Player evaluation: Gauthier

Door..hit..ass. We can get an equally beneficial defensive package, minus the bad decision making.

Boynton, with a longshot possibility of Komisarek, although he's too rich for our blood.

Minuses FAR outweigh any Plus...and I don't consider a "veteran" loser a plus. Go Away GoatBoy!! Our roster spots are FINALLY getting too precious. He doesnt deserve one.

if it means we could offer more money to fro and jj...
...please leave yr jersey at the door...and thank you for being the most ineffective player on the roster this year...

- bad penalties...
- bad decisions...
- bad suspensions...

...i could go on...but that's already three strikes...and hopefully...that should mean he's out...!

First of all, I have to say -- turnovers and bad penalties aside -- I appreciate Gauthier. Now, that may be just another version of "other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" But there it is. In a seventh D position, there is certainly room for DG on somebody's roster.

But not at $2MM+.

He's probably (certainly?) going to have to take a discount wherever he signs. The Kings have some decisions to make, however, because -- for instance -- if they are going to make a big UFA forward signing, they really aren't going to have much left to spend on D other than re-signing Johnson. Now, if they move Johnson in a trade and then re-sign Gauthier, even at a discount, that's likely to cause some mutinies among the fans, don't you think?

The Kings have to think (as it stands) Doughty, Johnson, Quincey, Greeene and SOD are, as they say, locks. That leaves two spots really. Drewiske, Hickey, Teubert, Voynov, Campbell, Martinez ... It's kind of ideal -- financially -- for two of those kids to be ready. It's reasonable to expect one of those names to make it. Maybe the 7th spot is filled by a UFA veteran signed at SOD-ish salary ($1.25MM). That's about where Gauthier should be looking, salary-wise, so maybe that works out. But when does DL make that decision? Isn't he likely to see what shakes out during the summer, and maybe make a signing in September like he did with SOD? It's not like he has to hurry up to sign Gauthier. He can wait to see what becomes available or how things otherwise shake out after 7/1.

I certainly wouldn't want to sign any old guys on D until I had a good idea what was happening over the summer to my prospects.

the kings will miss guathier's toughness and mean streak on the blueline if he goes. that, and his neck is HUGE.

The only way Gauthier is back is if he plays in Manchester.. I don't ever want to see him wear a Los Angeles Kings jersey, please God.

For anyone that wants to say goodbye, please tell me where the team toughness will come from. He is an ideal #7 D, who will come at the right price.

Jet,

That's the point. Dean will need to open his a wallet a bit. We need the toughness. I'd rather use his money to sign someone who has the toughness, but won't be Detroit's 6th man.

jett...

i want a more responsible, tough player...

we can probably search the free agent market, if we don't already have one in the system...

this is a move that can probably wait to be made during training camp...let's see if there's a d-man that could replace him in our organization...then, if not, time to go shopping...

I think Gauthier did what he needed to do on the PK (that is when he wasn't in the box)and brought a much needed physical presence but all of those unnecessary penalties left a bad taste in my mouth.

I think there's a good chance he returns as the 7th defenseman..either him or Harrold.
He plays with a real mean streak in him which I like. The bad penalties and turnovers were disgusting, but look where our PK was this year and look who was on the #1 defensive pairing on the PK? Gauthier.

Gauth plays hard with a limited NHL talent level. Good teammate. Pay him a bit less and he is a useful addition. Asking him to play 1st pairing minutes--fail. Weird to me was I rarely saw him beat 1 on 1 but some of his turnovers where ugly. Like his brain froze for a moment. Fooled by the forechecker, probably. As Hammond says, its Gauthier or someone like him as Kings need size and experience at the back.

He played the last 10 games or so very solid and I would not mind seeing him in an LA jersey next season...

However, I'd rather see Chelios in his 'box.' He would be an ideal teammate/coach for a talented/inexperienced group of young guns... Can you imagine the benefit of having him in the LA training camp?
Plus, he currently makes way less than Goat (less than $1M)

Just bring in Ossi Vaananen for crying out loud IF you want a tough experienced # 6-7 d-man. He plays the same style as Gauthier less 90% of the brainless stuff, scores occasional goal and supposedly a great presence in the locker room. Ironically, he was they guy I wanted last off-season before he got scooped up by Philly and we took Gauthier off their hands. Vaananen should be just as affordable as Gauthier with better upside IMHO...

Hi Rich - you might want to fix this minor typo in the main story:
can be prove to turnovers and bad penalties

You probably meant:
can be proNe

Turnover Machines should not be re-signed! All opponents start the game 1-0 with this guy in the line-up - please go away Goat!

I'm on the fence on Gauther. I saw the same turnovers but he wasn't the only one doing that.

The thing he was alone in his own catagory was "Who do you have to keep your head up coming into the Kings zone against?"

He was the only one to fear minus maybe a backchecking Brown.

One of his suspensions was BS and we all called it that at the time. Especially if you look at what Malkin is running around getting away with or our friend Pronger down south in the playoffs last year.

I wouldn't pay him 2 mil but if you can get him at a decent rate and nobody is going to outplay him then I wouldn't mind him back.

And Chelios is taking the pay cut to play in Detroit where he can play limited minutes and still fight for a Stanley Cup every year. He's not going to an up and coming team for that.

Ersberg, Var, you guys are on fire tonight (or this afternoon back on the west coast). That's what's so great about this blog. It puts a smile on my face. How do you guys come up with this stuff? I'm always so damned serious when I make my comments. Oh well..... oh well.
Ersberg, I had been thinking a few minutes ago about that famous Detroit game when you wonder if a different decision with the puck may have gotten the Kings a W and some much needed confidence. But I thought I'd leave it alone.... then I see your comments. Done in a really cool way that made me laugh.

As far as DG goes, um.... is that Dolce Gabbana?

Goat-bashing is so passe'. Get over it people. He will sign a 1-year deal for $1mill and be our 6th/7th D. Get used to it.

He and Greener are the only D that consistently bring the physical element night-in, night-out, and guess what, Lombardo and TM place a high value on that. Goat cut down on the TOs the last half of the year and played much more responsibly.

I know, I know...remember that one time he had his pass up the middle intercepted and it led to a goal??? Get over it.

Oh wait...remember how Avery said he was unwilling to fight? Get over it...he crushed Marleau and beat the crap out of Setoguchi.

For 12 minutes a night he is a nice complement to our young, skilled defensemen.

It must be difficult for TM see Gauthier go.

The Kings could probably find an equally undisciplined and ineffective veteran defenseman for a lot less money...

I agree that we'd lose toughness, but we'd also have quite possibly won at least a few more games without him getting an uncontrollable urge to pass to the other team. I think it'd be better to sign a tough, yet smart defenseman for a slightly higher price.

Goat goes.

Toughness comes from Greene, Drewiskie, OD and Doughty (Remember the hipcheck?) on D-. I think Drew will bulk up over the summer and you'll see a more physical game from him next year. Davis moves guys around pretty well himself, at least as much as Goat.

At forward it's Brownie and Boyle (If BB can get over his fear of mixing it up). I'd say Ivanans but he's just tough when the gloves need to drop. He's hands of stone on the ice and way to tenative in play to be a force when the game is on.

We have too many D-men that are cheaper with way more upside than Goat to keep him here. That and Goat's liabilities make him expendable. I don't blame him completely for the problems, there are more than a few vets this year that were bad examples of stability.

Maybe Quisp or Variable could pull up the Defensive stats of the team for the year of the games with Goat and without Goat and see how the numbers look. That might tell a story or two.

Rich - nice job in trying to be positive, but Goat goes.

I forgot to say...

If there was an award for the biggest neck size to face ratio in the NHL.....WINNER!!!!! Dude has the thickest neck I've ever seen!

He'll get another NHL gig. Good luck Denis. All the best.

Forgot to mention with the amounts of turnovers he puts out on the ice...he can put Pepperidge Farms out of business...

He takes penalties so dumb that even TIMMAH would place his hand over his face in shame...

He actually did his best performance of the season in the broadcast booth... Looks like he found his calling in life...as an announcer...