Offseason thread

[davnlaguna]

no picks this year
Kings will need to get raid AHL team

 

[Kings4OT]

I wouldn't want Stamkos, I would rather have another T6 and a T4 instead. Sucks loosing out on Looch, on top of getting beat by who we traded for him he walks.....

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I wouldn't want Stamkos, I would rather have another T6 and a T4 instead. Sucks loosing out on Looch, on top of getting beat by who we traded for him he walks.....

Same boat, I would rather have the depth spread out with some solid acquisitions if Lucic cannot be kept (and signing him is a possibility still, even after he hits free agency although unlikely at this point. But who knows, maybe Dumbo and he had a talk and he was told go get your best offer but give us last look for all we know) but in Dumbo's defense he had to move Jones.

Apparently Dumbo was approached by Wilson last summer about Jones for a trade but he said no citing the division rivalry. Makes total sense. Wilson then said he would tender him an Offer Sheet, and given the Kings still had Richards' full salary on the books as well as Voynov, they would have been very hard pressed to match whatever that OS was for. Anything under $3.65 million only nets a 2nd round pick, and I think we saw Jones is worth more than that but he wasn't going to get $5 million per year based on his current contract at the time and lack of NHL resume.

Rather than risk losing him for simply a 2nd, especially within the division, he flipped him to Boston for Lucic. Boston had no intention of keeping him with Rask as their starter and were targeting one of the teams who needed a starter, Carolina for example. Events occurred where starting positions were filled up quick and now Boston had no market to move Jones and were stuck with him. Wilson then approached Boston and the rest is history.

I would normally rail on Dumbo for this kind of deal - he gave up a LOT to get Lucic and then Jones burning LA was just insult to injury - but there is a story behind it. I'm more pissed he gave up a 1st for like 15 games of Sekera and then he got hurt and then he walked for a big pay day.

 

[smackdown380]

 

[smackdown380]

Dennis keeps citing Buffalo's Pysyk as a target D man for the Kings. Dunno much about him but Buffalo is pretty high on him

 

[smackdown380]

Yikes Florida inks Yandle to a 7 year deal at 6.35 AAV. That is alot given he is already 29.

 

[Psych3man]

You guys may already know this but: Lucic dispute apparently over contract length,
"General Manager Dean Lombardi told The Times he felt a deal with Lucic was close a month ago. However, it’s believed they disagreed over the length of the contract"

On a day Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar win major awards, biggest news for Kings is Milan Lucic's likely departure

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I'm okay with Lucic moving on. If there isn't a market out there and the Kings get him for lesser length of Contract, that will be great, but if not, that's okay too. He wasn't really a game breaker and as we've all talked about in the past, players of his type (Physical power forward) usually fall off a lot at his age.

Letting him walk would honestly be any easy decision if it weren't for how much Lombardi gave up for him (Plus Sekera leaving last year).

Now we can use that cap room to get that Top 4 defenseman we've been missing since Voynov left. It would be awesome to get a decent backup goalie too since we need to sign for 2 years due to the Expansion Draft situation. Play Quick a little less than the 80 games per year he has been playing the past few years.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I'm also on board with the Stamkos sentiments. He's an elite scorer but at the price he will command, he just isn't worth $10mil/year when you're looking to win championships.

I realize this probably deserves a new thread, but wondering how potentially losing Lucic will alter expansion plans. If the Kings spend a lot of $$$ and capital acquiring another D-man instead of Lucic, would they protect 4 D-man in expansion draft? But if so, then they obviously expose more forwards, and lessen the chance the of Las Vegas taking Dustin Brown if more FW option are available. Damn.

That's actually a really good point that I hadn't really thought about. Kings need to, and most likely will go after a Top 4 defenseman this summer, so that could potentially change things. Since the issue is mostly the cap, I could see the Kings signing a Top 4 guy and then leaving that guy unprotected since the cap is really the main issue. If that new guy gets picked up in the Expansion Draft then his cap comes off the books, and the Kings just use that same (Say $4mil) to just get another veteran for that hole. That would just be how I look at it, but that's oversimplifying it since we don't even know what value that guy would have yet.

I think you have to protect Kopitar/Carter and then beyond that it varies by opinion. Toffoli had been great until the Playoffs last year. Pearson can be great. Gaborik I believe will bounce back this year. I'd actually hate to see a guy like Clifford get taken. I'm also hoping we resign Lewis, but I know it'd be foolish to protect him if we resign him.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Current Lines just for conversation:

Gaborik - Kopitar - Brown
Pearson - Carter - Toffoli
Clifford - Andreoff - New (Maybe Mersch)
Nolan - Lewis (Hoping he gets resigned) - New

Doughty - Free Agent
Muzzin - Martinez
Greene - McNabb (Yikes on this last pairing)

Quick
New (Min 2 year contract)

If we get another guy like a Versteeg for cheap, then knock Brown down to 3rd line and put that new guy on 1st. I actually loved that line of Brown - Andreoff - Clifford as the 3rd line. They had a 2 week run that generated a ton of energy and chances, but then Sutter go away from that combination and we never saw it again.

 

[pete6835]

I'm okay with Lucic moving on. If there isn't a market out there and the Kings get him for lesser length of Contract, that will be great, but if not, that's okay too. He wasn't really a game breaker and as we've all talked about in the past, players of his type (Physical power forward) usually fall off a lot at his age.

Now we can use that cap room to get that Top 4 defenseman we've been missing since Voynov left.

I agree, it would have been nice to resign him, but............. I'd rather not be strapped with a long expensive contract for him. Plus we can now concentrate of using that money on D.

 

[Kings4OT]

I think we all pretty much agree on long contracts at this point, I am not sure there is a great choice on D in the market and would rather "hold out" and have flexibility during the season when teams start dumping. Even without Lucic, Versteeg and King LA should be in the thick of it and would be nice to get more of what they want, not what is available

 

[smackdown380]

I think we all pretty much agree on long contracts at this point, I am not sure there is a great choice on D in the market and would rather "hold out" and have flexibility during the season when teams start dumping. Even without Lucic, Versteeg and King LA should be in the thick of it and would be nice to get more of what they want, not what is available

I am with you here, plug the holes on D with Gravel/Schenn/ Greene and move Muzzin to the top pair. Mid season make a move when team start dumping. Unless of course we can trade for a top 4 but it sounds like the Kings would try and get a cheaper bridge D like McNabb

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I'd like to get Dan Hamhuis if possible. His hit was $4.25/year last year and he's 33 right now. He is super loyal to Vancouver, but they're in a serious retooling and I think they're trying to get a lot younger. I feel like he could be the puck-moving defenseman we've been missing (I have an image of Lewis chasing him down in 2012 to create that turnover in OT of Game 5 that eventually lead to Stoll scoring and kniocking them out of the Playoffs, but I watched him last year and he was really effective from the backend, and is consistently in the Top 30 for all defensemen).

This isn't as big of a priority, but while I was looking at Vancouver's roster and current Free Agents, I would love to swing for a guy like Vrbata if possible too. He was a $5mil cap hit last year and he was always a beast with Phoenix, as well as being productive last year for Vancouver. If we could get a deal on him to slot in next to Kopitar (Especially if we can get that $5mil down to like $4 or less), I could see that being a good match. That drops Brown back down to the bottom 6 and makes that a little more stable.

Kings appear to have $7mil in cap space available, but if they move D-Wight King, they'll free up another $2mil. So with $9mil they need to get that Top defenseman, sign a backup goalie, and depending on how much that costs, potentially get some sort of forward.

Here's Vancouver cap followed by LA's.

Vancouver Canucks Salary Cap | General Fanager

Los Angeles Kings Salary Cap | General Fanager

 

[Kings4OT]

I wouldn't mind seeing Boedker or Okposo. Now something fun would be Perron, at least sign him let Quick beat the shit out of him then release him

 

[LoCal Kings]

If the expansion draft was this year, I think the Kings would actually be in good shape to protect everyone. As really only Doughty, Muzz, Martinez are worth it on the back end. The best thing for the D would be to acquire a good, young guy with only 1 yr. experience that wouldn't have to be protected next summer. But of course, those guys aren't free agents, nor easy to acquire with a limited asset cupboard.

Of course, the window to win is now. So yall are probably right in that Deano will try to get another top-4 D-man and roll the dice next summer.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Trevor Lewis Agrees To Four Year Extension With Kings - TSS

Trevor Lewis for 4 more years. They said both parties agreed but it's not signed yet so they can't release the details.

 

[pete6835]

Kings acquire G Jack Campbell for D Nick Ebert -

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Depth move, unless this guy miraculously finds his NHL game - he was chosen 11th overall by Dallas in 2010.

My guess is he will be backing Quick up at a 2 year deal. Minimum NHL salary is $575,000 - maybe 2 years/$1.3 million and he gets some NHL experience behind Quick and he can be exposed for cheap in the 2017 ED.

 

[Psych3man]

I have always loved Okposo. I hope we end up with him if no last minute Lucic or T4 dman.