Moller to Kings

I really like this kid, but he needs to add some beef...big time. He just looks too small out there. When I see him make contact, I always picture a bulldog mauling the crap out of a bone.

I read this headline and thought, "WTF, why why did we trade Moller to the -- wait, who are the Kings, oh that's us. Okay."

I don't know why, but that is the best Kings news I've heard in over a week...

now all we have to wait for is for DL to trade O'Donnell for a 4th or 5th round draft pick, let him get another Cup run, and re-sign with the King's in the off season. Oh yeah, we tried that with Stuart. oh well ... he's been great for the young D this year.

One other thing...

Has anyone else noticed that Manchester has stopped losing games 3-2 and 4-3, and now is winning 2-1 on a winning streak with The Wondurkind Bernier in net...

ok...now that's settled...glad to have oscar back...

Some people put way too much faith in this guy. We have better prospects as of now that can step in. Coaches offensive systems are our biggest hinderance

Yessss Moller will be back, I love hearing that..
It's too bad we couldn't get a pick for Tom Preissing. I'm actually surprised a team like Washington wasn't interested in Tommy..

Oh Well..

was there ever any doubt...

Anyone got insight on Cameron. He is putting up great numbers. Is that due to line mates or is he the real deal steal in the 3rd round.

SCR, check what i wrote in the other article

JT Snow...

what prospects are more ready to step in the Moller?

Maybe Lewis, but that's about it.

Moller may be small, but he has already proven he can score in the NHL. Had he stayed with the Kings all season, he was on pace for a very nice 19 year old rookie season. I think Moller is the real deal and is the closest thing to a sniper we have at the moment.

He plays Simmonds style of hockey with O'Sullivans hands imo. I know many people lately have included him in proposals, but I think Moller has to stay! He will be a 25-35 goal scorer in this league in 2 years, if not next year.

Simmonds on the other hand, and I know this is off topic, but I really get the feeling that Simmonds will score whatever 6 or 7 goals this season, maybe 12-15 next year, possibly 20 the next, but in 4-5 years, Simmonds will bust out Iginla style and score 40 goals and 70-80 points. Anyone else get that feeling with Simmonds? Not anytime soon, but eventually, when he's 25-27 years old.

"Pick Six"

Choose 6 "untouchable" current Kings players who must not be dealt this year.

Brown
Kopitar
Doughty
Johnson
Quick
and...Frolov

JDM,

I agree completely with the way you've analyzed Oscar Moller's play, because he'll be a very good player sooner or later (maybe better then Frolov & Kopitar), but Simmonds is always going to be a 3rd liner.. He doesn't have the ability to be like Jarome Iginla.. Simmonds might crack the 2nd line ONE day, but what he gives us is good enough.. We can't ask more out of him, we just can't..

JT: Oscar has 31 games with the Kings and if it wasn't for WJC and his injury, he might have made the difference in our PP and may have won a few more games for the Kings. No prospect in Man has/or will make that much of an impact. With Moller back healty, this is probabaly better than any trade we could make.

Think Lappy.

J.T. Snow...

"Simmonds on the other hand, and I know this is off topic, but I really get the feeling that Simmonds will score whatever 6 or 7 goals this season, maybe 12-15 next year, possibly 20 the next, but in 4-5 years, Simmonds will bust out Iginla style and score 40 goals and 70-80 points. Anyone else get that feeling with Simmonds? Not anytime soon, but eventually, when he's 25-27 years old."

Couldn't agree with you MORE...

Quisp, how far off are the Kings from your points projection model?

Moller and Simmonds are a step ahead of Lewis, Purcell, Boyle and Moulson. They have made the team, the others have not "stuck" yet.

John, re point projection model:

Kings are on a pace for 81 points, which is four points under my original (pre-season) prediction of 85. The playoff model requires them to hit at least 90 points, and ideally 91 or 92. Usually, 93 points is the cut-off, but this season is so close, everyone is beating everyone else and bringing the numbers down a bit. Which is good for us. There's a slim chance the 8th seed will get in with 89 points. I wouldn't bet on it, but it's more possible this year than any other.

The Kings have 20 games left. They need 30 points. The can lose 5 more games. That will get them to 91. If the lose 6, they'll be at 89. Will that be good enough? There's a 48% chance that will be good enough, at this point. For 88 points, the odds drop to 23.4%. For 87 points, odds are about 9%.

The percentages I'm quoting refer to, in a computer simulation of the rest of the season -- if you assume each remaining game of every team in the league is decided by a coin toss -- how often the Kings end up in the playoffs with a given point total. The model runs thousands (millions? I don't know how many) of simulations, and looks at the standings.

Bottom line, they probably need 91 points. Maybe only 89. Five more losses only. Six tops.

15-5

Rich,

You're just baiting the anonymous hockey blogger (ahb) to see if he's dumb enough to post this on his web site as an (e5) right?

It'll be good to see Moller back. Maybe he'll do an authograph session soon since he missed out on TAK.

Quisp, thank you for sharing those numbers. So close, yet so far! Who knows what can happen, maybe we get on a roll.....

Does anyone else think this move means goodbye to Kyle Calder?

AK47,

I'm not saying I expect more from Simmonds. I am so pleased with his development, and if he becomes one of the best 3rd line wear your ass down grinders good for 10-15 goals an 30-40 points for his whole career, I will be more than satisfied. I just get this nagging sense when I watch him that he will have this out of nowhere offensive explosion. He has hands, but doesn't know hot to use them. He has a shot but hasn't learned how to get it through consistently. He has a nose for the net, but gets a little over anxious and whiffs on shots or passes. He has one on one skills and the ability to rush it up ice, but he often turns it over, doesn't get it deep, or has his shot blocked from the blue line.

These are not weaknesses in his game now, not flaws he will never overcome. He has all the tools. The way Moller is Sullys hands with SImmonds work ethic, Simmonds is conversly Sully without the laziness. All the tools, hasn't decided on a box yet. He can and probably will learn to correct all these things in due time. He will settle down, he will learn to picks his shots better, get the puck deep, read the open lanes in neutral ice better. But he will always have the heart to make all those skills become top notch I think.

I won't be dissapointed if he is never an offensive dynamo, and I don't think his style will be quite like Iginla's. I made that comparison for the sake that I think he will bust out of nowhere to be a huge offensive factor at some point in his career.

Just you wait, the kid wants to score, and with a man's body to go with his lion's heart in a few years, he will be a quintessential power forward in this league. Why do we need Smyth when we have Smyth in the making? ;)

I don't expect extraordinary things from Simoonds.
So I don't understand all this hoopla I'm hearing about him.
I see him becoming more of a Ethan Morau (Edm) type of a player. Maybe a Laperierre
But nothing close to being a goal scorer or offensive player.

WOW, there are some incredibly optimistic people here on Moller. I think he may be an asset in a couple of years but he is in no way a benefit to us now. He shouldn't be on our first couple of lines and nor should he be of any assistance on the last two lines. Not this year but perhaps a different story in the future.

JT, we're not going to the playoffs, so why not give Moleler ice time? That goes with all of the other kids.

We've been discussing this very topic in neighboring threads.

I'm confused JT. Are you saying Moller is talented enough or that our team just isn't deep enough? Those two go hand in hand in a way... but how can you say a guy who as leading us in PP goals isn't useful anywhere in the lineup? For all you know, he could still be leading in PP goals right now had he played the whole season.

I don't want to discredit your opinion of him, but its hard not to when you don't give any explanation of why his play is lacking when he was able to the puck and the net and some numbers on the board and have a very sound rookie season going.

I'm going to assume you have a reason. I am itching to hear it.

JT Snow, re Moller -

Moller's numbers are as good as POS's first season and Moller is a couple of years younger than POS was when he first arrived here. Moller has just turned twenty. When he left to captain the Swedish team at the WJC, he was leading the team in power play goals. He's responsible defensively, never takes a shift off, back-checks like a maniac, hits way harder than he should for his stature, is somehow hard to hit meanwhile, is tenacious on the puck... and he's still a kid.

"...Simmonds will score whatever 6 or 7 goals this season, maybe 12-15 next year, possibly 20 the next, but in 4-5 years, Simmonds will bust out Iginla style and score 40 goals and 70-80 points. Anyone else get that feeling with Simmonds? Not anytime soon, but eventually, when he's 25-27 years old."

AK, you're way off, it's guys like Simmonds
(fast,gritty, energetic and tough) that are the best playoff performers, he will IMO be the next Iginla in a couple of years, are you not watching the same #17 that the rest of us are, remember he's only 21

txkingsfan, O'Donnell will not be traded for a 4th or 5th because if the Kings trade him they'll have to give Anaheim their 3rd, so trading him for anything lower than that doesn't make sense. And I see Simmons as an eventually consistent 10-15 goal scorer which, if the core remains intact, will be more than enough given his other contributions.

thanks deadcat - i forgot about the condition on O'Donnell. I'm not disappointed, I think O'Donnell has been great for this team both as a player (well not great but consistent) and mostly as a mentor. If we can get something for Preissing, that would be great. But no jeopardizing the future for a quick fix. I'm in complete support of DL, TM, and most of the posters on this site on this one.

I am excited to have Moller back. Maybe this is what we need. But I must say its not looking to good for us and palyoffs :(

Hoping Ersberg is starting tomorrow

He should have been sent after Christmas back to his junior team to get his team into the playoffs and get some leadership because this team will undoubtedly be maiing the playoffs in the years to come.
It has done him no benefit sticking around after his injury mulling between lines, which our coaches love to do. It will only hurt his development and hurt his being an asset for us. That is what I am saying.

OD isn't going anywhere, he was brought back to the Kings because the Kings needed a reliable, experienced defenseman to help show the younger less experienced defense they are cultivating what and how to play. He has done an incredible job and has been one of the reasons why Drew Doughty was afforded the extra ice time this season to learn when to make his end to end rushes and when to backoff trying to do to much in his defensive zone.
Frolov is one of the most underated forwards in the league. He quietly keeps putting points on the board, while being one of the most difficult forwards to get the puck away from in the offensive zone. Along with his puck stripping skills, he is a solid two-way forward with great upside. I hope to Kings lock him up for a few more years as they are going to need Fro to be there for the Russian players Loktionov and Voynov
Simmonds hasn't been let off the leash, because they are letting him learn the speed and skill necessary to remain in the NHL. This kid can be very difficult to contain in the corners and in time should start to flash his scoring touch as demonstrated in Juniors.
Moller is another young forward, which in time will be a gritty, go to the difficult places on the ice to score, much like Brian Gionta. In time Oscar will add some bulk, but he has great leadership potential. He was Captain for Team Sweden during the World Juniors.
With Quick, Ersberg and Bernier the Kings actually now have assets in their system, unlike previous years, when it was a revolving door of goaltenders. It will be a good competition to see who can step-up next year become the Kings #1 netminder.
Although the playoffs were not in the plan for this year, it's very promising that the Kings as young as they are actually made a good run, and really improved as a team this year under Terry Murray. The Kings have lots of talent on the way, and getting Quicey off waivers was one of the biggest steals of this season. He has been rock solid, coming from a winning program such as Detroit, he also brought over the attitude and hockey knowledge required to be an everyday player in the NHL.
I don't think you will see any movement within the Kings organization before the deadline March 4th, but they have cap space, and I could see draft day transactions which might enhance their team. As far as the Tavares sweepstakes, the kid has 2 bad shoulders, and Hedman will be gone way before the Kings even pick. A great prospect the Kings could really use Matt Duchene of the Brampton Batallion, a great center, who might get snapped up before the Kings are able to draft, but he has great hockey smarts, and has great offensive skill that rival the top offensive forwards in the upcoming entry draft. Matt is the nephew of current Ducks assistant coach Newell Brown.