Confirmed with Link: What to do With Iafallo / Update: Iafallo re-signed 4 years, 16 million

[YP44]

What should Blake do with Iafallo?

We need to open up top six spots for some prospects at some point, but also this team has said it wants to push for the playoffs and has turned a corner when it comes to selling off assets for futures.

So I struggle with what the plan for Iafallo should be and put three options in a poll. I personally think it may depend what his contract demands are, but am leaning to dealing him.

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[Islcey]

What should Blake do with Iafallo?

We need to open up top six spots for some prospects at some point, but also this team has said it wants to push for the playoffs and has turned a corner when it comes to selling off assets for futures.

So I struggle with what the plan for Iafallo should be and put three options in a poll. I personally think it may depend what his contract demands are, but am leaning to dealing him.

I like him but wouldn't be sad if we dealt him for a top 4 LHD around the same age.

 

[YP44]

I like him but wouldn't be sad if we dealt him for a top 4 LHD around the same age.

I think that is what Maata was supposed to be. I'm still hoping for an adjustment period and Maata will be a decent pick up. Remember beginning of last year when Roy looked out of place?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

If I have to decide right now I say re-sign; not many people his age in the org and he's a useful player even if he's had a rough start; have to believe he's going to snap out of it.

Of course by the end of the year who knows, maybe Turcotte or someone else makes him obsolete.

His contract has great value so if he rounds back into form and a contender will give up a good piece for him, I'm not wholly against it.

I think he's very much a wait-and-see.

 

[YP44]

If I have to decide right now I say re-sign; not many people his age in the org and he's a useful player even if he's had a rough start; have to believe he's going to snap out of it.

Of course by the end of the year who knows, maybe Turcotte or someone else makes him obsolete.

His contract has great value so if he rounds back into form and a contender will give up a good piece for him, I'm not wholly against it.

I think he's very much a wait-and-see.

fair take

 

[Lt Dan]

If I have to decide right now I say re-sign; not many people his age in the org and he's a useful player even if he's had a rough start; have to believe he's going to snap out of it.

Of course by the end of the year who knows, maybe Turcotte or someone else makes him obsolete.

His contract has great value so if he rounds back into form and a contender will give up a good piece for him, I'm not wholly against it.

I think he's very much a wait-and-see.

I will be the contrarian here.

Alex gets first line minutes and he is a sub 20 goal scorer. It like like Craig Johnson, Steve Heinze, Erik Rassmussen, and Trent Klatt all over again. Brown was already moved off of Kopitar's line and it's time for the Iafallo experiment to end.
At this point, he is nothing more than a placeholder to me. We should deal him at the deadline and let a kid take his place the rest of the year.

If a kid isn't ready, we should trade for or sign a true goal scorer. We are currently 10 mil under the cap and have another 10 mil coming off the books from Phaneuf and Kovalchuk

 

[Docgonzo]

I think it all depends on the money and the term. If it’s for like 3-4mil 2-3 years then sure sign him. You could always move him down the lineup if someone can take his spot.

If it’s more than that trade him, though I don’t think you’ll get much for him. Because I don’t know how much better he can get and I’d rather leave space open for possibility of dealing prospects for mid twenties established players once the rebuild starts to go on the upswing.

 

[YP44]

I will be the contrarian here.

Alex gets first line minutes and he is a sub 20 goal scorer. It like like Craig Johnson, Steve Heinze, Erik Rassmussen, and Trent Klatt all over again. Brown was already moved off of Kopitar's line and it's time for the Iafallo experiment to end.
At this point, he is nothing more than a placeholder to me. We should deal him at the deadline and let a kid take his place the rest of the year.

If a kid isn't ready, we should trade for or sign a true goal scorer. We are currently 10 mil under the cap and have another 10 mil coming off the books from Phaneuf and Kovalchuk

This is why I am split, I see an support both argurments.

I would like to see Kempe-Kopitar-Brown to put a right shot there. Maybe replace Brown with Vilardi but then Gabe isn't getting faceoff experience, but would be getting top line minutes.

 

[YP44]

I think it all depends on the money and the term. If it’s for like 3-4mil 2-3 years then sure sign him. You could always move him down the lineup if someone can take his spot.

If it’s more than that trade him, though I don’t think you’ll get much for him. Because I don’t know how much better he can get and I’d rather leave space open for possibility of dealing prospects for mid twenties established players once the rebuild starts to go on the upswing.

he just always seems like a passenger instead of driver of the line. However, LA has tried a lot of LW with Kopitar over the years and it seems to be a hard position to fill, and one that he is able to.

 

[crassbonanza]

Alex gets first line minutes and he is a sub 20 goal scorer.

He was on pace for 21 goals last year when the season was halted.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I will be the contrarian here.

Alex gets first line minutes and he is a sub 20 goal scorer. It like like Craig Johnson, Steve Heinze, Erik Rassmussen, and Trent Klatt all over again. Brown was already moved off of Kopitar's line and it's time for the Iafallo experiment to end.
At this point, he is nothing more than a placeholder to me. We should deal him at the deadline and let a kid take his place the rest of the year.

If a kid isn't ready, we should trade for or sign a true goal scorer. We are currently 10 mil under the cap and have another 10 mil coming off the books from Phaneuf and Kovalchuk

The "not a 20 goal scorer" thing is an unfair criticism--he was well on his way to 20 before the season cut short last year and believe it or not he's on pace for that again. He also had 43 points on pace for 50, and is on pace for that again as well. That's pretty typical complementary player production. He is also one of the only people who improved year over year over year through the last three awful years when almost every other player regressed. He's proven to be one of the only players who can play well with Kopitar and Anze has enjoyed some success next to him. I think calling for him to leave in less than 10 games into a shitshow season after three years of consistent improvement is premature.

I think most people agree when this team is competitive again he'd be better suited in a 2nd/3rd line role but just like everyone else--who is going to beat him out for a spot? We can't even get Amadio out of the lineup, who's ready to take the hardest minutes on the team?

If you're just trying to cash out on value, yeah, trade him now. He's got a great contract and is in the middle of his prime and can go to a contender to give them some puck digging and complementary production, but I'm not sure what you'd get back for him.

But I think he's playing a pretty important role on this team being one of the only ones on the team who can eat those minutes and fits that age group. Even if it's a role as a 'placeholder', you still have to fill that hole. Otherwise, you end up with an Ottawa, Edmonton situation.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Is there a "If someone offers something ridiculous for him, trade him" option?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

he just always seems like a passenger instead of driver of the line. However, LA has tried a lot of LW with Kopitar over the years and it seems to be a hard position to fill, and one that he is able to.

I don't think he's going to be a play driver on any line, that doesn't mean he has no value. He's a complementary winger, put him with a puck hog.

 

[KINGS17]

I tell you what I am going to do: Stop picking him to score the first goal of the game.

 

[Lt Dan]

He was on pace for 21 goals last year when the season was halted.

I have that number at 19.55


Let me preface, this is not my strong point, but the math is right
70 games plated last season out of an 82 game season = .8536 , we will call it 85%
Alex I scored 17 goals in those 70 games.
Add 15% to 17= 19.55

Even if I do the math the other way...
17/70= .2428571428571429
.2428571428571429 *82= 19.914

 

[Lt Dan]

I tell you what I am going to do: Stop picking him to score the first goal of the game.

so it's your fault?

 

[tny760]

i think the best way i can describe him is that i don't have a problem with him, but wouldn't miss him if he was gone. don't want to diminish his production but he's not really a top line winger imo

i feel like we have too many guys on this team that just exist, that don't do anything in particular exceptionally well and i want something exceptional on my top line even if it comes with flaws. i guess i'm not gonna feel too hurt if he's being paid <$3M but i'm assuming he's looking for term and he might find that elsewhere?

 

[Lt Dan]

The "not a 20 goal scorer" thing is an unfair criticism--he was well on his way to 20 before the season cut short last year and believe it or not he's on pace for that again. He also had 43 points on pace for 50, and is on pace for that again as well. That's pretty typical complementary player production. He is also one of the only people who improved year over year over year through the last three awful years when almost every other player regressed. He's proven to be one of the only players who can play well with Kopitar and Anze has enjoyed some success next to him. I think calling for him to leave in less than 10 games into a shitshow season after three years of consistent improvement is premature.

I think most people agree when this team is competitive again he'd be better suited in a 2nd/3rd line role but just like everyone else--who is going to beat him out for a spot? We can't even get Amadio out of the lineup, who's ready to take the hardest minutes on the team?

If you're just trying to cash out on value, yeah, trade him now. He's got a great contract and is in the middle of his prime and can go to a contender to give them some puck digging and complementary production, but I'm not sure what you'd get back for him.

But I think he's playing a pretty important role on this team being one of the only ones on the team who can eat those minutes and fits that age group. Even if it's a role as a 'placeholder', you still have to fill that hole. Otherwise, you end up with an Ottawa, Edmonton situation.

Those aren't first line numbers tho. those are second line numbers, at best. . Your first liners should be 30 goal guys or bring something very unique to the line . And remember, if he slides down lines, his minutes will drop and his production will as well


@YP44 used the perfect term for him "passenger" He isn't doing anything on that line that anyone else can't do. He isn't particularly good at anything other than that he is a slightly above average forechecker.

I would be all for swapping him for AA , and sliding him down to the second or third line. The only thing scarier to me than Iafallo continuing to be on the first line would be to see Wagner there

 

[crassbonanza]

I have that number at 19.55


Let me preface, this is not my strong point, but the math is right
70 games plated last season out of an 82 game season = .8536 , we will call it 85%
Alex I scored 17 goals in those 70 games.
Add 15% to 17= 19.55

Even if I do the math the other way...
17/70= .2428571428571429
.2428571428571429 *82= 19.914

I just saw that he was at .25 GPG, applied that to an 82 game season and got 20.5, 5 always rounds up so I moved it to 21. Our different results are likely just due to rounding differences, haha.

 

[crassbonanza]

Those aren't first line numbers tho. those are second line numbers, at best. . Your first liners should be 30 goal guys or bring something very unique to the line . And remember, if he slides down lines, his minutes will drop and his production will as well

I will say that I like Iafallo because I believe he will remain a cheap piece that fits nicely with Kopitar, as Kopitar's role changes he will still be helping Kopitar succeed. I don't think teams think in terms of 1st line, 2nd line, 3rd line anymore; I think teams think of top 9. I do think Iafallo is a top 9 player and if he remains relatively cheap he is an important piece because it allows other higher skill players to be deployed on other lines to take advantage of mismatches.

I did want to say that you do make some very valid points though.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Those aren't first line numbers tho. those are second line numbers, at best. . Your first liners should be 30 goal guys or bring something very unique to the line . And remember, if he slides down lines, his minutes will drop and his production will as well


@YP44 used the perfect term for him "passenger" He isn't doing anything on that line that anyone else can't do. He isn't particularly good at anything other than that he is a slightly above average forechecker.

I would be all for swapping him for AA , and sliding him down to the second or third line. The only thing scarier to me than Iafallo continuing to be on the first line would be to see Wagner there

Look around the league, those are top-six numbers on almost every single team. I'm not going to run that report again. But going back to 2019--the Blues top 3 scorers were 77, 68, 54, then under 50. Tampa Bay had the mega line at 90s-100s, then all in the 40s. And keep in mind AI is doing this on an offensively deficient team, so those points are deflated. he was our 2nd leading scorer last year. AI in a different market is Alex Killorn.

You want to swap him for AA...Iafallo outproduced him last year and is matching him this year. AA might be more raw skilled and maybe it's worth a try, but there's more to hockey than just talent--AA needs the puck, as you've noticed, how will that mesh with Kopitar?

It's so strange he's doing things that everyone else can do but that no one else can wrestle a spot away from him. People are so ready to jettison these guys that they call 'passengers' and 'placeholders' but where's the challenge to their spot coming from? We can barely field a full complement of forwards now!

 

[Lt Dan]

It's so strange he's doing things that everyone else can do but that no one else can wrestle a spot away from him.

That's a coaching decision. Case in point, Amadio. Case in point part 2: The Ginger got the start over JAD last night.

 

[Ghetty Green]

Cash out

Trade him

 

[Ghetty Green]

I think that is what Maata was supposed to be. I'm still hoping for an adjustment period and Maata will be a decent pick up. Remember beginning of last year when Roy looked out of place?

We got Matta for free #Levels

 

[Ollie Weeks]

For now I say re-sign. He’s fine where he is and will be a great complementary guy in the middle six when the team naturally improves around him. We’ll just end up shopping around for a guy like him at a trade deadline down the road. We have cap space and I doubt he’ll be breaking the bank.