La Declines

How big do you think the difference is?

Not a King's fan, But in 7 games Vilardi only has 1g and is a -5. So maybe Borgstrom and a 3rd or 2nd. Again not sure

Vilardi is a big piece in their future. This isn't even a starter. Like I don't think they would consider moving him unless it was for a substantial piece.

He’s trending to be a Lias Anderssen type change of scenery guy.

Thats what I thought. Nylander and Borgy also 1st round draftees so thought there may be some mutual benefit here.

No he's not. He had a quality training camp and actually built good chemistry with Lias Andersson. Andersson was injured at the end of camp, throwing a wrench in that line. Vilardi had a rough start to the season on his new line. Then, right when Andersson returned, Vilardi went out on COVID protocol. When he returned, he was sent down to Ontario on conditioning assignment, and was left down there to rebuild his confidence. He's been doing well with 7 points in 9 games for the Reign. I suspect we'll see him returned to the NHL in January or February at the latest.

Vilardi won't be moved this season, unless it's in a package deal for someone like Chychrun.

If you say so, just looks like a massive clog of centres ahead at this point in time and I don't think theres a spot for him in the lineup, similar to Nylander for us.

I think any Chychrun move would require Turcotte as opposed to Vilardi due to Byfield being off the table.

Not true.

Meh, different boats. Lias was moved because he outright sucked. Gabe hasn't been given much opportunity and has had injury issues. I see more of a deal like the original Nylander deal. Find a team need and make a swap around it. Kings standout need, at least IMO (as a non kings fan) is a LD. Perhaps there's a young and struggling LD out there that is a better fit? What's been the story with Kalynuk?

He’s already been moved to the 4th line and off of center in his career because of his struggles. He’s definitely trending to being a change of scenery guy.

100% true. He was demoted to 4th line and even taken off of center already because of his struggles.

Last year he was demoted to 4th line/scratch and even moved off of center. He’s struggled big time at the NHL level.

He wasn't moved from center because of "struggles." They're trying him out on the wing because the Kings already have a logjam at center, and there's not a strong likelihood that he will jump any of Kopitar, Byfield, or Danault on the depth chart. So they're moving him to RW so that he'll actually be able to fit somewhere in the lineup.

The same will likely happen with Madden, Turcotte, and Kupari over the course of the next 12-18 months.

Danault wasn’t apart of the team last season when he was moved from center the first time or dropped to the 4th line.

He played a handful of games at 4RW last season while he was slumping. It lasted for 2 or 3 games, then he was moved back to center and had a solid end to the season scoring 7 points in his final 10 games. He played 40+ games at center since his brief stint at 4RW.

All the games he played for the Kings this season were at center. They moved him to RW in Ontario for a couple games, but have since moved him back to center when Turcotte went out with an injury.

So like I said he’s trending towards being a change of scenery guy.

If by "change of scenery" you mean moved to RW from center on the Kings, then yes.

No I mean a 22 yr old who’s been in the NHL coach’s dog house already and has yet to come completely out of it.

The coach has no say over who plays in the AHL vs the NHL. That's entirely the GMs decision. As I said, after he returned from COVID protocol, he was sent down to the Reign for conditioning, and was kept down there for several reasons. One, the team was playing well in his absence and they didn't want to mess with the chemistry. Two, they wanted him to regain his confidence a bit after a rough start to the season. Three, they wanted to give him a look at and an opportunity to learn RW under the development coach they specifically hired to work with young players.

He's not in McLellan's doghouse.

You keep acting like last season didn’t happen

He was on the 4th line for less than a handful of games earlier in the middle of the season and had a strong finish to the season, scoring 7 points in the final 10 games. He then had a quality training camp where McLellan praised the Tkachev-Vilardi-Andersson line as one of the best in all of camp. The line was broken up because Andersson got injured and Vilardi got COVID and all three players weren't able to continue their success from camp when split up.

Not sure why you think he would still be in the doghouse after that.