Forum answers IV
Picking up from yesterday, here's the fourth round of the open forum questions and answers...
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Question: Rich, do you think that the teams philosophy (or personality if you prefer) is consistent with the types of players that they have on the roster. To me it's not clear if they are trying to develop a hard hitting feisty team (past Flyer references) or a more free skating creative team (Kopitar, Doughty, Moller). Curious to get your thoughts.
Answer: I think they're getting closer to what they're looking for. Remember, going from Marc Crawford to Terry Murray is a pretty dramatic change, in terms of philosophy. Plus, no matter what your identity is as a team, you're never going to have every single player fit that philosophy. Even if the Kings are going for that ``hard hitting feisty'' mentality, it doesn't mean that all 18 skates are going to be clones of each other. So to answer your question, no, not all of the players' strengths are consistent with ``Terry Murray hockey,'' but when you see pickups such as Justin Williams and Matt Greene, you can see where the Kings are trying to get closer to that end.
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Question: Hey do you know if the Kings have any intention of switching from the current crown jersey to the new alternate jersey? The new ones are so much mo' slicker and badass
Answer: No, I haven't heard anything along those lines, and I wouldn't expect it. It would be a complete change of color scheme and create a pretty big inconsistency between the home jersey and the road jersey.
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Question: Rules: Lose 1 top six player, 2 bottom six players, 1 defenseman. Replace with a players traded for, FA's, or a minor leaguers. Add up to 2 million to the self imposed cap. Who do you lose and who do you get. Playoffs are the goal.
Answer: Sounds like a fun game for fans to play. Anyone have any good scenarios?
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Question: What do you think is fair market value for Frolov and Johnson? And although he's not a king no longer, how about Cammy? The players obviously are happier with Murray at the helm but don't you think that even MC could have had similar success (I'm being generous here) with the additional personnel on the blueline? We had no one that could clear the front of the net last year (maybe Blake) and this year we've had Greene, OD, Gauthier, stronger Johnson and even Quincey.
Answers: 1) It's a fair question, but I don't think anyone can accurately answer it right now. GMs are very much in a wait-and-see mode, because the cap certainly isn't going to go up this summer, and there's still a chance that it might go down. Last summer's ``market value'' isn't going to be the same as this summer's. I did hear that one Calgary offer to Cammalleri was for roughly $4.5 million per year, which must have made Lombardi laugh, since Cammalleri asked for $6 million in arbitration two summers ago. 2) I guess it's a chicken-or-egg question, and one that's pretty subjective. Do you think of the defensemen as being better because they're in Terry Murray's system, or do you think that Terry Murray's system looks good because he has better defensemen, better than Crawford had? I tend to think that while the talent level on the blue line improved, Crawford wouldn't have had these guys playing defense the way Murray is. Then again, you can look at the flip side. How much more would Crawford have gotten out of the forwards?
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Question: 1. after a game at home, do the kings pick only certain players that the media is allowed to talk to? are reporters picked to ask questions or is anybody and everybody w/press credentials allowed to ask whom they want to? 2. we all know that players/management are usually not aware or don't pay attention to the articles and blogs from assorted media outlets...but most are sports fans themselves. are there members on the team....players or management...that actually are aware of this blog and partake in reading? where do they like to get their sports related info/news? 3. who do you see on the current kings roster this season making the biggest improvement next season? what kings non-roster prospect do you see making the team and having the biggest impact? 4. what is the funniest/quirkiest story involving you and yr coverage of the team over the years that you can/are allowed to share with us? 5. assuming they are allowed to have a free night once in awhile...is there a team hot spot the players go after a home game? 6. will you be attending draft day with the team? 7. do you have a favorite retired kings player? current player? favorite jersey? non-kings jersey?
Answers: 1) The locker room is open roughly 10 minutes after the game. Almost every player is sitting by his locker at that point, and all are available for questions. They scatter pretty quickly, but they're all available, and after a few minutes, Terry Murray takes questions in a different room. 2) I don't know for sure, but I do have one story along those lines. I had one player ask me, fairly recently, if I just wrote for the blog or if I wrote for the newspaper also. Thing is, I had never talked to that player about my blog, so that told me something. I have a pretty good idea that people ``upstairs,'' in Kings management, read the blog. 3) In terms of where they are to where they could be, I think Wayne Simmonds still has a lot of room to improve. I'd expect him to come back stronger, in terms of putting on some weight and muscle, and that will make a difference. 4) Well, I'll just leave the name out of this one. A few years back, in Nashville, I was walking to the arena about three hours before game time. While walking down the street, I passed a well-known member of the training staff. We exchanged hellos, and I walked about 50 feet, turned around and saw him make a right turn into Tootsie's, the famous honky-tonk bar on Broadway. Said member of training staff was known to be a big fan of said honky-tonk bar. 5) Since a good number of them are in the Hermosa/Manhattan area, that's probably a good area to start looking. There are plenty of nightspots in that area. 6) Since my company can't afford to travel to San Jose or Phoenix, I think Montreal is a little out of the question... 7) I don't really have any favorite players. I liked watching Bernie Nicholls and Kelly Hrudey, and I like the old ``Chevy logo'' jerseys.
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Question: Have you heard any whispers whether the Kings are going to be involved in the Matt Gilroy sweepstakes? He's the BU captain/Defenseman who's a college free agent. I understand he's supposed to be the best college free agent available.
Answer: Again, going back to a previous related question, if he's the best college free agent out there, you can bet that more than a handful of teams are going to be interested. Given that, and the Kings' already strong depth on defense, and their need to spend money on forwards and on locking up young players already on the roster, it's hard to see them getting in a bidding war for Gilroy.
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Question: First, as stated by many others, thanks for everything. What happens to the hats & other paraphernalia that are thrown on the ice after a hat trick? Does the player keep and wash the items as a memento? Does the Team LA Store wash and resell?
Answer: Good question. I wouldn't rule out the wash-and-resell. Just kidding. The players don't keep them, and I imagine they just get tossed out, unless it's something like a promotional giveaway that they might be able to donate to some kids or a charity, etc.
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Question: Would you be able to get a fan Q&A with Lieweke like you did with Jim Fox? There are a lot of questions I'd like answered from him and I think that his willingness to answer them would go along way to show his and AEG's commitment to the Kings.
Answer: Hmmm, a Q&A with Tim Leiweke. That would probably require an interview, and those things only seem to take place with the L.A. Times. I'll send that request to Kings PR, just to humor myself.
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Question: any chance of you writing an op. ed column/blog on a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly basis next season?
Answer: Sure. I usually keep my focus more on reporting than offering opinions, except in forums such as these, but it's not a bad idea to offer up a weekly column, maybe even during the summer. Remind me about that.
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About the bloggers
J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra@inlandnewspapers.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.
Vincent Bonsignore is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Vinny at vincent.bonsignore
@dailynews.com.
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Question: Rules: Lose 1 top six player, 2 bottom six players, 1 defenseman. Replace with a players traded for, FA's, or a minor leaguers. Add up to 2 million to the self imposed cap. Who do you lose and who do you get. Playoffs are the goal.
Okay, I'll play. I'm going to assume I have to lose said number of said types of players. I'm also going to assume we're talking about players currently top-six (more or less in terms of contracts), as opposed to top-six "types," since a lot of our third line players (whatever definition of that you choose) are top-six "types" (e.g. Moller, Purcell, Boyle, Lewis, Simmonds).
Top six players are: Kopitar, Frolov, Williams, Brown, Stoll, Handzus.
Bottom six players are: Calder, Armstrong, Ivanans, Richardson, Moller, Simmonds, Purcell, Zeiler.
Am I to assume that I can do anything I want to, to make the team get into the playoffs next year? i.e. are trades of untouchable players allowed, or is this exercise more grounded in the so-called "real world?" I'm going to assume we're in the real world here.
Also, the $2MM cap increase limit makes signing a big ticket free agent out of the question without a salary dump. Losing one top-six seems to be designed to force me to trade Frolov, but I'm going to trade Stoll instead.
Stoll, Johnson, Teubert, Bernier and 2 1sts for Kovalchuk.
Bottom six subtractions: Calder and Ivanans. (if the game allowed three, I would remove Zeiler as well, then Armstrong)
D subtraction is Johnson, in the Kovalchuk trade.
LIne up is:
Frolov/Kopitar/Kovalchuk
Purcell/Moller/Williams
Simmonds/Handzus/Brown
Lewis/Boyle/Richardson
Ivanans and Zeiler
Quincey/Doughty
SOD/Hickey
Greene/Voynov
Harrold
Bernier
Quick
(note: if I am allowed to get rid of more people, I would swap Zeiler for Clune, Wudrick for Ivanans if he's ready, maybe hope for Cliche, there are lots of possibilities here -- but we're limited by the game to gettting rid of only three forwards...so be it)
Quisp-
Who's going to keep us in the top 6-7 in the league in faceoffs?
I went in the same way for Kovalchuk. But I have Frolov to be in that trade, more desirable for ATL (?). With Kovalchuk as aLW I also wanted a LW for the second line. Moller ended up as the odd man out, size is the deciding factor. Size is factor 1, Ponikarovsky has very comparable stats to Frolov, and Burke has drooled over Moller.
Kovalchuk- Kopitar- Williams
Ponikarovsky- Stoll- Brown
Simmonds- Zus- Lewis
Ivan/Moulson/Cliche -Boyle -Harrold/Westgarth/Richardson
forwards lost Calder, Frolov, Moller, Purcell
JJ - Doughty
Quincey -Greene
OD - Hickey
Drewiskie/Voinov
lost Gautier
Kovalchuk for Frolov, Purcell and the first, I believe this is fair value.
Moller (+,?) for Ponikarovsky
Buyout Preising.
I think we could be close on the money.
Bigger, faster, tougher, more skilled.
We give up youth and Juice the rebuild, at what might be the appropriate time.
Thanks for the answers Rich. I really hope the daily news survives so this site can keep running. It it fails, I'd petition DL to have you work the press room for the kings.
We'd love to read an opinion section or a book by you, considering you are the only person who covers the kings in depth and with passion. Obviously the other hockey commentators and opinion writers only look at stat sheets and not into the team.
Quisp,
You are usually spot on with your comments but,
"Stoll, Johnson, Teubert, Bernier and 2 1sts for Kovalchuk" seems like to much to pay for Kovalchuck.
The first rounders are fine after this year as it looks like they will be weaker drafts and the Kings won't be drafting as high anyway.
Stoll is a great face off guy and decent both offensively and defensively.
I wouldn't give up on Johnson yet, it's just his sophomore season and he is getting over major shoulder surgery, I would wait till after next season to pass judgement.
Teubert looks to be our new SOD only with more upside potential.
Bernier has the potential to be a star, I wouldn't gamble sending him off just yet.
Take out Bernier and either Johnson or Teubert and I make that deal.
Kovalchuk is great offensively but his defense isn't even as good as Frolov's defense.
I would like to see Lombardi take advantage of teams in salary cap trouble (i.e. Calgary is only dressing 17 skaters because of cap issues) and get a good player on the cheap and also nab a good UFA this summer without breaking up our top 6 or core.
Hossa-Kopitar-Williams
Smyth-Stoll-Brown
Simmonds-Zus-Purcell/Moller
Ivan-Lewis-Moller/Purcell
JJ-Doughty
Quincey-Greene
OD-Hickey
Bernier
Quick
Lose Harrold(trade), Preissing(buyout), Calder, Goat, Army, Frolov(trade), Ersberg(trade), 1st 09(trade)
I may be missing someone, but that's all I can think of right now.
I forgot to mention in my post, we need more than 1 big gun to get it done. Clearly this seasons team doesn't have the ceiling we need to reach in order to make the playoffs, let alone a run at the cup.
Here we go! Now the fun starts.
I here ya all about Kovulchuk-exciting!! No dought. However, he will want Ovie money after next year. Hossa will want 8+ to come to LA. With the cap going down, that could be a problem. JJ is not impressing me night in and night out. Lots of potential, but Boyle has potential too. I think Quincey is a given top 4 and potentially more solid long term. However, the back issue is a huge issue. Herniations are generally of genetic nature and a hockey player is loading his dics constantly with a forward lean postion. This could bode for re-occurances. But hey we are loaded on the back end. Look at Drewiske....so far so good.
I say .... Frolov (will command 5+/year after 2010- 3 mil next year), Purcell (1.5/year), JJ (2.5/year) and our first 09 for Heatley and phillips.
Frolov replaces 70% of Heatleys production and Purcell gives them a second line threat. Moller is interchangeable with Purcell, however not my preference. I like Moller and dont want to lose him, much more upside than Teddy Purcell. Heatley is signed through 2014 at only 7.5/year. Phillips at 3.5/year through 2011.
My suggestion dumps 7 mil in salary and adds 11 mil. Need to only dump 2 mil....tkae your pcik Goat, Calder etc etc.
Side note......Zues has been great. Doesnt anyone see a potential Zues jr. in Boyle??? The size, hands etc. Yeah he is not the toughest character in the business, but Zues himself is not exactly a banger either. I think Boyle shows some flashes and should be given 1 more year to prove that he can eventually step into Zues shoes. Any thoughts? Moller gets 5 shots on goal with the 4th line. Has Teddy Purcell done much since his move to the second line!!??
Hossa is worth $8m, just fyi.
i think the goal should be to keep Frolov, and still get a 40 goal scorer. It doesn't make any sense to trade a 30 goal scorer and prospects for someone who scores ten more goals a season. Our focus should be on Kovi. Fro is too important a piece, plus we have the pieces Atlanta will give higher value to other teams. For instance, the thrashers do not have a top goalie prospect, unless you count Kari, and he's a UFA, and I think they've learned how important depth is at the position over the past 5 years. This disposition would give Bernier alot of value in trade. Second, the Thrashers are going to need a center because they are going to lose at least one in the offseason. Now the ATL will most definetly want another established NHLer in the deal, but we don't have to give it to them because we have some of the most highly regarded D prospects around-Teubert, Voynov, Hickey, Drewiskie, Johnson. From what I've seen from Teubert in Ontario, he can go, along with our 1st rounder.- you have: our 1st, zeus/moller/Teubert. This now gives us cap space to sign Fro and Kovi since Zeus is off the books. Giving us an offense of:
Kovi/Kopi/Williams
Frolov/Stoll/Brown
Simmonds/Arnason/Purcell
Army/Pahlsson/Begin
I would be extremely interested to see someone come up with a better set up than mine, while being realistic in the trade market and UFA pool.....
I think the trade scenarios involving Kovalchuk are pretty unrealistic. Atlanta wants to keep him and can't even sign a new deal with him until July. I would expect that if he is traded it will be at the trade deadline. The Kings can't afford to wait until then to see if he is available. So I think they'll need to find another option.
I was just trying to play the game as defined. I wouldn't be trading anyone for Kovalchuk, in reality. In reality, AEG is going to have to spend more than #2MM more than the self-imposed cap. If you want to know what I would do, it would be this:
(1) sign Hossa.
(2) buy-out Preissing.
(3) let Calder, Armstrong and Gauthier walk.
(4) trade Ersberg, Harrold, Ivanans, Zeiler and Richardson
(4) re-sign Frolov, Johnson, Purcell and Boyle.
Frolov/Kopitar/Hossa
Wudrick/Stoll/Brown
Simmonds/Handzus/Williams
Purcell/Boyle/Moller
Azevedo(or)Loktionov and Clune
Johnson/Doughty
Quincey/Greene
SOD/Hickey
Voynov(or)Drewiske(or)Teubert
Quick
Bernier
rich...
thanks for answering my questions....!
Quisp-
so this is reality to you?
"trade Ersberg, Harrold, Ivanans, Zeiler and Richardson" ....no one would trade for any of these players.
Signing hossa is so far from possible its not even an option brought up all that frequently on this site. He will command 8m unless he stays a Red Wing. That and there are a dozen other interested teams we have to compete with, and no track record to put in front of him. Also, its pretty obvious that the depth is at RW, so signing a huge contract to a RW'er still leaves us shallow on the left side.
as an aside,
I would love to see us pick up Ponikarovsky if the trade was right. If we do have to have an enforcer...please pick up Orr, let Westgarth walk, and try and do something with Ivanans
darko25o -
Trade or waive them, I don't care. I didn't say package them for sniper. The point is, I would let them go.
Re Hossa:
I would love to hear which of the dozen other interested teams have the cap space to sign Hossa. Hint: there's one. Vancouver. And that's only if they let the Sedins and Sundin go. (it's fun to imagine Vancouver's pitch to Hossa, since they have exactly one top-six forward signed for next year...Hossa would literally have no idea who he would be playing with...; seriously, the whole team practically is UFA or RFA this summer.)
As far as I can see, if Hossa doesn't sign with Detroit (which I would say is nearly impossible if they re-sign Franzen, which they appear about to do -- unless Ken Holland goes on a salary dumping spree on draft day), Hossa's post-Detroit choices are limited.
Maybe he'll sign with Atlanta.
As far as $8MM, so what? Pay it.
off the top of my head....Atlanta, Dallas, boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Columbus...and thats just the "A"s,"B"s,"C"s, and "D"s-check nhlnumbers.com to see everything coming off the books for these teams.
On that third jersey question... I say dump that lame home plate logo and stick to the classic crown that graced the old school Forum gold jerseys... That was perhaps the only thing I hated about that third jersey...with the possible exception of the Kings record in wearing them... They're JINXED...get rid of them...
I think Kovalchuk, Gaborik, and Hossa will price themselves out of LA's plans. Lombardi seems to love the undervalued guys like Williams, Handzus, etc. What about pursuing someone locked into a reasonable contract with some room to improve with the young Kings. I keep looking at teams stuck against the cap like Philly (again) and Pittsburg. Maybe pick- up Jordan Staal for '09 first rounder + Voinov + Moller. Keep Frolov for 09-10 for a playoff run and make the call at the trade deadline or after a playoff run whether it is worth resigning or not. It makes sense to trade him when his value is high but it might push him to play for a contract next year before committing long- term.
Frolov/Kopitar/Williams
Purcell/Staal/Brown
Handzus/Stoll/Simmonds
Westgarth/Lewis/Harrold
Not the impact player we are hoping for but easier on the cap hit and leaves room for another trade down the line (trade dealine). Adds a big bodied W/C who is good on the faceoff and reliable defensively.
darko25o, re hossa and reality:
http://kwisp.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/can-you-afford-to-sign-hossa/
hookzNU, re UFAs and "the price":
I think DL knows it's time to step up and get someone big and expensive. Whether AEG will sign off on that is another matter. We'll soon see.
Jordan Stall for Voynov, Moller and a top ten 1st rounder is a terrible trade for the Kings in my opinion. But then, I love Moller, I have huge hopes for Voynov and I think something great can come of this year's pick. What do I know?
In regards to the hat trick question...
I occasionally work at staples center and from what I understand is that they have an area after the games where fans can dig though and find their hats. I'm guessing after that, it's a free for all for the staff and the rest just get dumped.
Quisp is right about DL needing to make a splash in the offseason. It's that time again, where the Kings sign need to sign that super-star. Gretz was the last guy, Hossa would be nice as well.
The Kings being on the outside of the playoff run would make it difficult to attract him, but if we through $8.5+m at him, a deal might be made.
I hope you are right about getting a superstar. I still think DL will dig in the bargin bin.
I can't help but think you're probably right. He'll either not be able to land one, or he'll go cheap.
Ersberg -
Going cheap doesn't help DL at all this time. The team's stock (in terms of expectations of the fans, the press, the other teams) is as high as it's been during his tenure. Next year he has to make the playoffs or his plan is (to put it politely) taking a step backward. The team has one glaring need, and for once it's not goaltending. It's a top-line high-scoring finisher who can push Kopitar over the top to greatness. The other reason DL must get someone to play with Kopitar right now is that Kopitar's contract kicks in next year. All this talk of Kopitar learning the system and playing great d and whatever else is going right out the window if Kopitar underperforms next season while earning $7MM a year. And DL doesn't want to be the idiot who paid $7MM to an underperformer. I think DL will do everything in his power to bring a big BIG talent to Kopitar's wing. And I think he'll try to do it without dealing Frolov. He knows that bringing in Hossa (for example) will make everyone better.
Quisp-
You're 100% correct.
"..He knows that bringing in Hossa (for example) will make everyone better..."
I was thinking of this exact idealogy during one of our other discussions. It's not just bringing in the "big gun" to get it done for us, it's also about our young "scorers to be" watching a learning from said player.
It's similar to when we had Gretzky, in that he ellevates his players around him. Do you recall the Atlanta game a while back? When Kovy got going, the other four Atlanta players were buzzing around, too. I feel that's the effect the Kings should be looking for. That need that cumulative offensive prowess buzzing shift-to-shift to be effective in their playoff future.
I hope you are right about getting a superstar. I still think DL will dig in the bargin bin.