Trade Rumors and Free Agent TalkTrade rumors, transactions, and free agent talk. Rumors must contain the word RUMOR in post title. Proposals must contain the word PROPOSAL in post title.
You're a homer. That said, I don't see the reason for this deal. Kopitar and Giroux basically cancel eachother out with a slight edge to Giroux. So the meat of the deal is Meszaros and Gustaffson for Voynov and Hickey. I don't really see the point to be honest.
Exactly, from an outside perspective (I cheered for the Kings until the last round of the playoffs, even if I should hate them), I'd say that Giroux has a slight edge on Kopitar. The edge is strictly offensive potential though, Kopitar is miles ahead, defensively. However, Giroux is more marketable and seems more "superstar-ish" than Kopitar, from which much of his value is derived.
In a nutshell, this is a "spinning your wheels" kind of hockey move for both teams so there's no motivation from either side to rip up their team chemistry, mess up their marketing strategies or piss off their fan bases who already love these players who make up the core of this trade.
Also from the Kings perspective, even though this deal may be equal in value (or close enough), we'd rather have Kopitar and Voynov. Both centers in this deal are plenty good enough to be first line centers. But Voynov is a high potential PMD and gives us that 1-2 PMD punch on the top two pairings that all of the top contending teams seem to have. VV is our OEL, our Shattenkirk, our Gonchar, etc.
Last edited by Rorschach: 12-28-2012 at 01:38 PM.
Reason: Adding more...
The difference between Giroux and Kopitar is that I genuinely don't think Giroux has reached his peak yet. There's an extra 10/15 points for him if he wants it. I think Kopitar is amazing but with respect, he's probably not going to get any better.
The difference between Giroux and Kopitar is that I genuinely don't think Giroux has reached his peak yet. There's an extra 10/15 points for him if he wants it. I think Kopitar is amazing but with respect, he's probably not going to get any better.
Yeah............. Giroux being a year young means he's got so much further to go, but Kopitar? Nooo.........
The difference between Giroux and Kopitar is that I genuinely don't think Giroux has reached his peak yet. There's an extra 10/15 points for him if he wants it. I think Kopitar is amazing but with respect, he's probably not going to get any better.
The real question is, how many points would Kopitar put up in Philly's run and gun, no defence, system?
From an LA perspective, this really makes the team worse. Not arguing who's better or worse, it just doesn't fit for LA.
At the centerpiece, Kopitar for Giroux is not the direction LA would want to go. With Kopitar, LA has size, skill and defensive ability. He is the LA Kings prototypical player. In addition, I think it's accepted that players leaving the Flyers score less on their new teams than they did with the Flyers (and vice versa). While Giroux would still probably outscore Kopitar on the Kings, the difference would not come close to matching what was lost in size and defensive ability.
The LA Kings system fits Kopitar so well, I'm not sure there's a center not named Crosby or Malkin that could realistically be an upgrade within that system.
Giroux is not a step above Kopitar. His size is gonna lead to him being worn down just about every playoff run (especially since he plays gritty, we saw that happening over and over with Richards) and there is concussion history even though he seems to have recovered fine. Kopitar is also substantially ahead defensively and not too far behind offensively. If I could take one for a cup run I'd take Kopitar unless I'm really lacking playmaking.
