Martinez to Vegas

[LAKINGSFAN]

Bob Mckenzie is saying that Martinez is on the move to Vegas. Martinez will not be in the lineup for tonights game at the Jets. May be official tonight or tomorrow.

 

[davnlaguna]

Some writer said they are waiting until the kings are back in the USA to make it easier for customs

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Fuuuuuuck. Sorry. Any other team would have worked. I want to root for Martinez but now I cannot.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

Fuuuuuuck. Sorry. Any other team would have worked. I want to root for Martinez but now I cannot.

I agree with you Stunner. Thats two straight trades with teams in our division. I was hoping shipping them off to teams in the East. Blake must be getting better offers from the division rivals. I heard that they are asking for 2 second round picks from VGK.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I agree with you Stunner. Thats two straight trades with teams in our division. I was hoping shipping them off to teams in the East. Blake must be getting better offers from the division rivals. I heard that they are asking for 2 second round picks from VGK.

Yeah. That used to be a true no go. Trading to rivals/in the division.

I'll be honest, I don't even dislike the actual Golden Knights team, I just hate their transplant, ignorant fans. They don't even understand why their team was so good right away due to the overcorrection of other failed warm weather expansion teams. This is going to happen again with Seattle and the same rules applying (To which Vegas, in their continued preferential treatment, will be exempt from that expansion draft as well).

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

Yeah. That used to be a true no go. Trading to rivals/in the division.

I'll be honest, I don't even dislike the actual Golden Knights team, I just hate their transplant, ignorant fans. They don't even understand why their team was so good right away due to the overcorrection of other failed warm weather expansion teams. This is going to happen again with Seattle and the same rules applying (To which Vegas, in their continued preferential treatment, will be exempt from that expansion draft as well).

I actually do dislike them. It may be a jealousy thing with me though. Coming out of the gate and going to the SCF. Every other team seems to have gone though their growing pains but them and now Seattle as you mentioned. Its a different dislike than with the Dux for me.

Also, trade finalized. Martinex to VGK for two second rounders (this year and next). Not a bad hall for a 34yo dman and $4mil off of the books. If i count correctly, the Kings will have 11 picks in the upcoming draft as of right now.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Yeah it's a good return, just wish it was another team. Capfriendly shows Kings have Seven picks in the first two rounds of 2020 and 2021. Mostly seconds. Wonder if at that volume they couldn't trade up into the top 2 if they miss out again. But definitely stocking up to accompany what they already have.

 

[pete6835]

Sad to see Marty, Titty and Cliffy go, but it seems like everyone from the Cup team has dropped off, including Kopi, Doughty and Quick. Jeff Carter.......... Well I can go on, but cleaning house it's a necessary evil.

Having all these draft picks, are just "picks". It's what you do with them is the question. I have no confidence in Blake to get it right.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

Sad to see Marty, Titty and Cliffy go, but it seems like everyone from the Cup team has dropped off, including Kopi, Doughty and Quick. Jeff Carter.......... Well I can go on, but cleaning house it's a necessary evil.

Having all these draft picks, are just "picks". It's what you do with them is the question. I have no confidence in Blake to get it right.

I do like that Blake has acquired a lot of picks. Seems to me that he is essentially doing what Lombardi did to build the Kings for their run.

I have stated on another thread that I dont understand the dislike for Blake as a GM. He inherited a bad situation with cap space and I think he has done a pretty good job with that. As I look at capfriendly, we look to have the second most cap space now along with a good amount of picks. I think the Kings have done a good job in recent drafts.

I agreed with stunner that we have a good minor team just no superstar in sight. I am looking forward to the draft to see where they go with all of the picks.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I am medium on Blake. I know Puck couldn't stand the Blake/Robitaille duo. Agreed that he inherited a tough situation at the tail end of several runs and cap restrictions. He did start rebuilding the farm immediately, so even when the Kings hit a wall a few years, he'd already stopped trading away first round picks and had stopped that bleeding. So this rebuild should be more like 2-3 years, instead of a horrid 4-5. Kings did still make the Playoffs the year before last, so they haven't been awful for that long (Just not a cup contender in awhile).

I feel like the Phaneuf situation was bad, but he moved Gaborik to acquire the Phaneuf contract, and it was a net gain on the cap side. The buyout will hurt a lot next year, but there are no major guys to sign, so it's not that bad.

Here are the bad things I feel he is responsible for though. Not interviewing anyone else for head coaching job and just retaining John Stevens. I felt it was weird to not even talk to other coaching candidates. Stevens did make the Playoffs in the first year, but was then swept by Vegas and followed that up being fired 13 games into the next season. But we all saw the team at that time as pretty uninspired and completely offensively inept for a long time. Stevens was just an extension of Sutter, and if that was the case, you could have just kept Sutter at that point.

The biggest things he did wrong were hire Willie Desjardins and sign Kovalchuk. That Desjardins move was so bad, that Jewels From the Crown actually said maybe he's a mad genius and got the worst coach possible to make sure the Kings got a high draft pick. Like reverse analytics. But he pretty much ruined what was left of the locker room and for sure didn't use Kovalchuk well. Somehow Kovalchuk is having some success in Montreal, so Kings as a whole messed that up. Kovalchuk signing of 3 years when no one else would give him more than 2 was a bad misjudgement.

The good new though...

Kings take a fatty hit next year with almost $11 million in dead money for Phaneuf and Kovalchuk, and then it's not bad after that. Just take one year, where it honestly doesn't really effect them much, and then they get most of their cap back the year after when they'll theoretically be more competitive.

Curious on everyone's thoughts on McLellan. I feel like he is bringing in a more aggressive system, which is great, but the Kings can't hold a lead to save their lives. So that feels very San Jose-esque. Like come out hot, then just fade the rest of the game. I'll reserve judgement until we get more players and more skilled youth, but I still believe defense wins championships. I wonder how McLellan will do developing young players. Terry Murray was awesome at developing young players, and I am pretty sure Kopitar/Brown/Doughty all owe their game to how Terry Murray brought them up to be. But Terry Murray was also very clearly not the guy to push them over the hump and outcoach anyone in the Playoffs. Dude looked lost. Sutter was great at the right time for this team (And also had the help of acquiring Jeff Carter, which didn't hurt at that time). So, again, just curious on what people think of McLellan. I'd almost rather have him once the team gets built, rather than have him as the one building and developing it. But I've been wrong before, so we'll see.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

I am medium on Blake. I know Puck couldn't stand the Blake/Robitaille duo. Agreed that he inherited a tough situation at the tail end of several runs and cap restrictions. He did start rebuilding the farm immediately, so even when the Kings hit a wall a few years, he'd already stopped trading away first round picks and had stopped that bleeding. So this rebuild should be more like 2-3 years, instead of a horrid 4-5. Kings did still make the Playoffs the year before last, so they haven't been awful for that long (Just not a cup contender in awhile).

I feel like the Phaneuf situation was bad, but he moved Gaborik to acquire the Phaneuf contract, and it was a net gain on the cap side. The buyout will hurt a lot next year, but there are no major guys to sign, so it's not that bad.

Here are the bad things I feel he is responsible for though. Not interviewing anyone else for head coaching job and just retaining John Stevens. I felt it was weird to not even talk to other coaching candidates. Stevens did make the Playoffs in the first year, but was then swept by Vegas and followed that up being fired 13 games into the next season. But we all saw the team at that time as pretty uninspired and completely offensively inept for a long time. Stevens was just an extension of Sutter, and if that was the case, you could have just kept Sutter at that point.

The biggest things he did wrong were hire Willie Desjardins and sign Kovalchuk. That Desjardins move was so bad, that Jewels From the Crown actually said maybe he's a mad genius and got the worst coach possible to make sure the Kings got a high draft pick. Like reverse analytics. But he pretty much ruined what was left of the locker room and for sure didn't use Kovalchuk well. Somehow Kovalchuk is having some success in Montreal, so Kings as a whole messed that up. Kovalchuk signing of 3 years when no one else would give him more than 2 was a bad misjudgement.

Thats funny. I hadnt heard that.



The good new though...

Kings take a fatty hit next year with almost $11 million in dead money for Phaneuf and Kovalchuk, and then it's not bad after that. Just take one year, where it honestly doesn't really effect them much, and then they get most of their cap back the year after when they'll theoretically be more competitive.

I just noticed that on capfriendly.

Curious on everyone's thoughts on McLellan. I feel like he is bringing in a more aggressive system, which is great, but the Kings can't hold a lead to save their lives. So that feels very San Jose-esque. Like come out hot, then just fade the rest of the game. I'll reserve judgement until we get more players and more skilled youth, but I still believe defense wins championships. I wonder how McLellan will do developing young players. Terry Murray was awesome at developing young players, and I am pretty sure Kopitar/Brown/Doughty all owe their game to how Terry Murray brought them up to be. But Terry Murray was also very clearly not the guy to push them over the hump and outcoach anyone in the Playoffs. Dude looked lost. Sutter was great at the right time for this team (And also had the help of acquiring Jeff Carter, which didn't hurt at that time). So, again, just curious on what people think of McLellan. I'd almost rather have him once the team gets built, rather than have him as the one building and developing it. But I've been wrong before, so we'll see.

RE: McLellan, I think I would give him a solid B. It has to be a difficult situation to come in knowing you are in a full rebuild and know that some of the guys will be traded and the toll that takes on the team. I like that there is a lot more offensive creativity. They have taken a hit defensively but not sure if thats due to the system change or personel. Or, maybe a combo of both.

I hate that its come to this but I am looking forward to the expansion draft and the entry draft. I think they need to go heavy on defense but that just means that its going to take longer for the rebuild as they take a bit longer to make it to the big team.