GDT ***Playoffs Rd1 GAME 4 GDT 4/28/24 7:30pm on BSW, TBS, TRU, max***

[hokiecat]

Have you been watching the Avs Jets series by any chance? Vilardi and Iafallo are quite literally nothing special. There’s no big loss without them on the team.

I do agree that not having the cap space is a big problem. However the problem takes care of itself as the cap goes up. Which it is projected to do over the next 3+ years. Ticket sales are up. Viewership is up. Revenue is up. Expansion is right around the corner.

My big hope is Blake is shown the door this summer. The next GM comes in and has no allegiance to the players already here so moving everyone is on the table except for Byfield.

Vilardi is still an asset. Having trade the package for nothing would be better than PLD with his cap hit. The trade was not good (a quality young player, middle 6 guys, borderline prospect, PLUS a 2nd for PLD) but the outcome is not at all what Kings brass expected. Blake was trying to clear the logjam and go 3 deep with QUALITY centers. Instead we got an enigma. Blake had to be hoping to 30-40-70 and rolling the top line, the Danault line, and whoever-PLD-Fiala and just making other teams pick their poison on which Kings line feasts on their bottom six.

The cap space is not going to take care of itself gracefully. You can't pay a guy 8.5 million to play like a 3 million dollar guy. Especially not for 7 more years. Either the Kings staff needs to get PLD performing like a top 6 guy or the Kings need to buy him out. The Kings won't be in cap hell as the cap rises but we'll be more hamstrung when it comes to signing FAs or extending our own guys.

Agree that Blake needs to go but the new GM is walking into a mess. A mostly bare cupboard and all you have this summer for picks is a 1st, 4th, 6th, and 7th. And 1.85 million in cap overage money because Byfield gets 850k in bonuses and Cam had the easy to achieve 1M bonus.

 

[hokiecat]

The boys played good tonight. The difference is the same each year... power play goals. Even strength we hold our own or better. What style of penalty kill can we do differently?

I don't know if I should be pleased or miserable after tonight. The Kings competed their asses off in the first hitting everything that moved and getting some good chances. The second was more even and the Oilers cashed in on their one PPG. The Kings PP was useless and the 6 on 5 was just as bad. Special teams was the difference. The Kings didn't generate many high danger chances and the Oilers stars shone yet again.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

I was more upset with genuine playoff frustration about this loss than the laugh riot of game 3 - I thought we played excellent, we just couldn't.. get scoring chances. We got a lot of shots, shut them down pretty well, the only goal was on a BS penalty and we only took one -- but the Oilers still out defended us. I think this is all just some kind of hex on Blake for trying to end the rebuild too early - we're stuck losing to the Edmonton Draftees until he gets fired. We just can't beat them even if we execute our game 100% - they just turn on their 1-2-2 or whatever and welp, we can't score a goal now. It's just absurd how.. predictable? preventable? the Kings are, and in the end of this series I think our 0 for infinite and beyond power play will be worse of a story than our 50% PK.

Oh and after this series will the Dubois bandwagon finally be empty minus a few loons? The guy is a great 3rd line sort of grinder I guess who should be getting that salary, but he's cemented himself as pure crap per the dollar. I'll add I'm a bit disapointed in Fiala and Moore's (and well hell, just about everyone) disapearring acts in the POs after decent seasons, and poor 33 can't seem to score a clutch goal to save his life given the oppurtunity. And was it just me or did the Lewis/Fiala line get the most minutes? I swear I saw them out there all night, and why the hell is Lewis with Fiala? Hiller's in way over his head but we already knew this. In the near end I'll say.. we have no clutch players.

Well, I'm probably the only one to be optimistic here, but the Kings still have a chance to force Game 6 and 7 if they keep Rittich in net, have him repeat his otherwise great performance in net, and find a way to solve Skinner by getting the correct positioning in the O-zone to get past him in net.

I have a strong feeling the Oilers prescouted the hell out of Talbot and knew exactly where to shoot. They may be studying their lil iPads right now on Rittich we'll see. But it seems they were testing the waters a bit with him in net. It felt like they knew they'd win with 1.. sad.

Also the Oilers D -- collapse in front of the net, pressure the puck holder. The Kings minds explode entering the zone at this revelation of defense.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

My big hope is Blake is shown the door this summer. The next GM comes in and has no allegiance to the players already here so moving everyone is on the table except for Byfield.

Yeah exactly. Everyone can walk. Build on 55 and 44 IMO. In his (55) first full extended season I think he's a bit gassed at this point, but he's got the heart/skill needed. Random thought is that I'm sick of hearing Doughty call people out and get all angry and his performances, and then basically assist on 3 goals against in game 3. Our leadership corp is a mess.

 

[MiketheKing]

I was more upset with genuine playoff frustration about this loss than the laugh riot of game 3 - I thought we played excellent, we just couldn't.. get scoring chances. We got a lot of shots, shut them down pretty well, the only goal was on a BS penalty and we only took one -- but the Oilers still out defended us. I think this is all just some kind of hex on Blake for trying to end the rebuild too early - we're stuck losing to the Edmonton Draftees until he gets fired. We just can't beat them even if we execute our game 100% - they just turn on their 1-2-2 or whatever and welp, we can't score a goal now. It's just absurd how.. predictable? preventable? the Kings are, and in the end of this series I think our 0 for infinite and beyond power play will be worse of a story than our 50% PK.

Oh and after this series will the Dubois bandwagon finally be empty minus a few loons? The guy is a great 3rd line sort of grinder I guess who should be getting that salary, but he's cemented himself as pure crap per the dollar. I'll add I'm a bit disapointed in Fiala and Moore's (and well hell, just about everyone) disapearring acts in the POs after decent seasons, and poor 33 can't seem to score a clutch goal to save his life given the oppurtunity. And was it just me or did the Lewis/Fiala line get the most minutes? I swear I saw them out there all night, and why the hell is Lewis with Fiala? Hiller's in way over his head but we already knew this. In the near end I'll say.. we have no clutch players.



I have a strong feeling the Oilers prescouted the hell out of Talbot and knew exactly where to shoot. They may be studying their lil iPads right now on Rittich we'll see. But it seems they were testing the waters a bit with him in net. It felt like they knew they'd win with 1.. sad.

Also the Oilers D -- collapse in front of the net, pressure the puck holder. The Kings minds explode entering the zone at this revelation of defense.

Exactly. The key to stopping the Kings is any percentage of pressure.
The king's lack of Drive prevents them from Wheeling and dealing to get to the inside for they force themselves to the outside and maybe perhaps get a low percentage weak shot from the point casually saved by my grandma.

If you're content on the outside you will never ever win anything. The Kings did horrible against any big defenseman that take up space and challenge the Kings I.E Dallas.

It comes down to confidence, talent and drive. Slow and steady offensive Drive gets easily put off by any big challenging defense and it's clear as day

 

[MiketheKing]

Anyone notice how many shots miss the net wide High? Setups on power plays High wide and high. We must have missed at least 8 with no shot on net, and that's when we were not playing Hot Potato wasting our own special teams.

Also where was the front Net Present who was fighting in those tough spots to screen the goalie and get tips all I saw was two or three Oilers plugging up the center with not even a bit of Kings challenge in front of course they'll have no chances for rebounds because they're not fighting for that space.

If I'm coach I tell them if you're not at home plate fighting for position you're not going to get ice. Every single King were guilty of this

 

[MiketheKing]

On the one bright side we were throwing the body around that was fun to watch but unfortunately you don't win games with hits alone you have to execute offensively.

Big Save Dave did his part too, no problem with his game last night.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

Big Save Dave did his part too, no problem with his game last night.

Of course this might be a SLIGHTLY different series if he starts but that's wishful thinking and bla bla but I think the team D played a lot better in front of him, similar to Copley last year. As I said in a previous post I'm still curious if the Oil are scouting the hell out of Rittich now and we'll see how he does in a 2nd test.

 

[ChiKingFan]

2 out of 50 is damn good. Odds are just 3 out of 100. Just ask Toronto or Vancouver about 2 out of 50.

The Angels still get a pass from me for 2002. One more championship than I ever thought I'd see.

 

[hokiecat]

Great article in The Athletic this morning: As Kings come up empty in Game 4, the future is bleak

Eric Stephens has now realized that the PLD trade completely derailed the rebuild. He concludes with:

The Kings are a slightly above-average team that can be pretty good on enough nights to play beyond the regular schedule. But they’re light-years away from being elite and are dangling above mediocrity. For now, they’ll just have to keep up the fight.

“It’s not long where we have to play again,” Hiller said. “You know the feeling. You as a player, the team in the room, the preparation, the effort, it’s right there. So, to summon that back up again, it’s not like we have to go and find it. It’s right there. … So, it should not be that difficult.”

That might be the easy part. The players and coaches can merely focus on a game they must win. The harder and very necessary thing looming over the Kings organization is a hard look at the years and many dollars spent constructing something that is going backward instead of forward.

Which is pretty much what I've been saying all series long-- we're stuck in the mushy middle where we're talented enough to be a playoff team 9 times out of 10 but have enough bad contracts and lack of quality prospects that it doesn't feel like we're going to take a step forward and become a contender.

My thoughts are the Kings should bring in a new GM and coach and staff-- including a development staff which is not Blake's former teammates-- and they SHOULD NOT blow it up. I'd be trying to follow the Panthers model. I thought they were in big trouble 2 springs ago after pushing in all their chips on trades and getting swept by Tampa in the 2nd round. But a new coach and GREAT moves by Zito have the Panthers in a good place.

 

[Statue4Deano]

The cap space is not going to take care of itself gracefully. You can't pay a guy 8.5 million to play like a 3 million dollar guy. Especially not for 7 more years. Either the Kings staff needs to get PLD performing like a top 6 guy or the Kings need to buy him out. The Kings won't be in cap hell as the cap rises but we'll be more hamstrung when it comes to signing FAs or extending our own guys.

With a new GM hopefully we get a new philosophy for on-ice tactics. An offensive system that focuses on generating high danger chances, chances off the rush and a blue line that can move the puck up the ice cleanly. If that happens then a guy like PLD makes a lot of sense.

In the current system of grind, cycle, point shot and potentially score off a rebound it makes very little sense to acquire a guy who produces best off the rush or with time and space. That’s why his numbers are down. The Kings under Blake and Hiller do not generate rush chances. They ask their forwards to work twice as hard to generate half the chances other teams do.

The Kings forward group is actually quite high skilled. They’re all just weighed down by a rigid structure that doesn’t reward creativity. That’s why an elite offensive weapon like Kevin Fiala struggles to score 70 points in a season. Just incompetence from the top down.

 

[HockeyFan33]

Once the axe falls on management and the coaching staff (hopefully), the Kings are allowed one contract buyout, per the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement. The obvious choice is Pierre Luc Dubois. Once bought out, his ludicrous $8.5 million dollar cap hit comes off the books. Yeah, he gets money for nothing and is a free agent to sign with any other team, however, the league got to see his play up close and personal. He'll be lucky to get a million to play 4th line banger minutes. He has talent, you can't take that away. But his hockey sense and mentality stunt his play. The Kings need a true #1 goaltender. Ditch Talbot. He is Korpisalo 2.0. Rittich can play back-up. As for the rest of this team, there are questions to be answered and decisions to be made. The roster must be handled shrewdly. Trades and maybe free agent signings. Maybe bring Akil Thomas to the big club. In 7 games, he had points and was plus for the plus-minus stat. These are my impertinent thoughts considering a disaster playoff showing. As one other poster pointed out: 7 games 2 years ago, 6 games last year, and more than likely 5 games this year. As yet another poster said, we should've lost to Chicago and get beat-up by Dallas. Not the oil again!

 

[Statue4Deano]

Great article in The Athletic this morning: As Kings come up empty in Game 4, the future is bleak

Eric Stephens has now realized that the PLD trade completely derailed the rebuild. He concludes with:

Which is pretty much what I've been saying all series long-- we're stuck in the mushy middle where we're talented enough to be a playoff team 9 times out of 10 but have enough bad contracts and lack of quality prospects that it doesn't feel like we're going to take a step forward and become a contender.

My thoughts are the Kings should bring in a new GM and coach and staff-- including a development staff which is not Blake's former teammates-- and they SHOULD NOT blow it up. I'd be trying to follow the Panthers model. I thought they were in big trouble 2 springs ago after pushing in all their chips on trades and getting swept by Tampa in the 2nd round. But a new coach and GREAT moves by Zito have the Panthers in a good place.

There’s no chance this roster is being blown up. Too many long contracts with movement clauses to make that a possibility.

The best we can hope for is a new GM with a new philosophy to build an organization ready to compete in the modern game of hockey. The days of grinding out 3-2 wins on the way to the Cup are dead. There’s more speed and skill in every developmental league all the way up the NHL than ever before. Embrace the reality and build around that framework.

 

[rinkrat]

Whether they got blown out, or they did great and allowed only one goal, the result is still the same on the scoresheet, loss. Ugh. the Oilers are much faster and way more gritty. They always seem to end up with the the puck in a 1 on 1 battle. Gonna be a long summer.

 

[SirJW]

All this analysis has missed one thing. AEG. We made the playoffs got to sell tickets and give the fans false hope. Rinse and repeat next season and beyond.

 

[jom]

Great article in The Athletic this morning: As Kings come up empty in Game 4, the future is bleak

Eric Stephens has now realized that the PLD trade completely derailed the rebuild. He concludes with:

Wow...the Kings went from a team with the best prospects to "bleak" in, what, 2 years? How did that happen?

I think the development staff needs an over-haul but that's difficult when they are ex-playing buddies with the GM.

Also, remember the Kings lost their assistant GM Futa and their goalie coach Ranford (who is now in a more hands-off role now). I don't know how much hurt the team but something is different....

jom

 

[Clif]

Turcotte, Thomas, and Clarke are all going to be impact players next year. Laf is a glorified prospect who really overachieved so far but I expect at least a similar points total but an ever more physical and responsible game from him next season as he gets stronger. It could well be a better team next year than this one if they can move out the right guys and bring in the proper coach to utilize the team’s skill.

 

[LAKingSteve]

Wow...the Kings went from a team with the best prospects to "bleak" in, what, 2 years? How did that happen?

I think the development staff needs an over-haul but that's difficult when they are ex-playing buddies with the GM.

Also, remember the Kings lost their assistant GM Futa and their goalie coach Ranford (who is now in a more hands-off role now). I don't know how much hurt the team but something is different....

jom

Some have been traded, some became NHL players. Some just didn't pan out. Prospects are very hit and miss. For every one that should pan out, there's a guy that shouldn't and somehow does. Once Thomas, Turcotte, and Clarke are up in the NHL next season, the future truly does look bleak. Time to restock the cupboard.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Turcotte, Thomas, and Clarke are all going to be impact players next year. Laf is a glorified prospect who really overachieved so far but I expect at least a similar points total but an ever more physical and responsible game from him next season as he gets stronger. It could well be a better team next year than this one if they can move out the right guys and bring in the proper coach to utilize the team’s skill.

I’m coming around to the idea that a new on-ice approach from the top down could serve the organization better than any sort of rebuild. A new 2nd d-pairing is a must for me. Gavrikov and Roy are excellent regular season players. Over an 82 game time span they’re valuable.

When you shrink the window to a 7 game series their value is significantly less apparent. Notice how all the fans obsessed with size and physicality on the back end are very quiet after these four games. Size and physicality will always have a place in the game but we’re staring at the limitations right now down 3-1.

Give me puck movers. I really don’t give a sh*t how big they are. Play Clarke 82 games next season. And it’s probably time to move on from small forwards who don’t have that initial burst in foot speed. That burst gets you around and in between defenders causing havok. Straight line speed over a long distance is far less valuable once you’ve entered the offensive zone.

 

[Statue4Deano]

Some have been traded, some became NHL players. Some just didn't pan out. Prospects are very hit and miss. For every one that should pan out, there's a guy that shouldn't and somehow does. Once Thomas, Turcotte, and Clarke are up in the NHL next season, the future truly does look bleak. Time to restock the cupboard.

They’ve been extremely unfortunate that they’ve basically missed on every 2nd round pick after 2010 (Toffoli). The two exceptions are Erik Cernak (traded) and Brock Faber (traded). Lol.

If you aren’t hitting home runs with every 1st round pick (7 total 1st round picks from 2011-2023) and you’re striking out with your 2nds. Then all the singles and doubles you hit in Rounds 3-7 are a lot less impactful.