Kopitar A
Brown B+
King B+
Williams B
Carter B
Nolan B
Fraser B
Richards C
Lewis C
Clifford C
Gagne C-
Richardson D+
Loktionov D
Westgarth D
Hunter D
Stoll D-
Penner F
Moreau F
Parse Incomplete
Defenseman
Mitchell A+
Greene A
Voynov A
Martinez B
Scuderi B-
Doughty C+
Drewiske Incomplete
Kopitar: A
Brown: B
Williams: B
Richards: C-
Carter: B
King: B
Lewis: B-
Penner: D
Stoll: C
Fraser: B
Nolan: B-
Clifford: C
DEFENSE:
Doughty: C
Mitchell: A+
Voynov: B+
Scuderi: C
Martinez: B
Greene: B-
GOALIES:
Quick: A
Bernier: B
- Richards has not been the 2nd line center we were hoping for. Whether it's due to injury or adjusting to a new team, if LA has any hopes of competing for a Stanley Cup, he simply needs to be better.
- Scuderi. I'll get flamed for this, but I know I'm not the only one who feels that Scuderi is not worth his contract or the praise he gets around here. Sure he makes a few good defensive plays from time to time, but so does Drewiske. I think we could find a cheaper defenseman to just blindly whip pucks around in the d-zone.
Kopitar B- (disappearing mid season really hurt this team )
Brown B
King B
Williams B+
Carter B
Nolan B
Fraser B
Richards before concussion A after C
Lewis C
Clifford C
Gagne Incomplete
Richardson D+
Loktionov D
Westgarth F
Hunter F
Stoll D-
Penner F
Moreau F
Parse Incomplete
Defenseman
Mitchell A+
Greene B
Voynov A
Martinez B
Scuderi B-
Doughty D, holding out was a distraction and hurt the team.
Drewiske Incomplete
Brown B+ => Poor start but strong finish Carter B => As promised, a sniper Clifford C => In retrospect maybe he should have spent the year in the AHL Fraser B => Gave an identity to the fourth line Gagne C- => Great, then brutal, then injured Hunter D => Not bad, not good, not anything King B+ => Exceeded all realistic expectations Kopitar B => His play early and late in the season is definitely good but not so good that it makes me forget him disappearing mid season again Lewis C- => Speed and hustle but 7 points for a guy who plays 13 minutes a night? Loktionov C- => Expected more Moreau D- => Plain bad Nolan B => Grinder with some skills Penner F => This guy scored 32 goals? Richards C- => He played out of his mind for like 15 games in a row but was pretty much a no-show on the scoresheet for the rest of the season. I didn't think we'd be trading for a slightly better Stoll. Richardson D => Nothing positive to say Stoll D => I expected his numbers to go down but not by this much, and he really took his boneheadedness to a whole new level this season Westgarth D => Didn't play much, didn't fight much Williams B => Down from an A last season, he's got to be more consistent
Defenseman
Doughty D => Looks worse in just about every area on the ice, especially defensively Drewiske C+ => Not much to say about this guy, he did a nice job filling in when he had to Greene B => Punishing and physical, had a better year than the last one Martinez B- => Solid season Mitchell A => Best d-man on the team for the second year in a row Scuderi B- => Slightly disappointing, his worst year as a King in my opinion Voynov B+ => Tremendous offensive instincts. A bit scrambly defensively but hopefully that goes away with maturity
Goaltenders
Quick A+ => A Norris candidate goalie? Yes please. Bernier B- => Pretty good but he can be better
I like the idea of Quick for Norris Quick and Mitchell are the only ones who deserve A's. Penner gets an F - he's had some good stretches, but the point production hasn't been there. Veteran guys who get sent down to the AHL... well, I guess it was to be expected.
... Kopitar B => His play early and late in the season is definitely good but not so good that it makes me forget him disappearing mid season again
...
Agree completely. It has been the second or third consecutive season, where he dominates in October, then he just switches off "God mode". .
Kopitar A
Brown A-
Williams A-
King B+
Carter B+
Nolan B+
Fraser B
Gagne B
Richards C+
Lewis C
Clifford C
Loktionov C
Richardson D+
Stoll D+
Westgarth D
Hunter D
Penner F
Moreau F
Defenseman
Mitchell A+
Voynov A-
Greene B
Martinez B
Scuderi B
Doughty C+
Goaltenders
Quick A+
Bernier B-
Coaching
Sutter A-
Murray F
Management
Lombardi A
__________________
"It has not been a good day. I lost my glasses early this morning and I had to go buy a pair of 79 dollar reading glasses today. 79 bucks. You can literally get them at Costco, three-for-20." - Darryl Sutter's response to going up 2-0 in the series.
This team has gone from 6th seed in the West with 101 points in 2009/10 to 7th seed and 98 points in 2010/11 to 8th seed with 95 points this season - and in the process traded away a large number of their high draft picks and prospects. After 6 years of the "Kings tattoo on their ass" rebuild and rhetoric, this formerly young core hasn't demonstrated that they have the will, desire or talent to be anything but a mediocre team that can eek into the playoffs.
Does the architect of THAT really deserve an A grade?
Kopitar B+ Still struggles with consistency
Brown B Improved after the allstar game, was dreadful to watch in the beginning
King B+ Definitely matured, looking very solid with Richards and Carter. Hopefully next season he'll get a full 82 games
Williams B Happy with his performance, 20+ goal scorer
Carter B Happy with his performance, I just hope we can get him back during the playoffs, he's the key to our offense
Nolan B Very happy this guy got an opportunity with the big league. He's fast and is always in front of the net
Fraser B Some of you might not agree but he's been extremely solid on the 4th line
Richards C- Concussion could have had an effect on his performance, but I know he has the potential to be better
Lewis C I know Sutter loves this guy but he really needs to learn how to finish and snipe. He has the potential to be a gritty forward like brown and could possibly pot in 20+ goals
Clifford C- Ugh, though I love the big red dog, he hasnt been physical this year.
Gagne C Was doing fine until the injury...
Richardson F Cant finish, stick to golf please. Waste of roster/cap space
Loktionov D Was hoping this guy can control the tempo but a little disappointed this season
Westgarth C- He was much better last year
Hunter F Terrible acquisition, he didnt fit into the TM system
Stoll F My biggest complaint of the season. Completely useless... Watching this guy play is like watching another version of Dustin Penner. Although I do want to give him a little credit that ever since Sutter has implemented his system, he has become "slightly" better, but he's still a trashy player
Penner D+ My second biggest complaint of the season. Useless just like Stoll but there are times when he is physical but I want to see more consistency. It's like sometimes he's working out real hard but there are times when he just skates around like a slug.
Moreau F Waste...
Parse Incomplete most likely he wont be back next season
Defenseman
Mitchell A+ Okay this guy has been rock solid. He and scuds are the only reason why our defense is so AWESOME. They deserve a lot of credit for Quick's performance as well.
Greene B+ Can make bone headed plays sometime but overall he's been solid
Voynov A- Wasn't sure if he can replace JMFJ, but I was proven wrong. Has a brutal shot and is a good QB
Martinez B Happy with his performance, still struggles at times on defense
Scuderi A This guy is just awesome, I wish we gave more credits to Scuds and Mitchell.
Doughty C+ What a rough start. Big extension but his performance had slowed down. Not too worry because I know he'll do well in the playoffs
Drewiske C Whenever he played he did well, a pass from me
Goaltenders
Quick A+ I hope he wins the Vezina, definitely MVP of the team.
Bernier C A little disappointed with JB but I know he's much better on paper.
Coaching
Sutter A Honestly this guy deserves a lot of credit. Has changed our system and is motivating players to work hard and win games.
Murray C- 50% his fault 50% the players fault. Is a decent coach and has helped our defense tremendously
Management
DLom B- He gets a B- just because we made it to the playoffs. With TM we could have missed it, I mean who knows. But acquiring Carter was a good trade and has helped us out a lot. The Richards acquisition is still questionable. Loved BSchenn and Simmers but I just hope that if Sutter stays for another year we can get the opportunity to do better on offense.
Overall season performance: B- Made it to the playoffs. I'm happy with that. We could have done better. I know we could have won the division but that's in the past. Lets kick Vancouvers ass.
Wow Telos, with that many "A"s, shouldn't the kings be better than an 8th seed? Do you really think this team has peaked?
Worst offensive team in the playoffs again, they were last year too.
Worst playoff team with a second period lead.
Last year's playoffs didn't factor into my grades. I took under consideration the entire regular season and what the players had and didn't have under their control. Kopitar, Brown, and Williams met and exceeded my pre-season expectations and have gone above and beyond the call of duty for the team. The people that got and A have carried the team on their back at times and did exceptional work at taking such a struggling team and pushing them to the postseason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PSP
Really? Based on what?
This team has gone from 6th seed in the West with 101 points in 2009/10 to 7th seed and 98 points in 2010/11 to 8th seed with 95 points this season - and in the process traded away a large number of their high draft picks and prospects. After 6 years of the "Kings tattoo on their ass" rebuild and rhetoric, this formerly young core hasn't demonstrated that they have the will, desire or talent to be anything but a mediocre team that can eek into the playoffs.
Does the architect of THAT really deserve an A grade?
This is not a grade of his career, it is a grade of this season. Lombardi made a lot of moves that were relatively uncharacteristic of himself to push this team into the postseason.
He had the foresight and capability of letting go of Hunter and Moreau, which I think was a huge step for him, because of his love for veterans, tenure, and reputation. He decided to pass the torches to the kids and gave them confidence to play their game, in their pre-destined roles, playing their own game which has done wonders for us.
The Carter and Richards trades gets a nod, but I primarily focus on his ability to do what had to be done and let Murray go because everyone in the world knew he didn't want to do it, but he did and seems to have made a good choice in Sutter.
Ultimately, you can argue that Lombardi's decisions caused our struggles in your own way, but there is no denying that his changes in philosophy this year, and capability of making necessary changes, at the right time, and forcing things done was also the primary reason we were able to overcome and turn things around to make the postseason. Quick carried us there and gave us hope, but if Lombardi didn't make the coaching change, dropped the veterans, bring up the kids, and make the Carter trade - we would be looking at 12th or worst.
Kopitar A
Brown A-
King B+
Williams B
Carter B
Fraser B-
Nolan B-
Lewis B-
Richards C+
Clifford D+
Stoll D (only thing that puts him here instead of F are faceoffs)
Richardson D
Moreau F
Hunter F
Penner F
Westgarth and Gagne no grade.
Defensemen
Mitchell A+
Voynov A-
Martinez A-
Greene B
Doughty B-
Scuderi B-
Drewiske: No grade
I don't want to turn this into another DL thread, but come on Telos. The foresight to let go of Moreau and Hunter?
They should never have been signed to begin with and the fact that Moreau who was IMO the worst player to play over 20 games for the Kings since Jeff Guiliano lasted as long as he did was ridiculous and a black eye on TM and DL. Anyone who saw him play in Columbus last year should have clearly seen he wasn't an NHL caliber player, not even close.
I liked what he did with the Carter trade but this team has a Pacific Division banner if King and Nolan are up here all season instead of Moreau and Hunter.
Ultimately I didn't include a grade for DL because his grade is strictly based on playoff results. If the Kings lose in round 1 this season was a failure. If they beat Vancouver he moves up to a low B and anything beyond that is an A
Kopitar B- (get to the f'ing middle)
Brown B-
Williams A-
King B
Carter B
Nolan B+
Fraser B
Gagne INC
Richards C+
Lewis B-
Clifford C
Loktionov C-
Richardson D
Stoll C- (being good on the dot makes it a passing grade)
Westgarth D
Hunter D
Penner D
Moreau F-
Defenseman
Mitchell A
Voynov B+
Greene B
Martinez C+
Scuderi B
Doughty C
This is not a grade of his career, it is a grade of this season. Lombardi made a lot of moves that were relatively uncharacteristic of himself to push this team into the postseason.
He had the foresight and capability of letting go of Hunter and Moreau, which I think was a huge step for him, because of his love for veterans, tenure, and reputation. He decided to pass the torches to the kids and gave them confidence to play their game, in their pre-destined roles, playing their own game which has done wonders for us.
The Carter and Richards trades gets a nod, but I primarily focus on his ability to do what had to be done and let Murray go because everyone in the world knew he didn't want to do it, but he did and seems to have made a good choice in Sutter.
Ultimately, you can argue that Lombardi's decisions caused our struggles in your own way, but there is no denying that his changes in philosophy this year, and capability of making necessary changes, at the right time, and forcing things done was also the primary reason we were able to overcome and turn things around to make the postseason. Quick carried us there and gave us hope, but if Lombardi didn't make the coaching change, dropped the veterans, bring up the kids, and make the Carter trade - we would be looking at 12th or worst.
I guess the part that I can't grasp is how he can get much, if any, credit for having to overcome the mistakes that HE made in selecting the coach, personnel, etc.
... and he did it by sacrificing many of the assets that were allegedly so critical in the first few years of his regime. He could have assembled a team that would have put up very similar results in Year 2, especially with the ability to spend to the league salary cap.
Doing so in Year 6 doesn't take much insight or special skill. In corporate America, results like this after 6 years would get you a pink slip, not a "Superior" grade.
This team has gone from 6th seed in the West with 101 points in 2009/10 to 7th seed and 98 points in 2010/11 to 8th seed with 95 points this season - and in the process traded away a large number of their high draft picks and prospects. After 6 years of the "Kings tattoo on their ass" rebuild and rhetoric, this formerly young core hasn't demonstrated that they have the will, desire or talent to be anything but a mediocre team that can eek into the playoffs.
Does the architect of THAT really deserve an A grade?
From the avatar, I see that the wind is from the garbage dump once again. Will it change back again if they beat the Canucks or are we simply going with the fickle finger of fate?
From the avatar, I see that the wind is from the garbage dump once again. Will it change back again if they beat the Canucks or are we simply going with the fickle finger of fate?
Do you think that DL deserves an A for this season? Weren't your expectations much higher than the results?
How many here expected the Kings to squeak into the playoffs in the 8th spot before the season started? I'm confident in saying that more than 75% of posters here thought they'd be closer to having a 100+ point season, which they failed to accomplish. They're still pretenders who lack mental toughness.
Great now we have Herby going on and on about DL.... Same thing over and over again. Boring, threading killing, waste of time.
Really??
On and on. I didn't even include him in the grades. I stated that my grade for him is based strictly on playoff results, is that unfair?
Do you disagree with anything else?
I thought it was laughable for Telos to applaud him for dumping Moreau and Hunter when he was the one who brought them in and kept them on the roster as long as he did.
Once again, this team wins the Pacific if King and Nolan are up all year, agreed?
Kopitar: B+ We all know he has another gear, hits it sometimes but not consistent enough.
Brown: B+ Brown is like a Swiss Army knife, can do a bit of everything a little better than most pocket knives but not great at anything except hitting and diving correctly.
Williams: B Love the hussle and heart just wish we he wasn't a goof sometimes.
Richards: C Not the worst season I'm thinking he's playing hurt.
Carter: B Short Sample if you can just play his game without injury, awesome forward to have.
King: B Great call up hope his game matures.
Lewis: B- Thriving under Sutter, he's finding his second wind, hope he gets on the scoreboard more.
Penner: D He has the skill, he can do better, his divorce has to be affecting him, bad time for the Kings for him to have it.
Stoll: D+ WTF dude you free falling you can do better.
Fraser: B Does his limited skill set well can't ask for more.
Nolan: B- Shown flashes of good stuff, like King hope his game improves.
Clifford: C Takin big steps back, needs to stop fighting The Big Red Dog has been castrated.
DEFENSE:
Doughty: B- His play is acceptable but far below potential, maybe the contract is putting weight on his shoulders and possibly the concussion, hopefully bounces back next season.
Mitchell: A+ Couldn't ask for more from the guy, awesome play and healthy season.
Voynov: B+ replaces JJ flawlessly, my only concern is if DD goes down can he rise to the occasion like JJ did?
Scuderi: B- age looks to catching up to him but all around solid.
Martinez: B Great play, has potential to do better, all around good PMD.
Greene: B+ plays his roll great just stop taking the occasion stupid penalty.
GOALIES:
Quick: A Vezina?
Bernier: B Soild when starting, would be better with more time in net.
I don't want to turn this into another DL thread, but come on Telos. The foresight to let go of Moreau and Hunter?
They should never have been signed to begin with and the fact that Moreau who was IMO the worst player to play over 20 games for the Kings since Jeff Guiliano lasted as long as he did was ridiculous and a black eye on TM and DL. Anyone who saw him play in Columbus last year should have clearly seen he wasn't an NHL caliber player, not even close.
I liked what he did with the Carter trade but this team has a Pacific Division banner if King and Nolan are up here all season instead of Moreau and Hunter.
Ultimately I didn't include a grade for DL because his grade is strictly based on playoff results. If the Kings lose in round 1 this season was a failure. If they beat Vancouver he moves up to a low B and anything beyond that is an A
He gets marks in my book because he realized that. In the past, Lombardi would have continued with Hunter, Moreau, and Murray. It is purely a grade for the regular season and what transpired. The team struggled and forgot themselves, Lombardi righted the ship to pull off a playoff appearance when that seemed impossible mid-season. Overcoming one's mistakes and making the necessary correcting actions has value and warrants commendation. It is not like I am voting him into the Hall of Fame or anything, but past mistakes and future results doesn't come into play here. I was rating regular season performance only. For that, I recognize DL re-evaluated his approach and it worked and payed off. He did his job well from October to this point.
Quick and Mitchell are the only ones who deserve A's. Penner gets an F - he's had some good stretches, but the point production hasn't been there. Veteran guys who get sent down to the AHL... well, I guess it was to be expected.
.
Do you really think this team has peaked?
most likely he wont be back next season
