You clearly have never seen any trades on here made with the Kings. But as you'll find out this trade is declined.

Man so much wrong here.

Byfield wasn't moved for max contract extensions for Fiala and PLD, Ullmark has two seasons, Kings will give picks for a goaltender but not active top-6 players.

Arvidsson will be back, which means the Kings won't be able to afford Ullmark.

Byfield is playing wing on the top line, hasn't played center for some time.

Your values are way off here.

Absolutely not.

This isn’t happening

Lower your expectations on an ullmark trade, you won’t be getting a player like Byfield

I considered picking Clarke instead, but I think the bruins would want a proven NHL player like Byfield rather than an AHL guy

People need to stop trying to trade a good goaltender to the Kings

1. They don’t value good goaltenders as a strategy. They are banking they are the exception team that secures above replacement level value for a cheap price. There are examples of teams where this has worked and examples of it failing miserably. Time will tell if it’s a good strategy.

2. They either overvalue high picks who haven’t performed up to expectation or believe in their development to the point where they are willing to give prospects more rope. It depends on your perception

They aren’t trading Byfield for Ullmark. I believe their asking price would value him as a number 2 pick in a deep draft rather than his play to date.

IMO, they are more likely to trade for Jack Campbell at 50 percent retention than for Ullmark. It’s just their MO. We’ll see if it’s right or wrong. Most likely it fails miserably at some point, but every team is going to have to have a weaker/riskier position.and only one team wins it all. They’ve made a conscious choice for it to be goaltending

The Kings have a plethora of really good bottom 6 forwards and fringe top 4 defenders. Probably more than most franchises and a few real gems that they aren’t going to trade.

At one point, I was focused on Francisco Pinelli because he was one of their few top 6 forward options who wasn’t a top pick. They seem to value first round pedigree regardless of production. I believe him and Turcotte are similar prospects, but one has a pedigree if you disregard his underachieving. I no longer believe the Kings will trade for a top 10 goaltender in the league with their current r leadership. They’ll pay fringe money and hope they get a Copley type performance again.

Ullmark isn’t worth even close to this much

I think your point on number one isn't too far off the mark, the Kings were a playoff team at the trade deadline with below 0.900 goaltenders (Petersen, Quick), the goalie tandem they have this season should statistically be better, their defense should be better (full season of Gavrikov), and better offense up the middle (PLD).

To the second point, it has been an issue of frustration. But, it's not often that a top-5 prospect is put into a playoff team and thrown right into top-line/pair assignments. New York is insulted for their development, but a big reason for player issues is demanding playoff performance from young players is difficult. This makes it really difficult to provide development when you are actively competing. For the Kings Byfield, Turcotte, and Vilardi you had 3 players who had long-term injuries, have been asked to move position, and were developed during COVID. Byfield played well enough to get another year before the panic trade button is even thought about, Clarke really needs to learn how to play defensively in his own zone and he's a full timer, Turcotte is in his make-or-break season though.

I'd expect the KIngs to squeeze everything out of Talbot to the TDL, they will make a trade for Lankinen or another Korpisalo type trade.

They aren’t trading Clark or Byfield. If they struggle, they’ll offer to take Jack Campbell at 50 percent retention and pull out the rosary beads.

I like the kings and I think their blue print is sound with flaws, but I can say that about most teams. Every team is going to play a player that probably isn’t ready or has flaws. They’ve chosen goalie as a position where they knowingly will do that, so they can spend money elsewhere

I probably would have valued Villardi over Byfield and Clarke personally, but I can see why they did what they did when you look at their cap position.

I am of the belief that the Kings would value Brandon Bussi over Ullmark in terms of their stated goalie preference.

I think that @Celtics21 and my esteemed friend @tryger have thoroughly and accurately analyzed the Kings' goalie situation/strategy and this projected trade; the sole thing I can add is that the only realistic circumstance under which Los Angeles might trade for Linus Ullmark is if some major player goes on the LTIR list with a season-ending injury (God forbid) and thereby creates the necessary cap space. And neither Byfield nor Clarke will be going the other way.

I stopped getting frustrated by that a long time ago, because I believe the prospect ranking game is basically a grift for some reporters.

I don’t believe a good team can develop more than 3 good young players at a time at the NHL level.. Maybe two in a top 6 forward, top 4 d, or a defenseman realistically and they shouldn’t be together. Bad teams can do this and graduate if the players have resolve.

Every crappy team tries to match the timeline with a young player when putting a veteran next to a great prospect pays off in spades a lot of the time. I find it ironic that the same teams year over year are in the top prospect camp are also the top draft pick camp. Part of it I believe is teams try to double down and assume playing young players is the key to development where I would have loved for a prospect to learn from a Bergeron or a Kopitar.

Hitting on a young player can buy you two or three years of incredible production for the salary, but I read the prospect rankings and I think they are accurate for the top 25 players or so. If a player was drafted in the top 20 and not In the top 25 prospects, their scouting reports will rely heavily to their draft year reports with nominal adjustments based on statistics.

They are generally bad for non first rounders who have improved at the AHL, OHL, or WHL level.

I'd prefer Bussi personally, but the Kings made their bet on Portillo so that's what we'll hope is our future.

The Kings definitely valued both (Byfield/Vilardi), in terms of a player who has proven he can reach his ceiling Vilardi has gotten it done, but man his injury history is brutal for a young player, I think Blake sold high to address a bigger issue, who will take over in a top-6 center capacity when Kopitar leaves. With the signing, the Kings address having great short term center depth over the next three seasons, and at the very least two solid top-6 centers after he leaves in 4 seasons. Allowing centers to shake out to something like:

PLD > Danault > Byfield/Turcotte/Pinelli/Hughes> Lizotte/JAD/Thomas/Madden//Hellenius

As far as the answer in goal, Talbot knows Todd McLellan's system playing with the Oilers previously, if they don't get ~.900 goaltending from him they will have to overpay to fix the situation at the cost of Arvidsson and high picks. For what it's worth, Talbot stole the last game for LA.

That depends on your perception of what Byfield is as a player. He was drafted high, but to date … not including him in some deals looks like a potential mistake. I hope he develops because I see the talent and effort, but it sure looks like something is missing. Hopefully moving him to wing and playing him with better talent will help.

Hahahahahaha.

How about Blake Lizotte for Ullmark with some retention?

Talbott had like one of the best performances I saw last year and a few real bad ones. Hes not really good with higher danger chances from what I recall, but stops what he should.

Do you think the Kings are going to resign Arvidssen? He’s always reminded me of artificial sweetener in coffee. It does the job, but you know there Are better options (we have a similar player in Grzelcyk).

Cap filler is such a crapshoot to value. I could see you value him as worth a second round pick and his statistical profile would suggest you’d be right, but he’s the type of player I hope my team can find better with the salary he makes.

Byfield has looked like a man possessed so far this season.

Don't forget, last season he had a severe case of Covid and lost 20 pounds at the beginning of the season. He also played the entire season with two sprained wrists.

The Kings are all in on this kid. If the Kings could take a mulligan on the 2020 draft knowing what they know now, I think they'd still take Byfield over Stutzle.

I am looking forward to watching Byfield this year. I like a lot of things about him, but I’d be stunned if the Kings would take him over Stutzle again. It may feel good to say that, but I don’t believe it is true.

Hopefully there are extenuating circumstances for what I saw last year. There could be and I have always respected his effort

Stutzle has done nothing to help his team win games. The Kings could have thrown Byfield on the top line and on the 1PP at age 18 and he'd likely be scoring at a significantly higher pace than he has been so far. Had they done so, the Kings probably would have finished in the league basement again like the Sens. Instead, they chose to take their time with him and develop him as a two-way forward in Kopitar's mold.



Kings Byfield Healthy & Ready For Breakout Season

The Kings are very happy with their pick and would take him again.

Sorry guys I didn't know this would get so many comments, this is a meme trade, my b

The real trade I'd consider and think is fair:

Ullmark + Lysell for Turcotte and a 1st.

If Ullmarks numbers stay above a .925 for this season this is a very fair trade. If he drops to a .920-.925 the 1st can become a 2nd.

No apology necessary for an ACGM that gets a lot of comments because in my humble opinion, they've all been intelligent and well-informed comments. Unless you want to exclude mine, of course.

Maybe Byfield over Lafreniere, etc….but no reason for any team to pass on Stützle.

I’d put Byfield behind Stützle, Sanderson, Mercer, Lundell, Jarvis…still very high, but not #1.

If moving Ullmark, Danault is probably the more realistic target. Otherwise maybe try including Swayman.

Stutzle is like Zegras. Sure he's flashy and can put up some big numbers, but he's not winning your team any games. He's a complete void defensively and is a decent supplemental player, but if he's the best player on the team, your team isn't going anywhere.

The Kings are trying to develop Byfield into the franchise difference maker that they drafted him to be. Sure, it takes longer, but we're already starting to see the results of their patience this season.

Stützle is flashy like Zegras?

“Flashy” is really just a deriding way of saying “skilled”…both Zegras and Stützle are elite young players who can absolutely help teams win. Byfield has size, and potential, but is a loooong way from those other two.

Yeah. And there is nothing wrong with taking more time for development, but I’d probably say he’d be anywhere from 5 to 11 depending on your view of production vs potential.