i think if you take out swayman, the value is close. this is ridiculous.

Absolutely not on Swayman Ullmark is the guy that's gonna go Swayman is the future here

LA is stuck with PLD, and Blake would get fired the moment he tries to make a losing trade for him.

LAs system works well enough that goalies will be lining up to take budget contracts to play there. Talbot is an all-star with a .916SV% and Rittich has a .919 SV%, both combined are less than $2M against the cap. LA need PLD to at least rebound to a $6M player and they will be fine. PLD has been awful not disagreeing, but he has improved and if that continues the Kings can salvage a player out of this.

Ullmark for PLD is a trade that frankly Blake can easily sell. His performance the past two years have him ranked as a top 5 to 10 goalies and I’d argue that he likely puts distance from that horrific trade and contract package you gave to PLD.

I agree with you that Riitch has played really well, but what level of confidence do you have in him as he plays more? Copley looked good last year only to look like garbage this year. Talbott predictably wore down and his numbers have been regressing. He is still around .200 GsaX/60, which is about the range where you start going from positive to average. I agree that the defensive structure of the Kings is phenomenal for insulating a goalie.

Ullmark is better than Talbott on that metric (.337) and his two year performance is the best in the league (combined he is easily top 5). Put him behind LA’s defensive structure, which is arguably the best in the league, and I think you’d see a massive upgrade for whatever it’s worth.

The open issue is I don’t believe PLD makes as much sense for Boston when I look at the player. He’s not as strong at the faceoff as the guy he’d be moving to wing in Zacha. He is probably a 6m player making 8.5m. I love the 4 years of 60+ points before 25, but I think the biggest problem is that he was traded for a horrificly bad package, his role in LA will basically prevent him from living up to the contract, and his reputation as a malcontent has followed him.

I can see an Ullmark for PLD deal working, but not sure what the draft capital going back to Boston would be required. I personally see them signing Lindholm and trading Ullmark for draft capital.

If rumors serve correctly Ullmark might have had LA on his No Trade List. He has the ability to really pick his destination, if he was open to a trade to LA that is where we will start this discussion.

Los Angeles had a really big goalie issue at the start of this season they have put up a .912 SV% / 2.47 GAA across their 3 goaltenders this season. Contrast this to their abysmal .892 SV % / 2.99 GAA last season .895 SV, 3.74 GAA numbers from two seasons ago. In terms of the pipeline of goalies coming: LA made a solid move taking Portillo (who is 2nd in the AHL in SV% .925) and Hampton Slukynsky who is absolutely tearing up the USHL. Blake is very close to getting fired if he makes another failing big move. Ullmark would absolutely bolster these numbers but it doesn't address LAs biggest long term issues.

PLD was signed because Kopitar will eventually need to move down the lineup and Byfield has thrived more left-wing than his natural center position. Blake assumed 3 top-6 centers would edge out top heavy teams like Edmonton and Vegas. PLD has spent most of this season with first year pro Alex Laferriere. If you place him with more professional players he does help find the net, last night for example he set up the Kempe goal. His biggest issue is he is playing in a much more defensively tight system, which he is very slowly learning. Ultimately if LA moved on from PLD, it would be for another struggling top-6 center with a similar cap hit. I think the Kings will stick with PLD and try to salvage the player, at 25 and his size and past history it's not crazy to think he can return to being a top-6 20-25 goal center in the NHL.

The final issue is Blake, he made the mistake on Cal Petersen to signing a large contract before he was tried out a 1A and moved one of their top assets in Vilardi for PLD. These two issues have him on a very tight leash and him not making a move at the deadline is indicative that he's trying to stop the bleeding and work with what he has. I think if he does make a move for PLD it won't be for a rental and it won't include a goaltender. The Kings will probably have some weird tandem like Fleury and Matt Murray (connection through the Kings goalie coach who used to be the Pens coach) on budget contracts and put PLD with wingers who make up for his mistakes.

Ullmark has LA on his no trade list, but I assume he is going to use that NMC to force an extension. He craves stability and Id argue that LA is pretty close in terms of culture to Boston.

I’d still suggest that GSax suggests that your goalie stats are inflated by how good the Kings are at insulating a goalie. Now imagine how that would look like if you had a goalie the caliber of Ullmark.

PLD isn’t untradable, but I don’t see this deal happening because I don’t believe both GM’s have the stones to do it. I see Boston signing Lindholm and the PLD option will go away completely