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About This Page: This is a discussion on LA Kings Talk within the LetsGoKings.com forums, at Los Angeles Kings Hockey Fan Forum. My take on the Kings D:
Blake-a shell of himself but for a reduced price I would bring him into be a #4-5 dman
Visnovsky-has to do
My take on the Kings D:
Blake-a shell of himself but for a reduced price I would bring him into be a #4-5 dman
Visnovsky-has to do ALOT on this team and he's so small that it's gonna catch up to him soon as he takes a pounding
Preissing-been very average here so far and is VERY soft, he makes Visnovsky look like Barry Beck!
Harrold-a young pup with alot to learn
Johnson-I won't say he's overrated but he's not quite the player we imagined
Dallman-doesn't see the ice on a good team
Klemm-just a body filling in
Stuart-I know he's not on the team anymore but this year he came on from December to his trade to Detroit. Reminded me of Michel Petit as he always went for the big hit but would get caught sometimes and alot of turnovers
In the system
Hickey-similar to Visnovsky but only time will tell if he's a legit NHL guy who should have been drafted at #4 overall?
Bagnall-a big bruiser which the Kings SORELY need but does he have the footspeed for the NHL?
Petiot-another big dude whom the Kings could really use but he's been injured a fair amount so far in his tenure with Manchester
Piskula-yet another big guy but he's still learning the ropes at the AHL level
Hersley-has size but he has to show more to be a #5-6 guy in the NHL
Ryan-I think he's played in his 6th year of junior which I didn't know was possible?!! A great team guy but he's far down on the depth chart for now
They just signed Davis Drewiske who's going to be captain material some day but he's as green as a forest right now and just starting the AHL journey.
As you can see outside of Hickey there isn't alot of great prospects so if we lose out on Stamkos I won't be that devastated as we really need to improve our defensive depth. I'm assuming Blake will return so the d next year looks like:
Blake,Visnovsky
Preissing,Johnson
? ?
There are 2 spots open and I'm assuming Hickey isn't ready for the jump yet so there will be competition in camp for those spots. If we don't sign Blake than our dcorp looks really bad and as thin as the script for Drillbit Taylor!
I agree with the premise of your post but not your assessment of our players.
Preissing exceeded his goal total for last season. If he got more power play time he would put up more points. He has never been more than a 2nd pair defenseman/PP specialist so it is not fair to ask him to be more than that.
I think JMFJ has met any realistic expectations set for him.
Nice post....however I'm not at all disappointed with Johnson and expect him to continue to grow and by the end of next year be a force and also a full year of better goaltending with Ersberg and hopefully Bernier is gonna make the D better. But I agree our D needs help.
I agree with the premise of your post but not your assessment of our players.
Preissing exceeded his goal total for last season. If he got more power play time he would put up more points. He has never been more than a 2nd pair defenseman/PP specialist so it is not fair to ask him to be more than that.
I think JMFJ has met any realistic expectations set for him.
Overall a good post.
Don't get me wrong I'm not saying Preissing should be popping in 40 goals, I'm just a tad more dissapointed that even though it's not his game he's not a shade more physical as this group as a whole is marshmellow soft. Even Visnovsky shows spunk every now and than while Preissing gets run at constantly and he just skates away with that Handzus/Robocop like look on his face.
As for Johnson, you can tell the kid is gonna be a stud but so far he's been a little at least to me anyway a bit of a disappointment. Now granted this a very tough team to evaluate so on a better team he may be able to freelance a bit more. I'm scared at that list of reserves in the minors/juniors for us as outside of Hickey I just don't see any 1-4 prospects but a lot of 6-8..prospects. I know you can't have a boatload of Johnson and Hickey's in the pipeline but it's a very thin group as of now and if Blake isn't resigned we are in deep doo doo.
To me this team needs a Andy Sutton/Darius Kasparitis(a younger version of either) type as in almost every game I watch the opposing forwards come in like kamikaze pilots with no fear of getting touched. There is so much talk about the goaltending problem and I know it's there but the fact that bringing back Blake and Stuart are looked at as solutions shows you that d is as big if not bigger a problem as goaltending is. This is a pretty weak crop of UFA's this year so I'm not sure outside of a trade what the solution is, maybe Brookes Orpik or Jason Smith although I'm pretty sure he's gonna resign in Edmonton?
Don't get me wrong I'm not saying Preissing should be popping in 40 goals, I'm just a tad more dissapointed that even though it's not his game he's not a shade more physical as this group as a whole is marshmellow soft. Even Visnovsky shows spunk every now and than while Preissing gets run at constantly and he just skates away with that Handzus/Robocop like look on his face.
As for Johnson, you can tell the kid is gonna be a stud but so far he's been a little at least to me anyway a bit of a disappointment. Now granted this a very tough team to evaluate so on a better team he may be able to freelance a bit more. I'm scared at that list of reserves in the minors/juniors for us as outside of Hickey I just don't see any 1-4 prospects but a lot of 6-8..prospects. I know you can't have a boatload of Johnson and Hickey's in the pipeline but it's a very thin group as of now and if Blake isn't resigned we are in deep doo doo.
To me this team needs a Andy Sutton/Darius Kasparitis(a younger version of either) type as in almost every game I watch the opposing forwards come in like kamikaze pilots with no fear of getting touched. There is so much talk about the goaltending problem and I know it's there but the fact that bringing back Blake and Stuart are looked at as solutions shows you that d is as big if not bigger a problem as goaltending is. This is a pretty weak crop of UFA's this year so I'm not sure outside of a trade what the solution is, maybe Brookes Orpik or Jason Smith although I'm pretty sure he's gonna resign in Edmonton?
That is bang on. This team needs to add at least one young dman who projects to be a top pairing guy at the NHL level.
Lombardi knows that this team lacks highend depth in the blueline prospects and that's why I don't feel he'll be disappointed with selecting 2 or 3 this June.
That is bang on. This team needs to add at least one young dman who projects to be a top pairing guy at the NHL level.
Lombardi knows that this team lacks highend depth in the blueline prospects and that's why I don't feel he'll be disappointed with selecting 2 or 3 this June.
It's a very tough call as if we do get #1 Stamkos is so good that I don't think we can pass on him but he will not address this teams biggest problem as you state which is high end D prospects. I mean Hickey MIGHT be an answer but even if he is that worries me that 2/3 top dmen in your organization are midgets in Visnovsky and Hickey. I'm not saying every guy has to be Zdeno Chara and in the new era guys like Visnovsky and Hickey should thrive but you need at least one banger(not necessarily a fighter)to strike at the very least a little fear of forwards from just flying into the zone. I have no idea if he's available but Schubert on Ottawa might be worth a look? He's semi cheap price wise and hits alot and gets chippy every now and then which this group really needs. I wouldn't be opposed to signing Stuart again as I do like him but for every good game he plays there are 2 bad games and on a young d corps they might pick up bad habits. I do think Johnson will improve but this might be one of the most important drafts in Kings history as with 8 picks in the first 3 rounds in a DEEP draft the opportunity is there via picks or trades to improve.
If we were to get Stamkos, I could see Lombardi packaging Cammy and a pick or two for some help on the backline. I'm sure as in most cases there were some MAJOR bridges burned with Cammy and Kings in the arbitration hearing so you might as well get value for him now versus have this drama drag out all summer and into the season. I know Cammy is liked in the locker but you know his agent and Kings management are probably not golfing buddies.
It's a very tough call as if we do get #1 Stamkos is so good that I don't think we can pass on him but he will not address this teams biggest problem as you state which is high end D prospects. I mean Hickey MIGHT be an answer but even if he is that worries me that 2/3 top dmen in your organization are midgets in Visnovsky and Hickey. I'm not saying every guy has to be Zdeno Chara and in the new era guys like Visnovsky and Hickey should thrive but you need at least one banger(not necessarily a fighter)to strike at the very least a little fear of forwards from just flying into the zone. I have no idea if he's available but Schubert on Ottawa might be worth a look? He's semi cheap price wise and hits alot and gets chippy every now and then which this group really needs. I wouldn't be opposed to signing Stuart again as I do like him but for every good game he plays there are 2 bad games and on a young d corps they might pick up bad habits. I do think Johnson will improve but this might be one of the most important drafts in Kings history as with 8 picks in the first 3 rounds in a DEEP draft the opportunity is there via picks or trades to improve.
If we were to get Stamkos, I could see Lombardi packaging Cammy and a pick or two for some help on the backline. I'm sure as in most cases there were some MAJOR bridges burned with Cammy and Kings in the arbitration hearing so you might as well get value for him now versus have this drama drag out all summer and into the season. I know Cammy is liked in the locker but you know his agent and Kings management are probably not golfing buddies.
I'd like to see Stuart brought back and I'd love to see DL make a deal to acquire Douglas Murray from San Jose. I'd have no objection to him parting with our own 3rd round pick for Murray.
A 3rd pairing of Murray/Preissing or even Murray/Harrold would be fine with me.
I think it's a definite possibility, but this time it will probably be a two or three year deal.
I'm curious though as to how you think Stuart ranks in the crop of UFAs that will be available. I am hoping that Lombardi actually signs two rugged UFA defensemen this off season.
Our defeense and why I won't be sorry if we don't get #1... 
Goallum
