2020-21 NHL Season Thread

[LAKINGSFAN]

I would still move anyone for eichel if it was an option. He is a player that wants to win and you can build around if your an organization that knows how to do that.

With panarin possibly going the route of voynov im guessing rags pay dearly for jack

I am of the mind frame that a proven commodity (Eichel) is better than a prospect (Byfield).
I heard back in the day the Dodgers could have swapped Dee Gordon (a great prospect) for Roy Halladay and they didnt pull the trigger. Ever since then I am for a proven player over a prospect.

 

[Kings4OT]

I am of the mind frame that a proven commodity (Eichel) is better than a prospect (Byfield).
I heard back in the day the Dodgers could have swapped Dee Gordon (a great prospect) for Roy Halladay and they didnt pull the trigger. Ever since then I am for a proven player over a prospect.

Im basically of the same mindset, but also depends where a franchise is in its rebuild or potential run...

 

[davnlaguna]

Feb 23 2012
Kings trade Jack Johnson and a number 1 pick for Jeff Carter
I think it turned out ok for them

 

[Kings4OT]

Feb 23 2012
Kings trade Jack Johnson and a number 1 pick for Jeff Carter
I think it turned out ok for them

We already knew jmfj sucked balls, i thought we sent the 1st so they would take him.....why they gave us carter, well...they suck as an organization

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

I missed most of the game tonight. Came home at the start of the 3rd. They hung on but nice to see them on this nice streak. Trying not to get excited but its good to see them gelling right now.

 

[davnlaguna]

I missed most of the game tonight. Came home at the start of the 3rd. They hung on but nice to see them on this nice streak. Trying not to get excited but its good to see them gelling right now.

Blues are missing some key people, but every team is having that problem this year. Thing is the Kings took advantage when it was given to them. The West division is closer top to bottom than I thought it would be.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

We already knew jmfj sucked balls, i thought we sent the 1st so they would take him.....why they gave us carter, well...they suck as an organization

Johnson still had hype around the league, he was maybe 4-5 years into it and defenders take a little more time to develop than forwards. But it was obvious, at least to me, by 2009 or so Johnson was not going to live up to the hype. I was hoping for a sooner trade actually but the timing worked out well for LA.

Dumbo was a master at raising falling stock and selling high, this was just another example of it. The Kings sent the 1st to take the remainder of Johnson's new 7 year/$30.5 million deal (signed in January 2010 then while still under his second contract, 2 years/$2.85 million), he was barely 4 months into that deal when the trade happened.

Carter never wanted to be in Columbus, he came over from the Flyers injured (foot) and when he did play he really wasn't up to game speed yet and the BJs fan base was pretty disgruntled. The BJs got rid of a player who didn't want to be there (one of many as we would find throughout the years) but he was instrumental for LA in not only getting that Cup but finally slotting everyone where they needed to be including replacing Johnson with a full time Voynov. It really was addition by subtraction all over the place getting rid of Johnson.

The 1st round pick ended up being the 27th overall in 2013 and the BJs took Marko Dano, who turned into pretty much an NHL journeyman. He's with the Manitoba Moose (Winnipeg) currently and never really made any impact at the NHL level and has been with the BJs, Hawks, Avalanche and now the Jets but not really an NHL level player.

Still safe to say the Kings pretty much robbed the BJs on every front on that deal.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Blues are missing some key people, but every team is having that problem this year. Thing is the Kings took advantage when it was given to them. The West division is closer top to bottom than I thought it would be.

It is, but like you said the Blues were banged up all over the place (Tarasenko out is a huge one) and Minnesota was too when LA beat them to start this run. They have their squad back so tomorrow night should be a real test for this team. The Wild are on a 4 game win streak themselves so someone's streak is ending tomorrow night.

I'll take the 6-0 run though while we can, it's been a challenging few years in LA. Interesting too, if you go back to the 7 game streak to end the season, the Kings are 16-6-3 in their last 25 games. That's a .700 win percentage so very unrealistic, but it's a good taste for these younger players to know what winning feels like and hopefully develops their game and confidence more.

 

[davnlaguna]

Here is a scary thing
Brown is 5th in the league in goals
The other 4 are all in the Canada division

Vilardi tied with Stützle for rookie goals

 

[davnlaguna]

Game vs Ducks March 10
Kings playing with no goailes

ok Troy Grosenick and Matthew Villalta
Either comedy or tragedy could prevail

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Game vs Ducks March 10
Kings playing with no goailes

ok Troy Grosenick and Matthew Villalta
Either comedy or tragedy could prevail

Did the Mrs. kick your ass last night?

=)~~

Getting beat like a mule by a rebuilding LA team on their third string goalie...ouch. Pretty nutty when a goalie who hasn't played an NHL game in almost 7 years slams the door on you. On the flip, it as nice to see an obscure goalie do that to another team for once, seems like it always happens to LA.

I'm still surprised Bob Murray has a job with the way he has trashed that franchise. Not that I mind, but they have nothing but washed up players and not any of Steel, Terry or Jones -the future they touted - have really panned out. Gibson is a good goalie and they have wasted away his prime years, after the Iafallo own last night you could see he was clearly frustrated. Rackell is their only real valuable trade chip. Did Getzlaf even play last night? He was completely invisible.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him ask for a trade somewhere because there is no light at the end of the tunnel for Anaheim any time soon. Murray should have started their rebuild 3-4 seasons ago but refused to.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I'm referring to Gibson, not Getzlaf - he isn't going anywhere.

 

[davnlaguna]

Did the Mrs. kick your ass last night?

=)~~

Getting beat like a mule by a rebuilding LA team on their third string goalie...ouch. Pretty nutty when a goalie who hasn't played an NHL game in almost 7 years slams the door on you. On the flip, it as nice to see an obscure goalie do that to another team for once, seems like it always happens to LA.

I'm still surprised Bob Murray has a job with the way he has trashed that franchise. Not that I mind, but they have nothing but washed up players and not any of Steel, Terry or Jones -the future they touted - have really panned out. Gibson is a good goalie and they have wasted away his prime years, after the Iafallo own last night you could see he was clearly frustrated. Rackell is their only real valuable trade chip. Did Getzlaf even play last night? He was completely invisible.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him ask for a trade somewhere because there is no light at the end of the tunnel for Anaheim any time soon. Murray should have started their rebuild 3-4 seasons ago but refused to.

Gibson is a good goalie on a bad team. Trade him to Buffalo. That is kind of the problem, he may want out but where does a good team need him?
Ducks have beaten us twice (one OT) to our 1 win. My wife reminded me of that this morning,
Then she said neither of our teams are in a playoff spot so better to be in 8th than 5th.
My wife and a lot of Ducks fans are asking for Bob Murray’s head. They don’t see a turnaround in the near future.
Kings are one of the 10 youngest teams
Ducks are one of the 10 oldest.
I kind of feel for Zegras
8 games of NHL experience but I don’t know if it is helping his development. He might be better in San Diego getting quality minutes.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Gibson is a good goalie on a bad team. Trade him to Buffalo. That is kind of the problem, he may want out but where does a good team need him?
Ducks have beaten us twice (one OT) to our 1 win. My wife reminded me of that this morning,
Then she said neither of our teams are in a playoff spot so better to be in 8th than 5th.
My wife and a lot of Ducks fans are asking for Bob Murray’s head. They don’t see a turnaround in the near future.
Kings are one of the 10 youngest teams
Ducks are one of the 10 oldest.
I kind of feel for Zegras
8 games of NHL experience but I don’t know if it is helping his development. He might be better in San Diego getting quality minutes.

Going from Anaheim to Buffalo would be a lateral move, from one urinal to another. I'm not sure which franchise is in worse shape to be honest. Buffalo has beaten the will out of Eichel, even with his injury and recovering he has not performed anything like his skill level or paycheck dictate he should (21GP/2G/16A/18 pts) and now he is out yet again for a while with a neck injury it looks like. He was already injured twice this season (one time in preseason, rib injury during an on ice workout) but hadn't scored in 13 games prior to this neck injury. They have beat him into submission and potentially ruined their franchise center's career. He needs to be dealt but as talented as he is, the money and assets required to move him will be difficult for any team including LA.

Make sure you remind your wife the Kings own the Ducks where it matters by that same 2-1 score.

=)~~

Murray should have been fired years ago. The issue now is the Samuelis, who have been extremely quiet throughout this mess. It almost seems like they don't care, which they do since they are hemorrhaging money with that franchise, there is nothing of significance in their pipeline except Zegras and Drysdale and their recent draftees banked on to revive the franchise are looking like more and more like career B6/lower M6 players. It really makes you think of that almost decade long stretch where the Ducks were so good, how he messed it up and they weren't able to even get to a SCF with those rosters. That's how shitty of a GM he is.

The dealio here is that if the Samueli's relieve Murray of his duties, they have to do the same for Eakins as well. Murray just gave him a vote of confidence that his job is safe - I have no idea why, he was a fringe player and an inept coach, he has a history of not being able to develop players, specifically forwards - but they can't have one of Murray gone or Eakins gone, they both need to go. That puts them in a very difficult position mid season to replace them not to mention no team likes paying coaches and executives to not be a part of the team but the Ducks are super cheap and they both have term left. This whole thing was bungled years ago but has slowly blown up into a full dumpster fire. They have nothing of value really on their roster worth anything and whatever they do have won't get them much in terms of roster players, quality prospects or higher picks. In one word: fucked.

They even mishandled Zegras, he has played 9 NHL games but was scratched for 2 games recently. The 10th game will burn one year off his ELC, and with the Ducks where they are, probably not worth doing that to speed up his eligibility to UFA. He has done well in the AHL, so he's probably too good to go back there, but at this point for financial reasons in a lost season I don't think it makes sense to keep him up at the NHL level because the Ducks are not even competitive and all this will do is stunt his development or kill his confidence. Keep him in the AHL for the season, gut your front office and purge your dead weight over the next months to reboot for 2021-22 and see where he fits in at that point.

 

[Kings4OT]

Saw a paper in Buffalo had the Kraken above the sabers on the power rankings....thats all you need to know about the sabers

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Saw a paper in Buffalo had the Kraken above the sabers on the power rankings....thats all you need to know about the sabers

Brutal.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Solid effort from the boys in both games against the Nordalanche but two observations:

- they were missing two stellar defensemen (Makar and Byram), game would have been a lot different than it was. That team is unbelievably deep and good and they came at the Kings like a buzzsaw shift after shift. The goods news is the Kings, no matter what talent they had out there, did pretty good considering the disparity in talent level
- Petersen is indeed looking like a legitimate number one. I want to see how he does the rest of the way though, many said that about Jones (not me though - just a quick reminder to you fools. Knew he was the product of he Kings' suffocating shot suppression system back then, which is why I didn't think it was a big deal when they traded him for Lucic. It was the pick I was most irked about, not Colin Miller either) and he proved a few years ago he isn't a number one and never was
- the Kings really need a scorer. Whether that be from within or by trade, they need a consistent offensive threat. A game breaker would be nice, the last one I can think of was Palffy, and that was 22 years ago

 

[xis]

I don't know about needing a scorer right now to be honest. I think what they are one maybe even two solid NHL dmen away to truly compete for a playoff birth. Gives the younger kids a bit more time to pan out. Other than Doughty and Roy my confidence level with the other D isn't very high at this stage. I'm not as down on Anderson as you are, Puck but also agree he's not ready for any kind of run yet.

Mattias Ekholm Cap Hit: $3.75m singed through 21-22 season.

Thanks my pick it Blake could make it happen. This deal obviously wouldn't be for this year but you have signed for next year and if things go well try and extend him. All other available D-men right now have contracts expire this year and the Kings don't need a rental.

Maatta for Ekholm..... DO IT Bruh!

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I don't know about needing a scorer right now to be honest. I think what they are one maybe even two solid NHL dmen away to truly compete for a playoff birth. Gives the younger kids a bit more time to pan out. Other than Doughty and Roy my confidence level with the other D isn't very high at this stage. I'm not as down on Anderson as you are, Puck but also agree he's not ready for any kind of run yet.

They definitely need a left defender, at least two solid ones. Totally agree with that. I think you can add Walker to that list as well though, I think Roy and Walker are part of the long term solution, or at least the immediate future to when their contention window opens. They're playing more minutes now than they normally would on a contending team but when everything fills out these two guys should be part of the D2 and D3 pairings. Both being RH shots, and if they are slotted properly at that time, one of those guys will be a healthy scratch most nights so I expect one to be moved in the next 2-3 years.

Anderson is definitely not ready for the role he is in, but it goes to show you how a guy like Doughty allows that to happen. If there isn't a Doughty on this team right now, that defense is in bad shape. He's taking a ton of pressure off Anderson and then that trickles down the lineup by default.

They have focused on forwards a crap ton since Bowlby took over and I think have missed the boat on some good defensive prospects in all drafts, 2017-2020. The King do not have a legitimate D1 or D2 prospect in the system and if they are planning on contending by 2024 they have missed the boat on getting that guy in terms of developing one. They will need to get one or two of them via FA or trade but that's what the glut of forwards is probably for. They will also have their draft picks as capital.

I do think you always need a consistent offensive threat though, someone who can keep the other team honest while the younger players are developing. That's mainly what I was referring to, although if a game breaker becomes available at this stage for LA based on age, contract situation, etc you have to look at it. Two years ago, no way.

I also do not like how the team has become small. I'm not saying have a bunch of McDermids all over but the team is pretty small overall these days especially on defense. They are not moving bodies in front of the goalies. Part of that could be physically not mature enough for guys like Anderson and Big Foot but the defense in general is averaging 6'1"/205 and that's with 6'5"/235 pound McDermid in those numbers. Take him out and those numbers drop a bit.

They need some size back there and sprinkled throughout the lineup in general; look at the Lightning, Knights and Capitals, all three teams a good mix of that speed, grit and size. No coincidence two of those three teams have won the Cup the last 3 years.

Mattias Ekholm Cap Hit: $3.75m singed through 21-22 season.

Thanks my pick it Blake could make it happen. This deal obviously wouldn't be for this year but you have signed for next year and if things go well try and extend him. All other available D-men right now have contracts expire this year and the Kings don't need a rental.

Maatta for Ekholm..... DO IT Bruh!

Wouldn't hurt, he is a bonafide D1 who plays the left side and as you said cost controlled for another season after this one at a very affordable $3.75 million. He fits what they are looking for to a T and is an option to keep or let go next year depending on how the team looks.

The issue is he is the best defender available FA or not, is 30 years old, has never won a Cup and this next contract will be huge. He also has no trade protection so they can send him anywhere they want but I think a contender will have a better shot to land him than LA will although LA has the assets and cap space to get him and keep him long term.

 

[xis]

I also do not like how the team has become small. I'm not saying have a bunch of McDermids all over but the team is pretty small overall these days especially on defense. They are not moving bodies in front of the goalies. Part of that could be physically not mature enough for guys like Anderson and Big Foot but the defense in general is averaging 6'1"/205 and that's with 6'5"/235 pound McDermid in those numbers. Take him out and those numbers drop a bit.

Totally agree.

They need some size back there and sprinkled throughout the lineup in general; look at the Lightning, Knights and Capitals, all three teams a good mix of that speed, grit and size. No coincidence two of those three teams have won the Cup the last 3 years.

Add the Blues to that list.