Post-Game Talk: Kings drop series to Oilers

[KingsFan7824]

Sucks when you have 2017 #7 OA Andersson, 2017 #11 OA Vilardi, 2019 #5 OA Turcotte and 2020 #2 OA Byfield
not playing on the team. Maybe when Turcotte came up and played some with the Kings and was given a longer stint, he excels and stays up and does not get the 2 concussions, that he got in the AHL.

Why wouldn't Turcotte get concussions in the NHL?

Totally agree on the too many bodies. Hopefully we don’t see Edler and Maata next season and I’m not too confident with our developmental team with Clarke and get the Byfield treatment (no playing time with the big club and could not play in the AHL). I miss the Lombardi days when the prospect had to earn their spots or forced the team to make trades. Feels like now the kids are getting opportunities with hope they can stick with the big club

Is it the development team, or is it Blake signing too many veterans? You have to deliberately open spots up for young guys. If you sign a veteran for millions of dollars, he's going to play. Especially in a hard cap world. This coach, most coaches, will play a veteran if you give them a veteran. If you sign an MVP type player in Tynan for Ontario, he's going to play there. He's not going to be the 3C. He's going to lead the team in scoring.

If you bring in Danault and Arvidsson, and then retain AA, and also re-sign Lizotte, all of that is going to come at the cost of younger players playing. Only so many spots on a roster.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

Why wouldn't Turcotte get concussions in the NHL?

It's all circumstantial.
I would not have almost drowned on Horseshoe Falls Rapid on the Kern River back around 1990, if I didn't go rafting that day. Got under a flipped raft on the second biggest rapid on the killer Kern....yet I have rafted over 10 rivers and 3000 river miles. (lots of class 4 and 1 class 5 and never came close to drowning) It's all circumstantial. I think the chances of Turcotte getting a concussion could still happen, of course.

 

[KingsHockey24]

"The Kings have the best prospect pool in the NHL"

 

[Reaper45]

Disappointing end to a disappointing season. The problem is the kids are now being looked to be relied upon when really they should’ve been given the reigns at least a season ago to learn in that spot. Now they’re going to have to learn in their spots next season. Expect growing pains. The PP/PK coach(es) need to go by Monday morning. So many holes so little time on this roster. No size, no grit, not a lot of speed, no scoring. How did this happen?

 

[KingsFan7824]

"The Kings have the best prospect pool in the NHL"

View attachment 547327

And 4 of those guys had 4 of the 5 lowest ice time averages on the team. 4 of the 5 lowest ES minutes per game. All under 10min. Byfield barely broke 5min. Did they not do enough to play more, or is TM holding them back because he's a scared control freak and won't trust anyone under 30 unless forced to? A bit of both?

Good or bad, right or wrong, they didn't get a ton of time. We don't know what they are. Are they the best prospect pool, or are they actual players? We don't know, and after the actions of last summer, we were likely not going to know this year.

Disappointing end to a disappointing season. The problem is the kids are now being looked to be relied upon when really they should’ve been given the reigns at least a season ago to learn in that spot. Now they’re going to have to learn in their spots next season. Expect growing pains. The PP/PK coach(es) need to go by Monday morning. So many holes so little time on this roster. No size, no grit, not a lot of speed, no scoring. How did this happen?

Yet still made the playoffs, and got to a Game 7, with no Doughty for 50 of 89 games. Which, means everything is terrible.

 

[DryIslandBartender]

"The Kings have the best prospect pool in the NHL"

View attachment 547327

A bit concerning, but it’s not all grim. You look at Kempe, Durzi, Grundstrom all under 25 y/o and they did well. Kupari didn’t get on the stat sheet but I thought he did well too. Mikey Anderson logged in a lot of minutes for a 22 year old. It’s not talked about enough but the Kings are shaping up to have a similar Dcore as Sydor, Zhitnik, Blake or Doughty, Voynov, Martinez. Both eras had at least a cup appearance but this core might be better than both if Clarke pans out.

Next season you are looking at Doughty, Anderson, Durzi, Roy, Bjonfort, Spence, Stecher etc.

The number one priority and key for success next season is to get Byfield up to speed and in the weight room. Kopitar isn’t a 1C anymore and Danault is a 2/3C. If Byfield can make the leap and produce, kings can be back. A lot of pressure on a 20 y/o but that’s what happens to #2 overall picks.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Disappointing end to a disappointing season.

lol

 

[DoktorJeep]

And 4 of those guys had 4 of the 5 lowest ice time averages on the team. 4 of the 5 lowest ES minutes per game. All under 10min. Byfield barely broke 5min. Did they not do enough to play more, or is TM holding them back because he's a scared control freak and won't trust anyone under 30 unless forced to? A bit of both?

Good or bad, right or wrong, they didn't get a ton of time. We don't know what they are. Are they the best prospect pool, or are they actual players? We don't know, and after the actions of last summer, we were likely not going to know this year.



Yet still made the playoffs, and got to a Game 7, with no Doughty for 50 of 89 games. Which, means everything is terrible.

The coach put in a system that gets the most out of the vets he was given. Getting the group to buy into playing a consistent style was his #1 job. And it was effective in terms of having 3 fairly consistent lines all season long.

With the prospects, it worked out well on D and poorly at forward. The Kings put zero expectations to score on any D not named Doughty. So by default they get extended games because the overall team is good defensively. But when a hyped forward prospect does nothing, it sticks out like a sore thumb on a team that struggles to score 3 goals in a game.

I just don’t understand why anyone expects an offensive prospect to learn how to check in their first nhl season with no margin for error. If you were getting goals elsewhere, it’s okay for a kid to take minuses while learning how to check NHL players. But why fill your bottom six with guys who only know how to score in juniors and the minors, and suddenly must play a completely defensive game because that’s what the coach demands of every player.

 

[CowMix]

If the Kings front office thought they could actually make a run this postseason I wonder if we would have seen Arvidsson and Doughty play this series.

 

[KingsFan7824]

The coach put in a system that gets the most out of the vets he was given. Getting the group to buy into playing a consistent style was his #1 job. And it was effective in terms of having 3 fairly consistent lines all season long.

With the prospects, it worked out well on D and poorly at forward. The Kings put zero expectations to score on any D not named Doughty. So by default they get extended games because the overall team is good defensively. But when a hyped forward prospect does nothing, it sticks out like a sore thumb on a team that struggles to score 3 goals in a game.

I just don’t understand why anyone expects an offensive prospect to learn how to check in their first nhl season with no margin for error. If you were getting goals elsewhere, it’s okay for a kid to take minuses while learning how to check NHL players. But why fill your bottom six with guys who only know how to score in juniors and the minors, and suddenly must play a completely defensive game because that’s what the coach demands of every player.

The young guys weren't really expected to be on the team, and certainly not in top 6 roles.

With this coach, and very likely damn near any coach, but with this coach, you obviously cannot give him veteran options. If you want the young guys to play prominent roles, anyone with a decent contract and over the age of 25 has to be gotten rid of, if they can be gotten rid of. No Brown, AA won't be back, that's a good start. But that's only 2 spots. Then unless you can get rid guys, you can't be bringing other guys in. Somehow bring in Forsberg, but keep Kempe, Arvidsson, and Iafallo, those are probably your 4 top wingers going into the season, leaving guys like Kaliyev and Vilardi with nowhere to play up there. Then unless you go into the season with Iafallo on the 3rd line, it'll be that much more difficult to get TM to change his mind. It took forever to get him off the 1st line, and then he ended up back there at the end anyway. Unless you bring in a couple veteran wingers, it's not easy to see how Iafallo gets pushed down from the get-go.

However, if you don't bring anyone in, that leaves a spot open for Kaliyev. Maybe. It at least opens something up on a 3rd line, which would be a promotion.

The problem is, Iafallo won't be easy to trade, because he's terrible, with 3 years left on a deal. For $4m, and more cash than hit over the next 3 years, that's not an easy sell, and it's unlikely they're retaining anything for 3 full years.

 

[tkb81]

Shoutout to the posters who gang banged me when I suggested calling up Durzi when Walker went down.

Guys not too shabby huh.

You got gang banged? You okay bro .. can I get ya a soft chair ... haha yah durzi totally upped his trade value

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

If the Kings front office thought they could actually make a run this postseason I wonder if we would have seen Arvidsson and Doughty play this series.

No chance on Doughty. Arvidsson I also doubt considering he wasn't even skating. Doughty at least is months from returning, not a week or two. No way he would've played.

 

[apocalypse]

At least we're not Toronto.

 

[Martyros]

burn everything down.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

You got gang banged? You okay bro .. can I get ya a soft chair ... haha yah durzi totally upped his trade value

Durzi ain’t going anywhere.

 

[archangel2]

Queue the Sean Durzi trade rumours.. Durzi sent to the Nashville Predators for Luke Kunin. Who says no?

as an outsider-- Druzi could develop into a good 3/4 guy. Kunin is a 3rd liner at best

 

[AbsentMojo]

The young guys weren't really expected to be on the team, and certainly not in top 6 roles.

With this coach, and very likely damn near any coach, but with this coach, you obviously cannot give him veteran options. If you want the young guys to play prominent roles, anyone with a decent contract and over the age of 25 has to be gotten rid of, if they can be gotten rid of. No Brown, AA won't be back, that's a good start. But that's only 2 spots. Then unless you can get rid guys, you can't be bringing other guys in. Somehow bring in Forsberg, but keep Kempe, Arvidsson, and Iafallo, those are probably your 4 top wingers going into the season, leaving guys like Kaliyev and Vilardi with nowhere to play up there. Then unless you go into the season with Iafallo on the 3rd line, it'll be that much more difficult to get TM to change his mind. It took forever to get him off the 1st line, and then he ended up back there at the end anyway. Unless you bring in a couple veteran wingers, it's not easy to see how Iafallo gets pushed down from the get-go.

However, if you don't bring anyone in, that leaves a spot open for Kaliyev. Maybe. It at least opens something up on a 3rd line, which would be a promotion.

The problem is, Iafallo won't be easy to trade, because he's terrible, with 3 years left on a deal. For $4m, and more cash than hit over the next 3 years, that's not an easy sell, and it's unlikely they're retaining anything for 3 full years.

Good takes. Regarding Koala - he is def not the right coach for a rebuild. If the rebuild is on, now would be the time to bring in a Terry Murray analog (and then you could view TM as the Crawford of this era). But, the Kings have a schizophrenic game plan which is to rebuild and try to be relevant at the same time.

 

[KingsHockey24]

You got gang banged? You okay bro .. can I get ya a soft chair ... haha yah durzi totally upped his trade value

Only on Sundays, it's how I cleanse myself of sins.

I was absolutely ripped apart when suggesting it but turns out he's a Top 6D. Shocker.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Hell of a series, I expected you guys to be a tough out (I predicted that we'd win in 6) and you guys were even tougher than I thought you'd be even without a stud like Doughty in your lineup.

Is there any video of a Todd McLellan media scrum after last night's game? He obviously knows some of the guys in our room and I wanted to hear his take on the series. FWIW our coach led off his scrum last night talking about Brown and the Kings and paying them respect for a hell of a series.

 

[Mats26]

Ok so a handful of posters on here(including myself) were critical with the way the development staff brings up forwards in comparison to defensemen. This goes back years. This is the year I think we can put that debate to rest. This team needs a new development staff to bring out the skill in the forwards we draft and not have them all become 3rd-4th line plugs.

Yamamoto was drafted in 2017 with the 22pick.. We have the #7 and #11 pick in that draft that ate popcorn during this series.

 

[johnjm22]

Personnel wise, the biggest problem for the Kings in this series was Kopitar's inability to fulfill the role of a #1 center.

 

[Reaper45]

Personnel wise, the biggest problem for the Kings in this series was Kopitar's inability to fulfill the role of a #1 center.

Kopitar was the chocolate shell version of a number 1 center. Looks good, gets by off reputation, but is soft and really isn’t any good.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

Personnel wise, the biggest problem for the Kings in this series was Kopitar's inability to fulfill the role of a #1 center.

Still can't believe 16 years into his career at the age of 34 (35 in August) he's still the #1 PK guy while expected to be the shut down guy and put up 70 points. Do any other teams other than Boston use their top line center as their main shut down guy too?

 

[Reaper45]

lol

Is it though? It was a disappointing season. Cool they made the playoffs and took a beatable team to 7 games. But to me, it was a disappointing finish after being ahead of the Oilers for much of the year, disappointing injuries, disappointing performance by the kids, another disappointing performance by the PP and PK. Disappointing distribution of ice times for a team in transition. I mean Troy Stecher plays in the playoffs but the kid who’s known for his steady defensive play doesn’t suit up for a single playoff game? How’s Bjornfot’s confidence going to be next season? Or Vilardi? Now the kids are expected to be the guys taking over and they’re going to have to learn on the fly instead of learning last season and carrying that into this year.

 

[apocalypse]

Is it though? It was a disappointing season. Cool they made the playoffs and took a beatable team to 7 games. But to me, it was a disappointing finish after being ahead of the Oilers for much of the year, disappointing injuries, disappointing performance by the kids, another disappointing performance by the PP and PK. Disappointing distribution of ice times for a team in transition. I mean Troy Stecher plays in the playoffs but the kid who’s known for his steady defensive play doesn’t suit up for a single playoff game? How’s Bjornfot’s confidence going to be next season? Or Vilardi? Now the kids are expected to be the guys taking over and they’re going to have to learn on the fly instead of learning last season and carrying that into this year.

If Vilardi doesn't get into the top 6 by the beginning of next season, he should be traded for an established star winger. Vilardi + 1st for ___________.