Kopitar with 4 Goals!!!

[LAKINGSFAN]

I know Alex and Fox spoke about it last night, but I hope he gets some mention in the Heart Trophy race this year. He is have a all around great year and deserves some recognition.

 

[Kings4OT]

I don't think he is the best in the offensive zone or the best in the defensive zone....but he is IMO the best end to end C in the NHL. He has some monster nights and doesn't even get a point.

 

[davnlaguna]

Kopitar won't win the Hart because, west coast and they might give him selke.
They will say having Doughty and Quick means he doesn't carry the team as much as. ________

 

[Deader2818]

You look at the other guys people talk about for Hart and they have a teammate right up there in the top 20 with them. People talk about Malkin for Hart but he has Kessel (82 points) and Crosby (79) Points.

Kucherov has Stamkos (86 points) and a very stacked team. Even Ovechkin has Kuznetsov with 71 points.

Kopitars next closest player in points is Doughty with 55 points, tied for 63rd and forward wise is Brown with 53 points tied for 71st.

If that doesnt scream Hart I dont know what does.

 

[Kings4OT]

I didn't want to give up on TT, but he gives up on so many plays now and has zero hustle....I hate that in a "player"

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I didn't want to give up on TT, but he gives up on so many plays now and has zero hustle....I hate that in a "player"

I'm not sure what is going on with him but he is definitely a soft player. He is someone at this stage, 5-6 years later, I would consider trading 25 goals or not. I see Pearson getting dropped left and right making plays, sacrificing himself to keep a puck alive, taking a beating in front of the net, getting creamed like he did multiple times last night all for the team. I don't see that fight in Toffoli at all - zero.

Pearson hasn't produced like we expected this season but a lot of those goals from others don't happen without him causing havoc down low or going into the crease and doing the gritty work along the boards. I am perfectly OK with that because he is helping everyone else on his line out, resulting in goals for others or at the very least creating high quality scoring chances. Simply put he hustles his ass off whether he gets on the board or not.

I can't say the same for Toffoli - Let's Make A Deal™ mentioned the other night against Colorado or Edmonton that he is the "quietest 23 goal scorer on the Kings this season". Yeah, there is a reason for that - most of his goals have been tap ins, break aways, or slam dunks for the most part which means someone else did the work or he took advantage of a goof. The Boston OT goal has been the highlight of his season hands down.

Toffoli is scared and you can see it. There is no grit to his game at all, he is showing he is a finesse player more and more. I am not sure why or what is causing that but that is not acceptable for a player who was pegged as a T6 player, secondary source of scoring and integrating into the next wave of leaders on this team moving forward.

His board work is garbage (saw him last night not engage in a board battle because he was about to get run over), he turns over the puck at the defending blue line way too much and loses 50/50 battles most of the time anywhere on the ice. His high zone TOs are directly resulting in goals against more this season than at any time I have seen him play. This isn't the first time I have said this because I noticed it in late December and it continues.

He has 6 goals since January 1 - meanwhile Jeff Carter has 10 since Feb 24 - and looking at his game logs his goals are coming against inferior teams for the most part:

October 5 (Flyers, Buffalo, Montreal and Boston x 2)
November 6 (TO x 2, Tampa Bay, Florida, Winnipeg and Washington)
December 6 (Blues x 2, NYI, Carolina, Flyers and Vancouver)
January 1 (Nashville)
February 3 (Vegas, Edmonton, Carolina)
March 2 (Vancouver, Detroit)

December was his most productive month (6G/5A) but see a trend in there? The highlighted teams are teams that are PO bound (the italics denotes they were not/picture unclear at the time he scored - Boston sucked until about Dec 31, Washington and the Blues were 1-2 games over .500).

So 9/23 goals were against crappy competition or roughly 40% of is goal totals including doubling up three times in one game against the same inferior team. Take those 6 out and he has 17 goals left with only 5 coming against quality competition. Good job Ringer.

=)~~

The disappearing act has gotten old to me finally. He is affordable and young and I'm not saying give him away but I think the time has come to entertain offers for him if the return is right to address other areas this summer. I think 2015-16 was his ceiling and he hasn't come close to that since - time to move on and give him and the team a fresh start.

If finally bumping him down to the B6 lines isn't a clear message being sent for a supposed T6 winger, I don't know what else will.

 

[Kings4OT]

Cant argue with that assessment at all, I have watched the same as you. I think he needs to move out as well, I kept hoping he would step up a bit but it just isn't there. He needs to be on a run n gun team where he gets his chances without having to fight for it.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I smell Edmonton.

=)~~

Too bad Dumbo isn't around, he habitually hosed them in most deals - Greene/Stoll for certain, Fraser to a degree (he was important in the 2012 Cup win although not a star) and even the Penner deal worked out in the end:

LA - Penner sent the Kings to the SCF with the OT series clinching goal against the Coyotes and onto their first Cup
EDM - Colton Teubert* played a whole 24 NHL games in 10 years after being drafted, left for Europe and can essentially be called a bust of a 1st round pick
- 2011 1st ended up being Oscar Klefbom (decent yet not outstanding)
- 2012 Conditional 2nd/converted to 3rd when LA didn't win the Cup in 2011 became Daniil Zharkov (who never sniffed the NHL and hasn't played hockey in 2 years)

It's essentially a wash of Penner for Klefbom, and I think LA got the most value out of that deal although I recall it being criticized quite a bit because it was a quiet Trade Deadline and Dumbo stole the show. Comparing it to the Kane deal this year, it's actually quite similar in terms of assets (the conditional pick depends on whether he resigns in SJ or if they win the Cup for example) but there was a lot of activity at this season's Trade Deadline compared to 2011 when the Kings acquired Penner.

Regarding Toffoli, I completely agree, he needs to be in a much more offensively oriented system but the Kings identity has been a heavy checking team for over a decade so unless some massive change happens I think for at least the next 10 years that is the mantra of the Kings and he doesn't fit in the system.

Islanders and Colorado may be a good fit too. Eberle needs a new contract but a lot of that will depend on Tavares and if he resigns or not. He is making $5.5 million right now which has been a Doughty-esque steal of a contract but is due a huge raise for numerous reasons. I can see him getting close to $10 million, he is close to Kane, Toews, Kopitar, etc. but doesn't seem to get the credit he deserves even being on the EC which is odd. Maybe the lack of PO cred hurts this but if you watch the guy any team in the NHL would love to have him, solid two-way franchise center.

While cap space is available Eberle will need a new contract in 2019 ($6 million currently) as will Anders Lee ($3.75 million), who has scored the fourth most most goals in the NHL since November 2016 (Ovechkin, Kucherov and Tavares are 1-3) and will cash in on that no doubt. So NY has a lot of decisions to make and I can see them parting ways with some good players.

Colorado is a young and upcoming team who plays a game that is built for Toffoli, I think he would be a good fit there as well. In Edmonton, there will be changes this summer - bank on it - so this could be a value spot for Blake.

They will have $34.95 million -almost 50% - of the cap allotted to 5 guys (McJesus, Lucic, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins and somehow Zach Kassian is making $1.95 million in this group as well). I haven't even touched their defense yet, 4 players making $17.83 million. Grand total: 9 players, $52.783 million or roughly 67% of cap space. Nurse needs a new deal too this summer, he is on his ELC as well making a whopping $863,333 but is in their T4. Nice job on the contracts, Petey Boy - you fucked the dog solid.

My target here would be Jujhar Khaira, he is Wayne Simmonds II in the making. May not be T6 material, but hey neither is Toffoli at this point but this guy plays balls to the walls, sticks up for his teammates, physical and could be a solid T9 player that fits LA's style. He will be an RFA in 2019 and is on his ELC right now. Decent hands, great size (6'4"/220), character guy and will give it everything night in night out - total LA type player.

My .02.

*he lives in Washington state and is dealing with a brain surgery situation with his wife so hockey has been put on hold, which I commend and absolutely support 100%. But it's telling when a family friend starts a GoFundMe account to collect money for a potential surgery - I don't see him ever coming to the NHL again even though he's only 28.

 

[pasul82]

Love Khaira! Would love to see him in a Kings uni. Great character guy. LA media will love him!

Totally agree Toffoli is due for new sweater though my wife will miss Dodger in Bark Madness...

Go to sleep, Cal:

 

[LoCal Kings]

Colorado is a young and upcoming team who plays a game that is built for Toffoli, I think he would be a good fit there as well. In Edmonton, there will be changes this summer - bank on it - so this could be a value spot for Blake.

Agree. Just hope the same division w/EDM (or conference w/ Colorado) don't deter any mutually beneficial deals. Certainly looks like another Expansion Draft is on the horizon. Wondering how much GMs will start preparing this summer. Assuming Expansion Draft is similar to Vegas, GMs may try to term deals to end in 2020, and/or acquire players who will still be ELCs come 2020. Kings need to figure out which young D-men they want to keep. Cause they certainly will be able to deal package a D-man in a deal this summer.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Agreed - I think one of Muffin or Martinez gets moved this summer for some forward help especially with the signing of Brickley (nephew of Andy Brickley who I watched as a kid, played for the Bruins) and guys like Clague and Strand also getting ready to hit the bigs. Blake has been very active on the defense front, specifically college kids, which is smart - no assets being used on them except cash.

I think pieces to be moved will be Toffoli and one of the two defenders but in separate deals. I can't see LA packaging them both in a blockbuster, they don't have the money for another big dollar deal.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Love Khaira! Would love to see him in a Kings uni. Great character guy. LA media will love him!

Totally agree Toffoli is due for new sweater though my wife will miss Dodger in Bark Madness...

Go to sleep, Cal:

Khaira is one of those guys who will come through when you need it, you can see it in his play and character. I don't think he will be T6 material but in the POs it's the B6 that makes a difference along with special teams since everyone tightens up and refs call games much more tightly.

I like Folin and what he brings, but there is no hesitation here from Khaira when Folin leveled Puljujarvi with what I thought was a clean hit. Khaira stepped in for his teammate to send a message back, which is what you need to do and he definitely won that fight.

It's not all about fighting though, he's going to be a gamer in the not too distant future and has leadership written all over him because of actions like this. Reminds me a lot of Richards but a much bigger version of him.


The Oilers need help pretty much everywhere, and maybe this is an area where a Muzzin or Martinez can be swapped although the Oilers would need to throw in some more since they would be getting established T4 defenders in either one, winners and overall solid defenders.

There is no way I would do a deal for either one of those two straight up for Khaira.

 

[pasul82]

Khaira is one of those guys who will come through when you need it, you can see it in his play and character. I don't think he will be T6 material but in the POs it's the B6 that makes a difference along with special teams since everyone tightens up and refs call games much more tightly.

I like Folin and what he brings, but there is no hesitation here from Khaira when Folin leveled Puljujarvi with what I thought was a clean hit. Khaira stepped in for his teammate to send a message back, which is what you need to do and he definitely won that fight.

It's not all about fighting though, he's going to be a gamer in the not too distant future and has leadership written all over him because of actions like this. Reminds me a lot of Richards but a much bigger version of him.


The Oilers need help pretty much everywhere, and maybe this is an area where a Muzzin or Martinez can be swapped although the Oilers would need to throw in some more since they would be getting established T4 defenders in either one, winners and overall solid defenders.

There is no way I would do a deal for either one of those two straight up for Khaira.

Agreed. Chiarelli under a microscope and we all know it...

By the numbers: How much value have Peter Chiarelli's trades...

Part of me just misses a guy like Lappy or Simmons.

Oilers hockey has been destination TV this season to watch their looming cap crisis, ex-Kings, and see if Nugent-Hopkins can turn water into wine. I see Khaira as that guy who can play a T-9 role AND punch. Takes some pressure off Cliffy and gives Andreoff a (potential) chance to punch elsewhere (via trade?). Or maybe AA just needs some MMA coaching in the off-season ...

I want to acknowledge the points you and LoCal make not only because they have educated me as I watch players evolve, but specifically illuminate Toffoli’s situational fit here vis a vis other teams’ needs. The Stars have shown everybody you don’t wanna be a T-3 team. Avs would like to build up their forward depth now that Kerfoot could be 25+/season. Oilers need a winger. Canucks now have cap space. Hell, maybe the Sens like us even more now that Gaborik had (successful) hernia surgery and once healthy, can get bought out. Maybe they need a new winger if the Stone RFA situation gets complicated. Who knows?

Listening to Stevens post-game, watching the college free agent deals, Blake and Robitaille courting Brickley and Petersen, it’s clear they have a plan that makes you feel good about the future.

And July 1st is Canada/Karlsson independence day and I can’t wait…

 

[LoCal Kings]

There was a Lombardi quote from about a year before the Vegas Expansion Draft, (paraphrasing) something to the effect of ".... if you give us (GMs) too much time to prepare, we'll be able to lessen the effects and circumvent the Expansion rules...."
Wondering not only when NHL will approve Seattle Expansion, but when will they actually announce it.

Looking at the current Kings contracts, here is what I can tell from CapFriendly:

2019
UFAs: Thompson, Andreoff, Doughty expiring after end of 2019 season. Certainly, they cannot gamble and leave Doughty as a UFA should Expansion happen in 2019. But the other two aren't long-term plans.
ELCs: Clague, Wagner, Strand, Anderson-Dolan, Moverare, Luff, Eyssimont, and Vilardi.

2020
UFAs: Toffoli, Lewis, Forbort, Muzzin, Campbell. Depending on how the next couple seasons go, there might be guys in that list that the Kings could "gamble" and leave as UFAs for Expansion Draft, and re-sign afterwards. Of course, NHL doesn't want any of those "hand-shake" agreements.
ELCs: after 2020 season, only Vilardi is currently slated to be on an ELC. (No wonder they didn't sign earlier and burn a year of ELC!!!!)

In the meantime, maybe the Kings try to term the contracts of the other pending UFAs and RFAs to coincide with the impending Seattle Expansion. Of course, depending on whether its a player they want to "protect" vs. a player they want to "gamble" with and hope to re-sign.

Finally, a question on the college kids:
For the players the Kings signed as "UFA" college players, do they have 3 years of being on an ELC, even if their current contact is only for two years. (See Iafallo, Rempal, Brickley)??? Those guys are all on 2-year contracts, slated to become RFAs in summer of 2019. Wondering if they would need to be "protected" should Expansion happen in 2019..... assuming the Kings wanted to protect any of them??

 

[PuckinUgly57]

There was a Lombardi quote from about a year before the Vegas Expansion Draft, (paraphrasing) something to the effect of ".... if you give us (GMs) too much time to prepare, we'll be able to lessen the effects and circumvent the Expansion rules...."
Wondering not only when NHL will approve Seattle Expansion, but when will they actually announce it.

Dumbo was always a good quote, I'll never forget the bizarro stuff he would say to either just confuse the hell out of you or afterwards make you think WT did he just say? I think he was a great pick for the franchise and did what he was supposed to do but two things killed him - loyalty to a fault and not knowing how to keep a team at the top after getting them there.

NHL approved Seattle expansion in December 2017 and they have begun taking season seat deposits. There have been name submissions, I don't think we will get a formal announcement on that however until next summer.

Looking at the current Kings contracts, here is what I can tell from CapFriendly:

2019
UFAs: Thompson, Andreoff, Doughty expiring after end of 2019 season. Certainly, they cannot gamble and leave Doughty as a UFA should Expansion happen in 2019. But the other two aren't long-term plans.
ELCs: Clague, Wagner, Strand, Anderson-Dolan, Moverare, Luff, Eyssimont, and Vilardi.

2020
UFAs: Toffoli, Lewis, Forbort, Muzzin, Campbell. Depending on how the next couple seasons go, there might be guys in that list that the Kings could "gamble" and leave as UFAs for Expansion Draft, and re-sign afterwards. Of course, NHL doesn't want any of those "hand-shake" agreements.
ELCs: after 2020 season, only Vilardi is currently slated to be on an ELC. (No wonder they didn't sign earlier and burn a year of ELC!!!!)

In the meantime, maybe the Kings try to term the contracts of the other pending UFAs and RFAs to coincide with the impending Seattle Expansion. Of course, depending on whether its a player they want to "protect" vs. a player they want to "gamble" with and hope to re-sign.

Finally, a question on the college kids:
For the players the Kings signed as "UFA" college players, do they have 3 years of being on an ELC, even if their current contact is only for two years. (See Iafallo, Rempal, Brickley)??? Those guys are all on 2-year contracts, slated to become RFAs in summer of 2019. Wondering if they would need to be "protected" should Expansion happen in 2019..... assuming the Kings wanted to protect any of them??

Of course GMs will try to issue contracts to coincide with the expansion draft for Seattle but it'll be the same as Vegas where there will need to be a certain amount of players exposed who have contracts already, RFAs have been qualified, etc. to limit the circumvention. Bettman specifically put those in place for what Dumbo and other GMs probably had in mind. The CBA is set to expire in 2022 so I think that is actuially the bigger factor than losing a guy to Expansion.

Regarding your ELC question, those are issued (term) depending on a few things mostly how old the player is when they sign an ELC. General rule of thumb is the older the player the shorter the ELC because they approach UFA status sooner. Brickley for example just turned 23 (3/30/95 - good God, I had just turned 20 a month before he was born) so the maximum length ELC he could have signed was 2 years.

Age 18-21 = 3 years max
Age 22-23 = 2 years max (Brickley)
Age 24 = 1 year max

After age 25 (by 9/15 of the upcoming season) a player cannot be signed to an ELC and needs to be signed to a SPC (Standard Player Contract).

ELC slide only applies to 18-21 year olds so just by appearing in his first NHL game last night his first year of the ELC kicked in and will count towards this season. He will be a GII RFA next summer and need a new contract.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Just checking Toffoli's player page and he played 14:10 last night with 3:08 of that on the PP, 11:02 at ES and 0:00 on the PK. The big guys played the most on the PP (Brown, Kopitar, Carter) but of the second line guys Toffoli got the most PP time.

Pretty easy to see what Stevens is trying to do to get him going - keeping him away from situations where he won't be effective and putting in situations where maybe a goal can get him going. I honestly had to look for him last night because I didn't hear his name once.If you're a defenseman that's good, if you are a scorer not good.

He has been completely invisible the last month overall plus and needs to get going stat in order for LA to be successful. If he has a crappy PO showing my money is on him being moved at the draft in a deal.

 

[Kings4OT]

TT doesn't add anything. If he needs to goto the boards and fight for a puck he will get there just late enough that he lost the battle before it started. he does a good job floating around the circles waiting to see if a team mate can get him the puck....but usually he should be supporting the play instead of hoping for a miracle. If they are on a break away he kind of tries to hustle there tho, he can show his skills of not really needing to do much but hopefully take a shot

 

[Fox4Kings]

Wanted to chime in regarding the Seattle expansion, since it's local for me. It's quite the excitement around here, I forget everywhere else probably doesn't get the same coverage on it that I do. They did a season ticket reservation to get an idea of fan interest. The goal was to sell 10,000 season tickets for KeyArena which has a capacity of around 17,500. The drive took 12 minutes to get 10,000, and within an hour was up to 25,000. To put that in perspective, it took the Vegas Knights a month to reach 9,000. I was lucky enough to sign up right away and have a priority number around 2,200 so I should be in good shape!

Seattle is a great sports town. We have the Seahawks and are known to be one of the loudest and most intimidating venues to play in for football. The Mariners still have great support despite being a horribly run franchise, and actually have the longest playoff drought currently of any of the major sports. University of Washington, which is right next to Seattle, has an elite college basketball and football program. Even the pro soccer team has quite the following. The Sonics were ripped away from us and so the town is very excited to get a hockey team. We don't have year-round great weather like So Cal, we have incredible weather, but for just 3 months out of the year. We have nothing to do the rest of the year.

Kings will always be my number #1, but I think it will be kind of cool to have a local team to root for. Vancouver is just as close to me proximity wise, probably even a little closer, however I have just always hated the Canucks and could never get behind rooting for them in any way shape or form.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

TT doesn't add anything. If he needs to goto the boards and fight for a puck he will get there just late enough that he lost the battle before it started. he does a good job floating around the circles waiting to see if a team mate can get him the puck....but usually he should be supporting the play instead of hoping for a miracle. If they are on a break away he kind of tries to hustle there tho, he can show his skills of not really needing to do much but hopefully take a shot

He has turned into a floater for sure, not willing to make the plays necessary to generate a chance. I'm not sure when this happened, I am thinking maybe last year leading up to his injury and then definitely after his injury. His career year in 2015-16, he was making all the dirty plays to self generate chances but this all seems psychological to me so the good news is it's correctable.

Last night on Prosser's SH goal, guess who was trailing Prosser because he wasn't moving his feet? He was in the neutral zone, last man back hoping to counterattack if the Kings had recovered the puck. Yes the Kings had 4 men back in the zone but the gap between the 4 left the middle wide open, Prosser spotted in and jumped in and Toffoli wasn't skating so he got beat. I do think some of that belongs to Quick as well because it was a low percentage shot but the play should have never happened in the first place if Toffoli was back checking.

These days he is looking for someone else to do the work and hoping to get a chance to score and it's maddening. Much like Gaborik, if Blake doesn't move him he needs to sit down with him and set him straight.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Foxy, that is great about the excitement being generated. I remember when Anaheim came into the league, and living in Yorba Linda (20 minutes from The Puddle) there was a buzz but not like what it is probably like today with Seattle and how much there was last season with Vegas.

I have my usuals - LA first, Hawks second, TO a close third but Vegas has endeared themselves to me because of the proximity as well as I know many people first hand who were affected by the shooter by being there and hoping not to get killed or knowing people who were and affected that way. Thus I do watch them and if LA doesn't win it I'll be pulling for them.

I guess I also owe them for pretty much being a party animal womanizer in their town for so many years in my youth.

=)~~