Roster reset

Thanks for doing the leg work yet again rich. My sleeper Steven "above the law" Segal is hanging in there.

Hey Rich,
what's the story on John Zeiler? I haven't heard much about him during camp this year.

Man, I hate zeiler.

Richardson and Harrold, yes, but Scuds and Williams??

Zeiler is semi-needed, since he's our poor mans Carcillo.

Now that we’re getting down to the nitty gritty, here's my breakdown for whose left...

Here's your LA Kings lineup for opening night (Oct. 3rd)

GOALIES
Jonathan Quick
Erik Ersberg

DEFENSEMEN
Sean O'Donnell
Drew Doughty
Jack Johnson
Rob Scuderi
Matt Greene
Davis Drewiske

FORWARDS
Anze Kopitar
Ryan Smyth
Justin Williams
Jarret Stoll
Teddy Purcell
Dustin Brown
Michal Handzus
Alexander Frolov
Wayne Simmonds
Peter Harrold
Raitis Ivanans
John Zeiler

Here's what happens with the rest...

(these 4 need ice time)
Jonathan Bernier - Manchester
Thomas Hickey - Manchester
Brayden Schenn - Junior
Kyle Clifford - Junior

That leaves these 4 battling for the 7th defensman spot...
Alec Martinez *
Andrew Campbell
Joe Piskula
Drew Bagnall

Which then leaves these 7 battling for the 13th and 14th forward spots...
Brandon Segal*
Brad Richardson*
Kevin Westgarth
Richard Clune
Marc-Andre Cliche
Trevor Lewis
Gabe Gauthier

*indicates my pick

The battle for the 2 extra forwards is the most interesting to me at this point. It can go so many different ways, but I really like Segal and I feel like Richardson has earned that spot too.

The other guys will get lots of playing time in Manchester. The only guy I have no clue about is Gabe Gauthier. I didn't see him at all this summer.

Nobody has mentioned this and quite frankly I'm surprised.

I believe Moller was sent down to get top line minutes, yes, but I feel like he was told that because Schenn has played so well, they want to give him at least 9 games in the big time before sending him back to junior, at which point they would bring back Moller.

That scenario would be a complete WIN/WIN for both players:

Schenn - Gets his taste of the big league and let's him see meaningful NHL time and what it takes to be here full time. If he thrives, he's another Simmonds.

Moller - Gives him time to develop as a top 6 forward with heavy responsibility to score. If he does well early, he comes up early. If not, we have plenty of other Manchester forwards who can fill the Schenn void when he goes back to Junior. (Gauthier, Lewis, Azevedo, Loktionov, Elkins, Mikus, Nolan). We're STACKED at center.

Perfectly understandable move and I think Schenn's play created the scenario.

Smyth/Kopitar/Williams
Purcell/Stoll/Brown
Frolov/Handzus/Simmonds
LW4/C4/RW4
F13 F14

Five spots:

Enforcer: select one of Ivanans and Westgarth.
Agitator: select one of Clune, Zeiler or (long shot because of age) Clifford.
Skilled non-idiot (probably) center: pick one of Lewis, Richardson, Cliche, Harrold or (long shot because of age) Schenn.
Guys who you can afford to let rot in the press box: pick two of Zeiler, Ivanans, Richardson, Segal, Harrold.

I think you're likely to see Ivanagarth (who cares which one, but I would go with Westgarth), Clune, Lewis, Harrold and Richardson.

However, I wouldn't be surprised to see Schenn and Clifford stick around for nine games. In which case, you send down Lewis and Clune, and bring them up after the kids go back to juniors.

I can get that down to 24 in a big hurry!

don't want to carry too many players, otherwise how can your go-to guys get enough ice time....
I'm sure it won't take long to pare the list
down to the SERIOUS contenders....

I have a feeling Hickey makes it this year at least for a few games from the start....

Is Harrold really still playing Forward?

Anyways, I am really curious to see what the lineup is going to look like at frozen fury. Can't possibly be more fights than last year???

I know it's just preseason, but O'Sullivan has 4 preseason goals and Matt Moulson has 3. Why did the Kings trade them again?

Harrold is a nice guy to have on the 4th line. He's good defensively (obviously) and if a defenseman gets hurt during a game, he can switch to defense.

Or at least, he COULD, if TM would ever actually do that.

Has Martinez really played that much better than Voynov this preseason? I was just curious from anyone that watched the games.

(these 4 need ice time)
Jonathan Bernier - Manchester
Thomas Hickey - Manchester
Brayden Schenn - Junior
Kyle Clifford - Junior

I'm still not sure Hickey doesn't make it over Drewiske as the third line pairing guy, because we could really use a speedy, slick-passing defenseman on the power play. Third pairing minutes and Power Play time would be great for Hickey.

That leaves these 4 battling for the 7th defensman spot...
Alec Martinez *
Andrew Campbell
Joe Piskula
Drew Bagnall

In that case, Drewiske becomes the 7th defenseman.

Which then leaves these 7 battling for the 13th and 14th forward spots...
Brandon Segal*
Brad Richardson*
Kevin Westgarth
Richard Clune
Marc-Andre Cliche
Trevor Lewis
Gabe Gauthier

Personally, I really like what I see in Clune. He's an agitator, a pest, the kind of guy that stands up for teammates and if he ever does score, it will be clutch. That's just a feeling I get from him, but he's 10X the competitor that Zeiler is.

End the Richardson experiment already. He's worthless in the NHL (but probably great in the AHL). We have better guys.

Schenn only stays on the roster if he can make the top 2-3 lines. Otherwise it's better for him to log huge minutes on a scoring line to develop.

Hickey either makes the top 6 or he goes down. You don't want a young guy rotting in the press box.

The Kings have some tough decisions to make...and finally it's because players are making a solid case for themselves to be on the opening day roster...not by default, which is usually the case.
I don't see Schenn sticking around to start the season. He's getting good experience playing in the exhibition games, but he'd be better of going down to juniors and getting steady playing time. The only way I think he makes it to start the season is if there's an injury. There really isn't any room on the 1st 3 lines and he shouldn't be sticking around to play 4th line minutes.

I think Hickey makes the team and the Kings dress 7 D'men. From what I've been reading, he has looked solid...nothing spectacular, but just a solid hockey player. That's his game. He's not flashy, but doesn't make mistakes.
The reason I think they carry 7 d'men is because I haven't really heard much about Lewis or the other 4th line candidates doing anything spectacular during the pre season. It's hard to judge without watching the games, but I don't hear much chatter about the play of guys like Lewis or Richardson from the coaching staff.

Goaltender becomes the biggest question mark.
Bernier has certainly played his way into the mix. Do the Kings go with a tandem of Bernier/Quick...and if they do, what becomes of Ersberg? I think he signed a 2 way deal, so it's either he goes down to manchester or he becomes trade bait.
Let's face it....the 2 best goalies in the system are Bernier/Quick...why not go with the 2 best...especially if Bernier's ready for the big time.

As I said really tough decisions, but good one's for the Kings as an organization.

nykingsfan, re Ersberg:

Ersberg must clear waivers to be sent down. Bernier and Quick are still waiver-exempt. Therefore, Ersberg will be traded before he's sent down.

If the Kings are "serious" this time about making the playoffs, I'm not sure that keeping Schenn up makes sense. If he gives us a better chance to win, then keep him up. But if it's about giving him the experience, then no. We need to prioritize obtaining as many points as possible in the first 9 games, not giving him a cup of NHL coffee.

Richardson, Zeiler, Harrold sucks, G.Gauthier, Piskula, Westgarth, Ivanans, Segal????? Are you kidding. They all better not be on the 4th line and make the team.

Out with the old in with the newbees. Stop harkin on those guys like they are part of the plan. They are not. We need 3 brand new 4th line guys.

The Future Kings GM Hath Spoken

I really see Hickey and Drewiske making the big club, leaving O'Donnell as the 7th D-man.

Doughty-Drewiske
Johnson-Scuderi
Hickey-Greene
O'Donnell

Doughty-Drewiske
Johnson-Scuderi
Hickey-Greene
O'Donnell

That's what I think it will be as well.

Paul from Oxnard,

Read the first phrase of your post to yourself over and over again before saying anything else!