- Joined
- Jul 28, 2004
- Messages
- 130,162
There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s just dive right in.
Following a fairly quick exit from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there have been a plethora of questions surrounding the LA Kings in recent days. On Monday, General Manager Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille (who was a late add to the festivities) met with an ensemble of media in an attempt to offer context and insight on those topics, hoping to provide at least some clarity and direction on where the organization heads next.
Using our popular 10 Tidbits format, we’ll provide the key takeaways, with the full video available for those who want to consume all 30 minutes of the session.
1. Blake’s opening statement:
“I’ll start with just a very difficult end to the season. A lot of disappointment, a lot of frustration, a lot of anger. The disappointment came in the form of special teams. I don’t think we performed at nearly the level we needed to to have success in the playoffs. The frustration – just understanding the game plan that was in place, but not executing. And I think the anger, at the end of the day, just not a consistent enough style of play to have success. There were a couple games during the playoffs where that [consistency] occurred, but not consistent enough.
“That can be felt in our room, even today. Our process here today, we start with meetings with the players, individually. They’re going on right now, but I get that sense from them too; which is a much stronger sense than it was the past season.
“That being said, if we take a step back, the season as a whole – we still believe this group has made progress in a lot of different areas. We have to find a way to get that to translate into the playoffs. That starts with these meetings right now and going forward … We’ve started this process right now and we have to push this group forward, and we got to keep going.”
2. On critics who say the two of them shouldn’t be running the team any longer, after seven years without a playoff win. “I think we’re making progress,” said Blake. “The progress has not shown in the playoffs and that’s up to us to keep driving this home with this group right now. We have to take that next step. Like I said, [this was] a very difficult end to this season, based off of where we projected this team to get to, and it’s up to us. Whether it’s the style we play, the incorporation of some younger players, and how we make those strides, we have to continue to keep going on that.”
3. RE: Jim Hiller and the status of LA’s open head coaching position – Blake said they’ve beginning the process of evaluating what to do next. There is interest in potentially keeping Hiller on as the guy in charge. “The mandate with Jimmy when he took over was get us in the playoffs,” Blake said. “There was going to be some change, but it wasn’t dramatic or drastic enough. There are some things he wants to implement in this team. We want we want to meet with him and do that. We’re confident in his presence and the passion that he brings, confident in the message he gives, his communication skills and all that … We’ll meet with him and just go over exact changes that he would feel would go into place before we get a decision.”
Blake later added that Hiller’s 34 game record during the regular season matched the team’s first 34 games of the season.
4. RE: Any potential lineup changes before next season – “There are some young players that will get into this lineup. We saw some of them during the season and We fully anticipate them taking that next step. Systematic changes will be discussed in different ways. If you look, gave up the third least number of goals against, so that pattern is good. You don’t want to deviate too far from that. On the offensive side, we have gotten better, but we’re still at league average. There are different ways to [improve] that, whether it’s off the rush, whether it’s plays to the slot, chances from the slot, etc. We have to increase [the offensive output].”
5. “I think we have to have a deep discussion on that, for sure,” Blake immediately remarked when asked if there was going to be consideration for deviating away from the 1-3-1.
“What we have to be conscious of is a drastic change because the goals against are [near] the tops of the league. That’s a great standard right there. But there are ways we can increase other things. That will be a combination of systematic or style changes, even if it’s very moderate in that and just the influx of some different types of players if there were minor tweaks since Jim took over.”
Even more later — “Take what we’re getting to this point, but we have to have more. Whether that is a different type of system, different type of style, infusion of some younger players, or somebody from the outside. That’s what we’re looking at.”
6. There are no plans to buyout PL Dubois. “We need to make him better,” Blake explained when asked about the Dubois situation. He’s had a consistent performance over his career so far and he deviated from that this year. It’s up to us — as a staff of coaches, management — to help him become more productive to us … We have to do a better job with the coaches to incorporate him into the game, but we need some buy-in with him to do that also.”
7. Not surprising, there were no real concrete answers provided today re: UFAs like Matt Roy, Viktor Arvidsson, Trevor Lewis. It all comes down to cap money and projected roster, something we took a quick look at here a few days ago.
There are also internal promotions that can help the club, as well.
“I think the easy one right now is just the infusion of some of the young players,” said Blake. “You saw these guys throughout the season, but they’re at that step where they can come in and help us. Whatever other additions are needed after that, we’ll have to take a look at the roster and see where that direction is.”
8. Goaltending continues to be an ongoing discussion for both the short and medium term. “I thought our goaltenders gave us quality play this year, for sure,” noted Blake. “[They provided] an increased save percentage, goals saved above expected, and everything. What we don’t have is a long-term solution going forward — other than, we have a young player that we acquired [Erik Portillo] who has played very well in Ontario, but it takes time for that position.” Those comments again indicated that we’re expecting the timeline for Portillo to look something like AHL next season, NHL backup the following year, and NHL starter three seasons from now. Of course, he could certainly accelerate that timeline with his play; although it’s still a longshot he’s in the NHL to start LA’s 2024-25 campaign.
Using their 2024 first-round draft pick (No. 21) is an option to improve the goaltending via trade, but there is nothing burning on that front. It may not be the preferred move either.
9. Byfield’s next contract is high priority for the organization this summer. It could be a short-term bridge deal, or it could be a long-term extension. That will play itself out in the weeks and months ahead. Ultimately, how that ends up has a huge impact on the team’s cap flexibility this summer for other roster improvements and/or to re-sign any of their own UFAs.
“Quinton is a player who really took strides in the right direction this year,” Blake stated. “We still need him to increase that, commanding a role up front and commanding a line, and different things. That will be [some of the progress] this team will have.”
He later talked about Byfield taking a more prominent role on the team. “He has to be up to that challenge. I thought he took tremendous strides this year, but we still need more.”
And that more could come with his return to center next season. “He’s starting to show signs of being able to take a line on by himself. He’s starting to make that progress. We saw a big jump in him this year with that.”
10. Praise for Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, but it isn’t as simple as saying reduce Kopitar’s minutes and let others take over. “We have a number of players that need to step up. If you look just at the playoff situation, I think Kempe was our only forward with multiple goals. So yeah, there’s a lot there.”
Brandt Clarke, Alex Turcotte, and Akil Thomas were three players Blake mentioned several times when discussing prospects who are ready to join the team next season. “They’ve continued to push and make strides and I think they can come in and help this team,” said LA’s GM.
Are there specific areas where Clarke has improved this year? “The poise he plays with,” Blake quickly offered. “The offensive aspect of it, I think is something we can use. He’s increased his defensive play, for the most part, throughout the season. He’s gone down [to the AHL], where they’ve had a good start to the playoffs, and [all three of] those guys are playing prominent roles.”
It didn’t go unnoticed that Blake also called out Sammy Helenius and Andre Lee when talking about players in Ontario — “They’re big guys and they’ve played well. We were at the game there yesterday and, for the most part, they play a real sound team game.”
Good enough to be potential fourth-line guys next season? Hmmm.
Bonus Tidbit
Robitaille’s message to the fans right now:
He began by referencing the four core values on display throughout the team’s office areas – Family, Integrity, Excellence, and Passion.
“I come back to our core values on the wall. [Two of the words] there are Integrity and Passion. Over the last few days, obviously we’re very disappointed when we talked to our ownership group and so forth. The integrity of this organization is very important and the people who work around here. For me personally, Mr. Anschutz, Dan [Beckerman], and Rob — one of the people with the most integrity of anybody I know — and then it goes all the way down to our staff that works with our team. It’s important.
“And the next word is Passion. We all have an extreme amount of passion towards this organization and taking it to the next level. I won’t keep going word for word, but then there’s the word Family. And we always talk about family; the way we treat people around here, treat our staff, their families coming around, everybody. And then part our family is our fans. It’s all well part of one big group.
“Sometimes, when you’re family, you get disappointed, you get mad at each other. Then you resolve your problem and so forth. We hear our fans loud and clear right now. We know they’re disappointed. We know they want to get to the next level. We built this team, and moving forward we still know there’s different steps to take. But, it’s not about winning one series or beating one team. It’s about getting us to where we can win the last game of the season and that’s the Stanley Cup.
“It’s about building a team [capable of] doing that. The process that we’re going through today, or this weekend, or the next summer, and the last few years, it’s about going towards that goal. That’s why right now, like about our fans, we understand our family. We understand, they’re not happy. But we keep plugging and doing the right thing for the good of this organization. We’ll be okay at the end of the day. And then, usually, you end up with a big Christmas party as a family. And that’s hopefully… That’s what we’re going to do as a group.”
[ed note: for anybody unsure, he was referring to a Stanley Cup Parade, not having everybody over for Christmas]
RELATED CONTENT:
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...
