Are we still worried about goaltending?
- Thread starter Busted Chops
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ArkyKingsFan
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So what about Portillo? Are we high about him as a starter or is he more just a back up?
~ArkyKingsFan~
hokiecat
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Hopefully future starter. He's played well for a first year pro. He was really hot until about 2 weeks ago.
And as far as Talbott and Dave, I don't think we could ask for any better performance for the money. I also think that having the top 4 that the Kings have allows the team to cut costs on goalies. I hope Blake or the new GM really make a serious attempt to extend Roy.
JayWells24
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I am not convinced Talbot is our guy in the playoffs. Big Save Dave hasn't had many, if any clunker games. You could argue we had the same dilemma last year with Korpisalo and Copley. I thought Copley deserved at least a chance, especially after he bailed us out when Petersen and Quick were not playing well.
Clif
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He had a good year in the AHL, 9th best in both GAA and SV%. We’re all still hoping he’s a decent NHL’r, just too early still. Given the emphasis this offseason is reportedly in goal, appears the plan with Portillo is play his way up to backup and take it from there. Guessing back up for the 25-26 season.
But he’s got years on Slukynsky anyway, who, if he does turn out to be the real deal, is taking the net when you’ve got prime Byfield, Clarke, Thomas, and Turcotte and hopefully Pinelli, Helenius, Ziemmer, and Dvorak.
All is not lost by any means with the Kings prospects.
Statue4Deano
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I think it’s funny that halfway through this season we suddenly saw a wave of social media chatter about how the Kings have no prospects left after Byfield and Clarke and how their prospect rankings the last few years were overblown.
Cut to Turcotte and Thomas actually getting a real look at the NHL and you can plainly see those two young guys are legitimate NHLers. And Moverare looks like a guy who can hold his own on the 3rd pairing with more experience.
So the Kings pipeline is flowing just fine. These kids just need to stay healthy and the big club has to give them a chance. I personally wouldn’t mind holding onto Kaliyev and giving him a blank slate with Hiller or whoever the next head coach is. Where’s the harm? His trade value is already shot. He doesn’t even turn 23 until June. He’s still very much young. Get on the same page with him and let him know the minutes will be there if he does X, Y & Z.
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The Kings have some sleepers left in the pipeline beyond Thomas and Turcotte (who were more injury plagued than sleepers) but the overall pipeline is still below average. Much of this was caused by trading away 1st round picks plus not clearing out the bottleneck.
Totally agree with you on Kaliyev though, there really is no point in trading him unless it's for another young players who is underachieving and may better fill a role on the team such as Kakko.
Statue4Deano
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I guess I would need a definition of below average. If the goal is to turn draft picks into NHL players I think the pipeline is flowing on par with the rest of the league at worst.
Graduating Spence and Laferriere into full time NHLers this season, Turcotte and Thomas as part time, Clarke due for a break through next year, the NHL roster is going to be filled with former prospects all making an impact at the NHL level.
Pinelli and Chromiak are just 21 years old and both have shown flashes of what they could be as pros. They still need lots of work but that’s the norm for the vast majority of 21 year olds. Same can be said for Helenius. And there’s the Aatu Jamsen wild card. Really hope we can get him onto the Reign to see if his game translates. There’s also a very interesting stable of prospects yet to turn pro.
What the Kings don’t have are sure fire 1st liners coming behind Byfield. Not ideal but again how many teams have 21 year old can’t miss 1st liners in their prospect pools? It’s certainly not half the league.
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Some of the names you mentioned are who I was referring to as sleepers, especially Pinelli. I considered Pinelli as steal when we drafted him and still have very high hopes for him despite his slow AHL start. That said, what we lack are game changes, projected top 6 forwards or projected top 4 defensemen. Sure we have a few who could potentially fall into that category, but our odds are great. What we have are players who realistically project to make it to the NHL, but in bottom roles. Goaltending also is still a big question mark for us, despite Portillo playing well his first season in the AHL.
Think about how many such players we already let go either via waivers or simply to clear out roster space in the last 2 years (including not resigning). That doesn't leave me with a feeling that our pipeline is where it needs to be as our average team age jumped to 28.17 this season and we do not have anyone in the pipeline (not yet having played a NHL game) ready to replace some of our key players who are beginning to age out.
When we look at our top end prospect talent, we have Turcotte, Clarke and Thomas. Out of the three, Thomas is the only one I am not worried about. Turcotte, however, I don't know if he will ever stay healthy long enough to play a full season (due mainly to the amount of concusssions he has had, but also the number of fluke injuries that differ from one another), and Clarke is extremely niche today. People complained about Durzi's defense but he was stronger in the D-zone than Clarke is so far. Thankfully Clarke is young so he can still turn it around, but the only way I currently see him getting a full NHL season in next year is if the Kings often roll 7 defensemen in the lineup.
I do like that you mentioned Jamsen and I'd also throw in Dvorak. I think both could hold valuable roles in the Org in the future, but are hard to judge (Dvorak a bit easier now that he is in the WHL but I'd like to see a full season from him).
Giving up Bjornfot, though I know many were ready to move on from him, still hurts, as does the loss of JAD who would have been a great eventual replacement for Lewis when he hangs them up.
ArkyKingsFan
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I noticed that you didn't mention Fagemo. Where do you see him slotting in with the Kings?
Do you think his future is with us or just more as trade bait for someone else?
Thanks.
~ArkyKingsFan~
hokiecat
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Define "impact at the NHL level". Are we talking about guys playing games or guys being meaningful in the NHL. The Kings pipeline is average to below average. That is pretty much a consensus opinion from all ranking services. It is also highly dependent upon Clarke being an impact player (i.e. top pairing or top 4 at worst). He alone drags the Kings out of being ranked in the 20s with the teams with depleted pools.
You've grossly oversimplified what other teams have coming up. Very few teams have sure first 1st liners coming up. But the top squads have multiple scratch-off tickets with a decent chance of being winning tickets. Dry King pretty much said everything I would say and more eloquently-- with the exception that losing Bjornfot doesn't bother me (I will note that if a franchise can rehab him then it is probably Florida based upon their work on guys like OEL).
Pevsfreedom
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After last night and consistently seeing Talbot flounder, fish, flail, and dive, I'd love to see Rittich in the playoffs, but it won't happen. Big Stick Rittich and other things that rhyme is a lot cooler under pressure IMO, and flails around way less, and has less holes that other teams seem to scout and take advantage of. But I wanted Copley last year so F me and let's play Talbot every game.
Clif
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Akil has been an impact player in all games he played this season, so I’d use him as a baseline provided he continues this trajectory next season. Probably still a third line talent at best, but if he can kill penalties and put up around 40 pts a year that’s an impact 3rd line winger on a competitive team. I think ideally Kings look at a third line of Thomas-Turcotte-Laf. Not high end scoring skill, but smarts, physicality, heart, and can provide depth scoring. They’d be good next year I believe while enduring growing pains and really start hitting their stride 25-26.
Kings still haven’t had a good third line in years despite having a competitive top 6.
Conversely, bring in Dakota Joshua as a FA and drop Thomas or Turcotte down to replace Lizotte and now you have even more physicality and depth. This is of course predicated on buying out the current 3rd line center, but there are options if you do.
symbology
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Talbot stole a number of games in the first 25 games of the season. Folks seem to forget that. The team played better early on, but Talbot was very, very good at times. Also very lucky. The entire team was lucky. You know what they say about luck, luck runs out.
Not saying the Kings did not play well early on. They did play some really good games. They also played some not so good games and came away with the win anyway.
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Maloney27
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I say YES.....No doubt Talbot and Rittich did a great job, but I'm sure people sensed that Talbot's game was on decline the further into the season we got. Not sure if that was age or what. Rittich did a very good job in the short playoff berth we had, BUT moving forward I think we need to bring someone in to add with Portillo, I would not want to break the bank if possible. I think we would be making a mistake giving up the farm for a Saros or Ullmark type move. The team must make a decision on Portillo, does he need another year at AHL or can he come in and contribute. I think if we could get an Askarov from Nashville would be a great move, former 1st round pick still only 21 from Nashville. If Saros isn't going to be moved, he is just sitting in the AHL again after already spending 2 years at that level. I'm just not high on what is at the current NHL level that we can get without giving up the farm. I am intrigued by having 2 young goalies coming up together. The Knights have shown a multiple goalie system works as have Boston and other teams.
Statue4Deano
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Yes. Kings seem like they’re looking for a bridge to Portillo or whoever the next long term goaltender will be in the near future.
I would have no problem with Talbot being the backup for the next 2 seasons.
Jacob Markstrom is signed through 25-26
Jusse Saros is signed through 24-25
Joey Daccord is signed through 24-25
Those three make the most sense to me. There’s also a handful of guys who are signed to longer term deals that probably need a change of scenery.
I would have no problem with Talbot being the backup for the next 2 seasons.
Jacob Markstrom is signed through 25-26
Jusse Saros is signed through 24-25
Joey Daccord is signed through 24-25
Those three make the most sense to me. There’s also a handful of guys who are signed to longer term deals that probably need a change of scenery.
DoubleMinor
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Not to put too much on Talbot and Rittich but neither are the answer in goal.
Both were fine when the defense played well. Neither were very good in the playoffs although our defense was lousy.
Rittich or Talbot would be fine in a backup role.
None of the goalies in the system will be ready for next year. They could be tried but if they are not ready we are back to not having a #1 goalie.
Askarov is untested but perhaps worth the gamble.
The Kings have to get a goalie in if only for a year or two to give a young goalies time to develop.
Ullmark or Saros could help in the short term. I’m not opposed depending on the cost of the acquisition.
I just can’t see putting all the eggs in the Portillo basket. The Kings mist improve that position over this offseason. It’s got to be the priority.
All this being said, goalies are a real issue for almost all the teams. There are only a few truly good ones in the NHL historically. The others are only there to break our hearts.
The Kings were extremely fortunate to have Quick in net for a decade. Look at the decade before he got here!! The Kings can’t expect to be better without a solid defense and that includes the goalie position.
The dilemma is of course deciding what goalie who is obtainable is noticeably better than the journeymen like Talbot.
The Kings have a few in the pipeline but there are absolutely no guarantees that any of them will be successful at the NHL level, including the playoffs.
A bridge-goalie to allow some time to track the prospect development has to be the path. Whether that’s one of the aforementioned guys or perhaps a Gibson or someone else, who knows. But they must upgrade the position.
