenBearHockey]

Have you considered not being patronizing and telling everyone who feels change is due that it's not a video game?[/QUOTE]

I have, and yet, people still respond like it is.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

You act as if this collapse was a sudden thing, that they went from contenders to awful overnight.

This will be the 3rd time missing the playoffs the last 5 seasons, and the two years they got in they won a grand total of 1 playoff game. And you sit here and accuse people of "playing a video game" and wanting to trade everyone based on one season, holy hell man open your eyes.

No, I sit here and accuse everyone of playing a video game, because they are acting like the changes should all be done at once....

And yea, the collapse was pretty sudden in the scheme of things....2014 wins the cup, 2015 missed the playoffs, 2016 got killed....but also didn't have their full roster, someone was injured the entire year, that puts a damper on things, 2017, didn't have Quick and this year, #1 D went to shit overnight.

Think about that last one for a bit...even last year, as crappy as you want them to be...they were the #1 defense in the league.....and....this season #31....wouldn't that qualify as overnight?

Because with a #1 D, playing like a #1 D, they are in the playoffs right about now....

 

[DoktorJeep]

Blake’s most important decision he can be held accountable for is choosing to keep the legacy identity and build around the core players. The results are mixed at best and are trending towards the ultimate negative.

Prior to and during the negative trend, which officially started with a first round sweep last playoffs, Blake has covered up roster shortcomings by bringing in more aging vets (Phaneuf and Kovalchuk).

Every time Blake’s plan of continuing with what he inherited shows cracks, he reacts after the fact consistently by choosing the same dubious strategy. He’s covering for his initial bad bet.

Cmon, seriously man?

What steps are they taking?

They haven't done much of anything since this off-season this what they've done, signed Kovalchuk, signed Budaj to babysit Peterson, traded Pearson for Hagelin, claimed Leipsic, claimed, waived and sent down Scherbak,

THAT is what they have done, there is no CYA moves done, there's hardly any moves done at all.

AND THAT ISN'T A BAD THING. Everyone is treating this like a PS4 video game, team sucks, trade everyone and real life simply doesn't work that way,

This trade deadline and off-season Blake has a HELLUVA lot of work to do, finding a new coach, no way WD should be back, and then he really has to figure out some of the roster problems, he's gotta do something regardless, 6M in cap space available, and only 14 roster spots, so something has to give,

He's gonna have to make decisions on Carter, Toffoli, Muzzin, Martinez, not to mention the kids, Kempe, Wagner, Luff, Amadio, etc.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Herby]

No, I sit here and accuse everyone of playing a video game, because they are acting like the changes should all be done at once....

And yea, the collapse was pretty sudden in the scheme of things....2014 wins the cup, 2015 missed the playoffs, 2016 got killed....but also didn't have their full roster, someone was injured the entire year, that puts a damper on things, 2017, didn't have Quick and this year, #1 D went to **** overnight.

Think about that last one for a bit...even last year, as crappy as you want them to be...they were the #1 defense in the league.....and....this season #31....wouldn't that qualify as overnight?

Because with a #1 D, playing like a #1 D, they are in the playoffs right about now....

No one wants to be in the playoffs and swept in the 1st round! That is exactly what this franchise has tried to do for almost it's entire existence, sneak into the playoffs and see what happens. You are applauding a season that the Kings won 0 playoff games while getting arguably the best seasons of Kopitar and Doughty's careers.

The collapse hasn't been sudden, it's been happening basically since Martinez put the puck past Lundqvist in June 2014. The moves since then (coupled with all-time bad drafting from 2009-2016) have put the Kings in this spot. When you draft like crap, make crappy trades and sign for or trade for old guys on bad contracts you will end up like this. It should have been blown up when DL was fired, instead they just promoted everyone and continued on with this garbage core.

 

[kovacro]

What the f*** happened to this thread?

Poor Nikita Scherbak.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Blake’s most important decision he can be held accountable for is choosing to keep the legacy identity and build around the core players. The results are mixed at best and are trending towards the ultimate negative.

Prior to and during the negative trend, which officially started with a first round sweep last playoffs, Blake has covered up roster shortcomings by bringing in more aging vets (Phaneuf and Kovalchuk).

Every time Blake’s plan of continuing with what he inherited shows cracks, he reacts after the fact consistently by choosing the same dubious strategy. He’s covering for his initial bad bet.

[/QUOTE]

Held accountable, yes, if the trend started last playoffs, then Phaneuf was already here...

If you want to say Kovalchuk was a bad bet, go for it, people would agree, I don't, I think it's a win-win, if the team plays like they should have, Kovalchuk adds a lot, if they don't, you get what you get now, not much downside to signing him... no assets given up ala Evander Kane or Jeff Skinner etc

 

[KINGS17]

What the **** happened to this thread?

Poor Nikita Scherbak.

Who?

 

[Sol]

Blake inherited a bad team. And he made some really bad decisions in keeping the same coaching staff. He has a lot of blame for this season.

 

[BigKing]

Held accountable, yes, if the trend started last playoffs, then Phaneuf was already here...

If you want to say Kovalchuk was a bad bet, go for it, people would agree, I don't, I think it's a win-win, if the team plays like they should have, Kovalchuk adds a lot, if they don't, you get what you get now, not much downside to signing him... no assets given up ala Evander Kane or Jeff Skinner etc

But I'm being told that cap space is a major issue so how is it a win if we are where we are now and he's eating up $6MM?

Again, this is an issue of you being okay with it because you understand the "why" but are ignoring the result, much like understanding why DL did the Lucic or Sekera trades. It's fine if you think the Kovalchuk signing was a good bet to take but it is ignorance, trolling or both to pretend like it is somehow a win/win at the moment.

As for trolling, I roll with an Xbox One X so at least get that part right. Also, you use that "insult" even when people are not criticizing Blake for not trading everyone in the span of a week.

Criticism of Blake is valid yet you act as if criticizing him means one is a child that doesn't know anything about hockey or, maybe more to the point, the Kings and its history. You mentioned in a separate post earlier today that you won't hold Blake accountable for this season and will judge him based on this off season. Fantastic. I'm going to hold you to that. All last season, I said I would judge Blake based on this past off-season since it is his second one and he's had a full year as GM to evaluate the team: even though he already had been around them since 2013. I wish Blake was right and these guys were killing it but, you know, he was wrong.

 

[tomd]

But I'm being told that cap space is a major issue so how is it a win if we are where we are now and he's eating up $6MM?

Again, this is an issue of you being okay with it because you understand the "why" but are ignoring the result, much like understanding why DL did the Lucic or Sekera trades. It's fine if you think the Kovalchuk signing was a good bet to take but it is ignorance, trolling or both to pretend like it is somehow a win/win at the moment.

As for trolling, I roll with an Xbox One X so at least get that part right. Also, you use that "insult" even when people are not criticizing Blake for not trading everyone in the span of a week.

Criticism of Blake is valid yet you act as if criticizing him means one is a child that doesn't know anything about hockey or, maybe more to the point, the Kings and its history. You mentioned in a separate post earlier today that you won't hold Blake accountable for this season and will judge him based on this off season. Fantastic. I'm going to hold you to that. All last season, I said I would judge Blake based on this past off-season since it is his second one and he's had a full year as GM to evaluate the team: even though he already had been around them since 2013. I wish Blake was right and these guys were killing it but, you know, he was wrong.

Just playing devils advocate when I observe that most people thought the biggest weakness on the Kings going into last off-season was a lack of depth on the wings. So Blake went out and got the best one he could get for nothing. Kovalchuk has been far from the worst player on the team this year. It seemed like a natural fit with Kopitar at the time. I give Blake points for trying and the players thumbs down for the way they've played so far this year.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Just playing devils advocate when I observe that most people thought the biggest weakness on the Kings going into last off-season was a lack of depth on the wings. So Blake went out and got the best one he could get for nothing. Kovalchuk has been far from the worst player on the team this year. It seemed like a natural fit with Kopitar at the time. I give Blake points for trying and the players thumbs down for the way they've played so far this year.

Scary that a ducks fan gets it and certain kings dont

 

[BigKing]

Just playing devils advocate when I observe that most people thought the biggest weakness on the Kings going into last off-season was a lack of depth on the wings. So Blake went out and got the best one he could get for nothing. Kovalchuk has been far from the worst player on the team this year. It seemed like a natural fit with Kopitar at the time. I give Blake points for trying and the players thumbs down for the way they've played so far this year.

So I understand the "why". I've also stopped bringing up the attempted Patches acquisition since I can't "prove" anything but logic dictates that the Kings tried to acquire him. I'm not even going to talk potential costs to acquire him except that there would have been a LTC involved, which would have been disastrous.

Anyways, I get why he signed him but that goes back to believing the 2018 Kings were the norm moving forward and everything since 2014 was the outlier. I'm even willing to cut him slack because I think we are back to Patsyville with the GM just being an AEG puppet but that is kind of the issue here: where is the vision, the plan and any sort of discussion for the fans and STH'ers of this franchise outside of the canned "We are Cup contenders" tripe?

It looks like the plan is just hold picks, try to sign UDFAs and then just hope that the key contributors to the big club are still good enough once these picks and UDFAs can make a real impact. That's a garbage plan and not even a "retool": it is devoid of any real thought. That's why it will be so fortunate if the Kings can get a Top 3 pick this season on accident because it appears the plan was to just hope draft picks work out with the 1st round pick being anywhere from 11-to-22.

We've seen that plan. It's called Dave Taylor 1998-2005. Wheeeeeee!

 

[tomd]

So I understand the "why". I've also stopped bringing up the attempted Patches acquisition since I can't "prove" anything but logic dictates that the Kings tried to acquire him. I'm not even going to talk potential costs to acquire him except that there would have been a LTC involved, which would have been disastrous.

Anyways, I get why he signed him but that goes back to believing the 2018 Kings were the norm moving forward and everything since 2014 was the outlier. I'm even willing to cut him slack because I think we are back to Patsyville with the GM just being an AEG puppet but that is kind of the issue here: where is the vision, the plan and any sort of discussion for the fans and STH'ers of this franchise outside of the canned "We are Cup contenders" tripe?

It looks like the plan is just hold picks, try to sign UDFAs and then just hope that the key contributors to the big club are still good enough once these picks and UDFAs can make a real impact. That's a garbage plan and not even a "retool": it is devoid of any real thought. That's why it will be so fortunate if the Kings can get a Top 3 pick this season on accident because it appears the plan was to just hope draft picks work out with the 1st round pick being anywhere from 11-to-22.

We've seen that plan. It's called Dave Taylor 1998-2005. Wheeeeeee!

As Kingsfan7824 has frequently pointed out, turning over a roster is much tougher in the cap era. Bad decisions get magnified years after they happen. Lombardi ignored the first principle of successful cap management...bringing in young cheap talent EVERY year through the draft. If a team doesn't do that they will die. And that's what is happening to LA. No other GM is going to rescue them by giving them a gift. In my opinion, this is ALL on Lombardi and it was very predicatable to watch it happen all the way back to 2012. This is the hangover and it will be long and painful.

 

[tomd]

Scary that a ducks fan gets it and certain kings dont

While I prefer the Ducks, I am a hockey fan first and foremost and have been since 1973 when I first started following the Kings. I feel I can opine on both teams given my 45 years following the sport. The things I say aren't rocket science if fans think with the brains and not their hearts. That is difficult for many fans and understandably so.

 

[BigKing]

As Kingsfan7824 has frequently pointed out, turning over a roster is much tougher in the cap era. Bad decisions get magnified years after they happen. Lombardi ignored the first principle of successful cap management...bringing in young cheap talent EVERY year through the draft. If a team doesn't do that they will die. And that's what is happening to LA. No other GM is going to rescue them by giving them a gift. In my opinion, this is ALL on Lombardi and it was very predicatable to watch it happen all the way back to 2012. This is the hangover and it will be long and painful.

Well, you abandoned the Kings because you didn't like Lombardi so that is not surprising that you blame him for everything that is currently happening. I dislike Blake but, even then, I wasn't going to dump on him until it was deserved and I felt he had enough time to take ownership of the roster. We are through two off seasons: it is his team.

While turning over an entire roster can take time, you have to start it at some point. Blake still hasn't done that, save for Pearson who was traded at his lowest value. If he started earlier, he holds better assets than he will be able to get now.

Make no mistake: Lombardi lucked his way into several things and was fortunate that he swung and missed on attempted moves. I'm hoping that is what we have here with not getting Patches and then accidentally getting a Top 3 pick. Trade assets have depreciated but that is a sunk cost now: the Top 3 pick is paramount followed by moving on from a lot of legacy guys. Hopefully Blake goes on this path even if he stumbled onto it by accident.

But he was wrong about this team. There is no arguing the fact. He gets credit for good moves and he takes heat for being wrong. He chose to keep this roster virtually intact and then added to it, something Lombardi was raked over the coals for on this site as everyone said this core was done. I'm not saying Blake can't correct things but he is most definitely accountable for what we are currently witnessing. It's okay to admit he was wrong. I'm not even saying fire him or anything: he has just done jack shit at the NHL level and this will be his 2nd full season at the helm.

 

[tomd]

Well, you abandoned the Kings because you didn't like Lombardi so that is not surprising that you blame him for everything that is currently happening. I dislike Blake but, even then, I wasn't going to dump on him until it was deserved and I felt he had enough time to take ownership of the roster. We are through two off seasons: it is his team.

While turning over an entire roster can take time, you have to start it at some point. Blake still hasn't done that, save for Pearson who was traded at his lowest value. If he started earlier, he holds better assets than he will be able to get now.

Make no mistake: Lombardi lucked his way into several things and was fortunate that he swung and missed on attempted moves. I'm hoping that is what we have here with not getting Patches and then accidentally getting a Top 3 pick. Trade assets have depreciated but that is a sunk cost now: the Top 3 pick is paramount followed by moving on from a lot of legacy guys. Hopefully Blake goes on this path even if he stumbled onto it by accident.

But he was wrong about this team. There is no arguing the fact. He gets credit for good moves and he takes heat for being wrong. He chose to keep this roster virtually intact and then added to it, something Lombardi was raked over the coals for on this site as everyone said this core was done. I'm not saying Blake can't correct things but he is most definitely accountable for what we are currently witnessing. It's okay to admit he was wrong. I'm not even saying fire him or anything: he has just done jack **** at the NHL level and this will be his 2nd full season at the helm.

I actually don't disagree with much of what you say. I think we can both agree that Lombardi largely created the problem and now Blake has to be a houdini to fix it. Again, in fairness to Blake, prior to this season very few GM's would have been aggressive enough to trade Kopitar and Doughty rather than sign them. Or trade Quick with no backup. Toffoli and Pearson were considered part of the young core along with Kempe and Iafallo coming into this season...no need to trade them. Muzzin and Martinez were top 4 defensemen...no one was clamoring to trade either one for a draft pick. Brown's contract was (and still is) an albatross but he played better last year so there was hope he could contribute. Despite a bad 2nd half, the team still finished last year with 98 points. Not exactly a position where you suddenly say "tear it down!".

Now this year is different. The wheels have come off. Almost no one saw this team as a bottom 5 team heading into the year but there they sit. So it is now time for Blake to earn his pay and retool/rebuild the team. Personally, I don't think he is the man to do it but we'll see.

Finally, I always get grief for this but I will say that rich young men living at the beach is exactly what Lombardi feared and tried (successfully for a couple of years) to change. He brought in old school vets who wouldn't be seduced into that lifestyle. Blake needs to get those same types of players going forward. And if Kopitar, Quick, Brown, and Doughty as leaders of the team won't play along then Blake needs to do his best to ship them out...if it is even possible.

 

[Dooney]

Who?

You know the player that cleared waivers and is off to the AHL. The rest of this thread belongs in the luc and rob show but people have a hard time with comprehension. It goes with being a Kings fan. Confusion and all.

 

[Sol]

As for the Kovalchuk signing, at the time it was a win/win. Kings were expected to make the playoffs this year with a great addition.

Now with hindsight. If the team remains the same, asset wise it's most important to trade Quick asap as goalies don't sustain much value, so anything that gets his salary fully off the team is a win for the Kings.

Carter, shows zero signs of consistency, and will only get worse.

Kopitar, just a huge contract really, if the Kings are gonna suck, you might as well move him.

Brown you can keep if he can show that he can perform with other centers other than Kopitar.

Doughty, he's still the best player on the team and if you want to have someone settling the young kids in, you bite the bullet with him.

Kovalchuk looks good for the salary and term. So he's cool.

That's my list of players who need to go from most necessary to least.


Lewis can f*** off at this point.

 

[KINGS17]

You know the player that cleared waivers and is off to the AHL. The rest of this thread belongs in the luc and rob show but people have a hard time with comprehension. It goes with being a Kings fan. Confusion and all.

#ConfuseForHughes

 

[Sol]

Plus, I know there's an argument made that Blake hired WD40 because no one else would take an interim position... And to that I say so f***ing what? If your idea is to grandfather Sturm into HC why not just make him HC as it is?


Why take a sure gamble in bombing the season with WD, and at least give Sturm a chance to turn the season around. If he turns out to be a bad coach, fire him. Really does make no sense.

 

[Dooney]

#ConfuseForHughes

We best be tanking better then ott or Philadelphia they are tanking better! Philly lost 8 otta at bottom. We are at 3. We gotta fix this

 

[kingsfan28]

Plus, I know there's an argument made that Blake hired WD40 because no one else would take an interim position... And to that I say so ****ing what? If your idea is to grandfather Sturm into HC why not just make him HC as it is?


Why take a sure gamble in bombing the season with WD, and at least give Sturm a chance to turn the season around. If he turns out to be a bad coach, fire him. Really does make no sense.

I think Sturm had commitments in Germany for a few weeks and really had no experience in the NHL coaching system, like an assistant coach for another team might. WD was brought in as a placeholder in hopes it rights the team, which at times do to his own doing, only made things worse. None of the other guys would've done much better, except we'd be on the hook for another coaches salary.

 

[KINGS17]

But I'm being told that cap space is a major issue so how is it a win if we are where we are now and he's eating up $6MM?

Again, this is an issue of you being okay with it because you understand the "why" but are ignoring the result, much like understanding why DL did the Lucic or Sekera trades. It's fine if you think the Kovalchuk signing was a good bet to take but it is ignorance, trolling or both to pretend like it is somehow a win/win at the moment.

As for trolling, I roll with an Xbox One X so at least get that part right. Also, you use that "insult" even when people are not criticizing Blake for not trading everyone in the span of a week.

Criticism of Blake is valid yet you act as if criticizing him means one is a child that doesn't know anything about hockey or, maybe more to the point, the Kings and its history. You mentioned in a separate post earlier today that you won't hold Blake accountable for this season and will judge him based on this off season. Fantastic. I'm going to hold you to that. All last season, I said I would judge Blake based on this past off-season since it is his second one and he's had a full year as GM to evaluate the team: even though he already had been around them since 2013. I wish Blake was right and these guys were killing it but, you know, he was wrong.

I can't win a damn thing playing PS NHL Whatever when I am using the controller for the players, but I win the Stanley Cup every season when I play GM-only mode.

 

[kingsfan28]

We best be tanking better then ott or Philadelphia they are tanking better! Philly lost 8 otta at bottom. We are at 3. We gotta fix this

By next week, the Ducks could be right there too.

 

[Sol]

I think Sturm had commitments in Germany for a few weeks and really had no experience in the NHL coaching system, like an assistant coach for another team might. WD was brought in as a placeholder in hopes it rights the team, which at times do to his own doing, only made things worse. None of the other guys would've done much better, except we'd be on the hook for another coaches salary.

If that was the case, they should have held on to Stevens for a week or two longer, and just made Sturm head coach.


Different fruit from a poisoned tree. Why Blake expected anything different from a carbon copy coach is beyond me.