PLD

[Kings4OT]

I want all of you that keep bagging on PLD to tell me what you really expect from him. If you just say points, tell me exactly how many you expect from 3rd C. Once again, im not making excuses for him. I will straight up tell you he is basically a Pencakes clone that has streaks of dominant play when playing with skilled wingers. He is a big guy that doesnt use his body enough and gases out relatively quickly especially when things suck. So far he has never been given any real opportunity to do anything other than 3rd line and sometimes 2l pp. Kopitar hasnt scored in 10 or 11 games playing prime L1, 1PP, Ozone faceoff etc....not a peep from anyone that bags on PLD for 3rd line points. PLD has only 5 less goals than Kopi. Dunno has the same ammount of G as PLD as line 2C....sure he has a whopping 9a more playing with Fiala and Moore as a 2nd scoring unit vs Laferriere and Grundstrom as a through them in the Dzone and see what happens unit. That PLD contract is for him to play 1 or 2C at the least and when has he had that shot? Should he do more? Sure i think he should hustle all the time, but as i said earlier he is like a Pencakes....effort will be fleeting unfortunately. If you cant quantify what you expect from PLD, then at least point to a 3rd C and say you want him like that guy. If your just made because the Legend is scoring playing with some of the top scorers (with or without him btw)in the league....then say that. Give me some sort of reason why PLD is the worst trade ever.....let chat it up

 

[Fox4Kings]

I like your post. I haven't bagged in him much yet, but I think the frustrating part for me in watching him is what you touched on a bit. Some shifts he looks so dominant, and other shifts appears to not even be trying. You know the capability is there to be more physical and I feel like if he was a bit more aggressive to going to the net by being more physical, it would result in more production.

 

[Kings4OT]

I like your post. I haven't bagged in him much yet, but I think the frustrating part for me in watching him is what you touched on a bit. Some shifts he looks so dominant, and other shifts appears to not even be trying. You know the capability is there to be more physical and I feel like if he was a bit more aggressive to going to the net by being more physical, it would result in more production.

Exactly why i compare him to Pencakes....big body but only uses it sometimes. I really think its on the coach, i know PLD is a "professional" but for fucks sake, get him invested and involved.....if its easy to get points off 3rd line, put Kopitar there since he cant score right now and see if he get 70 points

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I made the pancakes reference awhile back because his value could very well come in some playoff series where he could help wear down a team. For the half season sample size though, I just have to say I don't really see it. I referenced what a pest Evander Kane is for the Kings come playoff time. I'd like to see anything along those lines as well. But my main gripe is not even what Blake gave up for him, it's his cap hit relative to what he's bringing. Cap is the biggest asset in hockey and the Kings have burned so much now. PLD now represents a full 10.2% of the entire team cap. That's behind only Kopitar at 12% and Doughty at 13.2%. And it's for 8 years. When you're paying dudes that cap, you need them to be difference-makers because you no longer have the cap to go get help. It's only less highlighted by the goaltending investment this year being so small.

I can deal with everything the Kings gave up. Villardi sucks to give up, but we've seen some stuff trickle out about his attitude, and with his injury history, Winnipeg gets two year window before they have to decide if they want to drop big money and term into him. And at any second he could just get hurt again. Iafallo was a fan favorite but it is what it is. Kupari sucked, and draft pick obviously would've been nice, but how many picks haven't become anything? Almost all of them it feels like.

For PLD I just never hear his name in games a lot. He doesn't use his size, I'm not sure how skilled he really is, or ever was.

It's almost not worth debating, honestly, because the moves have been made already and he's a King for 8 years at that cap hit. So if it's about seeing about extracting his value, or anyone's value out of the situation, then you have to look to the coaching, right? McLellan is the one throwing him on the 3rd line all year. Like my best teachers would say, did they give you your grade or was that the grade you earned? I don't know in this situation.

 

[Kings4OT]

I made the pancakes reference awhile back because his value could very well come in some playoff series where he could help wear down a team. For the half season sample size though, I just have to say I don't really see it. I referenced what a pest Evander Kane is for the Kings come playoff time. I'd like to see anything along those lines as well. But my main gripe is not even what Blake gave up for him, it's his cap hit relative to what he's bringing. Cap is the biggest asset in hockey and the Kings have burned so much now. PLD now represents a full 10.2% of the entire team cap. That's behind only Kopitar at 12% and Doughty at 13.2%. And it's for 8 years. When you're paying dudes that cap, you need them to be difference-makers because you no longer have the cap to go get help. It's only less highlighted by the goaltending investment this year being so small.

I can deal with everything the Kings gave up. Villardi sucks to give up, but we've seen some stuff trickle out about his attitude, and with his injury history, Winnipeg gets two year window before they have to decide if they want to drop big money and term into him. And at any second he could just get hurt again. Iafallo was a fan favorite but it is what it is. Kupari sucked, and draft pick obviously would've been nice, but how many picks haven't become anything? Almost all of them it feels like.

For PLD I just never hear his name in games a lot. He doesn't use his size, I'm not sure how skilled he really is, or ever was.

It's almost not worth debating, honestly, because the moves have been made already and he's a King for 8 years at that cap hit. So if it's about seeing about extracting his value, or anyone's value out of the situation, then you have to look to the coaching, right? McLellan is the one throwing him on the 3rd line all year. Like my best teachers would say, did they give you your grade or was that the grade you earned? I don't know in this situation.

I agree the Kings need value for his cap hit. I am just not sure how you get that playing 3rd line time, im not even sure how he earned the 3rd line not having any chance for anything else. Very few players get more than 40 points from there. I watch many of the games after (not live) and he seems to draw penalties, disrupt plays in the dzone, not exciting stuff but not totally invisible imo. I have seen him coasting around a lot especially of late and i hate that more than probably anyone. I get he played with Fiala for a couple games when Fiala was making some horrid plays but outside of that PLD hasnt played with much....i think he needs that to be effective, at least try to get him going...overall i mostly agree and if he ever gets played (where he should IMO) and doesnt produce, then im all in on the PLG (plug) bandwagon

 

[Kings4OT]

I guess what i'm thinkis that you have a twenty five year old kid, Who you just signed to a massive contract And now you've done nothing to give him an opportunity for any kind of real success. You've got ninety nine percent of the fan base who hates him now And in my opinion can't even see that. He's not even been given a real shot. Sure, When he was with the jets he was able to get sixty plus points.... But that was with talented line mates, Top line offensive minutes, Top p p time..... And in a system that is set up for more of a scoring type game. Kings got him for a long time.....why is everyone ok with him being "punished" since day 1? Kopistar Hasn't had a goal in ten or eleven games, Dunno Only has a few more assists than PLG And he's playing with the king's leading gold score And leading point getter on the other wing.... As an organization why would you let that sit on one guy's shoulders? Why wouldn't you at least once give the guy a shot? I guess i'm kind of shocked that i'm the only one that feels this way, We've got this kid for a long time why ruin it right away?

 

[Kings4OT]

Yeah i've been bored the last few days, PLG And coaching seem to be the two biggest concerns with this team at the moment..... Nothing's been done about either one While we just watch the kings slide down the standings

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I keep seeing Winnipeg creep into "Cup Contender" conversations, so they are on quite the heater. Which is crazy considering they were looking to blow the team up this summer before extending Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele this summer. I assume that's how much this trade with LA has helped them out. I read a lot of comments and I am not sure if people are serious or not but they do jokingly say losing PLD was net positive. Obviously a productive Villardi is helping a ton. I think that is all fueling this PLD hate as well. The absolute early success for the Jets.

But we're 1/2 one season into an 8 year deal, so tons of time to see what comes of all this.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I sort of hear the points. Kings were in that 1-6-4 streak and never thought to move PLD up to the top two lines. Not sure what's up with that but it makes me criticize McLellan for sure.

 

[Kings4OT]

I sort of hear the points. Kings were in that 1-6-4 streak and never thought to move PLD up to the top two lines. Not sure what's up with that but it makes me criticize McLellan for sure.

Thats a good portion of my criticism of it all....hes good enough that he is given 8.5m for 8 years without ever playing 1 shift for LA but he has to earn a chance to play top line minutes? I believe in the case of the Jets where theres smoke..... lets find out how bad off we truely are instead of limping into every season.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Allegedly PLD to the top line for rushes.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

He's been quite the mixed bag for sure, reminds me of Daniel Jones of my Giants. Talented but no line...bad but no receivers...throws but nothing past 10 yards...Barkley to take pressure off. It's all over the map why he hasn't been successful (and no, he is not a franchise QB).

My point is there literally is not one single thing to pinpoint why PLD hasn't had much success in LA, it's been all kinds of things which really skews the overall picture including himself.

 

[Kings4OT]

Good, need to start seeing whats up

 

[CaptHowdy00]

Also, I’m not saying that the Kings are losing because of PLD, I just think it was a needless trade. They currently have 6 NHL centers. So I’m not sure why they would have traded and extended PLD when they have no room for him.
That’s the crux of the problem, there’s no room for him up the middle and he’s not scoring because he’s not playing 1L or 2L minutes.
This would have worked if the Kings have top tree talent playing in the 3rd line along with PLD, but they don’t.
At the same time PLD needs to take his abilities and take over play regardless if he’s playing on the top or 3rd line. He’s big, has good hands and can keep his feet moving.

 

[Kings4OT]

Also, I’m not saying that the Kings are losing because of PLD, I just think it was a needless trade. They currently have 6 NHL centers. So I’m not sure why they would have traded and extended PLD when they have no room for him.
That’s the crux of the problem, there’s no room for him up the middle and he’s not scoring because he’s not playing 1L or 2L minutes.
This would have worked if the Kings have top tree talent playing in the 3rd line along with PLD, but they don’t.
At the same time PLD needs to take his abilities and take over play regardless if he’s playing on the top or 3rd line. He’s big, has good hands and can keep his feet moving.

This is where i run off the rails from everyone. They drafted Buster (ahead of Stutzle btw) to be the next 1 or 2 C, the legend was also supposed to be that. Nobody else even close, Dunno was brought in to be 2/3 c and has been the solid 2c. Buster has been found extremely lacking at playing C and they resorted to pumping him in every offensive chance they can to hide that he isnt going to be what they thought. On to The Legend, well he still has yet to play more than 60g in any season at any level so how do you hang your hat on that for a 1 or 2c? That leaves who? Lizzard, Jad? Lewis? Who is taking up that torch as Kopistar declines? The trade made perfect sense to me at the time, but i assumed the Kings knew what they were getting. PLD has never been a guy who takes over a game by himself, not once ever in his career is he that guy. Just saying he should be that guy doesnt change him or make him such. If he wasnt brought in for top line minutes and to play with talent to bring his abilities into play....then ya, i totally agree with why the hell did we get him. Im posotive he never once signed that 8 x 8.5 with Blake saying " hey dude, we are gonna pay you...but you need to start on 3c only and maybe a few seconds of pp time and play with guys LA fans never heard of and you better get 60points and take over the game while learning this 1 3 1." If anyone thought he was some sort of game changer on his own, they never watched him....thats on FO. Put him with at least 1 good guy and you will see him start to make a difference.....

 

[Kings4OT]

And really, if its so easy to Take over a game as a third liner, Playing in his situations..... Why not put Kopistar there or Dunno.... Give them the exact same opportunity. Kopi Hasn't scored in what ten games fourteen games?..... Dunno has the same Amount of goals as PLD.... Why don't those two show us how it's done with the less opportunity and less time

 

[CaptHowdy00]

And really, if its so easy to Take over a game as a third liner, Playing in his situations..... Why not put Kopistar there or Dunno.... Give them the exact same opportunity. Kopi Hasn't scored in what ten games fourteen games?..... Dunno has the same Amount of goals as PLD.... Why don't those two show us how it's done with the less opportunity and less time

Dunno was a shutdown specialist for the Habs and when he signed with the Kings he was given an opportunity to be more than that. Maybe, he should be put on L3, with Kopi moving down to L2 and PLD getting a chance on L1.

 

[Kings4OT]

Dunno was a shutdown specialist for the Habs and when he signed with the Kings he was given an opportunity to be more than that. Maybe, he should be put on L3, with Kopi moving down to L2 and PLD getting a chance on L1.

Thats a great point, he was given a chance.... And honestly that's all i'm asking the coach to do. Move those guys around they're losing already, Let's see what he can do. If he sucks everywhere They play him, Then they know they need to deal with it right away don't they? Or is it going to mystically fix itself?

 

[CaptHowdy00]

Stats are easy to come by and direct comparisons is somewhat pointless. But that said, (hindsight is 20/20) I still think that the Kings should have traded for a better goalie, which they need(ed) more than another center.
Part of me thinks that, Flake made this trade to make up for Buster’s lack of production.
Either way, IMHO both were a mistake.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

PLD was absolutely Plan B based on Buster's lack of progress. He still is, Buster is scoring in bunches, he isn't consistent like Kopitar has been generally speaking (12 games? Need a goal bud) so I fully believe PLD was brought in to take over C1 in case Buster flopped again this season.