Rumor: Planning Ahead: 2019 Off-Season

[Scottkmlps]

"Several other bits from Willie Desjardins. He said that with the team eliminated from playoff contention, he’ll be looking at playing more younger players in different situations and would be open to resting some of the veterans over the remaining 10 games."

Yeah, I call bull****. Thankfully only ten more games left of this ***hole.

 

[LAKings88]

I’m boggled that the defense has been so bad this year.

I’d like to see Lowry shown the door too.

Maybe even a complete overhaul on the staff if Sturm doesn’t get the head coaching gig.

The PP also needs to get figured out if this team wants to be successful.

 

[Choralone]

Supposedly Sturm is responsible for team defense. (I think overall team defense - not simply defensemen, per se.) If that's the case I'm not so enamored....

 

[Sleeping Dog]

What a steaming pile of Crap. A-hole with an infection. Seriously dislike WD, he has zero place behind a bench unless it's in Venice Beach

Totally agree. It looks like Brodz might be another healthy scratch tonight. I thought these last run of 20 games or so was to get a good look at him and decide whether to resign him for next season.

Also, can anyone tell me what the heck Adam Oates is providing to the Kings this season? Player development, why?

 

[YP44]

Both Lowry and Sturm were supposed to be great gets for the kings. I think hire the next head coach and let him pick their coaches.

 

[DoktorJeep]

There was a season ticket holder event a couple of games ago, and management addressed the fans. I’m not sure about protocol around here, but another Kings fan on the internet gave this report of what they heard. Lots of interesting tidbits in here.

Yesterday before the game I was with 50-100 STM that were invited to a meeting at Staples Center with Luc Robitaille and Kelly Cheeseman to discuss the “New Kings” and what they are going to do in the near future. Here were a couple of key points from that meeting.

1. They were brutally honest and they know the team is bad and that it is boring hockey. The “boring hockey” was a quote from Blake on one of the PowerPoint slides.
2. The team is old and they want to get way younger. To expect a much younger team in the next season. Went on to say they want the average age on the team to be around 24-25.
3. There is no more talk of just making playoffs, Stanley Cup or nothing. That being said, they know it will not be in the next couple of years.
4. Many players on the current team are in decline. Went on to say that, they mean by decline is that the players are not suited for the current style of play in the NHL.
5. They really want Vilardi ready for next season and are doing anything and everything to keep him healthy.
6. The only 2 current Kings that sound “safe” for next season are Doughty and Kopitar.
7. They REALLY want Hughes. Would not be surprised that if they ended up with the second overall they would make a deal to get the first and draft Hughes.

There was talk about the Muzzin trade, the prospects (very high on Kupari) and moving towards a more balanced team(equal parts offense and defense and not just defense).

 

[King'sPawn]

"Several other bits from Willie Desjardins. He said that with the team eliminated from playoff contention, he’ll be looking at playing more younger players in different situations and would be open to resting some of the veterans over the remaining 10 games."

NHLPA poll; Doughty on chirping, his defensive game; top young players; more - LA Kings Insider

I'll believe it when I see it.

Didn't really happen tonight. Unless he thinks benching Phaneuf and Kovalchuk counts as "resting veterans".

Kopitar at 20 minutes halfway into the third. Doughty too.

 

[KingsFan7824]

There was a season ticket holder event a couple of games ago, and management addressed the fans. I’m not sure about protocol around here, but another Kings fan on the internet gave this report of what they heard. Lots of interesting tidbits in here.

24-25 average next year? To get to 25 from where they are today, would require 61 years to be shaved off the roster. Assuming a full 23 man roster. If they went 22, it would require 86 years to be chopped off.

Sake of argument, buy Carter and Phaneuf out. There's 67 years off the list. However, that's a 21 man roster. From where they are right now, that's still an average age of 27. You add a couple 21 year old's to replace them, that drops the average age down to 26.6 for a 23 man roster.

Maybe they mean over the next couple years to get down to 24-25, but that's still a big bite out of everything. It does get a little easier with Toffoli, Lewis, Clifford, Forbort, LaDue, and Campbell all as UFA's after next year.

Increasingly difficult to do in a hard cap league. How many players can you buy out at one time? I know there are only so many LTIR guys you can have. If they want to push the age down to 25 or younger in 12 or 24 months or whatever, that's probably not happening quickly. Not with all the old and declining players wasting everyone's time. Even the younger guys get a year older every year.

Didn't really happen tonight. Unless he thinks benching Phaneuf and Kovalchuk counts as "resting veterans".

Kopitar at 20 minutes halfway into the third. Doughty too.

That's probably exactly what it means. If the Kings are in any given game the rest of the way, the usual cast of vets will probably still be thrown out there every time.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Good article from Dennis Bernstein, about off season and looking to the future. Mentions they are possibly looking to go buyout route with a veteran. From his analysis, Phaneuf makes more sense over Carter, in terms of the numbers. If the Kings REALLY want to get down to the 24-25 age range, it would seem that Phaneuf, Carter, Quick, Martinez, Lewis and Kovalchuk could all be gone this Summer. Honestly, I am liking many of the younger players and pretty impressed with Roy and Walker. Roy is good defensively and think he will only get better from here. 0 in +/- in 16 games is amazing, during a time in which Kings have 2 wins and horrible negative goal differential.

Grundstrom looking good...wish they would scratch Toffoli, as he's not doing anything for that line. Bring back Luff and let him play with Kempe and Grundstrom. Think Luff would add a great dynamic with them. Scratch Carter and bring back Amadio as well.

As stated by DoktorJeep (thanks for the recap on the meeting!) Bernstein also mentions they really want Hughes.

72 and Cloudy in Los Angeles — The Fourth Period

 

[SettlementRichie10]

There was a season ticket holder event a couple of games ago, and management addressed the fans. I’m not sure about protocol around here, but another Kings fan on the internet gave this report of what they heard. Lots of interesting tidbits in here.

So like that sounds promising, and what a rebuilding team should say, but why the f*** did they sign Kovalchuk, then? Did Blake just magically realize all of those points over the past few months?

If I was there, that’s exactly what I would have asked. “What possessed you to sign a 35 year old Ilya Kovalchuk when you yourself admit here the team is old and slow and can’t keep up?”

 

[Telos]

Honestly, unless there is a young player that you wish to retain and cannot sign, I would rather them keep some of these players and burn more of their contracts. Hell, maybe they find some form of usefulness and you can find a window to trade them. In the end, we aren't competing for anything, and we have our fair share of lingering contracts/buyouts/penalties on the books.

Obviously, Doughty and Kopitar are hard to move and will likely be useful bringing the team back around and still being good when it does, but I think they should keep Brown as well. With his recent play, you could probably trade him with little to no retention, but he is clearly the leader of the team and excellent with young players. If you want the rebound to snap back quickly in the right direction then you need to stitch the "C" back on the right sweater and let him show the new guys the way.

The lottery is a crapshoot, so I don't care about the tank much. If they love Hughes so much then they probably could trade up, but the rebuild is going to be mainly through developing all the picks you get, revamping the coaching staff, and maintaining the right direction.

 

[Telos]

So like that sounds promising, and what a rebuilding team should say, but why the **** did they sign Kovalchuk, then? Did Blake just magically realize all of those points over the past few months?

If I was there, that’s exactly what I would have asked. “What possessed you to sign a 35 year old Ilya Kovalchuk when you yourself admit here the team is old and slow and can’t keep up?”

They signed Kovy long before they came to that realization. In the end, I doubt it matters much. Kovalchuk still has value around the league, regardless if there is retention, they will have gained an asset or two for him without giving up much other than AEG's money...

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

There was a season ticket holder event a couple of games ago, and management addressed the fans. I’m not sure about protocol around here, but another Kings fan on the internet gave this report of what they heard. Lots of interesting tidbits in here.

Phenomenal if that's not all lip service.

So like that sounds promising, and what a rebuilding team should say, but why the **** did they sign Kovalchuk, then? Did Blake just magically realize all of those points over the past few months?

If I was there, that’s exactly what I would have asked. “What possessed you to sign a 35 year old Ilya Kovalchuk when you yourself admit here the team is old and slow and can’t keep up?”

Yeah, probably. Again, yes, the team was carried by the performances of the core last season, but even expecting only a reasonable regression from Kopitar-Doughty-Quick and regaining Carter and adding Kovalchuk to that, on paper, makes sense. Like I can get why people disagree with the reasoning, but it's not nonsensical.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Honestly, unless there is a young player that you wish to retain and cannot sign, I would rather them keep some of these players and burn more of their contracts. Hell, maybe they find some form of usefulness and you can find a window to trade them. In the end, we aren't competing for anything, and we have our fair share of lingering contracts/buyouts/penalties on the books.

Obviously, Doughty and Kopitar are hard to move and will likely be useful bringing the team back around and still being good when it does, but I think they should keep Brown as well. With his recent play, you could probably trade him with little to no retention, but he is clearly the leader of the team and excellent with young players. If you want the rebound to snap back quickly in the right direction then you need to stitch the "C" back on the right sweater and let him show the new guys the way.

The lottery is a crapshoot, so I don't care about the tank much. If they love Hughes so much then they probably could trade up, but the rebuild is going to be mainly through developing all the picks you get, revamping the coaching staff, and maintaining the right direction.

Right, vets are needed for youth insulation or else you end up the Oilers.

DL was able to sign a good bridge dude in Handzus. Don't need to do that when you already have a guy breathing and bleeding LA in Brown.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

To get the age down to the 24-25 range, these 6 are probably on the list to move in some way, and probably a buyout of Phaneuf. The fact that Bernstein confirmed
no calls / interest on Carter at deadline is a bummer. No way he can be part of a 24-25 age group and more exciting hockey. Toffoli should be traded for anything.

Would bet at least 4 of these 6 are not on opening night team, 19-20.

Phaneuf, Carter, Lewis, Martinez, Kovalchuk, Quick.

 

[Martyros]

i would keep Martinez and Lewis. I'm on the fence about Kovy and Quick (both have shown heart during this abysmal season, but both sides will likely benefit in a change of scenery). There is no reason to keep either Phaneuf or Carter. I have no idea why Toffoli is still on this team; he should have been gone 3 years ago, before Pearson IMO.

 

[KINGS17]

There was a season ticket holder event a couple of games ago, and management addressed the fans. I’m not sure about protocol around here, but another Kings fan on the internet gave this report of what they heard. Lots of interesting tidbits in here.

The only thing surprising about this is Robitaille and Blake couldn't see it last year.

 

[DoktorJeep]

I take what was allegedly said at the STM event with a major grain of salt. First, it's Robitaille & Cheeseman speaking, so the focus is business and renewals. So I'm sure their message is tailored to what that audience expects to hear. If it was a press conference, I doubt BLuc would have those same selling points in front of the media. One because it calls out the players, which they won't (nor should imo) do. And two, because, like @KingsFan7824 broke down earlier in the thread, it's hard to get younger and faster because of contracts and budgets.

The one thing from that report that I believe 100% is that they are praying they get Hughes in the draft and a healthy Vilardi, because that is by far the fastest way to accelerate the rebuild based on any plausible scenarios.

It's not a terrible strategy to have right now, because really, what else is there? Now, if they decide to try and get Hughes by moving up in the draft, I'll give them a ton of credit for just trying. It would be fun to get speculation on that scenario around the league.

Right now, the race for best lottery odds is coming down to Ottawa (aka Colorado), LA, Detroit and NJ.

I think their only shot at moving up to get Hughes is if LA gets either the 2nd and maybe, maybe 3rd overall. Anything lower, and I just don't see there being enough there to make a trade when you include the 1st rounder from Toronto. There is still time for the players below Hughes and Kakko to get hyped pre-draft, but again, this is all about hoping for something to happen that the Kings have no direct control over.

I think Blake has this one, small window to put his stamp on the team. He's done nothing but take half measures since he got the job, and he's led this team to a mess. All reports point to positive things when it comes to management acknowledging a change is needed. But Luc and Blake have boxed themselves into a corner where if they don't come away winners from the draft, they're going to be left real short when it comes to turning over the roster like they say they want to.

 

[kingsboy11]

So going into next season this is how I see it.

Not going anywhere: Doughty, Kopitar

Unlikely to go anywhere: Brown, Kempe, Iafallo, Lewis? (Lewis is kind of in between leaving and staying), Clifford, Forbort

Players likely to be moved/bought out: Kovalchuk, Carter, Phaneuf, Martinez, Toffoli, Quick

Young players vying for a roster spot: Vilardi, Kupari, Grundstrom, Roy, Walker, Ladue, 1st round pick (prays for Hughes/Kakko), Wagner, Amadio, Leipsic, JAD, Thomas, Brickley, Strand, Clague, Luff, MacDermid, Anderson

18 young players are looking to make this roster this fall. I'm not sure the last time that has happened.

 

[AlphaBravo]

To get the age down to the 24-25 range, these 6 are probably on the list to move in some way, and probably a buyout of Phaneuf. The fact that Bernstein confirmed
no calls / interest on Carter at deadline is a bummer. No way he can be part of a 24-25 age group and more exciting hockey. Toffoli should be traded for anything.

Would bet at least 4 of these 6 are not on opening night team, 19-20.

Phaneuf, Carter, Lewis, Martinez, Kovalchuk, Quick.

Here are my thoughts. Kong’s should buy out Phaneuf so that the younger defensemen get into the lineup and get playing time. He is dead weight at this point and his buy out hit is manageable.

Keep Martinez. We are going to be terrible the next two years, but don’t want to get our young goalies blown out and lose their confidence. It will be good to at least have Doughty and Martinez mentoring the young D.

Trade Lewis. There will be teams interested so move him out. We will have a lot of young forwards pushing for a spot. No need to have Lewis around taking away a spot.

Keep Carter. No team wants him in a trade. Hope he can at least be a decent role model and fill the 3C spot or first line wing.

I think teams would be interested in Kovy if salary is retained. Trade him for an asset at the draft.

I have no idea about Quick. If anyone is interested, trade him. If not, his role should be 1A/B with Petterson. Trade Campbell for an asset because we risk losing him to expansion otherwise. If Quick trades then roll with Campbell/Petterson.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Trading up for the first overall pick would take a gargantuan package, like Doughty+.

 

[AzKing]

So going into next season this is how I see it.

Not going anywhere: Doughty, Kopitar

Unlikely to go anywhere: Brown, Kempe, Iafallo, Lewis? (Lewis is kind of in between leaving and staying), Clifford, Forbort

Players likely to be moved/bought out: Kovalchuk, Carter, Phaneuf, Martinez, Toffoli, Quick

Young players vying for a roster spot: Vilardi, Kupari, Grundstrom, Roy, Walker, Ladue, 1st round pick (prays for Hughes/Kakko), Wagner, Amadio, Leipsic, JAD, Thomas, Brickley, Strand, Clague, Luff, MacDermid, Anderson

18 young players are looking to make this roster this fall. I'm not sure the last time that has happened.

They will be lucky to get pennies on the dollar for Toffoli if they trade him this Summer. I don't even think that they can get a 2nd rounder with the way his production has fallen off a cliff the last several weeks. Kovalchuk and Carter won't get much of anything in return either due to the contracts. Looks like the goal will be to move money rather than get anything in return that will help the team in terms of players or high picks.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Right, vets are needed for youth insulation or else you end up the Oilers.

DL was able to sign a good bridge dude in Handzus. Don't need to do that when you already have a guy breathing and bleeding LA in Brown.

And Clifford.

 

[KingsFan7824]

So like that sounds promising, and what a rebuilding team should say, but why the **** did they sign Kovalchuk, then? Did Blake just magically realize all of those points over the past few months?

If I was there, that’s exactly what I would have asked. “What possessed you to sign a 35 year old Ilya Kovalchuk when you yourself admit here the team is old and slow and can’t keep up?”

Do you think they were rebuilding in the summer of 2018? Do you think they could rebuild in the summer of 2018? They couldn't rebuild in the summer of 2017 either. Carter was already 32 then, in a league that we keep saying is getting younger. Thankfully it was just some money for Kovalchuk, and whatever deal they had for Pacioretty fell through.

They signed Kovy long before they came to that realization. In the end, I doubt it matters much. Kovalchuk still has value around the league, regardless if there is retention, they will have gained an asset or two for him without giving up much other than AEG's money...

I'm not sure Kovalchuk is any sort of asset. If they can manage to get rid of him, they'll probably get an equal contract back at best. He's going to be 36 next month. Assuming he wants to leave the LA life, because he had a full NMC through next year, and then gets to pick 7 teams in his last year.

The only thing surprising about this is Robitaille and Blake couldn't see it last year.

Rebuilding is usually forced on teams. Either by certain players choosing to leave, or a team having a 18-19 Kings season where the bottom falls out completely. Until one or both of those happen, teams will likely hold onto any hope of being competitive. Did Washington plan on getting Ovechkin? No. They fell bassackwards into him, in a year when they had Jagr, Lang, Bondra, Gonchar, fully expecting to compete for a playoff spot, if not the division.

 

[BigKing]

Trading up for the first overall pick would take a gargantuan package, like Doughty+.

Not if the Kings have the #2 and the team at #1 likes Hughes/Kakko evenly.

If I'm at #1 and am going to take Kakko anyways, I'd gladly move down to #2 for the Toronto pick.