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Hockeyguy77

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Forum: Armchair-GMDec. 19, 2019 at 2:39 p.m.
Thread: General Manager Rob Blake
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>rhfa61</b></div><div>1) Traded Gaborik (DL bad signing) for Phaneuf. Dion gave 1 good season &amp; 1 bad season to the Kings, while Gaborik gave nothing to OTT. NOT BLAKE’S FAULT, BLAME DL.
2) Richards termination was done by DL, not Blake.
3) Yes, Stevens &amp; Willie didn’t work out, but Blake hired McLellan and he looks like a solid hire.
4) If you don’t want to credit him for the last 3 drafts, and all the great prospects he’s collected (including the Muzzin Trade) then you’re not thinking clearly.
5) Yes, the Kovalchuk signing was bad! He took a shot and missed terribly. But that signing didn’t alter the Kings from any free agent signings, now or next year.

The Kovalchuk signing looks bad, but I think Blake has done a solid job as a GM. Team looks primed for a deep playoff run in 2-3 years. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the last few players from the Cup runs &amp; the prospects maturing.</div></div>

Gonna just play devils advocate a little but I actaully overall agree with you.

1) Correction: Phaneuf had <em><strong>max 26</strong></em> good games and 67 bad ones. The way I see it, Gaborik when healthy was still a decent player and the advantage of Gabprik was when he was injured, which was often, he was on LTIR, giving the team cap flexibility and actual salary relief. Phaneuf was generally healthy player and was becoming painfully obvious that he couldn't keep up in the new NHL. I won't say this was bad trade <em>per se</em> but he misjudged some very important criteria that had he been more prudent, would have told him to stay clear of this move.

2) Agreed and even if it was him, not his fault in the slightest.

3) I don't think his hires have even been that bad, I think simply had misguided goals for their seasons under those coaches. Their loss to Vegas should have been an eye opener for them that its not the coaching style that was that bad, but its roster makeup and age group of the core that was misconstructed.

4) GM's get wayyyyyyy too much credit for their drafting. Truth is none of the players under his guidance have made the NHL yet so we can't crown Blake a genius just yet. I don't think any one of us could have done any worse with the picks he had simply using online draft mocks.... Development has EVERYTHING to do with how a player becomes a good player or not. That will be the thing to hang his hat on if they become good but we'll have to wait and see for that.

5) Agreed to a certain extent, that roster spot could have been given to a younger player. It didn't overly affect them but there were <em>some</em> negative impacts from it.

I think its been too early to judge him to harshly, while he hasn't killed it as GM he hasn't "Chiarelli'd" it up either.
Forum: Armchair-GMDec. 18, 2019 at 12:31 a.m.
Thread: Getting better faster
I really like the idea of trading for Sergachev. I think he can be exactly what this rebuild needs, and if I'm Stevie I'm going after him hard. I dont think this trade is it though. The only reason Tampa will move him is because they cant afford him. If we trade them AA, he would be signing for a similar cap hit as what Sergachev would sign for, plus they take on Helms 3M. That's literally all $8M of their cap space right there. Basically what I'm saying is it has to be for futures. I think a lot of it depends on our draft. If we draft 2nd overall and get Byfield, or fall to 3rd or 4th and get Stutzle, that makes one of Veleno or Rasmussen tradeable because we would have our clear cut 1 and 2 centers in Larkin and Byfield/Stutzle. If we win 1st, I think it makes someone like Fabbri expendable, but it still complicates things because we really have no good winger prospects, minus Zadina who is untouchable. Then we get into picks, which should also be pretty much untouchable. Honestly I hope we get Byfield over Lafreniere this draft, we need centers way more than wingers, and if you really dig into the stats I think it's a lot closer race for 1st overall than many people realize. If we get Byfield, I think Veleno for Sergachev 1 for 1 might be close to fair. I would have to pitch that trade idea on here (which I will right after this) but that's best case imo
Forum: Armchair-GMDec. 17, 2019 at 1:52 p.m.
Thread: Kovalchuk is Gone But Not Forgotten
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>Hockeyguy77</b></div><div>Don’t be too down. Kings are among the top of the league in possession and corsi. Although 1st in shots against. The issue comes down to the roster itself. Hopefully Turcotte, Vilardi, JAD, Bjornfot and maybe Clague can make a good impact next season. Blake needs to be a player in free agency this is the year to do it. If not then he should be fired. He says the plan is “The Plan” and nobody even knows what it is and I’m convinced he doesn’t either. I’ve been saying for awhile now this off-season coming up will be a defining time for Rob Blake as GM if he doesn’t show his offers to players via FA to the owners within 1 week he should be fired.</div></div>

Agreed, but as my construction shows, unless I am way off on how much the internal re-signings are going to cost, there isn't much room for a free agent unless Blake can move either Jeff Carter or Jonathan Quick off the books.

I hope that "The Plan" includes not getting shoved down to fifth place in the draft. Kirby Dach or Kaapo Kakko sure would make a difference. Maybe Turcotte will eventually have a similar impact.