** 2016-2017 Los Angeles Kings Official Discussion Thread **
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rwongega
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:55 pm    Post subject:

LAkers 4 Life wrote:
Kings disappoint for a third straight season. Hopefully they win the draft lottery, because it's not a very good one. Then they need a couple of miracles in finding ways to dump the big contracts. As much as I like Kopitar, he's not a guy that deserves to earn one of the top 3 contracts in the league. The team may have to retool slowly. They've got assets to trade in Carter, Martinez, and Muzzin. As much as I'd like them to stay, the team needs to start coming up with some long-term answers. They either re-tool and replenish the farm, or blow it all up.


I don't know that I'd trade either of those three unless someone wants to dangle a very high draft pick or a stud offensive player. When Kopi is on, he's worth the contract because he does the things that don't show up in a box score but do contribute to wins. Simply put, he needs to find his mojo fast.

LAkers 4 Life wrote:
rwongega wrote:
Kopi has been on a very concerning downward trend. Brown has continued to flounder. The youngsters Toffoli and Pearson have hit a wall and not quite become the studs we need.


Agree on Toffoli, but Pearson has been one of the better forwards for the team this year. Unfortunately I don't see him getting any better than he already is. But if he consistently puts up these kind of numbers, that's not bad as long as the contract is good for the team.

Kings need to show some retribution for the Doughty hit. Can't let a young dirty punk like Tkachuk get away with that elbow and then calling out Doughty for it.


Pearson has been all right but hasn't quite found the consistency needed yet. He's improved but not as much as I'd have hoped and not as much as the team needs especially with vets Gaborik/Kopitar MIA. Toffoli should be a 35-35 guy but has completely lost his shot and confidence.
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LakerLanny
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 4:34 pm    Post subject:

What in the world happened to Gaborik and Kopitar?

A cynic would say they slacked off after getting paid, but perhaps they are just old?

Either way, it is clear the Kings are trending in the wrong direction. How do we fix it?
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 8:17 pm    Post subject:

Kings end the home regular season and Bob Miller send-off with an OT victory over Chicago.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:11 pm    Post subject:

LakerLanny wrote:
What in the world happened to Gaborik and Kopitar?

A cynic would say they slacked off after getting paid, but perhaps they are just old?

Either way, it is clear the Kings are trending in the wrong direction. How do we fix it?


I think the Kings may have to do what the Lakers are trying to do, get with the times. The Kings play a heavy game, but the league is trending more towards speed and skill through four lines. Kings need to bring in more speed and skill into their lineup. I don't think they need to completely abandon their style of play, but they desperately need to utilize more speed and skill in their lineup.

Gaborik is just too injury prone despite his great talent even at his age. Kopitar isn't a big points producer, so when the Kings go into an offensive funk, it's magnified. I think the Kings will need to make some tough decisions in order to get their salary cap in order. They'll need to either follow the Chicago Blackhawks' retooling philosophy or tear it down and start over. The depth and talent just isn't there to be a Stanley Cup contender, and they're not bad enough to be one of the worst teams in the league. They're just trending mediocre.

Next up is the expansion draft, and I'm still not sure who the Kings will protect or which route they will take, either the 7F-3D-1G or 8S-1G option.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:14 pm    Post subject:

LAkers 4 Life wrote:
Kings end the home regular season and Bob Miller send-off with an OT victory over Chicago.


Probably best that they missed the playoffs in the year Bob Miller retires.
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rwongega
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 10:58 pm    Post subject:

Bob Miller, Vin Scully, Chick Hearn. We are too spoiled.
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:23 pm    Post subject:

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/19129716/los-angeles-kings-fire-general-manager-dean-lombardi-head-coach-darryl-sutter

Dark days ahead for the LA Kings?
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:17 pm    Post subject:

Dean Lombardi was perfect for the rebuild. He just didn't know how to sustain a championship window. Still, I've always held him in high regard and he was the perfect hire at the time. Sutter's style probably just worn thin the players. Two LA franchises undergoing sweeping changes. I don't know about Rob Blake as GM. I know he was being groomed, but the guy has barely been in a front office position very long.

Whoever picks up Dean will get a guy that knows how to rebuild a team. And the lessons he learned the last few years might help him sustain more success. Blake has a tough job ahead of him. I'm not sure if they're gonna go into retool mode or a full on rebuild. Mike Futa was more ready to be GM than Blake. I don't think Blake has the connections like they do.
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:46 pm    Post subject:

Yeesh. I hope they know what they're doing. Of the two, I would've figured Lombardi because of the bad contracts and inability to get good players on the cheap (unlike Chicago). Sutter I would've given some leash considering he didn't have much to work with.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2017 3:40 am    Post subject:

rwongega wrote:
Yeesh. I hope they know what they're doing. Of the two, I would've figured Lombardi because of the bad contracts and inability to get good players on the cheap (unlike Chicago). Sutter I would've given some leash considering he didn't have much to work with.


There really is a lot of coaching turnover in the NHL though. Guys often get fired after a couple of seasons. There were rumblings that the players were unhappy with Sutter as far back as 2 seasons ago. And with the team missing the playoffs in 2 of the past 3 seasons and seemingly headed in the wrong direction, I'm not surprised. I think I said this before, but when you consider how awesome the Kings were in OT this season and then you look at the record, it means that they were one of the worst teams in the league in regulation. That ain't good.

That all said, I will always be grateful for his leadership in helping to bring two Cups to LA. It's gonna be sad not to see his son dancing in the aisles on the Jumbotron.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:42 pm    Post subject:

With the history that the Kings have had, getting rid of their most successful GM and coach might not the wisest decision. Let's hope that the Kings know what they're doing. Both Robs, Blake and Pelinka, have a massive task ahead of them to ensure their respective LA franchises get back to the top.
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:25 pm    Post subject:

ChickenStu wrote:
rwongega wrote:
Yeesh. I hope they know what they're doing. Of the two, I would've figured Lombardi because of the bad contracts and inability to get good players on the cheap (unlike Chicago). Sutter I would've given some leash considering he didn't have much to work with.


There really is a lot of coaching turnover in the NHL though. Guys often get fired after a couple of seasons. There were rumblings that the players were unhappy with Sutter as far back as 2 seasons ago. And with the team missing the playoffs in 2 of the past 3 seasons and seemingly headed in the wrong direction, I'm not surprised. I think I said this before, but when you consider how awesome the Kings were in OT this season and then you look at the record, it means that they were one of the worst teams in the league in regulation. That ain't good.

That all said, I will always be grateful for his leadership in helping to bring two Cups to LA. It's gonna be sad not to see his son dancing in the aisles on the Jumbotron.


I guess it's weird. Sutter's style is great in the postseason but not so much for the regular season. Hence the OT record. When the butts need clenching, they do it like clockwork but it's hard to sustain that over an 82 game season. And if you push it throughout, you probably get the player pushback because it's hard to keep giving that kind of effort every game. It's why we struggle in the early to middle of the seasons. Now some of that could be alleviated by resting the vets and letting the youngsters battle but 1.) they haven't done so (see Toffoli) and 2.) Dean's stripped the pipeline bare.

And I will definitely miss his son in the stands. Always a pleasure to see when I'm at a Kings game.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 9:19 am    Post subject:

LAkers 4 Life wrote:
With the history that the Kings have had, getting rid of their most successful GM and coach might not the wisest decision. Let's hope that the Kings know what they're doing. Both Robs, Blake and Pelinka, have a massive task ahead of them to ensure their respective LA franchises get back to the top.


I am not the expert on hockey that many of you are, but I am not down at all with firing Lombardi and especially Sutter.

Thanks to them both for bringing two Stanley Cups to Los Angeles, I never thought that would happen in my lifetime as a native Angelino.

I doubt either will have any problem at all finding work in the league if they wish to.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 8:28 pm    Post subject:

LakerLanny wrote:
LAkers 4 Life wrote:
With the history that the Kings have had, getting rid of their most successful GM and coach might not the wisest decision. Let's hope that the Kings know what they're doing. Both Robs, Blake and Pelinka, have a massive task ahead of them to ensure their respective LA franchises get back to the top.


I am not the expert on hockey that many of you are, but I am not down at all with firing Lombardi and especially Sutter.

Thanks to them both for bringing two Stanley Cups to Los Angeles, I never thought that would happen in my lifetime as a native Angelino.

I doubt either will have any problem at all finding work in the league if they wish to.


I'm not as down on the firing as I am on the replacements because it reeks of nepotism. Rob Blake has no experience as a GM and this is a huge undertaking for him, just like for Rob Pelinka. I'm hoping he can make smart moves to turn it around. And fast.
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