Pick the fourth line

I wish you'd stop including Armstron in there. Did anyone see him play last year? sheesh.

Lets do the youth movement right and shed the older dead weight.

I can't believe I voted for Ivanans but he's a needed comodity in the NHL today.

This was a tough one, considering Army is a center and if your gonna have a fourth line center, its gonna be Handzus due to his size and strenth, which he definately has to use more often this season. Since he SHOULD be healthy and ready to go this season, Handzus may come in and beat out Boyle and Stoll, so who knows with that guy? I do like what Army brings to the team in a limited role. The guy never should have been given the second line center spot in the first place, but his hustle and determination was always there, even if his scoring talent wasnt. I cant say I really know enough about Brad Richardson to comment on him, so I guess we'll see how he does in camp.

Ivanans is a lock on that line, dude is just a warrior and has shown flashes of real skill, so he's a keeper until you can find something better. King and Westgarth are just not ready yet.

Eliis played very well when he came over from Detroit. We needed a guy who could bang and disrupt players and he came in and did that. May be a lil unstable, but usable in a limited checking role.

John Zeiler, no offense John, but I hope you play all year in Manchester. If we need you this season, we are in a lot more trouble than we thought.

Cliche, Lewis, Murray - also want them in Manchester for at least half the year, but for different reasons than Zeiler. Murray is probably the most ready, but where can you play him? He would need at least 3rd line mins to thrive, and I dont see that with this team. Lewis needs probably most of the year to get back from his injury and Cliche really hasnt shown all that much yet, and would probably would just be a PK specialist anyway. Let them develop and get plenty of ice time in Manch.

I Gotta say, the forwards dont stack up that bad. This should be the year the Kings finally get some consistancy on the second line and third lines. If that happens, this team will really surprise people. Now if we could just fix that D, and goalie situation...I will take that D in two years over anybody, but right now its gonna be a lil scary at times. Good luck to Babs, Berni, or Ersbaby cause they will need it. Who knows, it could all change in a matter of weeks, but it was fun! Thanks Rich!

why is erevyone so hard on Zeilr. I actually liked watching him play. Hits like Brown and goes in hard on the forecheck. Would rather see him play then alot of the guys on this list.

The well is dry...

????? - Army/Zeus - Ivanans

Ellis.......center.
Richardson..center.
Lewis.......center.
Cliche......center.
Gauthier....center.

Oh, here you go: Zeiler...wing. Perfect match!

And I still think you're going to end up with Zeus on the 3rd line anyway, so in reality it'll be Army/Boyle on the 4th, assuming Boyle sticks out of camp.

Here is the problem, the 4th line will probably end up being Ivanans-Handzus/Boyle-Richardson. The problem is what happens to Armstrong? The Kings have 1 extra legit everyday NHL player who has to sit now...Having Zeiler/Ellis sit in the press box is fine, they are fringe guys, but Armstrong or Calder won't be happy about that. I see one of them being moved or one of Moulson, Purcell, or Boyle will be back in the AHL. Too many forwards. Lombardi didn't give up a 2nd so Richardson sits and he would have to clear waivers to go to the AHL and we need Ivanans' toughness esp. with no Avery, Kostoplous, or Thornton anymore. We have soft up front minus him and Brown.

Rich,

Serious question (hoping for an answer): Do you think DL would consider giving you an update to give all the patient Kings' faithful if you phoned in a request? Or do you think he's got too many things on his plate with ongoing negotiations to devulge anything at this point?

Joe

Ivanans-Handzus-Ellis

John Zeiler - utility player

Cliche - Monarchs
Guathier - Manarchs
Lewis - Monarchs
Murray - Monarchs
Brad Richardson - Monarchs or ONTARIO (I hope)

Derek Armstrong - Waivers or Traded

I see very little use for Armstrong
Last season he played most of the season with Frolov and did nothing.
He was also playing on the second unit power play all season and scored only once (on a 5-3 of all things).
How pathetic.

I'll second Joey B's request, please...

I also kind of liked Zeiler when he played with the big club, but Ellis is by design a better Zeiler, so I don't see any way JZ makes it. Handzus is not a fourth line center, but given the choices in the poll, he can't reasonably be voted off the island. I voted for Richardson because I believe he will make the team. That said, I don't think there will be or should be a "line" of Ellis/Handzus/Richardson. I think Ivanans/Handzus/Ellis is more likely. Or give Handzus some skill to work with, a la Purcell on one side and Richardson on the other. Or even Purcell and Calder with Handzus, which strikes me as a viable combination. Or Calder, Handzus and Armstrong, which I guess would be the "redeem your shattered career" line.

Nick --

I know nothing. But here's my take on your forward analysis:

Zeiler will not make the team. He will be in Manchester.

Ellis is the new Zeiler and not only will he not sit in the press box, I think he will play close to every game.

I seriously doubt that Boyle will be moved to wing. However you dice it, the four centers will be Kopitar, Handzus, Stoll and Boyle.

None of Boyle, Purcell or Moulson will get sent down, unless of course they completely crap out in camp.

Regarding Richardson...I don't know about clearing waivers. But I (in my partially unearned opinion) expect him to make the team.

Ivanans will undoubtedly be one of the guys who spends some time in the press box, as this is what role players expect. Some games he's needed more than others.

So let's count up who we have:

Brown/Kopitar/POS
Purcell/Stoll/Frolov (I prefer Handzus as C here, but I'll go with the vote)
Moulson/Boyle/Richardson
Calder/Handzus/Ellis
Armstrong and Ivanans

For the five games this season when no forward is injured, two of Army, Ivanans, Calder, Ellis or Richardson will sit. Armstrong becomes very useful obviously if any center gets hurt. Stoll, for example, didn't he have the injury bug? I'm not sure about that, but the prospect of losing him and NOT having someone viable and experienced to take over is worth keeping Army around. Armstrong may well spend a lot of time in the press box. I hope he does, because that means everyone is healthy and playing well.

HOWEVER, if Parse, Lewis or Cliche blow everyone away at camp, I would say one of Calder or Armstrong is doomed. And certainly by 2009 Calder and Army ought to be long gone. They have to know this, and should be motivated to play their asses off, in order to be dealt to Detroit at the deadline in order to get fitted for their rings.

Simmer-Dionne-Taylor

When you look up the middle, the Kings are very strong, no matter how you cut it. We all wish we would have a legit #2 to be the #2, but by committee, it's not weak.

Kopitar, Stoll, Boyle and Handzus up the middle is pretty strong and defensively responsible.

Most of the other centers on the roster have already been converted to wing, so there really isn't an issue there. Ellis is listed as a center, but hasn't played that position in the NHL. O'Sullivan, listed as a center, but rarely plays there. Richardson hasn't played center in 3 years. Armstrong has played wing before. The versatility will be nice.

Of course...I'm still crapping in my pants over the defense.

Army was PLUS 4 last season. Frolov was Plus 1, who else was plus last season? Anyone??? Army was a very dependable 3rd line Center, and will be a very depenable 4th line Center this season. I did see him play, and I see use for him on th e 3rd/4th line. But, thats just my opinion.

People here seriously underestimate Richardson.

It does seem like one of these excess forwards should be packaged with a pick or a mid prospect for a decent defenseman. To be so stacked at forward without even considering if Lewis, Parse or Cliche kicks butt in camp, while so thin at defense, we should be able to swing a deal for a late 20's bottom 3 dman with some experience for a Roster player and a pick/prospect. Hopefully Sundin will make up his mind soon so that the trades can begin.

Though I wanted Handsuz on the 3rd line too, I went with Ivanans-Handsuz-Richardson.

I really do hope Ellis gets a good amount of games, even though I didn't choose him, he's someone I think can be useful on the bottom line for years to come. It's hard to decide who to trade. Moulson we want to see develop. Calder can be very useful. Army is so respected and our only long term King vet. Richardson is new and was aquired for a precious pick. I feel like Calder would garnish the best return, and is probably the most replacable in Ellis. Though his contract is a bit inflated, it's only for one year. I say trade him for a decent vet dman who can log ~17 minutes a game before the season even starts. I think Army is more useful to the team in a lot of ways and he will be more valuable at the deadline for a team looking to solidy their bottom checking line.

Anthony,

You've obviously never seen Brad Richardson play due to his being in AHL after breaking his arm.

DL didn't give up a 2nd round pick for a guy he wanted in the ECHL.

You'll eat your words soon enough.

Mike,
I didn't say ECHL for Richardson.
I said Monarchs or Ontario.
C'mon.

For anyone that cares, espn.com just put up a list of the league's top fantasy players. I could care less about the fantasy part, but the breakdown for each player is interesting considering all of the pre-season pundits and publications haven't released their analysis yet. I know fantasy leagues rank players according to all stats like PIM and +/-, but the King's list looks, well let's just say their fantasy hockey writer didn't appear to do his homework:
1.) Sully 11.) Hickey 21.) Gauthier
2.) Kopi 12.) Clune(WTF?) 22.) Dan Taylor
3.) Brown 13.) Bagnall(WTFx2?) 23.) Harrold
4.) Fro 14.) Gauthier 24.) Richardson
5.) Stoll 15.) Ersberg 25.) Greene
6.) JMFJ 16.) Brady Murray 26.) Ivanans
7.) Bernier 17.) Boyle(WOW!) 27.) Giuliano
8.) Purcell 18.) Quick 28.) Preissing
9.) LaBarbera 19.) Zeiler 29.) Ellis...
10.) Doughty 20.) Moulson

...and this is where it gets funny and somewhat dumb:
30.) Dallman- playing defense from Russia
31.) Scott Thornton- I'm sure he'll put up the same
numbers in retirement that he put up in the pressbox
32.) Nagy- NOT playing an ounce of defense from Russia
33.) Klemm- yes, really
34.) Zeus- wow, I don't know who should be more embarrassed, Handzus or espn.com
35.) Cloutier- this gave me a chill up my spine
36.) Calder...

...and this one goes out to Anthony. I'll admit I laughed out loud. Yes, Los Angeles, the player that will apparently provide the least amount of pop for your Kings this season is...

37.) Derek "Army" Armstrong

Jim Fox gave a lot of love to Army. In fact, suggested that he might make a good captain this upcoming season! Maybe Foxy is seeing something that we are not..

It's not that hard guys, you put Armstrong on the wing... If Handzus doesnt play as he should you move Army to the Center and fill in the wing. He's good on the boards, can hustle, responsible on D, and takes the body... What's the problem?

I knew it.
Thanks Irish Pat for confirming Army's ZERO value.

Could we end up seeing Boyle play defense in LA too?

anthony, you're allowed to think Army isn't good. but PLEASE don't confirm it with a writer who put Drew Bagnall ahead of Boyle, Jon Klemm ahead of Handzus, Dan Cloutier ahead of Calder, and Denis Gauthier ahead of Tom Preissing. you (and all of us) can do so much better than someone who says Clune will be our 12th best player.

Irish Pat, thanks for bringing some cheer to my morning.

(by the way: 3rd line Moulson-Handzus-Calder
4th line Armstrong-Boyle-Ivanans/Richardson

If Armstrong isn't captain, i can see him rotating with Richardson too, possibly Ellis.)

jonny, re armstrong on the wing:

The only problem would be whose spot he would be taking. Unless he's filling the spot of an injured player, I don't think he's a better option than any of Calder, Richardson or Ellis, and he obviously can't do what Ivanans does.

No chance of Boyle playing defence in the NHL. That
experiment ended awhile ago.Look for Brown to be named
captain sometime in traing camp.

UHHEM, uhhhh, Ontario is in the ECHL.

Not the way I voted but maybe something a little different like:

Frolov - Kopitar - O'Sullivan
Brown - Stoll - Richardson
Moulson - Boyle - Purcell
Ivanans - Handzus - Zeiler

Extras - Armstrong, Calder, Ellis

1st line = primary offensive unit, three highest skill forwards, top power play unit
2nd line = can play against other teams top line, sort of a hybrid checking/shut down line that can counter with plenty of skill/offense
3rd line = sort of an energy line that can forecheck hard with big bodies and provide offensive pressure, idea is to make other team have to play defensively
4th line = sort of a kamikaze line, very physical and antagonistic, Handzus a primary penalty killer with the 2nd line guys

i think Richardson is really the wild card here. right now i'm not sure if he's gonna have a spot, but i see him winning a spot on the 3rd or 4th line by the end of the year. Ellis played well, but unless we want to play enforcer-less, i think he's the odd man out. unless Armstrong or Calder becomes the next Scott Thornton and plays only half the games.

"anthony said:
Mike,
I didn't say ECHL for Richardson.
I said Monarchs or Ontario.
C'mon."

The Ontario Reign play in the ECHL.

"cristobal said:
Could we end up seeing Boyle play defense in LA too?"

That experiment was abandoned long ago.

And yeah, ESPN writers must look through dusty old encyclopedias to harvest information on the Kings. Last year I saw a depth chart on that site that had Jeremy Roenick listed on the Kings.

for everyone complaining about the ESPN rankings (me included!), i just went on, and there are no projections below Doughty at #10. so it's definitely possible that ESPN didn't even rank anyone from 11 down... which could explain the sheer randomness of the remainder of the rankings.

and among all players, our highest ranked fantasy contributor is Sully at 106. all of our players having low +/- seems to hurt their rankings considerably.

Eric K -

re Ellis, Richardson, Army and Calder:

Calder -- and Handzus -- both have a good chance of redeeming themselves and contributing, and as they are relatively young they have more upside than Armstrong. I really think Ellis will not be the odd man out this year, and even if Richardson makes the team (which I think he will -- but what do I know?), it's Armstrong who is the most vulnerable. Except he will be a useful band-aid when the inevitable injuries happen.