Speculation: LA Kings News, Rumors, Roster Thread part VII

[Fishhead]

I also think this might be Vilardi's first season where his condition/injury isn't in the back of his mind. I was terrified for about 6 months after going through a shoulder reconstruction and even when it felt normal, was hesitant for at least a year. And that's just doing everyday stuff. If I even felt a twinge I would think "here we go again."

It takes a long time to get that confidence back that things will function like they should.

 

[Fishhead]

Good effort, Herby.

I would say if both Fiala and Kempe hit 30 goals, Kopitar will have 45+ assists. It's weird that Kopitar might not actually lead the team in scoring this year, but yeah, his durability is due to start dropping off.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

I also think this might be Vilardi's first season where his condition/injury isn't in the back of his mind. I was terrified for about 6 months after going through a shoulder reconstruction and even when it felt normal, was hesitant for at least a year. And that's just doing everyday stuff. If I even felt a twinge I would think "here we go again."

It takes a long time to get that confidence back that things will function like they should.

I even think that's over-analyzing ...

These guys weren't picked in the first round for nothing, these are talented players. Problem is, we got too many experts around here that claim if these players aren't playing big-time NHL minutes the day they step out of the draft, that they are going to be busts. It's just not true...unfortunately, it will take years to prove that point.

Moral of the story is, these guys just need time to grow and develop into the NHL players they should be. Gabe is 21 now--and we are hopefully seeing the type of player he should be....AND, he's going to get better! Two years from now, these guys will probably be running our top lines as they should.

 

[kingsfan28]

Speaking of jerseys, the City Manager is saying this is what the reverse retro will look like:

View attachment 591170

BARF BARF BARF!

 

[bmr]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts
Kevin Fiala	82	31	37	68
Adrian Kempe	76	30	26	56
Anze Kopitar	69	14	38	52
Viktor Arvidsson	72	22	22	44
Philippe Danault	80	16	27	43
Drew Doughty	70	12	30	42
Trevor Moore	82	16	23	39
Arthur Kaliyev	80	23	16	39
Alex Iafallo	80	15	21	36
Quinton Byfield	79	12	24	36
Brandt Clarke	73	6	20	26
Sean Durzi	77	7	18	25
Carl Grundstrom	75	9	16	25
Blake Lizotte	82	8	15	23
Matt Roy	80	4	16	20
Gabe Vilardi	37	6	11	17
Brendan Lemieux	70	8	9	17
Alex Edler	55	4	9	13
Sean Walker	45	3	9	12
Mikey Anderson	77	2	7	9
Rasmus Kupari	14	2	3	5
Jaret Anderson-Dolan	6	1	1	2
Jordan Spence	8	1	1	2
Tobias Bjornfot	7	0	0	0

Taking a shot at this, taking some projection here with the uncertainty of Clarke, but I am thinking he sticks. The team is trying to win and he can help them.

Games should add up correctly. 492 d-man games and 984 forward games. (assuming they don't dress 8 d-man in any games).

Tough to project long-term injuries, such as the one Doughty suffered, but unfortunately there is likely to be one, which will uptick the man-games lost and increase AHL icetime.

252 goals, up from 239 last year.

Improved production from the third line as Byfield takes the step that is needed and AK increases his goal total by 9, making up most of the likely regression from Danault. Also a return to previous play from Iafallo. This line is going to be presented a lot of opportunity to have favorable matchups, especially in games against weaker teams in the division, which don't feature players as talented as Byfield and AK outside of the Top 6.

I think with the balancing out of icetime and less opportunity vs weaker opponents as last year that the Kings 2nd line takes a bit of a step back this year. They will still be good, but very likely last year were career years for Danault and Moore.

The first line is ok, not one of the best in the league but not a liability either. Kopitar falls off a bit with age, and Kempe's goal totals dip a bit, but his overall point totals hold steady with the addition of an actual 1st line player, something they didn't have last year.

Have 1.58 assists per goal scored vs last seasons 1.57, so relatively close, might skew a couple of peoples assists totals up a pinch. Often an error people make when doing statistical projections is creating to many assists per-goal scored.

Not bad. I'm gonna take the over on Kopitar for total points. Kempe leads the team in goals. Will take the over on Vilardi in points as well.

 

[kingsfan28]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts
Kevin Fiala	82	31	37	68
Adrian Kempe	76	30	26	56
Anze Kopitar	69	14	38	52
Viktor Arvidsson	72	22	22	44
Philippe Danault	80	16	27	43
Drew Doughty	70	12	30	42
Trevor Moore	82	16	23	39
Arthur Kaliyev	80	23	16	39
Alex Iafallo	80	15	21	36
Quinton Byfield	79	12	24	36
Brandt Clarke	73	6	20	26
Sean Durzi	77	7	18	25
Carl Grundstrom	75	9	16	25
Blake Lizotte	82	8	15	23
Matt Roy	80	4	16	20
Gabe Vilardi	37	6	11	17
Brendan Lemieux	70	8	9	17
Alex Edler	55	4	9	13
Sean Walker	45	3	9	12
Mikey Anderson	77	2	7	9
Rasmus Kupari	14	2	3	5
Jaret Anderson-Dolan	6	1	1	2
Jordan Spence	8	1	1	2
Tobias Bjornfot	7	0	0	0

Taking a shot at this, taking some projection here with the uncertainty of Clarke, but I am thinking he sticks. The team is trying to win and he can help them.

Games should add up correctly. 492 d-man games and 984 forward games. (assuming they don't dress 8 d-man in any games).

Tough to project long-term injuries, such as the one Doughty suffered, but unfortunately there is likely to be one, which will uptick the man-games lost and increase AHL icetime.

252 goals, up from 239 last year.

Improved production from the third line as Byfield takes the step that is needed and AK increases his goal total by 9, making up most of the likely regression from Danault. Also a return to previous play from Iafallo. This line is going to be presented a lot of opportunity to have favorable matchups, especially in games against weaker teams in the division, which don't feature players as talented as Byfield and AK outside of the Top 6.

I think with the balancing out of icetime and less opportunity vs weaker opponents as last year that the Kings 2nd line takes a bit of a step back this year. They will still be good, but very likely last year were career years for Danault and Moore.

The first line is ok, not one of the best in the league but not a liability either. Kopitar falls off a bit with age, and Kempe's goal totals dip a bit, but his overall point totals hold steady with the addition of an actual 1st line player, something they didn't have last year.

Have 1.58 assists per goal scored vs last seasons 1.57, so relatively close, might skew a couple of peoples assists totals up a pinch. Often an error people make when doing statistical projections is creating to many assists per-goal scored.

Good write up, but I have a hard time believing Grundstrum plays 75. If things go as planned, I think it will be Valardi in the 70 plus games, not Carl.

 

[Herby]

Good write up, but I have a hard time believing Grundstrum plays 75. If things go as planned, I think it will be Valardi in the 70 plus games, not Carl.

I just don't think he is a guy who fits on the 4th line. There will be injuries throughout the lineup and he will fill in when those occur, but as far as a 4th line role, I am not so sure that suits him. I think the Kings have a pretty solid 4th line if they go Lemieux-Lizotte-Grundstrom. Nice mix of grit, speed, energy and some skill. I actually think its one of the better 4th lines in the league.

 

[bland]

I just don't think he is a guy who fits on the 4th line. There will be injuries throughout the lineup and he will fill in when those occur, but as far as a 4th line role, I am not so sure that suits him. I think the Kings have a pretty solid 4th line if they go Lemieux-Lizotte-Grundstrom. Nice mix of grit, speed, energy and some skill. I actually think its one of the better 4th lines in the league.

Barring injury, Vilardi's best chance at ice time will be on the 4th line in a 3 man platoon with Lemieux and Grundstrom. Not a role built for his skill set and deficiencies, for certain.

As much as we want Gabe to succeed further up the lineup, he will have his work cut out for him to supplant Fiala, Arvidsson, Kempe, Iafallo, Moore or Kaliyev.

 

[bmr]

Barring injury, Vilardi's best chance at ice time will be on the 4th line in a 3 man platoon with Lemieux and Grundstrom. Not a role built for his skill set and deficiencies, for certain.

As much as we want Gabe to succeed further up the lineup, he will have his work cut out for him to supplant Fiala, Arvidsson, Kempe, Iafallo, Moore or Kaliyev.

I'm interested to see how Vilardi does on the 2nd line and on the PP while VA is out. If he plays to his capabilities, they will find room for him through a trade or because of injuries. I think this is the year he controls his own destiny.

 

[Fishhead]

Barring injury, Vilardi's best chance at ice time will be on the 4th line in a 3 man platoon with Lemieux and Grundstrom. Not a role built for his skill set and deficiencies, for certain.

As much as we want Gabe to succeed further up the lineup, he will have his work cut out for him to supplant Fiala, Arvidsson, Kempe, Iafallo, Moore or Kaliyev.

Moore sure is a wildcard right now. If he continues his play the Kings are a very deep team. But can they afford to keep him? If Vilardi keeps it up this year it's going to make that decision far more difficult.

 

[Herby]

Moore sure is a wildcard right now. If he continues his play the Kings are a very deep team. But can they afford to keep him? If Vilardi keeps it up this year it's going to make that decision far more difficult.

I still think there is to much of an emphasis on pre-season games, we need to remember last year, where many people on this board were convinced that Tkachev, Vilardi and Lias were going to solve the Kings scoring woes because of how they played in the pre-season.

If Vilardi does turn a corner and plays well enough to finally stick in the NHL in a Top 9 role the Kings can look to trade Iafallo or even sell high on Moore to address other areas of need. Specifically LHD and goaltender.

But these same things were said last year at this time too, and then the NHL players flipped their switches to on and look what happened. The same is true of Clarke, we all love Clarke and are hoping that he really keeps this up and is a plug and play star. But there have been plenty of instances of young players (even highly touted ones) looking very good in the pre-season and then completely falling off a cliff when the games matter. Dustin Brown as an 18 year old, Jokinen, Oscar Moller.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts
Kevin Fiala	82	31	37	68
Adrian Kempe	76	30	26	56
Anze Kopitar	69	14	38	52
Viktor Arvidsson	72	22	22	44
Philippe Danault	80	16	27	43
Drew Doughty	70	12	30	42
Trevor Moore	82	16	23	39
Arthur Kaliyev	80	23	16	39
Alex Iafallo	80	15	21	36
Quinton Byfield	79	12	24	36
Brandt Clarke	73	6	20	26
Sean Durzi	77	7	18	25
Carl Grundstrom	75	9	16	25
Blake Lizotte	82	8	15	23
Matt Roy	80	4	16	20
Gabe Vilardi	37	6	11	17
Brendan Lemieux	70	8	9	17
Alex Edler	55	4	9	13
Sean Walker	45	3	9	12
Mikey Anderson	77	2	7	9
Rasmus Kupari	14	2	3	5
Jaret Anderson-Dolan	6	1	1	2
Jordan Spence	8	1	1	2
Tobias Bjornfot	7	0	0	0

Taking a shot at this, taking some projection here with the uncertainty of Clarke, but I am thinking he sticks. The team is trying to win and he can help them.

Games should add up correctly. 492 d-man games and 984 forward games. (assuming they don't dress 8 d-man in any games).

Tough to project long-term injuries, such as the one Doughty suffered, but unfortunately there is likely to be one, which will uptick the man-games lost and increase AHL icetime.

252 goals, up from 239 last year.

Improved production from the third line as Byfield takes the step that is needed and AK increases his goal total by 9, making up most of the likely regression from Danault. Also a return to previous play from Iafallo. This line is going to be presented a lot of opportunity to have favorable matchups, especially in games against weaker teams in the division, which don't feature players as talented as Byfield and AK outside of the Top 6.

I think with the balancing out of icetime and less opportunity vs weaker opponents as last year that the Kings 2nd line takes a bit of a step back this year. They will still be good, but very likely last year were career years for Danault and Moore.

The first line is ok, not one of the best in the league but not a liability either. Kopitar falls off a bit with age, and Kempe's goal totals dip a bit, but his overall point totals hold steady with the addition of an actual 1st line player, something they didn't have last year.

Have 1.58 assists per goal scored vs last seasons 1.57, so relatively close, might skew a couple of peoples assists totals up a pinch. Often an error people make when doing statistical projections is creating to many assists per-goal scored.

If these are the totals we're one of the bottom 5 teams in the NHL.

 

[Herby]

If these are the totals we're one of the bottom 5 teams in the NHL.

Why?

This is 13 more goals than the Kings scored last year, and the Kings made the playoffs. Scoring is likely to slightly decrease in a non-expansion year.

If the Kings score 252 goals and maintain the same defensive level they had last season (despite being without their best defensive player for half the season) they would be +16 in GD.

Unless you think the Kings defensively fall off a cliff this season how on Earth do you project them to be a bottom 5 team with 252 goals?

The Kings are unlikely to have the offensive firepower to be a 260+ goal offensive team. They just don't have the firepwoer up front, on the back end or run an offensive system that will produce that.

Just how many goals do you expect the Kings to score this year? (They had 239 last year)

 

[KingsHockey24]

Why?

This is 13 more goals than the Kings scored last year, and the Kings made the playoffs. Scoring is likely to slightly decrease in a non-expansion year.

If the Kings score 252 goals and maintain the same defensive level they had last season (despite being without their best defensive player for half the season) they would be +16 in GD.

Unless you think the Kings defensively fall off a cliff this season how on Earth do you project them to be a bottom 5 team with 252 goals?

The Kings are unlikely to have the offensive firepower to be a 260+ goal offensive team. They just don't have the firepwoer up front, on the back end or run an offensive system that will produce that.

Jonathan Quick is another year older and our secondary option is Dan Clou- uhm.. Cal Petersen.

I fully expect that area to be exploited this season.

 

[Sol]

I’m really looking to Byfield to take a big step forward. I’m digging Vilardi, Spence, Clarke.

I’m impartial to
Bjornfot, Walker, JAD.

I don’t like Petersen and Lias Andersson.

I truly don’t think there’s anything in Petersens game that anyone should hope for him to rebound to.. he’s been ass a lot more than he’s been good.

 

[HookKing]

I just read the piece on LA Kings Insider about Vilardi and it really got me thinking about the team this year. I believe there are two players who can really have a meaningful impact on this team, kind of like 'X' factors.
One of them is Gabe. I just see a difference in him this year. He said it's the first time he's stayed home for the summer. It's obvious that he has put work into his skating and conditioning. It also looks like he has taken a mental assessment of where he is at and where he wants to be. I like hearing him say stuff like he's only going to control the things he can and let the rest go. Danault/Moore and others are clearly upbeat about what they have seen so far.

The other player i'm excited about is Clarke. He is just such a dynamic player and this could have immense rewards on the team's blueline. Let's think about it. We have Doughty/Clarke/Durzi who are really good at generating offense. We have Edler/Roy/Anderson who are defensively responsible and can also chip in offense when needed. It just seems like such a good group.

I know it's still early, but the power play looks leaps and bounds different from what we've all seen last year. Everyone looks like they have a clear purpose and they are executing that with quick passing/decisions. I don't want to shoot my wad this early in the season, but i'm just very optimistic about the type of play we're going to see this year...even if we regress in certain areas.

Thoughts?

We've already seen this movie multiple times and before you know it out comes the game of catch between Kopitar and Doughty.

 

[kings11]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts
Kevin Fiala	82	31	37	68
Adrian Kempe	76	30	26	56
Anze Kopitar	69	14	38	52
Viktor Arvidsson	72	22	22	44
Philippe Danault	80	16	27	43
Drew Doughty	70	12	30	42
Trevor Moore	82	16	23	39
Arthur Kaliyev	80	23	16	39
Alex Iafallo	80	15	21	36
Quinton Byfield	79	12	24	36
Brandt Clarke	73	6	20	26
Sean Durzi	77	7	18	25
Carl Grundstrom	75	9	16	25
Blake Lizotte	82	8	15	23
Matt Roy	80	4	16	20
Gabe Vilardi	37	6	11	17
Brendan Lemieux	70	8	9	17
Alex Edler	55	4	9	13
Sean Walker	45	3	9	12
Mikey Anderson	77	2	7	9
Rasmus Kupari	14	2	3	5
Jaret Anderson-Dolan	6	1	1	2
Jordan Spence	8	1	1	2
Tobias Bjornfot	7	0	0	0

Taking a shot at this, taking some projection here with the uncertainty of Clarke, but I am thinking he sticks. The team is trying to win and he can help them.

Games should add up correctly. 492 d-man games and 984 forward games. (assuming they don't dress 8 d-man in any games).

Tough to project long-term injuries, such as the one Doughty suffered, but unfortunately there is likely to be one, which will uptick the man-games lost and increase AHL icetime.

252 goals, up from 239 last year.

Improved production from the third line as Byfield takes the step that is needed and AK increases his goal total by 9, making up most of the likely regression from Danault. Also a return to previous play from Iafallo. This line is going to be presented a lot of opportunity to have favorable matchups, especially in games against weaker teams in the division, which don't feature players as talented as Byfield and AK outside of the Top 6.

I think with the balancing out of icetime and less opportunity vs weaker opponents as last year that the Kings 2nd line takes a bit of a step back this year. They will still be good, but very likely last year were career years for Danault and Moore.

The first line is ok, not one of the best in the league but not a liability either. Kopitar falls off a bit with age, and Kempe's goal totals dip a bit, but his overall point totals hold steady with the addition of an actual 1st line player, something they didn't have last year.

Have 1.58 assists per goal scored vs last seasons 1.57, so relatively close, might skew a couple of peoples assists totals up a pinch. Often an error people make when doing statistical projections is creating to many assists per-goal scored.

Yeah I don’t see Kopitar getting anything less than his usual 65-70 points.
I’ll go a step further and say he’ll lead the team in scoring again! Right into the playoffs

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Why?

This is 13 more goals than the Kings scored last year, and the Kings made the playoffs. Scoring is likely to slightly decrease in a non-expansion year.

If the Kings score 252 goals and maintain the same defensive level they had last season (despite being without their best defensive player for half the season) they would be +16 in GD.

Unless you think the Kings defensively fall off a cliff this season how on Earth do you project them to be a bottom 5 team with 252 goals?

The Kings are unlikely to have the offensive firepower to be a 260+ goal offensive team. They just don't have the firepwoer up front, on the back end or run an offensive system that will produce that.

Just how many goals do you expect the Kings to score this year? (They had 239 last year)

I think people are spooked because the top is low...but without recognizing that you've spread out the depth. I think what you did is fair, but in reality I think it plays out with more of a spread, ie Fiala and Kopitar at least over 60 while a lot of middle guys miss games and fall under 45 points.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Moore sure is a wildcard right now. If he continues his play the Kings are a very deep team. But can they afford to keep him? If Vilardi keeps it up this year it's going to make that decision far more difficult.

In a vacuum, no, they can't. But here's hoping he'll hometown/good team discount it a bit. But theoretically kids should be coming for his and Arvy's jobs.

 

[cyclones22]

There are a shit ton of young players who are waiver eligible next off-season so Blake is going to have to grow a pair and cut bait to retain some value or trade some roster players to clear the runway.

 

[lumbergh]

Barring injury, Vilardi's best chance at ice time will be on the 4th line in a 3 man platoon with Lemieux and Grundstrom. Not a role built for his skill set and deficiencies, for certain.

As much as we want Gabe to succeed further up the lineup, he will have his work cut out for him to supplant Fiala, Arvidsson, Kempe, Iafallo, Moore or Kaliyev.

There are always injuries. The Kings lost over 400 man-games to injury last season. You can't make it to the playoffs unless you have a deep team or get really lucky like the Flames last season.

 

[FSL KINGS]

Can we risk sending Pheonix through waivers?

Edit: Thought Cal could for sure play at an average backup level.

 

[Fishhead]

I still think there is to much of an emphasis on pre-season games, we need to remember last year, where many people on this board were convinced that Tkachev, Vilardi and Lias were going to solve the Kings scoring woes because of how they played in the pre-season.

If Vilardi does turn a corner and plays well enough to finally stick in the NHL in a Top 9 role the Kings can look to trade Iafallo or even sell high on Moore to address other areas of need. Specifically LHD and goaltender.

But these same things were said last year at this time too, and then the NHL players flipped their switches to on and look what happened. The same is true of Clarke, we all love Clarke and are hoping that he really keeps this up and is a plug and play star. But there have been plenty of instances of young players (even highly touted ones) looking very good in the pre-season and then completely falling off a cliff when the games matter. Dustin Brown as an 18 year old, Jokinen, Oscar Moller.

Vilardi looks completely different from last year. He's driving the play, he looks way faster, and he's playing with swagger. It's not quite the same situation, at least to me. Last year the points were there but not the play. This year they are both there. I think odds are far higher that he continues this year. So yeah, it's preseason, but I swear I'm constantly trying to figure out what the hell happened to make him look quick.

Clarke, yeah, there is that risk. But something about him is different, he's not intimidated or in awe of anyone. He'll make his move no matter who he is up against on the ice. All 3 of Brown, Jokinen (especially), and Moller were plagued with confidence issues. I'm pretty confident Clarke will just keep improving. If he hits a wall I think it will be mid-season.

 

[FeartheFur]

Vilardi looks completely different from last year. He's driving the play, he looks way faster, and he's playing with swagger. It's not quite the same situation, at least to me. Last year the points were there but not the play. This year they are both there. I think odds are far higher that he continues this year. So yeah, it's preseason, but I swear I'm constantly trying to figure out what the hell happened to make him look quick.

Clarke, yeah, there is that risk. But something about him is different, he's not intimidated or in awe of anyone. He'll make his move no matter who he is up against on the ice. All 3 of Brown, Jokinen (especially), and Moller were plagued with confidence issues. I'm pretty confident Clarke will just keep improving. If he hits a wall I think it will be mid-season.

Clarke looks good. Vilardi looks great. Where the hell is Byfield?

 

[Master Yoda]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts
Kevin Fiala	82	31	37	68
Adrian Kempe	76	30	26	56
Anze Kopitar	69	14	38	52
Viktor Arvidsson	72	22	22	44
Philippe Danault	80	16	27	43
Drew Doughty	70	12	30	42
Trevor Moore	82	16	23	39
Arthur Kaliyev	80	23	16	39
Alex Iafallo	80	15	21	36
Quinton Byfield	79	12	24	36
Brandt Clarke	73	6	20	26
Sean Durzi	77	7	18	25
Carl Grundstrom	75	9	16	25
Blake Lizotte	82	8	15	23
Matt Roy	80	4	16	20
Gabe Vilardi	37	6	11	17
Brendan Lemieux	70	8	9	17
Alex Edler	55	4	9	13
Sean Walker	45	3	9	12
Mikey Anderson	77	2	7	9
Rasmus Kupari	14	2	3	5
Jaret Anderson-Dolan	6	1	1	2
Jordan Spence	8	1	1	2
Tobias Bjornfot	7	0	0	0

Taking a shot at this, taking some projection here with the uncertainty of Clarke, but I am thinking he sticks. The team is trying to win and he can help them.

Games should add up correctly. 492 d-man games and 984 forward games. (assuming they don't dress 8 d-man in any games).

Tough to project long-term injuries, such as the one Doughty suffered, but unfortunately there is likely to be one, which will uptick the man-games lost and increase AHL icetime.

252 goals, up from 239 last year.

Improved production from the third line as Byfield takes the step that is needed and AK increases his goal total by 9, making up most of the likely regression from Danault. Also a return to previous play from Iafallo. This line is going to be presented a lot of opportunity to have favorable matchups, especially in games against weaker teams in the division, which don't feature players as talented as Byfield and AK outside of the Top 6.

I think with the balancing out of icetime and less opportunity vs weaker opponents as last year that the Kings 2nd line takes a bit of a step back this year. They will still be good, but very likely last year were career years for Danault and Moore.

The first line is ok, not one of the best in the league but not a liability either. Kopitar falls off a bit with age, and Kempe's goal totals dip a bit, but his overall point totals hold steady with the addition of an actual 1st line player, something they didn't have last year.

Have 1.58 assists per goal scored vs last seasons 1.57, so relatively close, might skew a couple of peoples assists totals up a pinch. Often an error people make when doing statistical projections is creating to many assists per-goal scored.

If Durzi only scores 25 points, I don't think he'll be playing 77 games.
After one meaningless preseason game, his defensive play looks just like last season.
So I would presume he's going to be a liability defensively and he'll need to score at a decent pace to stay in the lineup.