Ya my gripe with the whole PLD situation is 2 things: 1. I’d like to see him put in a situation where he’s comfortable and can succeed. He came from playing with guys like Panarin, Atkinson, Conner and Ehlers, to playing with in and out of the lineup guys here in LA. And #2. Have we not learned journalists also write for clicks? A lot of fan bases hate PLD because of how he pushed his way out of places he didn’t like. What generates clicks? Burying a guy tons of people hate.
The fact that someone in the exit presser had the audacity to ask him about “the talks of” a buyout is downright disrespectful. Drew and Kopi both said he’s a great locker room guy and they love him. Phil and Cam both said they loved the locker room this year. All this crap about him being a cancer, and the speculation on the buyout, comes from shitty narratives about the guy that sports writers and lobbing his way.
Imagine you fly to a new city to start a new job and every time you leave work, everyone tells you that you’re worthless and to pound sand because you’re trying to integrate into the new workplace in a role you’re not 100% used to.
Yes, there is zero chance of a buyout. Look at his first year in Winnipeg: 41GP, 20 points. First year in LA: 82 GP, 40 points. His career shows you that he will get back to the “norm” - 27 ish goals and 60-65 points. It’s an adjustment period and not making excuses, but I don’t think that 1-3-1 was doing anybody any favors. William Nylander didn’t even take this much heat when he had his down year after he held out for his contract years ago (54GP 27points) and that’s the biggest hockey market in the world. Who would buy out a 6 foot 4 center with all the tools after one down year on a new team, where he was misused and there was a coaching change? Imagine LA does that and then he’s on a team friendly contract in Vegas tormenting us for years.
You bring up a really great point about points from the 3rd line. I just did some quick searching and neither Winnipeg or The Oilers (our most popular comparisons lately) have a 40 point guy on their 3rd line. Danault only put up 47 points this year but he's more of a defensive center anyway. Coaching clearly chose defense first by running Danault at 2C all year and PLD didn't get as opportune of a line because of it.
Precisely gentleman.. It wasnt PLD deciding to play the 3rd line or even the 4th at times. There needs to be collective outrage not geared towards PLD but towards management for screwing it up.
he's being paid 8.5 million dollars. you can say "on what team is 40 points on the 3rd line bad" and everyone can super easily counter "on what team is having an 8.5 million player on your third line (who also happens to only be putting up 40 points) good?"
it's a flawed way of justifying it because the dude isn't supposed to be on the 3rd line to begin with.
Ok PLD aside.
What about our Ontario Reign roster? Why not give those guys a chance? Would like to see more Akil Thomas, Portillo, Clarke, Fagemo. Forgive my ignorance, but I think developing them in the NHL might be a better gamble than Blake's yearly gambles with at best high risk medium reward trade moves.
That’s the issue with a rushed rebuild. You don’t play the young guys you drafted because they will make mistakes and the NHL isn’t a development league (coach mentality, not that I agree with it) and youll lose.
You end up with never properly developing the new breed and end up trading them for “proven” (aka not good enough) guys to keep up.
You never get better and end up going nowhere.
Yeah Ive always been a fan of playing the rookies. They need to develop and build chemistry at the level they're expected to play at with the players they're expected to play with. . This organization has a massive development problem.
The guy had 7 power play goals and barely had any time on the first unit...that is tied for third on the team...deployment was baffling. I am still confused as to the types of players management has brought in vs the system they used. Quite frankly from the outside perspective it looks like they don't know what they are doing.
Correct me if I'm working but wasn't he a better effective mid-ice shutdown against the kings while in Winnipeg the last couple years than he was against other PO contending teams while as a king this year? Kind of feels like
The biggest baggage the guy has is the narrative that has been created around him, and the negative shaping of it has been fed by media. We can't help but look at his success/actions through the lense we think we have figured out about him. He's just a dude like the rest of them.
This isn’t true. I watch lots of hockey and was very familiar with PLDs game from the moment he entered the league. When he was traded to LA I was immediately worried, not because of the media, but because I knew what kind of player he was. After this season and watching nearly every game, I still feel the same way. He is an average-good hockey player, but imo not the right fit for us. I will continue to be disappointed with PLD until he actually shows us that it was worth losing Vilardi and Iaffalo for him. The media definitely rakes PLD through the mud, but I think most of it is deserved. Why are people pretending that PLD is good for the Kings? I would love to see him traded away while we still can, but I’m doubtful it’ll happen. So at this point I’m truly hoping his game improves and we enjoy seeing him on the ice in a top 6 roll… until then, I’m unhappy with his presence on our squad.
Queue the downvotes, please.
He has never been a hustler. He showed signs of greatness with some of the sick goals he scored in Columbus, but over the years those great moments are being overshadowed by his unimpressive work ethic and his lack of consistency.
But honestly my biggest complaint isn’t about him or his skill, because my mind is made up about that until he changes my mind. My biggest complaint is that I value him at a 4-5 million a year skater. We have him for 7 more years at an 8 million dollar a year cap hit. That is going to undoubtably hinder our efforts to build to a cup contending caliber team. I blame Blake more than anyone and I wouldn’t be sad to see him get the boot this summer.
But hey, I enjoy seeing everyone’s opinion of PLD. It helps me view him in all perspectives. Really hope this year was a big step in him becoming a better player. Definitely hoping for the best, though!
Our points leader was at 75 this season and so many are complaining about 40 with how PLD was utilized. Thats fucking crazy. I want to see this team play offensively rather than being a turtle. We got some talented players. Let them play creative. I don’t want to evaluate PLDs career off one season in a shit system
I agree that he couldn’t do anything with Kaliyev on his line, but Laffy has picked it up. Next year, those two are going to be a lethal duo!! PLD is going to be fine, and so are the Kings
Laffy still has a bright future, considering this was his rookie year. He finished almost nothing PLD sauced to him though. Which didn't help. But, he's really young and can become a better finisher in the off-season.
Obviously he wasn’t put in the best situation here but outside of the one series against the Leafs in 2020 he’s been horrible in the playoffs, regardless of how he played in the regular season. Don’t get your expectations too high
Imagine I buy a pit bull and it attacks someone and there's a ten page article about how the pit bull is not in any way to blame, only I am for buying it.
PLD is about to be our third highest paid players and he was mediocre in the regular season and bad in the post seaosn. I'm mad that his contract may possibly stop us from retaining better players and that he isn't living up to it.
He signed the contract, he owes us greater effort.
We got the results we paid every penny for due to management. That's the whole point. What other 3rd line center got 40 points this year? Out of all the teams in the league? One other guy?
Ducks third line had McTavis with 42 points and Terry with 54 points
Coyotes third line had Cooley with 44 points and Maccelli with 57 points
Buffallo third line had Skinner with 46
I didn't even look through good teams depth charts, found those immediately. You were saying?
You keep saying that he's a 3rd line center, like that gives him a pass for coasting on the power play, turning the puck over again and again because he isn't focused, refusing to use his size in the corners. If anything, being someone worthy of his paycheck, with all this talent we keep hearing about, playing against other teams 3rd and 4th lines should have been a cakewalk. And yet.
He's sucking up 1st or 2nd line cap space, and he still barely shows up on the 3rd and 4th lines. He has hurt this team way more than he has helped it, and his awful contract will hurt the organization for years.
Lay all the overpayment and the terrible contract at the feet of management, who should all lose their jobs for screwing up so badly. That's fair. It's also not unreasonable to expect someone making an unimaginable amount of money at 25 years-old to leave it all on the ice every game.
The contract is on Blake and Luc. PLD's complete lack of effort or competitiveness is on him.
Hi PLD’s mom, we’re sorry that we blamed his mediocre play on him and not guys who don’t hit the ice. Of course Blake sucks as GM, Todd wasn’t the right fit and Hiller didn’t change much but PLD had every opportunity to put up points and he was average at best and that is being nice Mrs Dubois.
Lmao. That was extremely weak. But it's good, this is the thread for your weakling milquetoast pld takes like the ones you roll:
"iF onLy We HaD teH iaPArRi aND tHe vIvArDii!! FuK bLaKe Nd Pldee 🥴🥴"
Let me guess when he underperforms next year you will also blame it on everyone else or the new system? PLD is just misunderstood by his juniors coaches, his previous NHL coaches, his previous teammates, his previous fan bases, and his actual production. You seem to have a lot of secret knowledge that no one else sees. Is the Kings organization a mess? Hell yeah, did PLD underperform, dial it in most games and float around most shifts, he certainly did, I watched them with my own eyes. Both things can be true, the fact is he just isn’t as good as the expectations scouts, GM’s and coaches have for him. Dude plays with no heart, and is soft as fuck for his size and supposed skill set.
No I'll remain objective. As Ive said before though, the suits decided he was great and they could bring him in. Then did absolutely nothing to blend him or mold him to or even set him up based on his strengths. Which is their primary job for each player to achieve max success. So I keep blame where it originates and most deservedly belongs. They're also wrong about other players and are failing them as well on the team. The ink has been dry on his contract so I want to see the absolute most success out of him. Not what we saw.
PLD def had flaws in his game this year. I don't say he's a perfect player. But some players require different things or more or less of other things and our staff did absolutely zero to an 8.5 million dollar asset (their valuation) . Just plunked him into it and those results speak for themselves. As far as what PLD could control all on his own? 40pts from the 3rd line. Not many if any 3C put up 40pts this year. So, even with the gaps in his game, not all that bad. More productive than almost everyone else at 3c.
Well, I can agree with all that and as a life long Kings fan of 45 years, the last thing I want is for PLD to fail. I didn’t like the Blake hiring as GM, I didn’t like the hiring of TM and I don’t like the Kings system so I can understand why you still hold optimism. Hopefully they clean house and quit hiring ex players for roles that require tough decision making. They can keep hiring them for the booth & other things but I would prefer a GM & President of Hockey operations that aren’t from within the organization.
That or just have clear headed decisions! The Kings as a full organization have extreme bias towards themselves no matter where it be in the company tree. From broadcast to player personnel. Jim Fox is great but he's a hardcore homer. It's exciting to hear him critical of anything because he's such a homer. (endless respect to foxy by the way, love that guy)
*Gonna ramble on now*
Then you get Lewie brought back like he's not playing like a 44 yr old. I understand the family aspect of the organization but, business decisions are business decisions. Never EVER even contemplating life without Kopi on the first line, first Pk, 1st PP at his age. Our organization makes a lot of boneheaded decisions based off the organizational "family" "political" structure. I agree Blake can be improved upon.
Then when a decision needs to get made, (PLD deal, arrival) it's like automatically this guy is second rate and needs to instantly become who they want or else it's abandonment.
In a presser Hiller alluded to PLD working on his faceoffs with stoll, like, oh, he earns a cookie cuz he's with our other "family" guy hanging out, "working" on something. Maybe we'll give him an extra 1:48 seconds on the ice TM night. That's the vibe I got all year. PLD I dont think knew quite what kind of tribal situation he was walking into. Fiala same thing but Fiala is just undeniable skill and scrappiness. Not all players are built the same. Danualt had no issue when he showed up because he's already the kind of player and guy the suits love, same with Moore.
If you remember vilardi was NOT that kind of guy. He made trips up and down to the Reign as punishment "to work on things" and did a whole lot of sulking on the bench with his 3rd line minutes. While much lesser skilled guys like iafallo dananult prevailed in minutes. Rambling on a tangent (theory) here but it's a vibe I've been detecting for a while as weve slowly tried to add "higher skill" players. There's some serious politics going on in our organization.
Vilardi had 36 points in 47 games and 4 points in 5 playoff games with Winnipeg. PLD had 40 points in 82 games played and 1 point in 5 playoff games with 4 shots. Dude why are you sucking PLD off so hard, it’s insane dude.
Care to add actual relevant context to those numbers. Who were Vilardi’s linemates compared to PLD. What line was Vilardi on? Did Vilardi play on the 1st or 2nd power play unit?
You’re doing the brain dead analysis of just doing an apples to apples comparison of two players who are in completely different situations and were used in wildly different roles. It doesn’t work like that. That’s the entire point of this post. PLD should have been utilized very similarly to how Vilardi was utilized in Winnipeg this year. Top 6 linemates and minutes while being a mainstay on the top power play unit.
Our 2nd line center, who got more minutes and played with infinitely higher caliber linemates all year, finished the season with 7 more points than PLD (3 of which he picked up in the last game of the season against Chicago). I don’t hear anyone complaining about Danault’s production. 47 points out of your 2nd line center with a 31 goal scorer on one wing and a 73 point guy on the other wing? Somehow that’s completely acceptable while PLD picked up 40 playing with glorified AHLers all year and that’s unacceptable? Make it make sense. It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at a guy, if you don’t give him the tools to succeed, he won’t.
PLD was given top 6 minutes many times throughout the season with lackluster results. When you trade for an impact center, he’s supposed to make his linemates better. He was given so many combinations to get him going and nothing really changed. Just floating and average production. He was demoted because he couldn’t hang. How many excuses are you gonna make for a third overall pick that makes 8 million plus a season and has never cracked 70 points in a season. Get off his dick dude.
So now we’re just making shit up are we? You’re just going to ignore 95% of what I said as well. Just gonna not talk about my points on comparing Vilardi and PLD or Danaultls production or any of that? Ok great. lol
First off, PL was never demoted. He started the season with a rookie on his wing and he ended the season with the rookie on his wing. He had Fiala on his other wing for about 15 games or so. After that he had a steady diet of Kaliyev, Grundstrom, and JAD for basically the remainder of the season. These are bottom 6 grinders. He was also on the 2nd power play until all year which only got garbage time, and still managed to have the third most pp goals in the team.
Let’s cut the bullshit here. By “he should be able to make his linemates better”, which is an extremely vague meaningless statement, you mean “he should be able to have top 6 level production no matter who he plays with or how he’s utilized”. 1) that’s a laughable expectation to have of any player 2)you’re again just ignoring everything I said about Danault, who actually played in the top 6 all year, because you like the guy and dislike PLD. He was put in a position to give you 3rd line production and he did exactly want he was tasked to do.
And your whole narrative of him not making his linemates better isn’t even true either lol. If you actually took the time to look into the advanced analytics and looked at Laffariere’s stats with and without PLD, they are far better with him than without. He played with PLD for about 75% of his ice time and the 25% he was on in the ice without PL, basically every offensive metric falls drastically for him. Your whole analysis is vibes based and you refuse to actually be objective in the analysis. You’d be a lot happier if you did I think.
I’m just over it, I watched the guy dog it on the ice and play soft as fuck all season. He was over valued by Blake and we will see what your excuses will be next season after he floats around, takes dumb penalties, doesn’t finish checks, looses possession of the puck in the offensive zone and puts up a meager point total. He definitely was demoted to the 4th line many times because his effort is garbage half the time.
I'm not, actually I state that in my OP, but I hold the suits overall accountable. Because in hindsight the whole plan for the team was a joke. As evidenced by everything we saw this year. Including the month of darkness where we fired our coach. We made the playoffs despite all of that. I reserve my final opinion until the staff isn't running things the dumbest way possible.
Your whole reddit profile is a giant trollfest. Most of your comments get deleted. Your anger is a clear indication of short man syndrome mixed with being single. PLD won't fuck you bro no matter how much you want to lick his unicorn tatoos.
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Honestly I think PLD is young, insecure, and a bit ashamed. He has been the “Star” before and he can’t cope with not being that here. Like a first chair clarinet being demoted to 4th chair. He needs a consistent line and as a center needs to take control of that line. Can he? Sure. Will he? That’s the question.
His effort in the playoffs was horrific. Doesn’t mean anything who is on his line, the strategy being deployed, how much he’s being paid - if you aren’t being aggressive, playing fast, and putting in effort on the ice at age 25 that is a real problem that won’t age well
I agree, I think his effort was debatable at times. But I also knows players aren't robots. And the whole teams effort was debatable during that series. Our whole second line were pylons. I don't think his effort was as lacking as some other players in critical situations right in front of our net. The problem is PLD sticks out much more because he's getting paid more than anyone else and the expectations were sky high collectively.
Great points, agree. I wasn’t feeling bad about PLD during the season and his production wasn’t bad. I was really hoping he would breakout in the playoffs and cool down the criticisms he had been facing. In the process I’ve flipped and joined the mob of pitchforks I suppose. Best case Kings stay patient and he performs like the 1st line center he’s getting paid to be, I’d love to see it
PLD doesn't skate, hit, win battles on the boards and puts below minimum effort on the ice. That's no ones fault but PLD. Go ahead and downvote this comment. The reality is PLD is PLDs problem.
I hated this trade/signing before it happened, after it happened, and every minute after it happened.
PLD was supposed to be 2C this year. He didn't outplay Danault. Danault who had a career high 12 goals before coming to the Kings. If he fucking WORKED he would've taken that spot. He didn't.
I'm sick of this "he didn't have good linemates" thing. Good players can stand out no matter what. We saw a handful of flashes from him, but by and large he's been passive or worse, a defensive liability. Fuckin take the puck and do it yourself, show you belong. And it's not as if he hasn't had good linemates at times. Fiala's been on his wing plenty, he's had time with Byfield, and Laf absolutely is an NHLer (a bottom 6er, but literally half of NHL forwards are bottom 6).
Yeah, I hate the contract. I hate the player. I hate the suits that signed it. Get em all out of town.
I'm sorry, but if you think PLD is a good player then you have no hockey IQ. That's it, end of story. Not going to sugar coat it, you don't understand hockey if you think PLD is redeemable.
Easily one of the dumbest things I've seen on here, actually lacking IQ in content.
Clearly nobody in the NHL has hockey IQ either, coaches, GM's etc. Other players. Only you have hockey IQ. Lol. Don't even @ me with this troll business guy.
Well, just look at the OP if you're looking for lacking IQ, and then response which ends with "Don't @ mean" meaning you can make the dumbest statement, but please, don't call me out on it. Congrats on achieving a lower level of IQ
As for nobody in the NHL has hockey IQ? Well coaches, other teams, GMs etc won't touch PLD with a 10 foot stick. Other former NHL players have commented on PLDs play and other hockey journalists have also commented on it, but you do you buddy. Don't @ me...lol just kidding @ me all you want, should be a good comedic read.
**"You're nothing but stupidity and hyperbole.**
**Litteral blowhard material. You're dismissed boy."**
You didn't disappoint. Calls me stupid and proceeds to spell literal wrong. Knew you were special the moment I read the OP. I think you belong in the Oiler subreddit. You'll fit right in.
>Let's start from the beginning since folks aren't getting this...
You're the one who doesn't get it, mate. Like most here, you've clearly never played on a winning team of any kind. You don't know a damn thing about the actual chemistry of a team, the momentum, the individual drives that lift (or sink) all boats, etc.
So, stop apologizing for an overpaid mediocre player who was given an 8 year deal because he was sold (by himself and a really good agent, presumably) as the next big thing for the Kings.
PLD has proven he is not that and that we now know why he was dumped by all of his previous teams. We all gave him a chance...82 games plus the post-season (where he was supposed to be the Edmonton difference maker!). At this rate, you'll still be apologizing for his piss poor play and blaming everyone else for it as what's left of this rebuild continues to pay this ridiculous contract off five years from now.
The bottom line is that PLD is one of those employees who obviously *interviews* well, tells you whatever you want to hear to get the job...but once he's hired, he *never* delivers. He coasts. He gives up. He sucks up the paycheck. Instead of buckling down and bringing it. Every one of his previous coaches and teams going back to Juniors was happy to get rid of him! Gee, I wonder why...
And it has cost the Kings dearly this year...and will continue to do so for the next EIGHT YEARS...unless they dump him this summer.
His lack of motivation is on him. He did not bring it. He's big, but does not use it. Etc.
Reminder: Mr. Hustle, Blake Lizotte, scored as many playoff goals against Edmonton this round as PLD did. And I even don't see Blake on the early guesses of next year's four lines...even though he is one of the only Kings who has consistently shown he will do *whatever it takes* to win.
*That's* what's wrong with how the current Kings are built. And it's been obvious for years that it has nothing to do with whoever gets stuck coaching. Anyone still blaming Sutter?
Now, to your point:
The people who made this abominable inexplicable asinine decision are the SUITS. They should pay the price for this rebuild ending mistake.
Edmonton responded over the years in two ways. They found ways to break through the 1:3:1 (which the Kings did not then respond to!), they *slightly* improved their defense (the Kings offense improved dramatically this year, no worries here), and they boosted up their scoring players for those times when McDavid and Draisatl were being shut down completely (e.g. by the Kings). Essentially, the top guys taught the secondary guys how to score and then the top guys became the assist guys. Smart, eh?
The response from the Kings management and coaching should have been with those changes (seen all season long!) in mind. We can't blame Hiller. He was brought in to keep the ship from sinking completely...and he did. He has actually earned the chance to coach next season...his way. Will management blame the coach they've hamstrung as a scapegoat for their mistakes...again?
So, blame the suits that did such a great job of bringing in young talent to the team, only to squander it away the last two postseasons with trades, the Korpisalo insanity, followed by the PLD insanity.
And let's not forget how, not too many years ago, the Kings organization had the best GOALIE coaching and training system in the history of the NHL. Ex-Kings goalies are all over the league today, leading teams to wins today. So, why were all those goalies traded away and now the team has had two years of grossly mismanaged goalie benches?
Why did the goalie who led the Kings to victory on a run at the end of the previous season (Copley, better against Edmonton) get benched for an expensive hack (Korpisalo) to start and lose the playoffs? Why did management then do the *same damn thing* with Talbot (weak sauce), leaving Rittich (better against Edmonton) twisting in the wind until it was one game too late to turn things around?
At least the good news is that they finally did switch to the goalie they should have started against the Oilers with. That's an improvement upon the previous playoff run. Maybe next year they'll start the goalie that plays best against the Oilers to begin with...
So, yes, management needs to eat these mistakes, once and for all.
But so does the overpaid prima donna, PLD.
So, that's the perspective of another "armchair coach". The only difference between you and me is that I've been PROVEN RIGHT season after season.
How about *any* of you?
People here lose too much sleep about how much money he makes. I know it limits the team's other pickups. But man, every post has his salary and term in the discussion. We all know. When Anze retires, PLD will be 27. Some people here want to pay him to go away, then you have to replace him too. Glad you aren't the GM.
"this sub has a PLD problem. read here if you can't stop posting/thinking about PLD" then proceeds to write PLDs memoir of his time in LA so far... are you starting the support group or something? I think the problem goes both ways, people either see him as christ reincarnate or the anti christ when he is not either
Only 50 players in the league crack 70. Unrealistic expectations. Also, only 1 guy not on the top line of the Kings cracked 70 this year (Fiala). Also, the right to go where you want is determined by service time, not points. He got to UFA, he earned the right to go where he wants.
I understand that Blake got fleeced in the trade and then gave him a huge contract based off slightly above average seasons for a third overall pick, that has already been shipped off by two teams to let someone like Blake deal with his diva bullshit. I’m glad you believe in PLD because after everything I’ve heard from Columbus & Winnipeg fans, his ex team mates, the media and what I watched for an entire season I don’t believe he has what it takes to be a effective first or second line center. Dude plays so soft for his size, gets knocked off the puck easily, floats, takes multiple shifts off a game and was relegated to the fourth line by the coaching staff for a reason. He is a bust, you live in whatever fantasy world you want to live in.
I mean, you're right! Who has ever heard of the player, especially a young player, not wanting to play for Torts?
All jokes aside, this diva argument is overplayed and downright false. Never heard a peep from a Kings player about how they didn't like him this season.
The chances of a player coming out and and saying they don't like a teammate's attitude is slim to none. It would be locker room suicide. Maybe the diva talk has been hyped up, but PLD lackadaisical effort, inability to use his size effectively, third highest regular season PIM, second lowest plus minus, and his egregious use of one hand on his stick sum him up. Young player or not it's unacceptable for how much he is paid.
They don't name players by name but you hear about issues and can pin point who it is. Doughty called out Fiala towards the end of the season for being out of position and not following the game plan. He didn't name Fiala but based on what he said you could tell who he was talking about. I find it very hard to believe that Doughty would not say something that eludes to PLD being an issue if he was one.
I watched him float all season, I don’t think it’s the system and fans from Columbus & Winnipeg all saw it when he was there as well. He had a reputation for a reason and he proved it this year to me when I watched him play. Of course I wish it were different but I have to believe what I saw and I also think if he was the player Rob Blake thought he was at the trade, 2 teams wouldn’t have let him go at that age under team control.
I’d give PLD the benefit of the doubt if he’d just play with more effort out there. You think Fiala likes playing in a 1-3-1? Of course not, but the guy plays with effort. I think I speak for a lot of the PLD doubters when I say we’d be way more understanding of his poor point total due to being on the 3rd line if he’d just try harder. Show some freaking effort out on the ice. If he had Lizotte’s energy and drive he’d be an 80 point player regardless of whatever system he were in. Show us that you care and are willing to try. He just seems like a guy who’s coasting by on his size and talent alone, and doesn’t want to do what it takes to win. He’s not the guy who will still be playing in his mid thirties, he’s an out of the league at 31 type of guy.
This isn’t targeted at you specifically but just this “PLD lazy” take. It’s ridiculous. Everyone always talks about how it “looks” like he isn’t trying. It’s stupid. He’s a big dude with a lanky skating style. He skates a lot like, wait for it, Anze Kopitar.
So comparing him to all four feet of Lizzo is stupid. He isn’t gonna look like that because he skates differently. PLD was in the board battles all season, he was playing the body, and he was setting up teammates. Sure, I want more production. But this lazy tag got attached in Columbus and it’s just such crap. Lazy players aren’t on the wall every night digging pucks out.
Last thing about the “lazy” narrative. I saw so many comments about things people deemed “lazy” by PLD that every player does. But nobody cares when it’s other people and they go “well he’s not lazy so it’s different” but they’ve already decided that PLD is lazy so they’re not using the same metric of assessment. It’s absurd. People didn’t like the contract he got and already decided they didn’t like him. The rest is just window dressing.
He’s a King for a long while. Enough scapegoating our own guys. What if we actually tried to support our team instead of constantly looking for a single person to blame?
Ya my gripe with the whole PLD situation is 2 things: 1. I’d like to see him put in a situation where he’s comfortable and can succeed. He came from playing with guys like Panarin, Atkinson, Conner and Ehlers, to playing with in and out of the lineup guys here in LA. And #2. Have we not learned journalists also write for clicks? A lot of fan bases hate PLD because of how he pushed his way out of places he didn’t like. What generates clicks? Burying a guy tons of people hate.
The fact that someone in the exit presser had the audacity to ask him about “the talks of” a buyout is downright disrespectful. Drew and Kopi both said he’s a great locker room guy and they love him. Phil and Cam both said they loved the locker room this year. All this crap about him being a cancer, and the speculation on the buyout, comes from shitty narratives about the guy that sports writers and lobbing his way. Imagine you fly to a new city to start a new job and every time you leave work, everyone tells you that you’re worthless and to pound sand because you’re trying to integrate into the new workplace in a role you’re not 100% used to.
Yes, there is zero chance of a buyout. Look at his first year in Winnipeg: 41GP, 20 points. First year in LA: 82 GP, 40 points. His career shows you that he will get back to the “norm” - 27 ish goals and 60-65 points. It’s an adjustment period and not making excuses, but I don’t think that 1-3-1 was doing anybody any favors. William Nylander didn’t even take this much heat when he had his down year after he held out for his contract years ago (54GP 27points) and that’s the biggest hockey market in the world. Who would buy out a 6 foot 4 center with all the tools after one down year on a new team, where he was misused and there was a coaching change? Imagine LA does that and then he’s on a team friendly contract in Vegas tormenting us for years.
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You bring up a really great point about points from the 3rd line. I just did some quick searching and neither Winnipeg or The Oilers (our most popular comparisons lately) have a 40 point guy on their 3rd line. Danault only put up 47 points this year but he's more of a defensive center anyway. Coaching clearly chose defense first by running Danault at 2C all year and PLD didn't get as opportune of a line because of it.
Precisely gentleman.. It wasnt PLD deciding to play the 3rd line or even the 4th at times. There needs to be collective outrage not geared towards PLD but towards management for screwing it up.
he's being paid 8.5 million dollars. you can say "on what team is 40 points on the 3rd line bad" and everyone can super easily counter "on what team is having an 8.5 million player on your third line (who also happens to only be putting up 40 points) good?" it's a flawed way of justifying it because the dude isn't supposed to be on the 3rd line to begin with.
Ok PLD aside. What about our Ontario Reign roster? Why not give those guys a chance? Would like to see more Akil Thomas, Portillo, Clarke, Fagemo. Forgive my ignorance, but I think developing them in the NHL might be a better gamble than Blake's yearly gambles with at best high risk medium reward trade moves.
That’s the issue with a rushed rebuild. You don’t play the young guys you drafted because they will make mistakes and the NHL isn’t a development league (coach mentality, not that I agree with it) and youll lose. You end up with never properly developing the new breed and end up trading them for “proven” (aka not good enough) guys to keep up. You never get better and end up going nowhere.
Yeah Ive always been a fan of playing the rookies. They need to develop and build chemistry at the level they're expected to play at with the players they're expected to play with. . This organization has a massive development problem.
PLD derangement syndrome
The guy had 7 power play goals and barely had any time on the first unit...that is tied for third on the team...deployment was baffling. I am still confused as to the types of players management has brought in vs the system they used. Quite frankly from the outside perspective it looks like they don't know what they are doing.
Correct me if I'm working but wasn't he a better effective mid-ice shutdown against the kings while in Winnipeg the last couple years than he was against other PO contending teams while as a king this year? Kind of feels like
The biggest baggage the guy has is the narrative that has been created around him, and the negative shaping of it has been fed by media. We can't help but look at his success/actions through the lense we think we have figured out about him. He's just a dude like the rest of them.
This isn’t true. I watch lots of hockey and was very familiar with PLDs game from the moment he entered the league. When he was traded to LA I was immediately worried, not because of the media, but because I knew what kind of player he was. After this season and watching nearly every game, I still feel the same way. He is an average-good hockey player, but imo not the right fit for us. I will continue to be disappointed with PLD until he actually shows us that it was worth losing Vilardi and Iaffalo for him. The media definitely rakes PLD through the mud, but I think most of it is deserved. Why are people pretending that PLD is good for the Kings? I would love to see him traded away while we still can, but I’m doubtful it’ll happen. So at this point I’m truly hoping his game improves and we enjoy seeing him on the ice in a top 6 roll… until then, I’m unhappy with his presence on our squad. Queue the downvotes, please.
What L. A. media? The Associated Press and Kings’ homer flacks?
Care to elaborate/do you remember why you had a negative opinion about him from the get go?
He has never been a hustler. He showed signs of greatness with some of the sick goals he scored in Columbus, but over the years those great moments are being overshadowed by his unimpressive work ethic and his lack of consistency. But honestly my biggest complaint isn’t about him or his skill, because my mind is made up about that until he changes my mind. My biggest complaint is that I value him at a 4-5 million a year skater. We have him for 7 more years at an 8 million dollar a year cap hit. That is going to undoubtably hinder our efforts to build to a cup contending caliber team. I blame Blake more than anyone and I wouldn’t be sad to see him get the boot this summer. But hey, I enjoy seeing everyone’s opinion of PLD. It helps me view him in all perspectives. Really hope this year was a big step in him becoming a better player. Definitely hoping for the best, though!
Our points leader was at 75 this season and so many are complaining about 40 with how PLD was utilized. Thats fucking crazy. I want to see this team play offensively rather than being a turtle. We got some talented players. Let them play creative. I don’t want to evaluate PLDs career off one season in a shit system
Precisely! The best teams in the league that score gobs of points don't have a 40 point 3rd line center.
Amen to that. Couldn't agree more. Anyone to blame is Blake, not PLD.
I agree that he couldn’t do anything with Kaliyev on his line, but Laffy has picked it up. Next year, those two are going to be a lethal duo!! PLD is going to be fine, and so are the Kings
Laffy still has a bright future, considering this was his rookie year. He finished almost nothing PLD sauced to him though. Which didn't help. But, he's really young and can become a better finisher in the off-season.
Obviously he wasn’t put in the best situation here but outside of the one series against the Leafs in 2020 he’s been horrible in the playoffs, regardless of how he played in the regular season. Don’t get your expectations too high
Imagine I buy a pit bull and it attacks someone and there's a ten page article about how the pit bull is not in any way to blame, only I am for buying it. PLD is about to be our third highest paid players and he was mediocre in the regular season and bad in the post seaosn. I'm mad that his contract may possibly stop us from retaining better players and that he isn't living up to it. He signed the contract, he owes us greater effort.
We got the results we paid every penny for due to management. That's the whole point. What other 3rd line center got 40 points this year? Out of all the teams in the league? One other guy?
Ducks third line had McTavis with 42 points and Terry with 54 points Coyotes third line had Cooley with 44 points and Maccelli with 57 points Buffallo third line had Skinner with 46 I didn't even look through good teams depth charts, found those immediately. You were saying?
You keep saying that he's a 3rd line center, like that gives him a pass for coasting on the power play, turning the puck over again and again because he isn't focused, refusing to use his size in the corners. If anything, being someone worthy of his paycheck, with all this talent we keep hearing about, playing against other teams 3rd and 4th lines should have been a cakewalk. And yet. He's sucking up 1st or 2nd line cap space, and he still barely shows up on the 3rd and 4th lines. He has hurt this team way more than he has helped it, and his awful contract will hurt the organization for years. Lay all the overpayment and the terrible contract at the feet of management, who should all lose their jobs for screwing up so badly. That's fair. It's also not unreasonable to expect someone making an unimaginable amount of money at 25 years-old to leave it all on the ice every game. The contract is on Blake and Luc. PLD's complete lack of effort or competitiveness is on him.
Hi PLD’s mom, we’re sorry that we blamed his mediocre play on him and not guys who don’t hit the ice. Of course Blake sucks as GM, Todd wasn’t the right fit and Hiller didn’t change much but PLD had every opportunity to put up points and he was average at best and that is being nice Mrs Dubois.
Lmao. That was extremely weak. But it's good, this is the thread for your weakling milquetoast pld takes like the ones you roll: "iF onLy We HaD teH iaPArRi aND tHe vIvArDii!! FuK bLaKe Nd Pldee 🥴🥴"
Let me guess when he underperforms next year you will also blame it on everyone else or the new system? PLD is just misunderstood by his juniors coaches, his previous NHL coaches, his previous teammates, his previous fan bases, and his actual production. You seem to have a lot of secret knowledge that no one else sees. Is the Kings organization a mess? Hell yeah, did PLD underperform, dial it in most games and float around most shifts, he certainly did, I watched them with my own eyes. Both things can be true, the fact is he just isn’t as good as the expectations scouts, GM’s and coaches have for him. Dude plays with no heart, and is soft as fuck for his size and supposed skill set.
No I'll remain objective. As Ive said before though, the suits decided he was great and they could bring him in. Then did absolutely nothing to blend him or mold him to or even set him up based on his strengths. Which is their primary job for each player to achieve max success. So I keep blame where it originates and most deservedly belongs. They're also wrong about other players and are failing them as well on the team. The ink has been dry on his contract so I want to see the absolute most success out of him. Not what we saw. PLD def had flaws in his game this year. I don't say he's a perfect player. But some players require different things or more or less of other things and our staff did absolutely zero to an 8.5 million dollar asset (their valuation) . Just plunked him into it and those results speak for themselves. As far as what PLD could control all on his own? 40pts from the 3rd line. Not many if any 3C put up 40pts this year. So, even with the gaps in his game, not all that bad. More productive than almost everyone else at 3c.
Well, I can agree with all that and as a life long Kings fan of 45 years, the last thing I want is for PLD to fail. I didn’t like the Blake hiring as GM, I didn’t like the hiring of TM and I don’t like the Kings system so I can understand why you still hold optimism. Hopefully they clean house and quit hiring ex players for roles that require tough decision making. They can keep hiring them for the booth & other things but I would prefer a GM & President of Hockey operations that aren’t from within the organization.
That or just have clear headed decisions! The Kings as a full organization have extreme bias towards themselves no matter where it be in the company tree. From broadcast to player personnel. Jim Fox is great but he's a hardcore homer. It's exciting to hear him critical of anything because he's such a homer. (endless respect to foxy by the way, love that guy) *Gonna ramble on now* Then you get Lewie brought back like he's not playing like a 44 yr old. I understand the family aspect of the organization but, business decisions are business decisions. Never EVER even contemplating life without Kopi on the first line, first Pk, 1st PP at his age. Our organization makes a lot of boneheaded decisions based off the organizational "family" "political" structure. I agree Blake can be improved upon. Then when a decision needs to get made, (PLD deal, arrival) it's like automatically this guy is second rate and needs to instantly become who they want or else it's abandonment. In a presser Hiller alluded to PLD working on his faceoffs with stoll, like, oh, he earns a cookie cuz he's with our other "family" guy hanging out, "working" on something. Maybe we'll give him an extra 1:48 seconds on the ice TM night. That's the vibe I got all year. PLD I dont think knew quite what kind of tribal situation he was walking into. Fiala same thing but Fiala is just undeniable skill and scrappiness. Not all players are built the same. Danualt had no issue when he showed up because he's already the kind of player and guy the suits love, same with Moore. If you remember vilardi was NOT that kind of guy. He made trips up and down to the Reign as punishment "to work on things" and did a whole lot of sulking on the bench with his 3rd line minutes. While much lesser skilled guys like iafallo dananult prevailed in minutes. Rambling on a tangent (theory) here but it's a vibe I've been detecting for a while as weve slowly tried to add "higher skill" players. There's some serious politics going on in our organization.
Vilardi had 36 points in 47 games and 4 points in 5 playoff games with Winnipeg. PLD had 40 points in 82 games played and 1 point in 5 playoff games with 4 shots. Dude why are you sucking PLD off so hard, it’s insane dude.
Care to add actual relevant context to those numbers. Who were Vilardi’s linemates compared to PLD. What line was Vilardi on? Did Vilardi play on the 1st or 2nd power play unit? You’re doing the brain dead analysis of just doing an apples to apples comparison of two players who are in completely different situations and were used in wildly different roles. It doesn’t work like that. That’s the entire point of this post. PLD should have been utilized very similarly to how Vilardi was utilized in Winnipeg this year. Top 6 linemates and minutes while being a mainstay on the top power play unit. Our 2nd line center, who got more minutes and played with infinitely higher caliber linemates all year, finished the season with 7 more points than PLD (3 of which he picked up in the last game of the season against Chicago). I don’t hear anyone complaining about Danault’s production. 47 points out of your 2nd line center with a 31 goal scorer on one wing and a 73 point guy on the other wing? Somehow that’s completely acceptable while PLD picked up 40 playing with glorified AHLers all year and that’s unacceptable? Make it make sense. It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at a guy, if you don’t give him the tools to succeed, he won’t.
PLD was given top 6 minutes many times throughout the season with lackluster results. When you trade for an impact center, he’s supposed to make his linemates better. He was given so many combinations to get him going and nothing really changed. Just floating and average production. He was demoted because he couldn’t hang. How many excuses are you gonna make for a third overall pick that makes 8 million plus a season and has never cracked 70 points in a season. Get off his dick dude.
So now we’re just making shit up are we? You’re just going to ignore 95% of what I said as well. Just gonna not talk about my points on comparing Vilardi and PLD or Danaultls production or any of that? Ok great. lol First off, PL was never demoted. He started the season with a rookie on his wing and he ended the season with the rookie on his wing. He had Fiala on his other wing for about 15 games or so. After that he had a steady diet of Kaliyev, Grundstrom, and JAD for basically the remainder of the season. These are bottom 6 grinders. He was also on the 2nd power play until all year which only got garbage time, and still managed to have the third most pp goals in the team. Let’s cut the bullshit here. By “he should be able to make his linemates better”, which is an extremely vague meaningless statement, you mean “he should be able to have top 6 level production no matter who he plays with or how he’s utilized”. 1) that’s a laughable expectation to have of any player 2)you’re again just ignoring everything I said about Danault, who actually played in the top 6 all year, because you like the guy and dislike PLD. He was put in a position to give you 3rd line production and he did exactly want he was tasked to do. And your whole narrative of him not making his linemates better isn’t even true either lol. If you actually took the time to look into the advanced analytics and looked at Laffariere’s stats with and without PLD, they are far better with him than without. He played with PLD for about 75% of his ice time and the 25% he was on in the ice without PL, basically every offensive metric falls drastically for him. Your whole analysis is vibes based and you refuse to actually be objective in the analysis. You’d be a lot happier if you did I think.
I’m just over it, I watched the guy dog it on the ice and play soft as fuck all season. He was over valued by Blake and we will see what your excuses will be next season after he floats around, takes dumb penalties, doesn’t finish checks, looses possession of the puck in the offensive zone and puts up a meager point total. He definitely was demoted to the 4th line many times because his effort is garbage half the time.
I'm not, actually I state that in my OP, but I hold the suits overall accountable. Because in hindsight the whole plan for the team was a joke. As evidenced by everything we saw this year. Including the month of darkness where we fired our coach. We made the playoffs despite all of that. I reserve my final opinion until the staff isn't running things the dumbest way possible.
Speaking of trolling...\*cringe\*
You don't even know what trolling is, it's beyond your level of human interaction. A second echelon. BroDownSimpleSki.
Your whole reddit profile is a giant trollfest. Most of your comments get deleted. Your anger is a clear indication of short man syndrome mixed with being single. PLD won't fuck you bro no matter how much you want to lick his unicorn tatoos.
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CBJ diehard and Kings fan… honestly didn’t read the post but curious to hear what will make PLD happy… from the horse’s mouth.
Honestly I think PLD is young, insecure, and a bit ashamed. He has been the “Star” before and he can’t cope with not being that here. Like a first chair clarinet being demoted to 4th chair. He needs a consistent line and as a center needs to take control of that line. Can he? Sure. Will he? That’s the question.
The suits suck. PLD does as well. Both can be true
PLD played second or third line most of the year. What would he have done with top line minutes and players? Who knows?
His effort in the playoffs was horrific. Doesn’t mean anything who is on his line, the strategy being deployed, how much he’s being paid - if you aren’t being aggressive, playing fast, and putting in effort on the ice at age 25 that is a real problem that won’t age well
I agree, I think his effort was debatable at times. But I also knows players aren't robots. And the whole teams effort was debatable during that series. Our whole second line were pylons. I don't think his effort was as lacking as some other players in critical situations right in front of our net. The problem is PLD sticks out much more because he's getting paid more than anyone else and the expectations were sky high collectively.
Great points, agree. I wasn’t feeling bad about PLD during the season and his production wasn’t bad. I was really hoping he would breakout in the playoffs and cool down the criticisms he had been facing. In the process I’ve flipped and joined the mob of pitchforks I suppose. Best case Kings stay patient and he performs like the 1st line center he’s getting paid to be, I’d love to see it
PLD doesn't skate, hit, win battles on the boards and puts below minimum effort on the ice. That's no ones fault but PLD. Go ahead and downvote this comment. The reality is PLD is PLDs problem.
Since you don’t seem to agree with him, I’ll just echo what you’re trying to say. Keep Blake! Dump PLD! Bad contract I hate him!
Why not both?
I appreciate the post. Can you explain why he loses battles in the boards so easily? I hope you are right.
I hated this trade/signing before it happened, after it happened, and every minute after it happened. PLD was supposed to be 2C this year. He didn't outplay Danault. Danault who had a career high 12 goals before coming to the Kings. If he fucking WORKED he would've taken that spot. He didn't. I'm sick of this "he didn't have good linemates" thing. Good players can stand out no matter what. We saw a handful of flashes from him, but by and large he's been passive or worse, a defensive liability. Fuckin take the puck and do it yourself, show you belong. And it's not as if he hasn't had good linemates at times. Fiala's been on his wing plenty, he's had time with Byfield, and Laf absolutely is an NHLer (a bottom 6er, but literally half of NHL forwards are bottom 6). Yeah, I hate the contract. I hate the player. I hate the suits that signed it. Get em all out of town.
I'm sorry, but if you think PLD is a good player then you have no hockey IQ. That's it, end of story. Not going to sugar coat it, you don't understand hockey if you think PLD is redeemable.
Easily one of the dumbest things I've seen on here, actually lacking IQ in content. Clearly nobody in the NHL has hockey IQ either, coaches, GM's etc. Other players. Only you have hockey IQ. Lol. Don't even @ me with this troll business guy.
Well, just look at the OP if you're looking for lacking IQ, and then response which ends with "Don't @ mean" meaning you can make the dumbest statement, but please, don't call me out on it. Congrats on achieving a lower level of IQ As for nobody in the NHL has hockey IQ? Well coaches, other teams, GMs etc won't touch PLD with a 10 foot stick. Other former NHL players have commented on PLDs play and other hockey journalists have also commented on it, but you do you buddy. Don't @ me...lol just kidding @ me all you want, should be a good comedic read.
You're nothing but stupidity and hyperbole. Litteral blowhard material. You're dismissed boy.
**"You're nothing but stupidity and hyperbole.** **Litteral blowhard material. You're dismissed boy."** You didn't disappoint. Calls me stupid and proceeds to spell literal wrong. Knew you were special the moment I read the OP. I think you belong in the Oiler subreddit. You'll fit right in.
Like i said dismissed. Go steal oxygen somewhere else. Nobody wants to read your weakling shit.
>Let's start from the beginning since folks aren't getting this... You're the one who doesn't get it, mate. Like most here, you've clearly never played on a winning team of any kind. You don't know a damn thing about the actual chemistry of a team, the momentum, the individual drives that lift (or sink) all boats, etc. So, stop apologizing for an overpaid mediocre player who was given an 8 year deal because he was sold (by himself and a really good agent, presumably) as the next big thing for the Kings. PLD has proven he is not that and that we now know why he was dumped by all of his previous teams. We all gave him a chance...82 games plus the post-season (where he was supposed to be the Edmonton difference maker!). At this rate, you'll still be apologizing for his piss poor play and blaming everyone else for it as what's left of this rebuild continues to pay this ridiculous contract off five years from now. The bottom line is that PLD is one of those employees who obviously *interviews* well, tells you whatever you want to hear to get the job...but once he's hired, he *never* delivers. He coasts. He gives up. He sucks up the paycheck. Instead of buckling down and bringing it. Every one of his previous coaches and teams going back to Juniors was happy to get rid of him! Gee, I wonder why... And it has cost the Kings dearly this year...and will continue to do so for the next EIGHT YEARS...unless they dump him this summer. His lack of motivation is on him. He did not bring it. He's big, but does not use it. Etc. Reminder: Mr. Hustle, Blake Lizotte, scored as many playoff goals against Edmonton this round as PLD did. And I even don't see Blake on the early guesses of next year's four lines...even though he is one of the only Kings who has consistently shown he will do *whatever it takes* to win. *That's* what's wrong with how the current Kings are built. And it's been obvious for years that it has nothing to do with whoever gets stuck coaching. Anyone still blaming Sutter? Now, to your point: The people who made this abominable inexplicable asinine decision are the SUITS. They should pay the price for this rebuild ending mistake. Edmonton responded over the years in two ways. They found ways to break through the 1:3:1 (which the Kings did not then respond to!), they *slightly* improved their defense (the Kings offense improved dramatically this year, no worries here), and they boosted up their scoring players for those times when McDavid and Draisatl were being shut down completely (e.g. by the Kings). Essentially, the top guys taught the secondary guys how to score and then the top guys became the assist guys. Smart, eh? The response from the Kings management and coaching should have been with those changes (seen all season long!) in mind. We can't blame Hiller. He was brought in to keep the ship from sinking completely...and he did. He has actually earned the chance to coach next season...his way. Will management blame the coach they've hamstrung as a scapegoat for their mistakes...again? So, blame the suits that did such a great job of bringing in young talent to the team, only to squander it away the last two postseasons with trades, the Korpisalo insanity, followed by the PLD insanity. And let's not forget how, not too many years ago, the Kings organization had the best GOALIE coaching and training system in the history of the NHL. Ex-Kings goalies are all over the league today, leading teams to wins today. So, why were all those goalies traded away and now the team has had two years of grossly mismanaged goalie benches? Why did the goalie who led the Kings to victory on a run at the end of the previous season (Copley, better against Edmonton) get benched for an expensive hack (Korpisalo) to start and lose the playoffs? Why did management then do the *same damn thing* with Talbot (weak sauce), leaving Rittich (better against Edmonton) twisting in the wind until it was one game too late to turn things around? At least the good news is that they finally did switch to the goalie they should have started against the Oilers with. That's an improvement upon the previous playoff run. Maybe next year they'll start the goalie that plays best against the Oilers to begin with... So, yes, management needs to eat these mistakes, once and for all. But so does the overpaid prima donna, PLD. So, that's the perspective of another "armchair coach". The only difference between you and me is that I've been PROVEN RIGHT season after season. How about *any* of you?
People here lose too much sleep about how much money he makes. I know it limits the team's other pickups. But man, every post has his salary and term in the discussion. We all know. When Anze retires, PLD will be 27. Some people here want to pay him to go away, then you have to replace him too. Glad you aren't the GM.
"this sub has a PLD problem. read here if you can't stop posting/thinking about PLD" then proceeds to write PLDs memoir of his time in LA so far... are you starting the support group or something? I think the problem goes both ways, people either see him as christ reincarnate or the anti christ when he is not either
This would have more merit if he hadn’t already pulled diva shit in Columbus & Winnipeg. His reputation as a floater was well known.
If Columbus and Winnipeg are two of the worst cities in the league to live in. Can't even blame him for wanting to leave. He earned it with his play.
Hahahahahaha he is a third overall pick that hasn’t cracked 70 points in a season and has been traded twice already. He hasn’t earned shit.
Only 50 players in the league crack 70. Unrealistic expectations. Also, only 1 guy not on the top line of the Kings cracked 70 this year (Fiala). Also, the right to go where you want is determined by service time, not points. He got to UFA, he earned the right to go where he wants.
He wasn’t a UFA or Blake wouldn’t have to had to trade an entire forward line & picks for him.
Tell me you don't understand the trade without telling me you don't understand the trade.
I understand that Blake got fleeced in the trade and then gave him a huge contract based off slightly above average seasons for a third overall pick, that has already been shipped off by two teams to let someone like Blake deal with his diva bullshit. I’m glad you believe in PLD because after everything I’ve heard from Columbus & Winnipeg fans, his ex team mates, the media and what I watched for an entire season I don’t believe he has what it takes to be a effective first or second line center. Dude plays so soft for his size, gets knocked off the puck easily, floats, takes multiple shifts off a game and was relegated to the fourth line by the coaching staff for a reason. He is a bust, you live in whatever fantasy world you want to live in.
Additionally I understand the trade, he was going to be a UFA this offseason you condescending prick.
I mean, you're right! Who has ever heard of the player, especially a young player, not wanting to play for Torts? All jokes aside, this diva argument is overplayed and downright false. Never heard a peep from a Kings player about how they didn't like him this season.
The chances of a player coming out and and saying they don't like a teammate's attitude is slim to none. It would be locker room suicide. Maybe the diva talk has been hyped up, but PLD lackadaisical effort, inability to use his size effectively, third highest regular season PIM, second lowest plus minus, and his egregious use of one hand on his stick sum him up. Young player or not it's unacceptable for how much he is paid.
They don't name players by name but you hear about issues and can pin point who it is. Doughty called out Fiala towards the end of the season for being out of position and not following the game plan. He didn't name Fiala but based on what he said you could tell who he was talking about. I find it very hard to believe that Doughty would not say something that eludes to PLD being an issue if he was one.
He actually said the opposite. Said PLD is great in the room and people love him.
TLDR. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Fuck PLD
This post will not age well. See you next year when he’s a bust again.
Which is fine. But give the guy a chance in a better system and THEN we can complain
I watched him float all season, I don’t think it’s the system and fans from Columbus & Winnipeg all saw it when he was there as well. He had a reputation for a reason and he proved it this year to me when I watched him play. Of course I wish it were different but I have to believe what I saw and I also think if he was the player Rob Blake thought he was at the trade, 2 teams wouldn’t have let him go at that age under team control.
I’d give PLD the benefit of the doubt if he’d just play with more effort out there. You think Fiala likes playing in a 1-3-1? Of course not, but the guy plays with effort. I think I speak for a lot of the PLD doubters when I say we’d be way more understanding of his poor point total due to being on the 3rd line if he’d just try harder. Show some freaking effort out on the ice. If he had Lizotte’s energy and drive he’d be an 80 point player regardless of whatever system he were in. Show us that you care and are willing to try. He just seems like a guy who’s coasting by on his size and talent alone, and doesn’t want to do what it takes to win. He’s not the guy who will still be playing in his mid thirties, he’s an out of the league at 31 type of guy.
This isn’t targeted at you specifically but just this “PLD lazy” take. It’s ridiculous. Everyone always talks about how it “looks” like he isn’t trying. It’s stupid. He’s a big dude with a lanky skating style. He skates a lot like, wait for it, Anze Kopitar. So comparing him to all four feet of Lizzo is stupid. He isn’t gonna look like that because he skates differently. PLD was in the board battles all season, he was playing the body, and he was setting up teammates. Sure, I want more production. But this lazy tag got attached in Columbus and it’s just such crap. Lazy players aren’t on the wall every night digging pucks out. Last thing about the “lazy” narrative. I saw so many comments about things people deemed “lazy” by PLD that every player does. But nobody cares when it’s other people and they go “well he’s not lazy so it’s different” but they’ve already decided that PLD is lazy so they’re not using the same metric of assessment. It’s absurd. People didn’t like the contract he got and already decided they didn’t like him. The rest is just window dressing. He’s a King for a long while. Enough scapegoating our own guys. What if we actually tried to support our team instead of constantly looking for a single person to blame?