Resetting the roster

So when did it go from decent offense and shaky defense to decent defense and shaky offense?

Loktionov! This kid has some serious skill. I don't think he'll make it through to the final roster but, from what I have seen in camp another couple of years and we might have made a steal with this pick.

I can't figure out why Jones hasn't been either released from his tryout agreement or signed and assigned to Manchester. The guy is obviously not going to play in LA this year, he's ECHL material at best at his current stage (with potential for more down the road). Any insight as to why Jones hasn't been sent either home or back to junior yet?

To bad O'Sullivan isn't on that list.
DL... swallow your pride and control your ego.
Either sign him or trade him.
If the kid is eager to play, let him produce for another team. And lets get a proven player for him already. Its obvious that his career in LA is over.

I think the Kings should trade Army...let a kid play instead. He was awful last year. Maybe Carolina would be a taker with Justin Williams out long term???

So what's the deal with Clune and Cliche? How's that going to work. They're not going to be part of the starting 25 man roster, so why still have them? Is it just a formality until they're put on injured reserve?

LOOKOUT NHL!!!

With Martin Jones backstopping the Kings there's no telling how far (Stanley Cup?) the Kings will go. You might as well not even bother lacing your skates suckers...

Muah-ha-ha!!

Yeah.

Martin Jones.

Woo-hoo.

(ahem)

Hooray for indifference.

http://www.windsorspitfires.com/viewcon.php?id=2765

You can cross Loktionov off the Kings roster and add him to Windsor (OHL)

DEFENSEMEN:
Doughty and Voynov both looked really good last night, a big help to our D. I hope they both stay up most of the season. Greene too looked good. Other than the 'old guard' of JJ, Preissing, O'Donnell; the rest I can't say I saw anything that made we want to see them at Staples this year. But then again I only saw the FF game and the Ducks game so take it for what's worth.
FORWARDS: I thought Boyle showed some grit but not much spark last night, he turned over the puck a few time too many. Stoll looks like a great addition. Again I can't say much about the rest of the new kids, several show some spark but most are not ready YET.
GOALIES: I think we are stuck with JLB and Ersberg. JLB scares me, I just see him being that great all season long. I never got to see Quick much this year.

Anthony - welcome back - it has been so peaceful w/o you.
How can DL trade him? POS has no value. He is a kid with 27 career goals who wants a one year deal, probably for 2.5M.

O'Sullivan for Cammaleri straight across....lol....
wonder what fair value we can get for him...if need be..
Ryan Kessler from Vancouver...
Brandon Dubinsky from NY....

Irish Pat already beat me to the punch, and granted my ignorance is showing. but who is this Jones guy anyway

aha nevermind http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=96659

and this guy wasn't drafted and made it all this way from being an invite to rookie camp?? wow boggles the mind. I thought Zatkoff and (of course the slightly injured Bernier) would have certainly surpassed the camp he's had. even Danny Taylor I would've given better odds.

Jet,
I disagree. O'Sullivan has a lot value.
Montreal, St. Louis, and the Rangers were trying hard to acquire him.

forgot Rowat also. well, I'm sure the Kings are at least partially using him for their own good. push the "vets" so to speak. and there's no urgency to get him in camp w/ Manchester nor anywhere else I suppose

Let me make it easy on you all:

FORWARDS (12): Derek Armstrong, Brian Boyle, Dustin Brown, Kyle Calder, Alexander Frolov, Michal Handzus, Raitis Ivanans, Anze Kopitar, Matt Moulson, Teddy Purcell, Brad Richardson, Jarret Stoll

DEFENSEMEN (6): Drew Doughty, Denis Gauthier, Matt Greene, Jack Johnson, Sean O'Donnell, Tom Preissing

GOALIES (2): Erik Ersberg, Jason LaBarbera

Coming Soon: John Tavares.

danny said:
So when did it go from decent offense and shaky defense to decent defense and shaky offense?

Danny:
I'd say it was when we couldn't sign Patrick O'Sullivan and traded for Sean O'Donnell.

haha!

"Coming Soon: John Tavares."

classic.

If you just look at our defensemen one by one it doesn't look too bad. However when you look at them as a group, it's still worrisome. Ranking them from 1 to 7 you get the following:

#1 Johnson. At this stage of his career he's probably a #3 on a decent team.

#2 Greene. In Edmonton I believe he was a #4 or #5.

#3 Preissing. He was a #5 or #6 in Ottawa, and lost his job to Joe Corvo.

#4 Doughty. Total wild card; hopefully he'll be on the top pairing before the season is done.

#5 Harrold, #6 O'Donnell, #7 Gauthier. Seems about right to me.

Also, I don't think we'll want Greene, O'Donnell and Gauthier in the lineup at the same time, due to lack of puck mobility.

I just posted my ranking of Kings defensemen for the 2008/09 season. On a more positive note, here is my ranking for the 2010/11 season:

#1 Johnson. A true #1 in two or three years' time.
#1a Doughty. Interchangeable with JJ.
#3 Hickey. Lack of size shouldn't be a problem on our second unit, and he'll be on the first power play unit.
#4 and #5 Teubert and Greene.
#6 Preissing or similar offensive specialist.
#7 Generic veteran presence.

Obviously one or two of these guys won't pan out, but we do have Martinez and others waiting in the wings. Plus, by that time we might be able to attract a decent free agent.

anthony said:

Jet,
I disagree. O'Sullivan has a lot value.
Montreal, St. Louis, and the Rangers were trying hard to acquire him.

And your source for this profound declaration? Links?

My projected starting roster for the season:

FORWARDS: Derek Armstrong, Brian Boyle, Dustin Brown, Kyle Calder, Alexander Frolov, Michal Handzus, Raitis Ivanans, Anze Kopitar, Oscar Moller, Matt Moulson, Teddy Purcell, Brad Richardson, Jarret Stoll

DEFENSEMEN: Drew Doughty, Denis Gauthier, Matt Greene, Peter Harrold, Jack Johnson, Sean O'Donnell, Tom Preissing

GOALIES: Erik Ersberg, Jason LaBarbera

Anthony's back! Yeah booooy! We have the old crew back.
While we're gonna have more than our share of disagreements this year, you gotta love people who are here each night

"anthony said:

Jet,
I disagree. O'Sullivan has a lot value.
Montreal, St. Louis, and the Rangers were trying hard to acquire him."

Really? Your source is who, Eklund, Hockeybums, or the guy who started the rumor Kopitar for Kahbibulin.

wavesinair,

I don't believe you can send injured players to the minor leagues. They will be on the IR list and not count against the 23 players on the NHL roster.

For those hoping Moller will make the Kings this year (including me), Nick Nickson just repeated a quote from Terry Murray during the first period of tonight's game at the Quackers. "He'll play in the NHL some day" said Murray. That doesn't sound like "he's making the team". :(

anthony said:

Jet,
I disagree. O'Sullivan has a lot value.
Montreal, St. Louis, and the Rangers were trying hard to acquire him.

ummmm... did I miss the news about all the offer sheets flying Sully's way...

At the risk of stating the obvious, GMs don't want to sign POS to an offer sheet because it's not worth the hassle for someone who is not proven. If other teams were "trying hard" to acquire POS, I guess they weren't trying hard enough. I bet DL would take Erik Johnson though, straight up. Even now.

Anthony - A third of Montreal's team will be UFA's next season and another 1/3 will be RFA's. I just do not see them putting themselves in a position to trade a player who is under contract in 09-10 for a FA (assuming POS still wants 1 year). Also, they would need to trade a similar salary as I believe they are within a couple M of the cap. Also, it would be hard not to keep Tanguay (pressure of “the sweater could lead to another off year)off the top line with a 5.3M cap hit. They also have a couple of other LWs that I believe can score 25 goals. Could happen, just unlikely.
Regarding St.Louis, I would have agreed with you a week ago, but their focus is on getting defensive help. They are in the same boat we are in on the blueline, no real #1 this year. Also, they rarely overpay their players. If you come back with Kariya, I would concur at 6M, but overall they are pretty tight.
Regarding the Rangers, what would they be willing to give up? Maybe Korpikoski, skilled, but he is not DL's type of player. Cherepanov? Again, gifted player, but is he self motivated enough to play for the Kings? I would lean to the "No" side. Most teams would consider either of these players, but Lombardi will not settle for highly skilled any more. He will only bring in skilled and highly motivated guys. Staal, sounds good, but after the infamous Nordstrom heist, it is doubtful NY would let him go. And do we really need another soon to be 1st pairing D-man? Also, they are within a couple M of the cap, so that adds to the difficulty of a trade for a player with a 1 year contract.

What do you think?

I say trade Sully for Setoguchi staight up. Sounds simple, no?

Is Jeff Giuliano still on the roster? He's not listed here but I don't see him in any player transactions.

MRK - the value is close, but we lose a year of experience in essence. Also, I believe Setoguchi has a cap hit of 1.5M. The difference to POS salary would put SJ close or over the cap.
Here within lies the reason POS has little value. How many teams can actually take the additional cap hit or want to adjust their roster at this point to fit POS's salary in? For what DL could get, he might just as well let him sit for the year. From POS's viewpoint, he has to hope that another team will make an offer to a player who has not played hockey in 17 months. Teemu took 7 months off last year and struggled coming back.

Dangit, I knew it sounds too simple. I'm glad I'm not a GM. Thanks for clarifying that jet.

marc said: "Is Jeff Giuliano still on the roster?"

No. He wasn't on the roster. He plays in Belarus.