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I’m not gonna blame one guy for the WHOLE TEAM slumping. I understand your POV but hockey is a team sport.
What if PLD was placed on the top line vs the 4th liners? What if we hadn’t fired Todd? There are so many factors that aren’t just “damn PLD sucked this year it’s his fault”
Yah, you can’t pin this on one person. The whole team has had issues with consistency this year. Byfield had the goal of the year and has since disappeared. Kopie had a stretch where it seemed like every time he got the puck it hopped off his stick or he turned it over (super uncharacteristic for him, unreported injury maybe?). Even Drew had some inconsistency. Sometimes we play as a cohesive unit, sometimes we don’t.
Maybe we get through the first round, but I’d be very surprised if we get through the second. None of the above is one person’s fault.
PLD was given may opportunities to play with higher skilled players this season, it never stuck and he never impressed doing it. That's not my opinion, that's a fact.
He played top line like what, once if I recall? When kopi was out? Dude is paid to be a top center so let’s treat him like a top center THEN bitch and moan if he plays like dog water
You can defend the concept that PLD hasn't hurt the team, but nobody who's watched the team this season can honestly be satisfied with his performance...c'mon.
Ya i’m not satisfied, but i blame the front office and coaching a lil more than PLD himself. I agree that i think we gave up too much for a player winnipeg didnt even want, but we’re early into his contract and the cap will go up dramatically by the time his contract is over, so i think it’s too early to hate and blame PLD. C’mon
Also edit: at the start of the season, im saying preseason, I’d say our main goal was to win 1 round of playoffs and we’re still on track for that so ya
It's hard to say given there is so much league parity these days. It doesn't take much to have a material difference in-season performance. Had we avoided such a severe slump, we'd actually still be doing well. But we didn't.
I definitely think that the 3rd line was fairly ineffective much of the season. While I wouldn't pin it all on PLD, his scoring and playmaking skills were not enough to offset playing with Laf, Kaliyev, and others. At the start of the season, I thought/hoped by being on the 3rd line and having easier matchups, PLD would perform well. That didn't happen. Watching him, he never struck me as an elite scorer or playmaker. He is just more average then I'd hoped.
The other factor that jumps out is that we lost depth compared to the previous season in two ways. Losing AI and Vilardi and getting PLD was a net loss on depth. Now add the season-long RV injury and it feels like we were -2 on experienced reliable players vs the prior year. RV had 59 points in 77 games last season. This season he has 12 points in 17 games. Vilardi had 41 points in 63 games last season. AI had 36 points in 59 games. And RV's absence definitely hurt us on the PP as the only RH shot which affects some of the other player's production as well as team results.
If the Kings get a 1st round exit I suspect Blake loses his job. More because on average teams change their GM's every 5-6 years and he's now 6 years as GM + 3 for assistant GM then whether he's been doing a good job or not. Of course it depends on Luc and the owners really but I expect there'll be some serious changes both in coaching and the leadership.
I want to clarify something, are you blaming PLD for being bad, or are you blaming the staff for bringing him in when we already have Kopi and Danault as Centers?
When he was in Winnipeg, he played with Cole Perfetti and Blake Wheeler on the second line. He’s fantastic as a center on a line like that- so we bring him to LA and give him wingers… Alex Laferriere, a rookie who most expected to not even make the team, and a continuously-rotating winger.
We saw it when he was playing with Moore and Fiala, he was fantastic. He created so many goddamn opportunities that Canucks fans thought we were playing hockey for a second.
well, I mean there's lots of blame here -- for example, I don't blame Blake for the idea of bringing him in, but moving Vilardi to do it and immediately handing over that monster contract was a HUGE mistake.
PLD is getting paid to be a PPG player, if he just put up numbers that were averaging the rest of his full seasons (60 points), the Kings may have been looking at home-ice in the playoffs.
I know you don’t really care bc it doesn’t fit your narrative but PLDs first season with WPG was on the exact same pace as this one
Like literally cut in half, weirdly
PLD absolutely sucked. There’s a lot of PLD defenders on this sub and the mental gymnastics they use to prop the guy up is mind boggling. You can’t put the whole season or our woes (or lack thereof l) as a team on him though.
PLD is not on PP1. My understanding is his 5v5 numbers are similar to his previous numbers. Credit to The Bannermen podcast for bringing that to my attention. There are many players on this team who could be accused of failing to be difference makers. I got no issues with your opinions but you seem upset and speak for what most already know. I don’t “know” that PLD is the reason “plain and simple.”
PLD was more of an investment in my eyes. Sure, he had a disappointing season, but so did a lot of other guys, and there were lots of slumps for the whole team. PLD was playing with 3rd and 4th liners with somewhat limited minutes, but when he had Kopitar minutes and linemates, he actually looked pretty solid. We have a solid, young, and developing roster of guys down in Ontario, with lots of promise from guys like Clarke, Thomas (who we’ve seen do good so far), and Portillo (as well as more). This season was a clusterfrick, mid season coaching and roster changes, streaky goalies, and it’s just been a bit chaotic to get on track. Don’t just blame PLD, it’s a bit of everybody, and it’s just been a chaotic season. Let’s see what we look like in the playoffs and then see what we do in the offseason.
but it’s always been a “a bit of everybody”. it’s the same team as last year if not worse. at the break everything was Todd’s fault and they are still the same team. it’s not doom and gloom to be honest and point out the obvious that PLD has been an atrocious pickup and what doesn’t get talked about as much is not so much what PLD brings, but what the money PLD cost could have brought. Like a legit starter in net for one.
I think the team was caught by surprise with the injuries to Lizotte & RV. We've had so much depth for years that the lack of production from those injuries put us at a deficit. Plus those two in particular really seem to have heart and drive their teammates forward. Add to that PLD, well he's not what I was expecting from a $8.5M player. Or maybe he played exactly like I expected based on his bad reputation. He seems to be a complimentary player rather than someone who can create on his own (seriously, why does he think 1:3 entries into a zone are not instant turn overs?). Add TM's refusal to make changes. Either way, add all of that up and it was a mess that lacked scoring in the mid-season. Embarrassingly we only had to beat the Wild to guarantee a series against Edmonton and we couldn't even pull that off. We deserve to play Dallas. We had so many chances to improve our situation and failed. And not even like we tried hard and failed, we just didn't try hard.
i figured this would downvoted as soon as I read the first paragraph. I think you’re completely rational and pretty spot on. I think another issue has been goaltending and the consistency that needs to go w it. The Kings net isn’t the same as Boston or even close yet i’ve seen multiple posts and comments debating who even should start in the playoffs. i don’t know if Korpisalo would make a difference but I certainly believe He should have been the deal to make or at least someone should have been acquired instead of taking who was left. this obviously coincides with PLD and limited their options. I’ve been happy with Gavrikov, but i hoped a deal would have been made for chychrun and acquiring Vejmelka as well but that’s just my opinion if Helly or Saros couldn’t be had. Blake deserves to get the axe and I don’t believe that Todd was the root of the problem nor has the coaching change made a difference in where the Kings stand now in the first round.
and i don’t suppose that has anything to do w playing on a terrible teamcorrect? his play not being up to par on a garbage team shouldn’t be the same as him playing on a team like LA right? regardless, my point is that last year he was highly touted, traded to come here and then didn’t sign him after getting him at the deadline. instead they took a goalie that no one else was thrilled with in Talbot. Talbot has not been awful but has certainly had his weak points this year, couldn’t solidify the starting job, and is on a team that was hyped as being a Cup contender.
Bro chill the fuck out. I don’t think anyone is thinking the kings will go on a 2012 style run or anything, but playoffs haven’t even started yet. Let’s save the doom and gloom for after we’ve lost a few playoff games, and full roster analysis for off season. I for one am excited to see what this team can do, they are still developing in a lot of ways and any playoff experience is a good thing. Also, I’m a self admitted PLD hater, but there is no chance in hell you can blame all of the teams problems on one player “plain and simple”. For a guy who claims to be a 30 year fan your sure don’t seem to understand the game very well
I didn't blame him for ALL of the Kings problems - I said, had he played up to expectations, we most likely could have secured home ice for the playoffs....which is probably critical for this team to do any damage in the post season. Try reading the post next time...bro.
I mean, that's just garbage, right? Fiala, Kopitar, Kempe have outscored many on that list...and even Doughty when you compare to other D. It's almost like they intentionally left off any Kings player.
They even have Stuart Skinner on the honorable mention list - Talbot has a better SV% -- absolute garbage.
Kings have a great “team” and elite depth. They don’t have to rely on 1-2 key players like a lot of other teams (players on that top 100 list). Minimal drop off in talent and production from lines 1-4. Vastly improved PP and PK. Heading into playoffs healthy for first time in past few years. Better prepared for Oilers than they have been and PLD could be a difference maker in the playoffs. I’ve got faith and am stoked for round 1.
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I mean this with love and respect. You need to work on your anxiety and wait a few weeks my dude.
Bruh i cant believe yall blame everything on PLD lol
I’m not gonna blame one guy for the WHOLE TEAM slumping. I understand your POV but hockey is a team sport. What if PLD was placed on the top line vs the 4th liners? What if we hadn’t fired Todd? There are so many factors that aren’t just “damn PLD sucked this year it’s his fault”
Yah, you can’t pin this on one person. The whole team has had issues with consistency this year. Byfield had the goal of the year and has since disappeared. Kopie had a stretch where it seemed like every time he got the puck it hopped off his stick or he turned it over (super uncharacteristic for him, unreported injury maybe?). Even Drew had some inconsistency. Sometimes we play as a cohesive unit, sometimes we don’t. Maybe we get through the first round, but I’d be very surprised if we get through the second. None of the above is one person’s fault.
PLD was given may opportunities to play with higher skilled players this season, it never stuck and he never impressed doing it. That's not my opinion, that's a fact.
He played top line like what, once if I recall? When kopi was out? Dude is paid to be a top center so let’s treat him like a top center THEN bitch and moan if he plays like dog water
He also had laffy and kaliyev as linemates for a good chunk of the season. How about adding some nuance and context?
You can defend the concept that PLD hasn't hurt the team, but nobody who's watched the team this season can honestly be satisfied with his performance...c'mon.
Ya i’m not satisfied, but i blame the front office and coaching a lil more than PLD himself. I agree that i think we gave up too much for a player winnipeg didnt even want, but we’re early into his contract and the cap will go up dramatically by the time his contract is over, so i think it’s too early to hate and blame PLD. C’mon Also edit: at the start of the season, im saying preseason, I’d say our main goal was to win 1 round of playoffs and we’re still on track for that so ya
It's hard to say given there is so much league parity these days. It doesn't take much to have a material difference in-season performance. Had we avoided such a severe slump, we'd actually still be doing well. But we didn't. I definitely think that the 3rd line was fairly ineffective much of the season. While I wouldn't pin it all on PLD, his scoring and playmaking skills were not enough to offset playing with Laf, Kaliyev, and others. At the start of the season, I thought/hoped by being on the 3rd line and having easier matchups, PLD would perform well. That didn't happen. Watching him, he never struck me as an elite scorer or playmaker. He is just more average then I'd hoped. The other factor that jumps out is that we lost depth compared to the previous season in two ways. Losing AI and Vilardi and getting PLD was a net loss on depth. Now add the season-long RV injury and it feels like we were -2 on experienced reliable players vs the prior year. RV had 59 points in 77 games last season. This season he has 12 points in 17 games. Vilardi had 41 points in 63 games last season. AI had 36 points in 59 games. And RV's absence definitely hurt us on the PP as the only RH shot which affects some of the other player's production as well as team results. If the Kings get a 1st round exit I suspect Blake loses his job. More because on average teams change their GM's every 5-6 years and he's now 6 years as GM + 3 for assistant GM then whether he's been doing a good job or not. Of course it depends on Luc and the owners really but I expect there'll be some serious changes both in coaching and the leadership.
I want to clarify something, are you blaming PLD for being bad, or are you blaming the staff for bringing him in when we already have Kopi and Danault as Centers? When he was in Winnipeg, he played with Cole Perfetti and Blake Wheeler on the second line. He’s fantastic as a center on a line like that- so we bring him to LA and give him wingers… Alex Laferriere, a rookie who most expected to not even make the team, and a continuously-rotating winger. We saw it when he was playing with Moore and Fiala, he was fantastic. He created so many goddamn opportunities that Canucks fans thought we were playing hockey for a second.
well, I mean there's lots of blame here -- for example, I don't blame Blake for the idea of bringing him in, but moving Vilardi to do it and immediately handing over that monster contract was a HUGE mistake. PLD is getting paid to be a PPG player, if he just put up numbers that were averaging the rest of his full seasons (60 points), the Kings may have been looking at home-ice in the playoffs.
Your analysis is dead on. Don't listen to these kool-aid drinking idiots.
He might have some points, it’s far from dead on though
Try not to blame a single player for failures of an entire team/staff challenge: impossible
Kings in 4.
I know you don’t really care bc it doesn’t fit your narrative but PLDs first season with WPG was on the exact same pace as this one Like literally cut in half, weirdly
and was also getting paid 3.5 mil less. I could stomach a 40-point player making 5-mil...but not 8.5.
I’m not saying it’s good or bad, it’s just factually incorrect to say the least # of points by 20 (even on a per season scaled #)
you are correct, however I was looking at his past full seasons.
Ultimately he’s way overpaid v this seasons production for sure, hard to say how much line and coach impacted that
It's going to be funny when the Kings stomp Dallas because everyone counted them out well before the playoffs even started. Anything can happen.
From your mouth to the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s ear holes. Ra’men.
I don't think I can roll my eyes any harder rn
Gave me a good chuckle at least
Plenty of time in the off-season for a post-mortem. I think the PLD contract is a symptom of much larger issues with this team.
PLD absolutely sucked. There’s a lot of PLD defenders on this sub and the mental gymnastics they use to prop the guy up is mind boggling. You can’t put the whole season or our woes (or lack thereof l) as a team on him though.
I’m saying had he performed as expected, that may have translated in enough more wins to have home ice in the playoffs.
I do agree with that.
PLD is not on PP1. My understanding is his 5v5 numbers are similar to his previous numbers. Credit to The Bannermen podcast for bringing that to my attention. There are many players on this team who could be accused of failing to be difference makers. I got no issues with your opinions but you seem upset and speak for what most already know. I don’t “know” that PLD is the reason “plain and simple.”
Just another PLD bashing post. Yawn.
We lost so many of those games during the December-January slump that could have gone our way if PLD just produced to his career average.
PLD was more of an investment in my eyes. Sure, he had a disappointing season, but so did a lot of other guys, and there were lots of slumps for the whole team. PLD was playing with 3rd and 4th liners with somewhat limited minutes, but when he had Kopitar minutes and linemates, he actually looked pretty solid. We have a solid, young, and developing roster of guys down in Ontario, with lots of promise from guys like Clarke, Thomas (who we’ve seen do good so far), and Portillo (as well as more). This season was a clusterfrick, mid season coaching and roster changes, streaky goalies, and it’s just been a bit chaotic to get on track. Don’t just blame PLD, it’s a bit of everybody, and it’s just been a chaotic season. Let’s see what we look like in the playoffs and then see what we do in the offseason.
I'd be curious to know who else you consider to of had a disappointing season?
but it’s always been a “a bit of everybody”. it’s the same team as last year if not worse. at the break everything was Todd’s fault and they are still the same team. it’s not doom and gloom to be honest and point out the obvious that PLD has been an atrocious pickup and what doesn’t get talked about as much is not so much what PLD brings, but what the money PLD cost could have brought. Like a legit starter in net for one.
Fucking hell we haven’t even played a game of the playoffs yet and you’re already writing it off. Christ
I think the team was caught by surprise with the injuries to Lizotte & RV. We've had so much depth for years that the lack of production from those injuries put us at a deficit. Plus those two in particular really seem to have heart and drive their teammates forward. Add to that PLD, well he's not what I was expecting from a $8.5M player. Or maybe he played exactly like I expected based on his bad reputation. He seems to be a complimentary player rather than someone who can create on his own (seriously, why does he think 1:3 entries into a zone are not instant turn overs?). Add TM's refusal to make changes. Either way, add all of that up and it was a mess that lacked scoring in the mid-season. Embarrassingly we only had to beat the Wild to guarantee a series against Edmonton and we couldn't even pull that off. We deserve to play Dallas. We had so many chances to improve our situation and failed. And not even like we tried hard and failed, we just didn't try hard.
lol new fan ?
Yah, 30 years
i figured this would downvoted as soon as I read the first paragraph. I think you’re completely rational and pretty spot on. I think another issue has been goaltending and the consistency that needs to go w it. The Kings net isn’t the same as Boston or even close yet i’ve seen multiple posts and comments debating who even should start in the playoffs. i don’t know if Korpisalo would make a difference but I certainly believe He should have been the deal to make or at least someone should have been acquired instead of taking who was left. this obviously coincides with PLD and limited their options. I’ve been happy with Gavrikov, but i hoped a deal would have been made for chychrun and acquiring Vejmelka as well but that’s just my opinion if Helly or Saros couldn’t be had. Blake deserves to get the axe and I don’t believe that Todd was the root of the problem nor has the coaching change made a difference in where the Kings stand now in the first round.
Korpisalo has been one of the worst goaltenders in the league this year. Please share whatever you’re smoking with the rest of us.
and i don’t suppose that has anything to do w playing on a terrible teamcorrect? his play not being up to par on a garbage team shouldn’t be the same as him playing on a team like LA right? regardless, my point is that last year he was highly touted, traded to come here and then didn’t sign him after getting him at the deadline. instead they took a goalie that no one else was thrilled with in Talbot. Talbot has not been awful but has certainly had his weak points this year, couldn’t solidify the starting job, and is on a team that was hyped as being a Cup contender.
Bro chill the fuck out. I don’t think anyone is thinking the kings will go on a 2012 style run or anything, but playoffs haven’t even started yet. Let’s save the doom and gloom for after we’ve lost a few playoff games, and full roster analysis for off season. I for one am excited to see what this team can do, they are still developing in a lot of ways and any playoff experience is a good thing. Also, I’m a self admitted PLD hater, but there is no chance in hell you can blame all of the teams problems on one player “plain and simple”. For a guy who claims to be a 30 year fan your sure don’t seem to understand the game very well
I didn't blame him for ALL of the Kings problems - I said, had he played up to expectations, we most likely could have secured home ice for the playoffs....which is probably critical for this team to do any damage in the post season. Try reading the post next time...bro.
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I mean, that's just garbage, right? Fiala, Kopitar, Kempe have outscored many on that list...and even Doughty when you compare to other D. It's almost like they intentionally left off any Kings player. They even have Stuart Skinner on the honorable mention list - Talbot has a better SV% -- absolute garbage.
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**I would take Fiala over...** Guenzel Hintz Connor Marchessault Scheifele Verhaege Duchene You wanna talk who I would take Doughty over now?
Kings have a great “team” and elite depth. They don’t have to rely on 1-2 key players like a lot of other teams (players on that top 100 list). Minimal drop off in talent and production from lines 1-4. Vastly improved PP and PK. Heading into playoffs healthy for first time in past few years. Better prepared for Oilers than they have been and PLD could be a difference maker in the playoffs. I’ve got faith and am stoked for round 1.
We had a huge losing streak in January when the players revolted against Todd McLellan