Talking Kings with Austin Stanovich 

I have watched every Reign game last season. I am honestly a big Fagemo fan. Not many Kings fans give him much of a chance but i am pulling for the guy. When Vilardi broke into the league he scored 15 goals and 38 points in 39 AHL games. Fagemo coming into next season is coming off 43 goals, and 62 points in 50 AHL games.

Go Kings Go! 🤟😎🤟🇨🇦

Yeah i like Austin, good hockey knowledge. Unlike others that just compare newly acquired players against the position on paper. They're like he's nowhere near the prior player in terms of points and production. Never seeing the big picture, they embarrassingly just state negatively on the outcome. Then they state what should have been done instead.

I've been studying Edmunson's advanced stats and they really don't look great. He did play 20 minutes in St Lou and Montreal so it looks like the coaches trusted him at leasy as a 2nd pairing. He started most of his shifts (low 40s%) in the d zone, so that is a factor. There could be more to the story but it definitely may be an overpayment unless he does a lot on the PK and it does look like he has been a primary penalty killer throughout his career. So there is that and ha can change the momentum of games with some big hits and a scrap so there is that too. It's just funny to me how long it took Luc and Rob to figure out they needed some grit and sandpaper in the lineup. These are two HOFers. Some of us lowly fans have been saying that for years. Maybe we should be GMs.

Rob Blake and luc hiring mark bergevin has ruined this teams future! Why did they hire one of the worst we’ve ever seen??? They’re not good at their jobs

Eddie brought in some brains....

Why is this team in a what-if situation? You would think after 3 plus years we would be talking about being a some what of a contender for a cup , not for wild card spot.

Everyone liked Jeannot in Nashville. Problem is, the first 50% of his time in Nashville Jeannot was solid, he was a good player. The last half he was less than sold and not so good. He then gets traded to Tampa and continued on his less than solid and not so good play. Do not expect to see the 21-22 Jeannot. Even the last 20 games of his best season he already started his decline, he has not been seen since March 2022. He finished his best season scoring just 1G and 1A in the last 20 games and was a +/- -7.

Byfield is not the coming messiah for the Kings at Center. He only had 20 goals and 35 assists for just 55 points, but he had loads of ice time and did extra double shifts at times. The thing with Byfield’s season is that it would’ve, could’ve, should’ve been even better. Once Jim Hiller was named as the team’s Head Coach midseason, he upped Byfield’s usage extensively. In February, that led to 11 points (4-7-11) from 12 games played. As February ended, Byfield had 18 goals. He scored just two more the rest of the season, with one coming in Game 82. Included in that stretch was a 19-game drought without a goal and a nine-game stretch without any points at all. Byfield said in his end-of-season interview that he was fighting off an illness during that stretch, so there was an explanation. But man. What could’ve been, had he either been healthy the entire season or found a way to manage things more effectively. Byfield had zero playoff goals and a mere 4 assists while having high ice time against Edmonton. I’m pulling for Byfield, since he was a 2020 1st rounder #2 overall. But, in watching every Kings game, he often was out of position, scrambling around too much , confused, and couldn’t set up enough plays. With his size, his best opportunity for points is he rotates in front of the goalie and picks up the garbage and stuffs in goals. Kopi and Kempe need to get shots in and Byfield does his thing like the best in the NHL to jam in goals up front. Because he had only 20 goals all season, that is nothing at all for a 2020 1st round pick. That low production is because he has to play the tough guy down low and jam in shots and pick up the garbage. He can’t be a perimeter man but a heavy mean butt body beating up D men. He needs to accept that he will be banged up and checked hard, but that is what the best mean butt guys do. I fear therefore the Kings are not going to use him correctly on the #1 line. Hence, he remains stuck with just 20-25 goals.

Byfield is a good player but is not a game changer. Byfield needs to work on his shot which is below average. If he can improve that aspect of his game, he could easily be a 30 goal and 80 point player.

Kings aren’t making the playoffs next season. And that’s a good thing. It will force the team to trade doughty and kopitar to embrace the rebuild. Byfield is not our savior he is too weak with his stick. Would love for this team to hire Stan bowman and Joel Quenville and before you get at me with their situations let’s understand one thing this guy is likely the second best coach and second best gm in hockey history. It’s all about winning the cup and nothing else matters.