Dubois

[Johnny Utah]

I agree with all Blakes summer moves except the PLD one.

-Moved Peterson/Walker - good move. Grans likely won't be an NHL'er. Had to give up cash and a 2nd to take those salaries.
-Moved Durzi for a 2nd. Loved Durzi, but Kings needed to make room for Spence.
-Re-signed Gavrikov.
-Let McEwen and Korpisalo walk. Smart moves now.

Kings did need to move one of the big three 4 million guys in Moore, AI, and Arvidsson. They moved the right one in AI, even though he's a fan fav. He is about to turn 30 and has only year after this on his deal.

The Vilardi and a 2nd for PLD is what bothers everyone. It's too much. Kings could have just moved AI and kept Vilardi, Kupari, the 2nd and signed another center.

 

[Little Psycho]

Does he want to cross the border with some drugs and get caught? Honestly, he’s been pretty underwhelming. It’s not like he’s trying and getting nowhere, his lack of effort is glaring.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Finally, a containment thread. PLD is still loading.

 

[chris kontos]

must be embarrassing for rob blake...

 

[KingPuckChoo]

i've noticed the Blake apologists have been completely absent of late, and this, despite the Kings having a good record

they know he's an "accidental genius" at best

they know he's a complete garbage GM

i love it !

must be embarrassing for rob blake...

i don't think he's intelligent enough to realize this

he looks at the team and where they're at in the standings, and he's like "this is fine, i am fine"

plus with Rittich winning his game, i am convinced it further confirms his beliefs that goaltending isn't an important position. If your D core is good enough, any goalie will do

and so far seeing how Talbot, Copley, and Rittich are confirming his theory...

Blake is sleeping like a baby

 

[Bandit]

Blake is sleeping like a baby

Yup. He’s certainly drooling on himself and shitting in his own bed.

 

[chris kontos]

i've noticed the Blake apologists have been completely absent of late, and this, despite the Kings having a good record

they know he's an "accidental genius" at best

they know he's a complete garbage GM

i love it !



i don't think he's intelligent enough to realize this

he looks at the team and where they're at in the standings, and he's like "this is fine, i am fine"

plus with Rittich winning his game, i am convinced it further confirms his beliefs that goaltending isn't an important position. If your D core is good enough, any goalie will do

and so far seeing how Talbot, Copley, and Rittich are confirming his theory...

Blake is sleeping like a baby

Pro athletes are typically a pretty arrogant bunch.
We just wound up with a threesome with an unfortunate combination of arrogance and stupidity. Ive thought almost from the outset that were going nowhere as a team with this front office and coaching staff. One of many problems is its too incestuous. I also try not to get too deep on this as its really negative. I tryly hope forthe best but im convinced ill be validated in my opinion

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

I could understand saying “we need more time to evaluate” if PLD were putting in anything above a minimal level of effort but the bounces just weren’t going his way. This isn’t an issue of things just not going his way. This is an issue of his give-a-shit level bordering on dangerously low.

 

[Sol]

Don’t worry the Kings media is always busy glazing the Kings nonstop so none of our questions willl be asked.

 

[Telos]

Easily the biggest concern in the organization I think, even more so than goaltending which is second for me. I was wary of the deal at first but okay with it and came around to the idea that it could be good if PLD at least produced as he always had, but just watching him this year has been very demoralizing, especially after the first handful of games where he was a little productive and he looked good in the preseason.

There is no other way to describe it other than demoralizing. He is flat-out the most demoralizing player I've seen in the Kings lineup in quite some time. He literally could truck to the net every shift or control the play every time in the offensive zone but just simply doesn't choose to.

Watching him lazily glide in all three zones makes my blood boil. I could take it if he wasn't able to keep up or overrated, but the fact that he has it all but lacks heart is infuriating. You're paid like a god to play a game we all love, yes there is sacrifice, but if you're not going to do it for the fans or yourself then at least do it for your team and brothers beside you. Get in there and skate and find a way. When he is on the ice, I feel like I'd rather watch anyone else but him. I would take Trevor Lewis out there any day of the week over PLD, he's old, slow, and lacks hands, but no one can say he doesn't care or doesn't love his team.

It is a tough call, the only positive about Blake is the fact that he can make tough calls and take emotion out of some of his moves. Not sure what the answer is at this point, but will be interesting to see if a move is made.

Our only hope at this point is he is flipped for someone we can use, or he somehow miraculously turns it around. He is not someone who can carry a line and needs to be carried and dragged to victory. I don't want to mess with the chemistry of the other lines, but him being banished, unproducing on the third line, and just leaking goals watching them go in with front-row seats isn't helping him or his value. He needs to be with the best players and spoon-fed. I am wondering what would happen if you swapped him and Byfield, but I don't like the idea of messing with Byfield or Kopitar and Kempe while they are rolling. Seriously. f*** PLD.

 

[Kingnut]

Don't worry, he just needs 25 games 40 games 3 years and he'll be AMAZING!

LMAO

 

[SettlementRichie10]

The options are:
- hope PLD's play improves
- if not, Blake has an option to buy him out this first year
- if not, his NMC and then the Kings won't have any options without approval from PLD

Frankly, I think all of us are just hoping he plays better. It will be much easier that way.

That’s the sad thing. We only need this doofus to play at his historic 0.75ppg level, but he can’t even do that.

The PLD problem is only going to be magnified the longer the season goes on. The Kings have been great this first quarter due to Byfield’s emergence, a fixed D core, and Talbot, in that order. PLD has been able to skate under the radar because the team is winning.

Once everything regresses to the mean, the warts on this team will be very obvious.

 

[AbsentMojo]

Guys I’m not disagreeing with anything in here at this point but… does it need a new thread? Every GDT is the same, it’s just ‘cut and paste’.

I think thats the point, collect all the commentary into one thread and not pollute all the others

 

[fivehole32]

Easily the biggest concern in the organization I think, even more so than goaltending which is second for me. I was wary of the deal at first but okay with it and came around to the idea that it could be good if PLD at least produced as he always had, but just watching him this year has been very demoralizing, especially after the first handful of games where he was a little productive and he looked good in the preseason.

There is no other way to describe it other than demoralizing. He is flat-out the most demoralizing player I've seen in the Kings lineup in quite some time. He literally could truck to the net every shift or control the play every time in the offensive zone but just simply doesn't choose to.

Watching him lazily glide in all three zones makes my blood boil. I could take it if he wasn't able to keep up or overrated, but the fact that he has it all but lacks heart is infuriating. You're paid like a god to play a game we all love, yes there is sacrifice, but if you're not going to do it for the fans or yourself then at least do it for your team and brothers beside you. Get in there and skate and find a way. When he is on the ice, I feel like I'd rather watch anyone else but him. I would take Trevor Lewis out there any day of the week over PLD, he's old, slow, and lacks hands, but no one can say he doesn't care or doesn't love his team.

It is a tough call, the only positive about Blake is the fact that he can make tough calls and take emotion out of some of his moves. Not sure what the answer is at this point, but will be interesting to see if a move is made.

Our only hope at this point is he is flipped for someone we can use, or he somehow miraculously turns it around. He is not someone who can carry a line and needs to be carried and dragged to victory. I don't want to mess with the chemistry of the other lines, but him being banished, unproducing on the third line, and just leaking goals watching them go in with front-row seats isn't helping him or his value. He needs to be with the best players and spoon-fed. I am wondering what would happen if you swapped him and Byfield, but I don't like the idea of messing with Byfield or Kopitar and Kempe while they are rolling. Seriously. f*** PLD.

i unfortunately think this is the way out. you prop him up with the top line and get him going and hope there is a GM dumb enough to unload PLD on. The Kings can't afford PLD to be a Huberdeau situation.

 

[AbsentMojo]

I agree with all Blakes summer moves except the PLD one.

-Moved Peterson/Walker - good move. Grans likely won't be an NHL'er. Had to give up cash and a 2nd to take those salaries.
-Moved Durzi for a 2nd. Loved Durzi, but Kings needed to make room for Spence.
-Re-signed Gavrikov.
-Let McEwen and Korpisalo walk. Smart moves now.

Kings did need to move one of the big three 4 million guys in Moore, AI, and Arvidsson. They moved the right one in AI, even though he's a fan fav. He is about to turn 30 and has only year after this on his deal.

The Vilardi and a 2nd for PLD is what bothers everyone. It's too much. Kings could have just moved AI and kept Vilardi, Kupari, the 2nd and signed another center.

You hit all my points except one.. he blew his wad on PLD and left only 2.5 mil for 2 goalies. How stupid is that? Rittich looked good in his 1 start but only EDM and LAK are this vulnerable in goal amongst teams in the mix. So PLD was an overpay on assets and an overpay on salary... a double blunder.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

It's beyond time to be worried. It's looking an awful lot like he cashed in and now is just going through the motions. He just lazily glides back and forth between the zones with an occasion rush toward the goal trying to get through 2 or 3 defenders before turning the puck over. The skill is there, the effort isn't, and that's a MAJOR concern for a guy you just gave 8 years and big money to

 

[Johnny Utah]

If the Kings moved only Iaffalo’s 4 million and re signed Vilardi for around 3 and Kupari for 1 they would have 3-4 mil left for a goalie.

 

[tigermask48]

Trade him. There's got to be a way. Clock is ticking on the NMC.

That's the thing, how many assets do the Kings need to give up for a team to take him on for the next 7 years? Clarke+? Not many draft assets left and any roster assets weaken the team. It's not great.

 

[AbsentMojo]

No one thinks Lizo should be 3C so he's answering his own hypothetical. And even still, I think he's wrong when you factor QB, the improved 2nd and 3rd pairing and Talbot..having Vilardi over PLD and some FA center - team would be better for sure.

 

[bmr]

OK - I think i'm going to officially be onboard now with the PLD complaining.

I've been giving PLD a lot of slack, especially with how much I liked Vilardi on this team last year. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that this trade was terrible. Like others have said, I'm okay losing Kupari/Durzi and even Iafallo (because of Moore), but Vilardi is clearly the better player (unless there's something up with PLD that we don't know about). I remember hearing something on the telecast last night about PLD mentioning it's more about adjusting...but guys like Fiala and Danault were almost immediately impactful.

It's scary to think how good Vilardi can be playing with that new line he's on. Can easily be a PPG+ player. Unless PLD really turns heads in the playoffs, this will definitely not age well for Blake. An $8.5 mill Center on the 3rd line....

You have to think enough due diligence was done on this trade before it happened. I get the fact that Vilardi has an injury history and has been moved to wing, but PLD just doesn't look to me like he even wants to impact the outcomes of these games...just so aloof.

Fiala is nowhere near as bad. He just has a lot of issues that are questionable on a winning team. But hes a great player.
Dubois is walking that line where soon hes going to be a detriment to the team when hes on the ice.

It's completely obvious to me when watching each line on the ice that the Dubois line has led to the most chances against. I know the +/- isn't always reflective of that, but it's quite clear on the ice.

 

[shuchukfan]

Periodically Looks Decent. Not that often, though.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Fiala should never be lumped together with PLD. Quite a bit of Fiala's "issues" are from trying too hard. Give me that every day over lazy ass PLD

 

[KingsOfCali25]

The problem is/was that Kings management didn't trust in the youth they drafted. They pushed the rebuild 2 years to quickly because they wanted to get Doughty, Kopitar and Quick back to the playoffs. They didn't need to make a move for Fiala or PLD if they actually let the kids play and grow like other teams do. They over paid for both guys while killing the cap space for a goalie at the same time.

The problem with the PLD trade is that the player the Kings needed to pair him with was Vilardi. But LA doesn't have a vision for the future. They are so locked in on the present year that they struggle to build. It's way the rebuild turned into a retool. This team will be a bottom 15 team within the next 5 years and we will be back in the same spot again rebuilding.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

I understand the worries about QB’s glacial development, but the reality is that he has the skillset to be a center, and he was drafted to be a center.

It’s just more whack-a-mole roster construction and deployment from this LA brain trust. No long term plan or vision. Just pure tunnel vision problem solving immediacy.

Regardless of whether or not Vilardi has a long, productive career, the risk/reward ratio of bringing in a player like PLD for that many assets and at that cap hit is a no brainer. It’s such a needless risk.

The Kings aren’t losing to Edmonton because they don’t have center depth. They’re losing to Edmonton because Todd is a shitty coach in the clutch, and LA’s critical veterans run out of gas.

 

[Schrute farms]

PLD is here to stay for a long time. At best we're looking like 3-5 years from now. There is no out. Zero chance he's bought out after one year. They also won't be trading him anytime soon (even if they had a taker). He's a LA King and will be for years. Only question is whether he stays at C or moves to a winger spot down the road.