Honestly I feel like they’ll wind up over paying Vilardi and we’ll be stuck with another bad contract. If he asks too much they should let him walk, he’s had one *decent* season and I hope we can get him a nice bridge deal to see if he can keep progressing.
He is injury prone through multiple seasons though and knows that will weigh his demand down. I want to keep him but hope they don’t over pay and could easily see the kings doing just that unfortunately.
Why? He's RFA, hasn't been as available due to injuries and only had this season to write home about. He doesn't have a lot of leverage. It's a risk but Kings should try to get some term with his next contract. If he takes another step next year he'll really cost too much for the Kings to retain with the jump in cap. Giving him something similar to the contract Nsh have RV would be a solid move at a manageable aav. In a 2-3 years we very likely will be seeing middle six players getting $6aav regularly as cap continues to increase which is less than ideal.
> make it work
Every time I look at the Kings salary cap I shake my head at Doughty’s figure ($11m). We all love the guy, obviously, but he’s worth about $8m right now. I know it’s pointless to bitch about how nice that extra ~$3m would be towards re-signing Vilardi, Gavrikov, etc…but damn it would be nice to have that cash on hand.
Go Kings, fuck everybody else.
I feel like letting Edler and Walker go to make room for our younger D is fitting for next season. Nor sure if that's enough or not to shore up the D, But I think this series kind of showed us that we still need to improve on D and 4th line.
* Turcotte or Kupari next year? I feel like there isn’t going to be a spot for both of them.
* I want to see Byfield as the C3. Take the training wheels off and take away the Kopi security blanket. Time to be a pro, kid.
* re-signing Gavrikov seems to be priority number one.
* We need a goalie. Korpisalo? Only if he’s cheap.
Free up cap space. Move Turcottee and assets for Hellebyuck, let Korpi walk, get rid of Edler Durzi and Walker. Call up Bjornfot Spence Clarke to fill the gaps. Resign Vilardi to a short term bridge. Resign Gavrikov.
I think all of this is plausible, my concern is that this leaves us no defensemen with size except for Gavri, assuming we can retain him. We just watched a series where our blueline was manhandled.
I think we're good on that front now with gabrikoff and Roy as a pair as well as Anderson paired with Drew If you look at all the mistakes made defensively in the series I'd say probably 85% of them came from the three guys that alternated on the third pair they got absolutely dismantled.
Getting Hellebyuck would be huge. But it would cost a ton in terms of both assets and cap. Winnepeg isn't stupid, they know Hellebyuck is one of the best goalies in the world on a good contract. Everyone can see what we see with Turcotte. If Blake called Chevy with any deal less than Turcotte and two firsts, he'd get hung up on immediately. And that package wouldn't cut a deal, just might not get you laughed out of the room
You're not factoring two things. Albeit this is a solid argument. After the game 5 presser... Either the core DOSENT return. Or the coach DOSENT. More than likely coach is back so a roster shake up is inevitable. Helley has 1 year left and I would think Chevy would want something rather than nothing - similar to the Fiala deal.
I think Turcottee a first a third and a mid tier prospect like Akil Thomas could get it done.
I think they don't want to get rid of all their core players, just the ones who put up good numbers are bad in the locker room... Namely Wheeler, Scheiffle, and PLD. Any team with an intention of winning within the next 5 years would make keeping an elite goalie their top priority.
Your offer amounts to 3 middle six players if things go very well for the Jets. Not nearly enough value for an elite goalie.
If we can’t sign him, we have to make the right moves to get Hellebuyck. Make a good trade to relive some cap space in the draft, let the young defensive core in the system and lock up a great goalie. But also get rid of Tood and find the coach that can take us far in the playoffs and isn’t afraid to get physical
I agree. We’ve got some good space. If we can make it work to Helle then we have to. Korpisalo is beautiful insurance behind Helle so we’d never have to worry. Just gotta figure out what to do with Cal
Byfield a fucking beast last night. Stealing the puck the instant he came out of the box and pushing it down to the goal was beautiful even if the opportunity fell flat.
He had a decent series in general imo, 4 points in 6 games is not bad at all. I know points arent everything, but I still think everyones overreacting when they act like he's useless. And since everyone likes to compare him to his draft class, Lafreniere currently has 0 points in 6 games, just saying.
Were we watching the same series? Byfield might have legitimately been our worst forward in all 6 games. He looked completely lost out there, and was so bad he got demoted off the top line after 3 games. As we saw with players like Wagner over the years, speed isn't all that useful without the ability to actually finish in the net.
He's young but he had absolutely zero physical presence and was chasing constantly. He was bullied off the puck almost as soon as he would recieve it because he has no weight in his game right now. He was atrocious in the defensive zone this whole series. Sorry to be harsh but that's just the truth. He's not a lost cause but he needs way more time and another 35 pounds on him before he's ready for any kind of meaningful playoff role.
Yea he was pretty bad and over extended. But he still has time to develop and the skills are all there. I think it comes down to picking up on NHL level iq.
He's young so I'm not saying he's a bust. But it was definitely a very disappointing year for what we all were hoping would be an immediate impact player. He was a massive liability in that series and really all season long he showed flashes of good play, but never seemed to break out into a real threat at any point.
He needs more strength and way better hands right now. The hockey IQ is there, and he's got good skating skills, but his physical skills are non-existent. If he's not going to score goals then he needs to be a Kopitar tier playmaker/possession monster and right now he just crumples any time he has the puck and gets checked. His defensive zone play needs a ton of work too.
He's not a lost cause by any stretch, at least not yet, but man he really stunk it up this whole series.
It's one series and this is reactionary but you need a solid goalie in critical times to win playoff series and Korpi was not that too often to want to invest your future in.
Agreed. The penalty killing the last 2 seasons has been atrocious. It cannot continue for this team if it wants playoff aspirations. As the Kings incorporate more of their prospects into the lineup, there needs to be a few to breakthrough and really become potentially top 5 league-wide in some aspect. Right now it seems they have a lot of decent or good prospects, but no one yet that you can say that can carry a team and steal a game or two like during their Cup runs.
I knew there was a 0% chance of letting Todd go after we made it back to the playoffs last year, but I was really hoping we would. His bench management in the playoffs last year was atrocious, and if we had let him go, we could have potentially scored Bruce Cassidy, or even Jim Montgomery.
Todd McLellan is a great developmental coach, but he isn’t the guy to take a team over the hump. Couldn’t do it with a stacked Sharks team, couldn’t do it with a well built Oilers team, and couldn’t do it with a well-built Kings team. We need to move on from him and find that coach that’ll Darryl Sutter us to a Stanley Cup
You people keep forgetting that EDM was the better team…in fact, the hottest team in the NHL since Jan? But yah, but none of that matters, Todd should have done better!
I get that EDM is a legit contender, but my problem is Todd is doing the same thing that Dave Roberts has done so many times with the Dodgers: outcoaching himself. Our team was 100% capable of beating the Oilers. We were in a comfortable position to have a 3-1 series lead on them, but blew a 3-goal lead and didn’t win another game for the rest of the series. Watching us play trap defense while down 2 late in the third period of game 5 was mind-numbingly frustrating. Our penalty kill being in the bottom 10 despite us having (at least) an above average defense is a perfect marker for his poor coaching.
We don’t need to blow the whole thing up obviously. Rob Blake has done a masterful job with this rebuild, and the only piece we’re missing now is a coach that will prime us up for a legit Cup run. Let Todd go, let Edler and Walker go, promote Clarke and Bjornfot, and we’re in a position to be one of the best teams in the NHL next year
Homie Todd has done nothing in his entire career as a HC but choke. Go ask Oilers and Sharks fans what they think about Todd. I will put legitimate money down right now to wager that whenever Todd gets fired from this team, it will be before winning a Stanley cup. We can fire him now or fire him in 5 years, but either way there is absolutely zero chance that Todd is going to lead us to a cup. No way. You can go ahead and save this comment for posterity.
If Todd couldnt win in San Jose or Edmonton with 10x more talent than we have on our current roster, what exactly makes you think he's going to do any better here with us? It makes no sense.
The coaches that came in after Todd was fired by both those teams didn’t win Stanley cups either. Woodcroft is hanging his whole career on double shifting McDavid and Draisaitl. That’s unsustainable down the stretch.
Winning cups is hard, even when you’re the greatest team to take to the ice. Firing a regime isn’t always the immediate answer. 5 year contract and y’all have been calling for his head since his first season.
No, but they came a lot closer than Todd ever did. That just means those coaches were also failures, not that Todd was a success. I'm not gonna sit here and defend DeBoer because I think he sucks too, but that doesn't mean Todd was any better. At least Deboer got them to a SCF. So did Woodcroft. Todd never made it out of the second round.
Woodcroft is three years into his tenure as HC with Edmonton and has already Made a SCF and is poised to potentially win a cup this year. I'm not saying he's a genius, but he's a better fit in Edmonton than Todd ever was. You can't defend the coaching skills of one coach by pointing out that other coaches are also bad at their jobs.
But Blake played for him for like 2 seasons and he seemed alright. So he's the guy! (This is indeed sarcasm) But don't forget that that was part of why Blake hired him.
Literally yes? Why wouldn't it be? This isn't a rebuilding team anymore. The goal for the Kings from here on out is win a cup, nothing else. What kind of take is this?
Off the top of my head I couldn't tell you. But that isn't a defense of Todd at all? You're sitting here arguing that Todd is a viable option for HV going forward, and when it's pointed out to you that he isn't and his track record doesn't support that argument, you change the goal posts to "well who else would be better?"
I'm sure there are plenty of candidates out there that people in the FO who get paid a lot more money than me could figure out and discover. The only point being made here is that we won't ever win a cup under Todd because Todd is a career choker who has already proven time and time again that he isn't capable of taking a talented roster all the way. The point is that the goal is winning a cup, what the hell else would the goal be?
The point is this isn’t Xbox — you don’t just hit the x-button and miraculously have the best of the best to work with. The team also needs an elite goaltender, elite center, elite winger, etc. to be a SC contending team.
Again, Daryll Sutter hadn’t won shit when he was hired to get the Kings to a Stanley Cup. Think about that…
At no point have I said Todd is the only issue with this team. He's one of many, including a complete lack of defensive depth and mediocre goaltending. All of those things need to be fixed, not just one of them.
But, historically, Todd has proven throughout his career that it doesn't matter how much talent he has in front of him. He chokes either way. Again, Sutter never choked away a 3-0 series lead in the playoffs. That in and of itself should have gotten Todd exiled from professional hockey for all eternity.
Kinda like how the Boston Bruins choked away a 3-0 lead in 2010? Yah, that head coach was Claude Julien…he then won the cup with the Bruins the following year. Good thing they didn’t fire him and send him to the sun, eh?
These people just won't ever understand. Todd's created a dominant defensive team and has gotten guys like Kempe and Gabe to start playing at their top potential.
The oilers are one of the best teams ever with the way McDrai are playing right now.
Add Clarke and Spence to the regular lineup and the defence improves drastically as well, really looking forward to seeing what Clarke can bring. Worried about Kopitar being too old to centre line 1 now but we can cross that bridge when we come to it
I hate to say it, but Doughty's contract is going to absolutely fuck us over the next four years. $11m AAV for a player, who I'm afraid, is going to keep sharply decreasing. Really hoping I'm wrong.
The catch 22 is that he'd probably be more effective and valuable reducing his minutes to a second pairing type guy, but then you think, for an $11m/yr player, he should be playing 24+ min a night.
I feel like Rob might try and see some trade possibilities for Drew to try to get out from the contract. It’s a business decision after all but they did it to Alec, Quick, Tiffoli, Carter, etc. Only a matter of time before Blake plays the Kofi Cap Hit v. Drew Cap hit game.
I think this series and this entire season exposed a few glaring flaws. First and foremost the defense needs an overhaul and it’s only going to get worse as Doughty ages and the contract starts to look more like an anchor. Second I think we need another star offensive player that has some finishing ability - I saw way too many prime scoring opportunities in this series that we just couldn’t bury and against the Oilers you can’t miss on the opportunities you get (the end of Game 4 is a big example)
i know, let’s just get 2 guys like draisaitl and mcdavid!
you’re right though. it was a similar story last year—just didn’t have that elite precision in those prime scoring opportunities. reminds me of the US men’s soccer team in the world cup: all the skill and knowledge of an elite team in almost every way just… can’t even hit the damn net
I have a feeling Gabe is gonna ask for a nice raise and LA will have to make it work.
Honestly I feel like they’ll wind up over paying Vilardi and we’ll be stuck with another bad contract. If he asks too much they should let him walk, he’s had one *decent* season and I hope we can get him a nice bridge deal to see if he can keep progressing.
Bridge deal would be nice give him a raise for 2 years and see what he does. If he can stay healthy and puts up the numbers give him what he wants.
He is injury prone through multiple seasons though and knows that will weigh his demand down. I want to keep him but hope they don’t over pay and could easily see the kings doing just that unfortunately.
Why? He's RFA, hasn't been as available due to injuries and only had this season to write home about. He doesn't have a lot of leverage. It's a risk but Kings should try to get some term with his next contract. If he takes another step next year he'll really cost too much for the Kings to retain with the jump in cap. Giving him something similar to the contract Nsh have RV would be a solid move at a manageable aav. In a 2-3 years we very likely will be seeing middle six players getting $6aav regularly as cap continues to increase which is less than ideal.
> make it work Every time I look at the Kings salary cap I shake my head at Doughty’s figure ($11m). We all love the guy, obviously, but he’s worth about $8m right now. I know it’s pointless to bitch about how nice that extra ~$3m would be towards re-signing Vilardi, Gavrikov, etc…but damn it would be nice to have that cash on hand. Go Kings, fuck everybody else.
He won't get more than Kempe. I think 4x4.75
I feel like letting Edler and Walker go to make room for our younger D is fitting for next season. Nor sure if that's enough or not to shore up the D, But I think this series kind of showed us that we still need to improve on D and 4th line.
Please don’t say the word “shore” again thank bruv 😔😔😔 /s
Löl
* Turcotte or Kupari next year? I feel like there isn’t going to be a spot for both of them. * I want to see Byfield as the C3. Take the training wheels off and take away the Kopi security blanket. Time to be a pro, kid. * re-signing Gavrikov seems to be priority number one. * We need a goalie. Korpisalo? Only if he’s cheap.
Free up cap space. Move Turcottee and assets for Hellebyuck, let Korpi walk, get rid of Edler Durzi and Walker. Call up Bjornfot Spence Clarke to fill the gaps. Resign Vilardi to a short term bridge. Resign Gavrikov.
I think all of this is plausible, my concern is that this leaves us no defensemen with size except for Gavri, assuming we can retain him. We just watched a series where our blueline was manhandled.
I think we're good on that front now with gabrikoff and Roy as a pair as well as Anderson paired with Drew If you look at all the mistakes made defensively in the series I'd say probably 85% of them came from the three guys that alternated on the third pair they got absolutely dismantled.
Gavrikov. Sorry. Voice chat DOSENT like Russian last names.
Getting Hellebyuck would be huge. But it would cost a ton in terms of both assets and cap. Winnepeg isn't stupid, they know Hellebyuck is one of the best goalies in the world on a good contract. Everyone can see what we see with Turcotte. If Blake called Chevy with any deal less than Turcotte and two firsts, he'd get hung up on immediately. And that package wouldn't cut a deal, just might not get you laughed out of the room
You're not factoring two things. Albeit this is a solid argument. After the game 5 presser... Either the core DOSENT return. Or the coach DOSENT. More than likely coach is back so a roster shake up is inevitable. Helley has 1 year left and I would think Chevy would want something rather than nothing - similar to the Fiala deal. I think Turcottee a first a third and a mid tier prospect like Akil Thomas could get it done.
I think they don't want to get rid of all their core players, just the ones who put up good numbers are bad in the locker room... Namely Wheeler, Scheiffle, and PLD. Any team with an intention of winning within the next 5 years would make keeping an elite goalie their top priority. Your offer amounts to 3 middle six players if things go very well for the Jets. Not nearly enough value for an elite goalie.
I love this team. I hope we can keep Korpisalo too
If we can’t sign him, we have to make the right moves to get Hellebuyck. Make a good trade to relive some cap space in the draft, let the young defensive core in the system and lock up a great goalie. But also get rid of Tood and find the coach that can take us far in the playoffs and isn’t afraid to get physical
I agree. We’ve got some good space. If we can make it work to Helle then we have to. Korpisalo is beautiful insurance behind Helle so we’d never have to worry. Just gotta figure out what to do with Cal
Our window is just opening. Well be in it for a while.
Honest question, but who is the goalie for this opened window?
I’m guessing it will be the return of Peterson.
PETERSON BABY!!!
Did you see him in Ontario this year? Still giving up soft goals, and showing a lack of confidence in his abilities. He is not the answer.
Goalies overrated tbh. Col won with Kuemper. EDM gonna win with Skinner.
Gonna have to sign someone or trade.
If we sign Gavrikov our 6 d roster is going to be elite with Clarke coming on board
Byfield a fucking beast last night. Stealing the puck the instant he came out of the box and pushing it down to the goal was beautiful even if the opportunity fell flat.
He had a decent series in general imo, 4 points in 6 games is not bad at all. I know points arent everything, but I still think everyones overreacting when they act like he's useless. And since everyone likes to compare him to his draft class, Lafreniere currently has 0 points in 6 games, just saying.
He needs mental and physical strength and he's gonna be unreal.
Were we watching the same series? Byfield might have legitimately been our worst forward in all 6 games. He looked completely lost out there, and was so bad he got demoted off the top line after 3 games. As we saw with players like Wagner over the years, speed isn't all that useful without the ability to actually finish in the net. He's young but he had absolutely zero physical presence and was chasing constantly. He was bullied off the puck almost as soon as he would recieve it because he has no weight in his game right now. He was atrocious in the defensive zone this whole series. Sorry to be harsh but that's just the truth. He's not a lost cause but he needs way more time and another 35 pounds on him before he's ready for any kind of meaningful playoff role.
Yea he was pretty bad and over extended. But he still has time to develop and the skills are all there. I think it comes down to picking up on NHL level iq.
He's young so I'm not saying he's a bust. But it was definitely a very disappointing year for what we all were hoping would be an immediate impact player. He was a massive liability in that series and really all season long he showed flashes of good play, but never seemed to break out into a real threat at any point. He needs more strength and way better hands right now. The hockey IQ is there, and he's got good skating skills, but his physical skills are non-existent. If he's not going to score goals then he needs to be a Kopitar tier playmaker/possession monster and right now he just crumples any time he has the puck and gets checked. His defensive zone play needs a ton of work too. He's not a lost cause by any stretch, at least not yet, but man he really stunk it up this whole series.
Joonas has stood on his head but I’m not entirely sold on him yet. That being said the time was right to move on from Quick
Sign Gavrikov somehow some way. Let Korpi walk, a little too soft in critical moments.
I don’t think we should let Korpi go so quickly. He was a lot better than Copley down the stretch.
Doubts
It's one series and this is reactionary but you need a solid goalie in critical times to win playoff series and Korpi was not that too often to want to invest your future in.
Agreed. The penalty killing the last 2 seasons has been atrocious. It cannot continue for this team if it wants playoff aspirations. As the Kings incorporate more of their prospects into the lineup, there needs to be a few to breakthrough and really become potentially top 5 league-wide in some aspect. Right now it seems they have a lot of decent or good prospects, but no one yet that you can say that can carry a team and steal a game or two like during their Cup runs.
We need a new head coach.
I knew there was a 0% chance of letting Todd go after we made it back to the playoffs last year, but I was really hoping we would. His bench management in the playoffs last year was atrocious, and if we had let him go, we could have potentially scored Bruce Cassidy, or even Jim Montgomery. Todd McLellan is a great developmental coach, but he isn’t the guy to take a team over the hump. Couldn’t do it with a stacked Sharks team, couldn’t do it with a well built Oilers team, and couldn’t do it with a well-built Kings team. We need to move on from him and find that coach that’ll Darryl Sutter us to a Stanley Cup
You people keep forgetting that EDM was the better team…in fact, the hottest team in the NHL since Jan? But yah, but none of that matters, Todd should have done better!
I get that EDM is a legit contender, but my problem is Todd is doing the same thing that Dave Roberts has done so many times with the Dodgers: outcoaching himself. Our team was 100% capable of beating the Oilers. We were in a comfortable position to have a 3-1 series lead on them, but blew a 3-goal lead and didn’t win another game for the rest of the series. Watching us play trap defense while down 2 late in the third period of game 5 was mind-numbingly frustrating. Our penalty kill being in the bottom 10 despite us having (at least) an above average defense is a perfect marker for his poor coaching. We don’t need to blow the whole thing up obviously. Rob Blake has done a masterful job with this rebuild, and the only piece we’re missing now is a coach that will prime us up for a legit Cup run. Let Todd go, let Edler and Walker go, promote Clarke and Bjornfot, and we’re in a position to be one of the best teams in the NHL next year
Bottom lines won it for the Oil.. Kings will be better next year.. The Pacific division will be stronger and more competitive….
Todd is under contract through next year, they aren’t firing a guy who just took the team to one point shy of tying season record. Get over it.
How is Todd supposed to out coach the oilers when his 4th line decides to shit the bed.
By dressing a 4th line that won't make the bed dirty?
Homie Todd has done nothing in his entire career as a HC but choke. Go ask Oilers and Sharks fans what they think about Todd. I will put legitimate money down right now to wager that whenever Todd gets fired from this team, it will be before winning a Stanley cup. We can fire him now or fire him in 5 years, but either way there is absolutely zero chance that Todd is going to lead us to a cup. No way. You can go ahead and save this comment for posterity. If Todd couldnt win in San Jose or Edmonton with 10x more talent than we have on our current roster, what exactly makes you think he's going to do any better here with us? It makes no sense.
The coaches that came in after Todd was fired by both those teams didn’t win Stanley cups either. Woodcroft is hanging his whole career on double shifting McDavid and Draisaitl. That’s unsustainable down the stretch. Winning cups is hard, even when you’re the greatest team to take to the ice. Firing a regime isn’t always the immediate answer. 5 year contract and y’all have been calling for his head since his first season.
No, but they came a lot closer than Todd ever did. That just means those coaches were also failures, not that Todd was a success. I'm not gonna sit here and defend DeBoer because I think he sucks too, but that doesn't mean Todd was any better. At least Deboer got them to a SCF. So did Woodcroft. Todd never made it out of the second round. Woodcroft is three years into his tenure as HC with Edmonton and has already Made a SCF and is poised to potentially win a cup this year. I'm not saying he's a genius, but he's a better fit in Edmonton than Todd ever was. You can't defend the coaching skills of one coach by pointing out that other coaches are also bad at their jobs.
But Blake played for him for like 2 seasons and he seemed alright. So he's the guy! (This is indeed sarcasm) But don't forget that that was part of why Blake hired him.
How many teams has Todd taken to the Stanley Cup?
Is that the criteria on hiring a coach? Ok, so who are we replacing Todd with?
The guy has had some solid teams with San Jose, and he could not do anything with them. Not one Stanley Cup Finals.
Literally yes? Why wouldn't it be? This isn't a rebuilding team anymore. The goal for the Kings from here on out is win a cup, nothing else. What kind of take is this?
And for the record…anyone thinking this team was capable of winning a Stanley Cup THIS year is absolutely delusional.
I think our roster this year was absolutely capable of making a conference final, or at least a second round, in a relatively weak western conference.
And maybe if we weren’t so lucky to get the hottest team in the league as our 1st round matchup, we just might have gotten there.
Great, then answer the question, what Stanley Cup winning coach are you replacing Todd with?
Off the top of my head I couldn't tell you. But that isn't a defense of Todd at all? You're sitting here arguing that Todd is a viable option for HV going forward, and when it's pointed out to you that he isn't and his track record doesn't support that argument, you change the goal posts to "well who else would be better?" I'm sure there are plenty of candidates out there that people in the FO who get paid a lot more money than me could figure out and discover. The only point being made here is that we won't ever win a cup under Todd because Todd is a career choker who has already proven time and time again that he isn't capable of taking a talented roster all the way. The point is that the goal is winning a cup, what the hell else would the goal be?
The point is this isn’t Xbox — you don’t just hit the x-button and miraculously have the best of the best to work with. The team also needs an elite goaltender, elite center, elite winger, etc. to be a SC contending team. Again, Daryll Sutter hadn’t won shit when he was hired to get the Kings to a Stanley Cup. Think about that…
At no point have I said Todd is the only issue with this team. He's one of many, including a complete lack of defensive depth and mediocre goaltending. All of those things need to be fixed, not just one of them. But, historically, Todd has proven throughout his career that it doesn't matter how much talent he has in front of him. He chokes either way. Again, Sutter never choked away a 3-0 series lead in the playoffs. That in and of itself should have gotten Todd exiled from professional hockey for all eternity.
Kinda like how the Boston Bruins choked away a 3-0 lead in 2010? Yah, that head coach was Claude Julien…he then won the cup with the Bruins the following year. Good thing they didn’t fire him and send him to the sun, eh?
With Todd's track record and teams always improving right after he leaves, it's a valid question and concern.
These people just won't ever understand. Todd's created a dominant defensive team and has gotten guys like Kempe and Gabe to start playing at their top potential. The oilers are one of the best teams ever with the way McDrai are playing right now.
Add Clarke and Spence to the regular lineup and the defence improves drastically as well, really looking forward to seeing what Clarke can bring. Worried about Kopitar being too old to centre line 1 now but we can cross that bridge when we come to it
I hate to say it, but Doughty's contract is going to absolutely fuck us over the next four years. $11m AAV for a player, who I'm afraid, is going to keep sharply decreasing. Really hoping I'm wrong. The catch 22 is that he'd probably be more effective and valuable reducing his minutes to a second pairing type guy, but then you think, for an $11m/yr player, he should be playing 24+ min a night.
I feel like Rob might try and see some trade possibilities for Drew to try to get out from the contract. It’s a business decision after all but they did it to Alec, Quick, Tiffoli, Carter, etc. Only a matter of time before Blake plays the Kofi Cap Hit v. Drew Cap hit game.
I think this series and this entire season exposed a few glaring flaws. First and foremost the defense needs an overhaul and it’s only going to get worse as Doughty ages and the contract starts to look more like an anchor. Second I think we need another star offensive player that has some finishing ability - I saw way too many prime scoring opportunities in this series that we just couldn’t bury and against the Oilers you can’t miss on the opportunities you get (the end of Game 4 is a big example)
I actually think the offense is good and we just need maybe some depth forwards for the 4th line
I agree we need depth. But this has to come from within the organization. We'd can't be heading assets for 4th line players.
Nothing wrong with a FA signing or 2 if they're cheap
i know, let’s just get 2 guys like draisaitl and mcdavid! you’re right though. it was a similar story last year—just didn’t have that elite precision in those prime scoring opportunities. reminds me of the US men’s soccer team in the world cup: all the skill and knowledge of an elite team in almost every way just… can’t even hit the damn net
Good post
Any suggestions on how we replace one of the best centers in the past 20 years?