Every weekday join Eddie Garcia (Fox Sports Radio and the Puck Podcast) in a daily discussion about all things Los Angeles Kings. Game previews, recaps, deep dives into the prospect pool, special guests, and more. We have you covered on all things LA Kings five days a week on the Locked On Los Angeles Kings Podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Go Kings Go!!!
Eddie…. you deserve some time off !!! Take it, don’t feel bad. Very, very little going on right now in entire NHL let alone Kings. Go enjoy more time with the wife bro :)
Eddie, I'm about 2/3 through this session...before I hear what you say about Kevin Fiala. Honestly, I was delighted with his acquisition. We traded a talented, young defenseman who hadn't come into his own by that time. So, cheers to Fiala. BUT, in this year's vote for rookie of the year, behind Conner Bedard, Brock Faber finished #2. I just wanted to mention that. Uly, regarding trades, I was a real fan of G.M. Lombardi. Ya, in end, he screwed up and traded away the future for his job. But, he still landed us two Stanley Cups. Let us remember that! For all the other Kings trades, throughout our history, there are so many ridiculous ones, I doubt anything, of late counts! It would be hard to set a standard from bad to worse...and that includes trading nearly an entire team and a million dollars for 'the great one'. For those idiots who would argue with me, consider this, it was the Oilers who then won Stanley Cups with those young guys! So let's give congratulations to blake...and then smile when he rides his surfboard out of town next year. I predict a lost year ahead. Let's hope my bad luck proves to end up in opposites ;-)
The argument I have against the Fiala trade is not that the Kings gave up Faber who was unproven at the time but that the Wild were in cap hell roster wise so really weren't in much of a position to negotiate demands that they might have otherwise. The age old argument that many proponents of the trade try and bring up is that Faber was most likely not going to sign with the Kings. If you honestly believe that, then why didn't Blake and the Kings do their due diligence ahead of time and have this discussion with Brock prior to picking him? Oh yeah, here comes another excuse, I bet! Then not only do they give up Faber but a 1st round pick as well, again for a player the Wild were not in the driver bargaining position of. Where have we heard this before? Oh yeah, just recently the PLD fiasco.
Honestly, imo, you make a better argument that Faber wasn't going to sign than was willing to. The Wild had absolutely no leverage, yet made out very well. Throwing Faber in was a massive overpayment, even at the time. Unless it was known by the team that drafting him was already a sunk cost and determined they might as well get little value for him compared literally none. Given the two scenarios, this seems by far the most likely. But as you say, this doesn't in any way excuse management. Simply changes the nature of failure by them. Much like PLD trade away from the Kings, the mistake had long since been made by the time it happened.
I agree with this take. It's just that so many proponents of the trade argue for Fiala's production and overlook exactly what we are discussing here. If Faber wasn't the lost cause so to speak here, then why give up a 1st as the other part of it? Give up a 2nd instead. Again, the Kings were in the driver's seat here, not the Wild. The other part barely ever discussed is, so many act as if it was an either/or situation with all the RHD the Kings had back at this point. That not all of them were going to get to play. That it had to be either Faber or Spence. I think why not both? Can you imagine if once Drew is done they had Faber, Clarke, and Spence? Yeah, Brock wanted to play immediately and as scenario like this and salary cap wise isn't likely but if Blake doesn't rush Clarke, he is still waiver exempt until Drew's contract is up and the Kings can again replenish the draft pick pool by possibly moving Doughty for a haul but no, everyone has him retiring a King, I'm sure.
Eddie you had a hat trick with this cast! 1- Smart Smart Smart, the rest of us here adding to the chorus here of Spence. 2 - Great summary with a dash of community opinion - sorry Rob. 3- I saw the article too!!! He has crap till the last paragraph. He did admits it really might be as we see it. Pile on Rob by HN article. Thanks Jim in San Dimas.
The way Walker played in LA he wasn’t getting a 3rd round pick. If he stayed and played he’d block Spence, so for us he was a contract dump as much as anything. Your’re trying too hard to support your narrative. Completely agree on Roy, I was saying to trade him 12 months ago
Eddie why do you always leave out that the Kings traded away some of the players to open up spots on the roster for players that deserve to be brought up? Roy should have been used in the Fiala trade. Durzi was a liability on the defensive end and cost the team games.Clarke will be a much better player than Roy.Roy should have been traded I agree. Walker if I remember right had injuries and there were players they wanted to bring up. I am sure there was no team out there offering the Kings a first round pick for Walker. I first want to see what system the Kings will play before I criticize the team. I also do not believe the seat for Blake is as hot as some think. I understand the hate for Blake. I would be open to a change at GM. But I believe ownership likes him and is not looking to get rid of him.
Thing I learned is that we have good players but we always have to get rid of them because of our own mistakes on these contracts! Rob Blake is clueless
The Fiala-Faber saga is tiresome. Faber was not even signed when his rights were traded. 2023-24 season he played major minutes because of injuries. If he were a King he’d have been behind DD8, MR5 and Spence for playing time. People pretend he’d be in the exact same scenario with LAK as with the Wild. Just stop.
He doesn't take a lot of penalties because Spence is a thinker with good wheels. He is barely out of position and very seldom gets pushed around because he thinks ahead and avoids being caught outmatched physically.
I’ve seen the tenure and track record of Spicoli dozens of times and every single time it gets broken down, it is an absolute marvel he hasn’t been kicked to the curb. That said, as long as Luc the Bobblehead is still adored by Uncle Phil, this organization will continue to tread in the waters of mediocrity, just like Blake’s entire time here as a player. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I think QB may drop in points a bit next season. That’s okay, kids still learning. Good news is he’s a quality individual and a hard worker with a great attitude. All good things to come !
Why couldn't the Kings have sign Mat Roy during the season, letting him know that he would still probably be traded but with the understanding they will do there best of trading him to the team of his choice?
On a positive note , I am also slightly for the grit and size we added , we definitely lacked it . I know kuemper will thrive behind the kings . However the system has to change to attack hockey . At the end of each game they decide who wins by who scored more goals ! Not who played great defense!
You can’t give Blake credit for moving a crap contract that he created. Blake is a buffoon of a GM that has robbed the talent with his bonehead moves and has not made this team better. In two years the Kings will have to start another rebuild when Kopi and Dewy are gone.
Blake absolutely deserves credit for getting rid of the PLD contract. Regarding the talent they gave up for PLD, it was really nothing. Iafallo is a good defensive player but not a very good offensive player. Multiple times during his time with the Kings he went 30 plus games not scoring a point. The Kings also needed his spot on the team. Kupari was ok defensively and brought nothing offensively. Vilardi was never resigning with Kings he wanted to play in Canada. He also has not and never will play a full 82 game season. He is injuring prone. Other than the draft pick the Kings lost nothing. Completely disagree with your post.
i cant believe how pampered Byfield is and how worried we are about giving him a C position... why are we so afraid? You got guys like Suzuki playing center from the get go
I’m ok with giving hiller a chance , however he woulda taken a 1 year deal ! 3 years wasn’t right , I mean if Blake goes after this year , so should his coaching hire .plus there woulda been more of a fire under everyone’s arses
Maybe the ownership group wanted a longer term. Most assume it was just Blakes decision but maybe ownership didn't want a temporary coach coming in for just 1 year. If Hiller does find success he could immediately walk and LA has to start over after a good season.
The thing I don't get about Hiller getting a free pass as far as him not really having the ability to put his stamp on the Kings last season due to when he took over is, Knoblauch came in and took over the Oilers 14 or whatever games into their season and immediately put his stamp on things over there even though he wasn't involved with them until his hiring. Yeah, it was much earlier in the season but he looked at what he thought wasn't working and immediately made changes. Just because Hiller didn't take over until midseason, he was already part of the Kings coaching staff up to that point and should have been able to shore up both offensive and defensive schemes that he thought needed improvement and pretty much the only thing he ended up doing was constantly shuffling the lines around. It wasn't until the last game of the Oilers series where their PP again chewed up our stationary PK alignment that he finally allowed it to play somewhat more aggressively. I'm honestly waiting to see how much he does change up the Kings systems and structures this coming season and how forgiving he will be of the mistakes the kids expected to play heavier minutes will be allowed to make and not be benched or their minutes drastically reduced because Blake needs them to win now for his sake?
Eddie, Looks like Minnesota disagrees with your assessment of Brock Faber. He just signed a huge 8 year deal at 8.5M a year !!!! That’s clearly 1st pairing Top D-man money ! I think he’s gonna be Norris trophy material next year.
Although Arthur is about age 23, he just hasn’t been sufficiently effective and a contributor that made a difference. It is a fact that many young players are done and maxed out by his age. They for whatever reason just start thinking of other life interests and pursuits. The fun and passion for the NHL grind is running thin. That seems to be him. He lost that spirit and drive to excel, but that could be that his talent level is just peaked anyway. I say find or use a higher quality producer and hard passionate worker in the ice.
It never felt like they got mad at him for not playing d or "anything he ovbiously wasn't willing to do." Unless that thing is run up the wing and score on his very first touch. Thinking about it, it might be the most logical thing that would lead to just this much tension. He actually wants to be more rounded (?) and just play hockey and he's like ok here's my quick shift. I'm supposed to go up and never pass and do some predictable shot, here goes! or he tried to pass once, he obviously did something to piss them off.
Anyone recall Matt Moulson. Kings had him and they desperately needed offense. Well they gave up on the guy and he landed in NY and played for islanders. He had 3 straight 30 goal seasons while kings were still looking for offense. It was strange because I actually saw the potential in the kid and was not happy with kings letting him go.
Not only that, he was Quicks brother in law and they still sent him packing. Though he did ride shotgun with prime John Tavares so he probably wouldn't have been that kind of scorer for the Kings
@@thefrozencrown9388 Yes I remember Quick connection. After those 3 seasons he did fade away. Rob Brown was a player for penguins in the late 80s and into the 90s. He actually scored 49 goals on loaded Pitt team. After 3 seasons he moved to Hartford and he never recaptured that scoring touch. Maybe Arthur just needs a different team with a different system.
Kaliev may be a one trick pony and worried about his game on defense,however a middle pick would be a waste.Maybe Blake trades him for a similar player who also needs change scenery such as Tomasino,Robertson,even a Kakko type deal .
We gotta keep him or get a player ! If Blake trades for a pick he should be fired yesterday! Trading for a pick %100 could possibly and probably waste kopitar and doughty last ultra competitive year ? I mean hopefully not ! However the clock is ticking on this group , I truly believe if change the system some we have the talent and toughness now , just need the system and FITNESS
I didn't watch Kaliev in JRs where he was great. All I saw was a kid miss many chances to prove himself. Laughable to blame his crappy play on Blake, hahaha. And PLD sucked because he sucked. Haters. Its not like he had no ice time. He constantly missed the net. And I saw very little else from his game. I wish I saw what others see. I never thought he had any skills except a hard shot. Never sets up others. Never makes his own chances. Not a great skater and not particularly a good hockey IQ. So what's his value? I rooted for him for a while, listening to all the hype. He might be one of those guys that did well in the slow game and can't adjust to the Bigs. But, just poof. Nothing. Good luck to him. Why are we still talking about him? Next.
