LA KINGS 2023/4 Regular season discussion

[BaileyFan]

Probably missed the playoffs both years and be a blackhole team. The Kings would be without a game breaking 60 plus point scorer, a winger/center still figuring it out and a rookie dman who just played his first game. That is if he made the team and wasn't sent to the AHL . The log jam of RHD would only be deeper too.

As opposed to getting embarassed in the playoffs and being a black hole team?

You're right though. The point of no return was acquiring Danault and locking every C prospect out of the top 6 for a half decade. All of the burning of picks and young assets since then have just been a continuation of that direction.

 

[Sol]

You could get away with trading Doughty but move Kopitar and you might as well sell off all the vets and rebuild again because this team would be an instant lottery team

I wouldn’t be opposed to that at all since I think if the Kings are a Kopitar away from being a lottery team then they have no reason to pursue being a playoff team.

 

[kings11]

I wouldn’t be opposed to that at all since I think if the Kings are a Kopitar away from being a lottery team then they have no reason to pursue being a playoff team.

The construction of this team was all wrong really, take your fav player Fiala… we could have move Roy instead of Faber in that deal to maximize Roy’s value and keep Faber’s ELC contract, we could have moved Moore when PO teams were moving 1sr rounders for players like him. This team isn’t a contender for various reasons that many on here have pointed out..

Hopefully Q, Tur, Laf, Brandt, Spence and Helenius can take spots this season and next but I’m sure some will be move for a quick fix… because as todays young adults say, “ F$&k them kids”!

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

The construction of this team was all wrong really, take your fav player Fiala… we could have move Roy instead of Faber in that deal to maximize Roy’s value and keep Faber’s ELC contract, we could have moved Moore when PO teams were moving 1sr rounders for players like him. This team isn’t a contender for various reasons that many on here have pointed out..

Hopefully Q, Tur, Laf, Brandt, Spence and Helenius can take spots this season and next but I’m sure some will be move for a quick fix… because as todays young adults say, “ F$&k them kids”!

WTF kind of alternate reality is this? Could have moved Roy in the deal for Fiala because.....all of a sudden Minnesota doesn't have cap issues?

Cmon man....

 

[kings11]

WTF kind of alternate reality is this? Could have moved Roy in the deal for Fiala because.....all of a sudden Minnesota doesn't have cap issues?

Cmon man....

Are you f***en comparing a $3m player to someone that wanted $8m but signed for $7m?? That guy??? The guy in Roy that would have fit into their cap at the time the trade was made?? If Fiala wanted a $5m salary he’d still be in Minny my guy.

 

[mysterman2]

The construction of this team was all wrong really, take your fav player Fiala… we could have move Roy instead of Faber in that deal to maximize Roy’s value and keep Faber’s ELC contract, we could have moved Moore when PO teams were moving 1sr rounders for players like him. This team isn’t a contender for various reasons that many on here have pointed out..

Hopefully Q, Tur, Laf, Brandt, Spence and Helenius can take spots this season and next but I’m sure some will be move for a quick fix… because as todays young adults say, “ F$&k them kids”!

To be fair if we are playing the What if game...if Blake takes zegras he now has scoring and probably doesnt need trade for Fiala at all. He takes Steutzle no need for PLD and kings now have Faber, scoring, and 16 million in cap space.

 

[kings11]

To be fair if we are playing the What if game...if Blake takes zegras he now has scoring and probably doesnt need trade for Fiala at all. He takes Steutzle no need for PLD and kings now have Faber, scoring, and 16 million in cap space.

This is on Blake’s signing and trades, the drafts picks are another story but he went against his staff on those occasions

Edit: and yes, if he pick those players or hit early on ours we have a shit ton of cap space

 

[DAkings20]

There’s an alternate universe in which we traded Doughty and had a defense consisting of Faber, Clarke, and Spence.

I love DD, but this was the way.

 

[Herby]

I am pretty sure Minnesota was targeting Faber and wanted a 20 year old d-man with off the charts game sense and defensive awareness they’d be getting on an ELC more than they wanted a really solid veteran defenseman making $3m for 2 more seasons before UFA.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Are you f***en comparing a $3m player to someone that wanted $8m but signed for $7m?? That guy??? The guy in Roy that would have fit into their cap at the time the trade was made?? If Fiala wanted a $5m salary he’d still be in Minny my guy.

I'm not comparing anything, I am saying that Minnesota wouldn't have taken Roy in a deal like that.......no matter what alternate reality you are living in.

 

[kings11]

I am pretty sure Minnesota was targeting Faber and wanted a 20 year old d-man with off the charts game sense and defensive awareness they’d be getting on an ELC more than they wanted a really solid veteran defenseman making $3m for 2 more seasons before UFA.

Possibly but I’m sure Blake never thought of an alternative, his blind loyalty to veterans regardless of contribution is why the Kings are at the cap limit with a recycled group that will likely exit the 1st round again.. OT I know but this team is on the mediocre spin cycle..

I was in favor of moving Spence before Faber but that’s done with.. here’s hoping he doesn’t sell a Laf, Tur or Brandt for a quick goalie fix

I'm not comparing anything, I am saying that Minnesota wouldn't have taken Roy in a deal like that.......no matter what alternate reality you are living in.

Oh I see, you were at those trade talks right? Gtfoh, Bill wanted to shed Fiala’s potential salary and still remain competitive… which he did, Roy would have made them that much better and if you look at their roster that so called cap issue is something they can solve rather quickly when they deem Wally to be ready

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Possibly but I’m sure Blake never thought of an alternative, his blind loyalty to veterans regardless of contribution is why the Kings are at the cap limit with a recycled group that will likely exit the 1st round again.. OT I know but this team is on the mediocre spin cycle..

I was in favor of moving Spence before Faber but that’s done with.. here’s hoping he doesn’t sell a Laf, Tur or Brandt for a quick goalie fix


Oh I see, you were at those trade talks right? Gtfoh, Bill wanted to shed Fiala’s potential salary and still remain competitive… which he did, Roy would have made them that much better and if you look at their roster that so called cap issue is something they can solve rather quickly when they deem Wally to be ready

Sorry bud, this is your idiotic blind hatred for Blake.....everyone else would have thought of alternative bur Blake.....his blind loyalty to veterans despite icing one of the youngest teams in the past two seasons, it's you make this shit up just to agree with yourself...

I wasn't at the trade talks, apparently you were , you KNOW that Blake didn't offer Roy...how do you KNOW that?

 

[Lt Dan]

Sorry bud, this is your idiotic blind hatred for Blake.....everyone else would have thought of alternative bur Blake.....his blind loyalty to veterans despite icing one of the youngest teams in the past two seasons, it's you make this shit up just to agree with yourself...

I wasn't at the trade talks, apparently you were , you KNOW that Blake didn't offer Roy...how do you KNOW that?

It's time to switch to decaf vato

 

[Lt Dan]

I am pretty sure Minnesota was targeting Faber and wanted a 20 year old d-man with off the charts game sense and defensive awareness they’d be getting on an ELC more than they wanted a really solid veteran defenseman making $3m for 2 more seasons before UFA.

100% and add that he is a local hero

I am pretty sure not including Faber was a no go for Guerin

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Possibly but I’m sure Blake never thought of an alternative, his blind loyalty to veterans regardless of contribution is why the Kings are at the cap limit

lol...was it the GM before Blake who traded Quick? Blind loyalty, bruh!

 

[chris kontos]

what could of happened didn't.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

It's time to switch to decaf vato

Sorry, my allergy to stupid caught up to me

 

[King'sPawn]

Not sure why we're arguing alternate packages for Fiala. Maybe Guerin would have taken an alternate (like Clarke, Kaliyev, Byfield, etc). But we don't know. I do know there was a dearth of cost-controlled top-end LHD talent, outside of Bjornfot. And there were issues with young goaltenders to replace Petersen. Trading Faber alone isn't really an issue - you have to give to get.

But the Kings still had a couple major holes in their pipeline for a team who felt they completed their rebuild. Then traded from a position of strength (RHD) to address a need that wasn't as urgent as others (scoring winger). To them, it just mattered about the player who was available.

They blew their credit card on dress shoes that were on sale, instead of replacing the Yosemite Sam tie they were stuck wearing at someone's funeral. The shoes are nice, and you want to wear them at your own wedding, but you haven't even gotten engaged yet.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Not sure why we're arguing alternate packages for Fiala. Maybe Guerin would have taken an alternate (like Clarke, Kaliyev, Byfield, etc). But we don't know. I do know there was a dearth of cost-controlled top-end LHD talent, outside of Bjornfot. And there were issues with young goaltenders to replace Petersen. Trading Faber alone isn't really an issue - you have to give to get.

But the Kings still had a couple major holes in their pipeline for a team who felt they completed their rebuild. Then traded from a position of strength (RHD) to address a need that wasn't as urgent as others (scoring winger). To them, it just mattered about the player who was available.

They blew their credit card on dress shoes that were on sale, instead of replacing the Yosemite Sam tie they were stuck wearing at someone's funeral. The shoes are nice, and you want to wear them at your own wedding, but you haven't even gotten engaged yet.

Because to some it's an indictment of Blake for no other reason, than it's indictment on Blake for no other reason, for their hatred of all things Blake...

I mean in that reality they should have been able to trade Edler and a 7th round pick for Fiala, Quick straight up for Gavrikov etc...it's just idiotic nonsense,

As to your point about team needs, kind of, 50/50, because keep in mind, they have seen the past 5 cup winners with the exception of Tampa, be won with average goaltending, so the thought process supposedly would be, build a solid deep team, and get by on average goaltending, and we don't know if that will work yet, Talbot let in 4 goals, 1 was stoppable, 3 were defensive breakdowns or good hockey...it happens.

If you want to argue that the Faber and 1st package be used for a young stud LHD, then go for it, but be prepared to identify who was available, or at least potentially available

 

[kings11]

lol...was it the GM before Blake who traded Quick? Blind loyalty, bruh!

What took so long? Isn’t that what everyone was harping about? I’m going all the way back to Mike Richards to the present. Management seems content to just make the playoffs and turn a profit.
Don’t think that’s the case, then how do you explain a “ championship “ caliber team without a #1 goalie, the #1 prospect pipeline turned to rubble, and so on?
This team is going to lose Roy, Arvy, Vlad, Toby, Lizotte, Grundy and possibly more kids.. this is probably the biggest gross mismanagement of a team this side of the 90’s Clippers… Hell, just look at the Angels so see what is happening here

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

What took so long? Isn’t that what everyone was harping about? I’m going all the way back to Mike Richards to the present. Management seems content to just make the playoffs and turn a profit.
Don’t think that’s the case, then how do you explain a “ championship “ caliber team without a #1 goalie, the #1 prospect pipeline turned to rubble, and so on?
This team is going to lose Roy, Arvy, Vlad, Toby, Lizotte, Grundy and possibly more kids.. this is probably the biggest gross mismanagement of a team this side of the 90’s Clippers… Hell, just look at the Angels so see what is happening here

In all seriousness...don't you think you might be being at bit dramatic....just an eentsy beentsy bit??

I think the goalie situation has been covered to death - -they thought they had (2) #1 goalies last year, look how that turned out!

Then we have the '#1 prospect pipeline turned to rubble' comment, good f***ing lord. How many years in a row would you like this team to be considered to have a top prospect pool before those said prospects graduate to the big club or they are moved as assets to acquire proven talent? If you are one of those teams with an amazing prospect pool, you are most likely NOT a playoff team -- awesome, you can have that all day long. Not me...thx.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

100% and add that he is a local hero

I am pretty sure not including Faber was a no go for Guerin

These are the kind of unknowns that people forget to factor in when analyzing a trade in hindsight.

Sure, you can look back at the Fiala trade and wish we had kept Faber.

But for all we know Lt Dan's comment here is correct. Maybe Minnesota absolutely LOVED Faber and he was seen as a massive get for them in the trade. Maybe Blake tried to keep Faber and offered up other players and those offers were rejected.

Reminder: It's super easy for us to play Armchair GM and say "If it was me I would've made THIS trade instead" without actually having any idea if that trade was even a possibility / acceptable to the other team.

Faber's cracked, and I wish he was on the Kings right now too. Sadly, he's not.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I'm just thankful that Vilardi didn't score in game 1...we'd have 10 pages discussing how stupid Blake was for that trade.

 

[ZJames]

This is our response after one loss. I can only imagine the meltdown this board will have when the inevitable 3-5 game losing streak happens.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Reminder: It's super easy for us to play Armchair GM and say "If it was me I would've made THIS trade instead" without actually having any idea if that trade was even a possibility / acceptable to the other team.

Same for the whole "We should've traded Drew Doughty" argument.

Trading an $11 million defenseman with NMC's is insanely difficult to do - ESPECIALLY when that player isn't exactly living up to the contract.

Karlsson had just put up 100 points and was traded for a pretty underwhelming return.

For all we know, Blake has tried to trade Doughty multiple times and other teams weren't interested / Doughty wasn't willing to waive his NMC.

Again, it's easy to play armchair GM and be hyper-critical of moves that were/weren't made.

There’s an alternate universe in which we traded Doughty and had a defense consisting of Faber, Clarke, and Spence.

Maybe... maybe not. And when would this trade have hypothetically happened?? 2018? 2019? 2021??

Like it's all fine and dandy and sounds cool and all to throw out that idea but was it actually possible?!??!?!?!?!?! We have no idea really.

When Doughty signed his contract he was one of the best defensemen in the world. Trading him at the time would've been pretty insane. Trading him a year ago, two years ago, 3-4 years ago, etc... Was probably impossible.

So what are we talking about exactly????? A whole bunch of hypothetical "should've"/"could've"/"would've" with no actual knowledge of whether these hypothetical moves were even possible to begin with.