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Artman91

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Forum: Armchair-GMJul. 6, 2023 at 4:54 p.m.
Thread: Without Doughty and Kopitar
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>Artman91</b></div><div>I’m writing this part to point out why I did this. Obviously Armchair is here so we all can have fun, try new things. Obviously I much prefer Kopi and Doughty on our team.

But to respond to your statement now.

I definitely will always respect your opinion. However, personally I think we are a little better. Our 4 lines will match up perfectly against any team in the NHL.

Offensively (Kane, Taresanko, Toews, Sundsqvist &gt; Kopitar, Grundstrom, Lewis) “Roster Players”

Defensively (Doughty &gt; Murray and Bear) without a doubt. Clarke is young and will be nowhere close to Doughty this season. Doughty is a 2 time Stanley cup champion, a Norris winner and very experienced defenseman. But maybe Clarke can put some offensive numbers.

Goaltending- Miles better with Helly in net.</div></div>

I think the argument that I believe has merit is would the Kings be better able to ice a Stanley cup contender without the money we are giving Doughty. Let's say he was on LTIR for his career. $11M could be redistributed to get us Hellebuyck at $6M and Orlov at $7.5M. I believe we are worse defensively with a huge boost at goalie.

The part where you lose me is Kopitar. Kopitar is a legit 2-way threat who must be a part of the Kings for at least the next two seasons to stay playoff competitive. Patrice Bergeron at 37 still eats 22 minutes a night and is the backbone of the Bruins, this is very much the case with LA (for now). To move Kopitar $10M and use that cap space to get Tarasenko and Kane for $11.75M collectively really doesn't move the needle. You just lost the primary playmaker for Kempe, and will require Byfield to take on minutes and a position he just isn't ready for. If the Kings were about 2-3 years from now, a win now sort of strategy could make sense. But even then, Kopitar's best contract will be next season, where he signs for half his cap hit and produces like a top-6 selke center, who can imprint on PLD and Byfield the characteristics of a shut-down elite playmaker.