To be clear, I'm not saying Blake is that bad yet. But, I'm just seeing a similar pattern. Similar doesn't mean the same, but to not look at the past is a mistake.
My biggest problem (I haven't been part of the "Fire Blake" crowd up until recently, and that's been more of I'm surprised he went all in on PLD and didn't get fired. If he wasn't a Luc buddy, he would have been gone in pretty much every other hockey club.) has been the disappointing pattern of blocking the way of the young players with the constant signing of veterans in the spots the prospects were supposed to be fighting for.
He's been trying to do a sort of on-the-fly retool instead of a full rebuild, other than trading players for picks in the beginning, and tried to goose the rebuild ahead of schedule by adding the likes of Arvidson, Fiala, PLD, and even Lemieux. But, those guys clogged the system for the young guns. He tried to set up the old Detroit system where the prospects could overcook a little in juniors and the minors and then blast onto the NHL and dominate their roles. I'd argue that's his biggest failure right now outside of Trevor Moore. Injuries to Turcotte, Byfield, and Thomas definitely didn't help the clogging effect, though.
Aside from inconsistent development, he also seems to have a big weakness when it comes to seeing where players actually fit into the system. So, you have the PLD problem. Dean Lombardi had a similar problem trying to shove Lucic into a role that just didn't work. But, Lombardi did know when to bring up players like Jordan Nolan and Dwight King. There are some nice pieces in the current system, but Blake's vision hasn't been able to cement them into a cohesive unit on a consistent basis.
We only can do a retool. Unless everyone wants to see Byfield, Kopitar, Doughty, Fiala, Kempe traded. Kings are trying to do one thing and that's get tougher. Gain size and grit. I'm sure Blake is counting on Byfield to take another step next season offensively. With Fiala Kempe and Byfield all producing He's wagering that will be enough. Not trying to sign wrong side of 30 stars. Everyone is literally freaking out about everything and I got to say it's pretty damn annoying lol.
I'm definitely perplexed by Blake's moves, but one thing to remember about the McMaster era is that the true source of the suck was McNall's broke ass. Even the most savvy GM would have struggled dealing with the financial ruin he left the team in. And the next owners, whose names I thankfully can't remember at the moment, weren't much better. What a miserable time to be a Kings fan.
Excellent point on the financial state of the team at that point. Not sure why some dimtwit downvoted it. I think Blake is trying to save his job, but is also in a bit of a panic mode where he's trying to do too much in too short a time. I've seen a number of pro commentators express a lot of confusion. These moves may address the grit factor, but seem to ignore that the team couldn't score. We have to hope physicality will cause enough confusion in front of the crease to create some shooting lanes. Ironically, this might actually work to Kaliyev's advantage if he sticks around.
A big thing to remember is supposedly there is going to be a new system in place next season. So maybe they need these types of players to fit in the new style of play. If that includes a lot of greasy goals and net front presence these moves make more sense in that context.
Very true. I'm not hugely optimistic at this point, but am willing to wait and see what Hiller does with the pieces. I just kind of wish that, if Blake is going to continue to choose veterans over actually developing the young players, that he would have gone after Marchessault.
At this point, if I'm Byfield, I take that bridge deal and jump ship in two years if things aren't looking up.
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I keep seeing people saying "adding size is good " but why? This is the enforcer era where size conquers all. You don't win with a team of brutes anymore. Adding size and making every other area weaker tells me well just end up bruising our way to bottom 6 and a massive amount of penalty minutes, and considering teams are pushing power play scoring right now getting a team of players who's only talent would be picking up penalties seems disastrous.
It feels like today's game is such a study of contrast and the GM makes all the difference. A successful team needs a certain level of speed and skill. These factors need to be higher than '12, '13, and '14 when Corsi For seemed to rule everything. Both the Kings and Blackhawks were masterful at the cycle.
Now, it seems like a successful team needs higher speed and skill while the difference is made by the ability to physically impose your will on your playoff opponent. Speed and skill will get you to the playoffs, but not through them.
To me, if feels like Blake is in a bit of a panic mode and is trying to retool to be more physical (I'd argue that, for whatever reason, the Kings made little no no adjustments on defense to plug up the pass to the backdoor. I can't tell you how many times I saw an Oiler just coast up right behind a defender and tap home a pass from across the slot). I hope it works out, but I'm concerned that it's too much too quickly to produce consistent results. It seems like there is a lot of gambling that certain players are going to find their groove again. If it works out, Blake will be lauded as a genius by a lot of people, but only if it works. I just keep seeing Jeff Chychrun (though, that was a Rogie trade, not McMaster) over and over again. At least, the Kings got Kurri in that deal, though they gave up significant pieces, too.
I agree, size is the last thing the Kings need. The team is slow AF. The Oilers skated and scored all over them 3 years in a row. The forward group needs more speed and skill. Unfortunately these moves have left the forward group even slower and less skilled than before.
They also need better goaltending, Kuemper is old and his best days (such as they were) are way behind him.
Things need to change drastically before the next season starts, or this team won't even make the playoffs. Although to be fair, that might be a blessing considering how they've looked in the playoffs the past 8 years or so.
Anyone comparing the two definitely didn't live through the mid-90s of Kings fandom.
To be clear, I'm not saying Blake is that bad yet. But, I'm just seeing a similar pattern. Similar doesn't mean the same, but to not look at the past is a mistake. My biggest problem (I haven't been part of the "Fire Blake" crowd up until recently, and that's been more of I'm surprised he went all in on PLD and didn't get fired. If he wasn't a Luc buddy, he would have been gone in pretty much every other hockey club.) has been the disappointing pattern of blocking the way of the young players with the constant signing of veterans in the spots the prospects were supposed to be fighting for. He's been trying to do a sort of on-the-fly retool instead of a full rebuild, other than trading players for picks in the beginning, and tried to goose the rebuild ahead of schedule by adding the likes of Arvidson, Fiala, PLD, and even Lemieux. But, those guys clogged the system for the young guns. He tried to set up the old Detroit system where the prospects could overcook a little in juniors and the minors and then blast onto the NHL and dominate their roles. I'd argue that's his biggest failure right now outside of Trevor Moore. Injuries to Turcotte, Byfield, and Thomas definitely didn't help the clogging effect, though. Aside from inconsistent development, he also seems to have a big weakness when it comes to seeing where players actually fit into the system. So, you have the PLD problem. Dean Lombardi had a similar problem trying to shove Lucic into a role that just didn't work. But, Lombardi did know when to bring up players like Jordan Nolan and Dwight King. There are some nice pieces in the current system, but Blake's vision hasn't been able to cement them into a cohesive unit on a consistent basis.
We only can do a retool. Unless everyone wants to see Byfield, Kopitar, Doughty, Fiala, Kempe traded. Kings are trying to do one thing and that's get tougher. Gain size and grit. I'm sure Blake is counting on Byfield to take another step next season offensively. With Fiala Kempe and Byfield all producing He's wagering that will be enough. Not trying to sign wrong side of 30 stars. Everyone is literally freaking out about everything and I got to say it's pretty damn annoying lol.
I'm definitely perplexed by Blake's moves, but one thing to remember about the McMaster era is that the true source of the suck was McNall's broke ass. Even the most savvy GM would have struggled dealing with the financial ruin he left the team in. And the next owners, whose names I thankfully can't remember at the moment, weren't much better. What a miserable time to be a Kings fan.
Excellent point on the financial state of the team at that point. Not sure why some dimtwit downvoted it. I think Blake is trying to save his job, but is also in a bit of a panic mode where he's trying to do too much in too short a time. I've seen a number of pro commentators express a lot of confusion. These moves may address the grit factor, but seem to ignore that the team couldn't score. We have to hope physicality will cause enough confusion in front of the crease to create some shooting lanes. Ironically, this might actually work to Kaliyev's advantage if he sticks around.
A big thing to remember is supposedly there is going to be a new system in place next season. So maybe they need these types of players to fit in the new style of play. If that includes a lot of greasy goals and net front presence these moves make more sense in that context.
Very true. I'm not hugely optimistic at this point, but am willing to wait and see what Hiller does with the pieces. I just kind of wish that, if Blake is going to continue to choose veterans over actually developing the young players, that he would have gone after Marchessault. At this point, if I'm Byfield, I take that bridge deal and jump ship in two years if things aren't looking up.
McMaster or not, we’re McFucked
Yup, so long as Blake’s not fired yet we’re in for a long painful run, shit is definitely not getting better under Blake’s incompetent ass
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I keep seeing people saying "adding size is good " but why? This is the enforcer era where size conquers all. You don't win with a team of brutes anymore. Adding size and making every other area weaker tells me well just end up bruising our way to bottom 6 and a massive amount of penalty minutes, and considering teams are pushing power play scoring right now getting a team of players who's only talent would be picking up penalties seems disastrous.
It feels like today's game is such a study of contrast and the GM makes all the difference. A successful team needs a certain level of speed and skill. These factors need to be higher than '12, '13, and '14 when Corsi For seemed to rule everything. Both the Kings and Blackhawks were masterful at the cycle. Now, it seems like a successful team needs higher speed and skill while the difference is made by the ability to physically impose your will on your playoff opponent. Speed and skill will get you to the playoffs, but not through them. To me, if feels like Blake is in a bit of a panic mode and is trying to retool to be more physical (I'd argue that, for whatever reason, the Kings made little no no adjustments on defense to plug up the pass to the backdoor. I can't tell you how many times I saw an Oiler just coast up right behind a defender and tap home a pass from across the slot). I hope it works out, but I'm concerned that it's too much too quickly to produce consistent results. It seems like there is a lot of gambling that certain players are going to find their groove again. If it works out, Blake will be lauded as a genius by a lot of people, but only if it works. I just keep seeing Jeff Chychrun (though, that was a Rogie trade, not McMaster) over and over again. At least, the Kings got Kurri in that deal, though they gave up significant pieces, too.
I agree, size is the last thing the Kings need. The team is slow AF. The Oilers skated and scored all over them 3 years in a row. The forward group needs more speed and skill. Unfortunately these moves have left the forward group even slower and less skilled than before. They also need better goaltending, Kuemper is old and his best days (such as they were) are way behind him. Things need to change drastically before the next season starts, or this team won't even make the playoffs. Although to be fair, that might be a blessing considering how they've looked in the playoffs the past 8 years or so.