2024-25 Off Season Thread

[PuckinUgly57]

Starting one for Kings information and discussion. Should be interesting as we all find stuff and post it. Trades, FA, camp, whatever should be kept here Kings related.

David Rittich signed to a one way 1 year/$1 million deal. I think that is a steal for a backup goalie who has shown he can be a 1B or a starter for stretches at a time.

Go back to my comment last fall and I felt Rittich outplayed Copley to be the backup, but Kings management felt otherwise. Rittich got his shot when Copley blew out his ACL in practice in December, never looked back and kept the Kings afloat when Talbot was leaking goals all over the place in Dec and January. I feel he actually outplayed Talbot throughout the season in his overall body of work. He completely outplayed Talbot in G4 and G5 against the Oilers.

One less thing on the to do list, cheap contract and keeps a guy in house who by all accounts is a solid teammate and fits in well with the group.

So my question: what are the issues, identify them and prioritize them. Curious what everyone thinks.

 

[davnlaguna]

Kings have 3 backup goal tenders.
Here is hoping Copley can become a starter.

 

[xis]

Too many issues to list but I'll start with these:

Need work on the D still. Either you need to replace the L3 with a better defender. Englund played well enough and he filled the roll of "enforcer" that the Kings desperately needed but that roll can't come from a D-man in my opinion. I'd rather have that come from the 4th or even 3rd line forward. If you keep Englund and lose Roy, I don't like having Spence and Clarke as my 2nd and 3rd RD. Personally I think Roy is gone and as much as I like the player I think he didn't have the best series against the Oilers. Lots of unforced errors.

I think Arvidsson may be gone as well. Love the player and the compete he brings but can't stay healthy and unless he's going to take a discount it may be too expensive keep him considering his health issues. If healthy he's worth every penny.

Package Kaliyev out of town. I think the kid can actually find a home elsewhere where he fits in better.

Obviously you'll need to address goaltending more than just re-signing Rittich and not sure Talbot is the answer either.

Most importantly there will need to be a system change. I've said this the last 3 year at least they Kings don't have the horses to play man to man defense anymore. Need to figure out a hybrid zone or something else that will work. This will also mean the Kings start the season with a new system and that will mean a slower start. They'll have to weather the storm till the system is worked out. All the more reason why a solid #1 goalie will be important.

1 or 2 of the Kids will need to come in and make in impact much like Laferriere did this season. I liked what I saw from Akil Thomas. Maybe if he can stay healthy he can make an impact on the cheap. I can't see Turcotte make any serious impact. Few games here and there are ok but not what he was supposed to be. Trade him to Chicago? I'm going to keep an eye on the kid Francesco Pinelli. I liked what I saw from him last year at the rookie camp. He may have a chance to step in and have a good camp and crack the line up.

Need a grinder on the 4th line that can go to the dirty areas and keep the other team honest. It needs to come from the forward group I think.

Now, next season is when I expect a lot more out of Byfield. He needs to have a good offseason. Come into camp in perfect shape. Someone needs to figure out why he's always sick and fix that as well. The kid has a medical issue and it'll have to be corrected.

Like I said there's a lot more but that should get the conversation going.

 

[Kings4OT]

Bring in Thomas, give portillo a shot....why not. I would run with him and Rittich since we cant buy a good one.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Kings have 3 backup goal tenders.
Here is hoping Copley can become a starter.

I don't think Copley is offered a contract honestly unless it's AHL bound.

We all love the guy, he is affable and solid teammate but he isn't even close to a starter and IMO just a serviceable backup. His WL record was awesome but his stats were subpar, the Kings really ratcheted down on defense in front of him. Korpisalo was better than him and justified starting last year in the POs IMO but faded hard later in the series.

It's really surprising that there was no real succession plan after Quick.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Bring in Thomas, give portillo a shot....why not. I would run with him and Rittich since we cant buy a good one.

I think Rittich being resigned signals Portillo is still in the AHL, they'll spend the money on a legitimate NHL goalie and not risk Rittich/Portillo. They signed Rittich one way because he will be on the NHL roster so there goes the back up spot, up next is the starter.

I do think Portillo gets his cup of coffee this season to see what the Kings have however.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Need work on the D still. Either you need to replace the L3 with a better defender. Englund played well enough and he filled the roll of "enforcer" that the Kings desperately needed but that roll can't come from a D-man in my opinion. I'd rather have that come from the 4th or even 3rd line forward. If you keep Englund and lose Roy, I don't like having Spence and Clarke as my 2nd and 3rd RD. Personally I think Roy is gone and as much as I like the player I think he didn't have the best series against the Oilers. Lots of unforced errors.

I think Englund did just fine in that LD3 spot. He added some physicality to an otherwise soft group, and while he did make some bone head plays I think he was a good pick up. He's an LD3, can't expect much more you know?

I would cringe with both Spence and Clarke as RD2 and 3. Spence showed he can play in this league, Clarke I still feel is at least a year away.

He reminds me a RH Jack Johnson, just a rover moving around but he couldn't defend his net, was outmuscled and biggest issue was the fear in his eyes on multiple occasions. He has some growing to do both mentally and physically. Spence has RD3 locked down and I don't think they'll roll with 2 young guys like that at the same time.

That brings me to Roy, the more I think about this the Kings will keep him. He has leverage because the other options are Clarke and Spence. If he leaves I feel they'd sign a UFA RD2 anyway, or a trade, so it just makes sense to find a way to keep him.

I think Arvidsson may be gone as well. Love the player and the compete he brings but can't stay healthy and unless he's going to take a discount it may be too expensive keep him considering his health issues. If healthy he's worth every penny.

And Roy relates to Arvidsson, since I think they'll keep Roy they won't keep Arvidsson unless he takes a league minimum PBC. I just cannot see him doing that, this is his last shot for a bigger contract and he will take guaranteed money over what I CAN make money. And LA doesn't have that to offer assuming Roy is resigned.

I think he's a great player when healthy, adds a dynamic to this team that is different but works, issue is health at this point. If Bowlby ditched The Legend, you know damn well Arvidsson is also on that list.

Package Kaliyev out of town. I think the kid can actually find a home elsewhere where he fits in better.

His value is so low I don't even know if the Kings will qualify him. He immediately becomes a UFA and can sign anywhere, bigger issue is his MQO doesn't count towards the NHL 50 contract limit opening up a spot. Blake's comments about "he didn't help us" speaks volumes, that completely torpedoed any trade value which was pretty muchnonexistentas it is. So what's left? No MQO. I fully believe that's the intent.

He just never got it here in LA, and his scouting report 5 years later was spot on - big shot, not the best skater, compete was the issue. He had 4 years here, tried everywhere from L1 to L4 and just didn't make an impact or show the desire to. I said before, this is on the player not the lack of opportunity.

I'd be happy if LA got a 5th round pick for him but he will walk on July 1 IMO.

Most importantly there will need to be a system change. I've said this the last 3 year at least they Kings don't have the horses to play man to man defense anymore. Need to figure out a hybrid zone or something else that will work. This will also mean the Kings start the season with a new system and that will mean a slower start. They'll have to weather the storm till the system is worked out. All the more reason why a solid #1 goalie will be important.

100%, spot on. A solid goalie can at least maybe hold the fort while the kinks are being worked out.

1 or 2 of the Kids will need to come in and make in impact much like Laferriere did this season. I liked what I saw from Akil Thomas. Maybe if he can stay healthy he can make an impact on the cheap. I can't see Turcotte make any serious impact. Few games here and there are ok but not what he was supposed to be. Trade him to Chicago? I'm going to keep an eye on the kid Francesco Pinelli. I liked what I saw from him last year at the rookie camp. He may have a chance to step in and have a good camp and crack the line up.

Turcotte is nothing more than a smaller Lewis 2.0. Sad to say, I expected more from a 5OA.

Need a grinder on the 4th line that can go to the dirty areas and keep the other team honest. It needs to come from the forward group I think.

Oh you mean like Lemieux? Good job Bowlby.

Now, next season is when I expect a lot more out of Byfield. He needs to have a good offseason. Come into camp in perfect shape. Someone needs to figure out why he's always sick and fix that as well. The kid has a medical issue and it'll have to be corrected.

Funny you mention that, I was going to post something similar today. Why is this dude always sick losing 25 pounds in the process? Autoimmune? Something else?

And I sure hope we see a lot more from him next season. This season was a massive improvement, but you have to take his shitty baseline into account too. Almost anything would have been an improvement compared to what he showed the 3 previous years. Funny how he found a way to score 20 in the last regular season game to trigger his Performance A bonuses but was MIA 25 games before that and just about every game in the POs.

I still see a bridge deal in his future, I don't see LA giving him a 8xWhatever at this point. That'll also help fill some of the other holes they currently have freeing up cap space in the mess Blake created.

 

[Kings4OT]

I know its not what he will do, i unfortunately think he trades portillo....Blake will empty whatever is left, i dont think there is many good G to be signed.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I know its not what he will do, i unfortunately think he trades portillo....Blake will empty whatever is left, i dont think there is many good G to be signed.

I would be shocked if he did considering there isn't anyone else in the system remotely close to being a starter. Then again that's his own doing by drafting duds and specific targets rather than BPA.

The list isn't good as you said, only one worth a damn is Swayman and in that case I would trade Portillo going back in a heartbeat. He's a Blake prospect, that's all we need to know:

Thank You - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Thank you for the amazing 9 years

www.capfriendly.com

It's just amazing how this guy capped out a team and doesn't have a single NHL caliber goalie under contract. That's mismanagement at a level we have never seen before.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

No talks with Roy so far but expected to as we get into June:

No Extension Talks Between Los Angeles Kings, Matt Roy

After defeating the New York Rangers in the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, the Los Angeles Kings have had to re-establish …

www.prohockeyrumors.com

Easily a $5.5 million defender, that's what it'll take to keep him in LA. My guess is 5 years/$27.5 million minimum.

RH shut down defensemen carry a premium, and no one else in the system or roster can fill that hole if he leaves.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Yawney and Kings mutually agree "to part ways". So there's no HC, now no AC, da fuq is wrong with this organization?

 

[histkng23]

Yawney and Kings mutually agree "to part ways". So there's no HC, now no AC, da fuq is wrong with this organization?

Guess McLellan is in talks for another HC job (already), and since the two of them usually are a tandem....

Main issue with organization, is that Luc sold AEG that he was "ready" to take ownership of the club, apart from tooling on the Business side of operation. Clearly, he has screwed things up, and has destroyed a culture that had been in established.

 

[histkng23]

Main needs for the team, imo, are:

1.) Size & character - not enough guys on the team seem to have "LA Kings" stamped on their butts anymore (as Dumbo implied), and need some bigger guys that are capable of winning board battles, leaning on opposing players, shielding from front of net.

2.) Grittier/Greasy types of players that are not afraid to mix it up enough to be a nuisance regularly to the opposition

3.) Goalie - addressed in previous comments

4.) 4th Line - I appreciate the Lizard's drive, and hustle, but is time to replace him with someone that matches up better.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Berube hired as TO coach. Matthews is about to get his ass kicked.

I wanted him in LA, guarantee Leafs make it out of the QFs at least next season.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Sounds like the Kings will be looking to trade for a starter this summer, Talbot probably not coming back to LA:

Kings moving on from Talbot? — The Fourth Period

With David Rittich signed to a 1-year deal and LA's desire to add a new No.1 goalie, Cam Talbot may be looking for work elsewhere next season.

www.thefourthperiod.com

 

[Kings4OT]

Sounds like the Kings will be looking to trade for a starter this summer, Talbot probably not coming back to LA:

Kings moving on from Talbot? — The Fourth Period

With David Rittich signed to a 1-year deal and LA's desire to add a new No.1 goalie, Cam Talbot may be looking for work elsewhere next season.

www.thefourthperiod.com

I have a feeling the king's go after anderson...... Hurricanes are going to be looking for a change, sending Blake " never ready freddie " For a Kings Ransom sounds about right

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Can't find it on my phone but one of my favorite memes is him in a Ducks jersey and it says "What Time is It? Five Past Andersen". Freaking gold.

I could definitely see Bowlby going after him, I think Swayman or Ullmark will be too costly in terms of assets and contract although that would address the starter position long term.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

RBA, multi year contract to stay in Carolina. Interesting to to note Tim Gleason also resigned as an AC - I had no idea he was already coaching.

Canes re-sign Brind'Amour off latest playoff run

The Hurricanes have re-signed coach Rod Brind'Amour and his staff to multiyear contracts, keeping one of the best in the NHL behind the bench around for the long term.

www.espn.com

Take another good one off the market along with Berube, looking more and more like Jill will be back without the interim tag in LA.

 

[Kings4OT]

RBA, multi year contract to stay in Carolina. Interesting to to note Tim Gleason also resigned as an AC - I had no idea he was already coaching.

Canes re-sign Brind'Amour off latest playoff run

The Hurricanes have re-signed coach Rod Brind'Amour and his staff to multiyear contracts, keeping one of the best in the NHL behind the bench around for the long term.

www.espn.com

Take another good one off the market along with Berube, looking more and more like Jill will be back without the interim tag in LA.

RBA wasn't going anywhere, just making sure his staff was signed first...i think he stsy Canes head coach until he doesnt want it anymore and moves into a FO roll there.

 

[CaptHowdy00]

Here’s what I see happening. Blowby will fuck it up. (I know I misspelled his middle name) He will somehow, someway make a completely worthless trade, that will probably gut the farm some more and then be out the door by the end of the year.
And regardless of how this season goes, AEG would be absolutely stupid, regardless if Uncle Phil is schtuping Blowby’s wife, to resign him to a new contract.
What’s more, if they have a month like they’ve had this year, where the losses piled up, the Blowby and the new HC, whomever they are, should be fired to stem the bleeding.
(I will probably read this tomorrow and wonder what the hell it says. If it makes sense, it’s on purpose. If it doesn’t make sense, then my excuse is that I’m high and will edited later.)