I'm sure that's exactly why DL signed him. I would be surprised to see Belanger and Avery on the Kings opening night. TK is probably now a 4th liner too.
TK may be in Manchester. I would be more surprised to see Belanger AND Armstrong on opening night. We know that DL thinks a lot of Avery so I don't think he's going anywhere.
Frolov-Conroy-Cammalleri (esentially your veteran scoring line)
Thornton-Kopitar-O'Sullivan (think Fedoruk, Getz, and Perry)
Brown-McAuley-Willsie (tough to play against)
Cowan-Avery-TK (true checking line)
I think that you'll see some of these older guys either get dealt or sent down permanently (ie waivers). Derek Armstrong's route to the AHL may be a lot like how Alex Daigle ended up in Manchester.
Honestly I think only 3 rookie forwards have a decent chance to make the team this year out of the camp.
O'Sullivan
Kopitar
Pushkarev
Of those I think we are only going to have at most 2 on the team. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if none of them make the team out of the camp.
Tukonen needs at least another season down in the AHL. I don't see a spot for Kanko. Guy is a future pest 3rd liner and we don't really need another one of those now. I also didn't really think he is NHL ready yet.
i'd rather have kanko's team mentality than avery's problems...
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That answer is inextricably contingent upon the type of life being led... and, of course, the quality of the pancakes.
That's got top 3 pick in the 07 draft all over it.
I'm of the opinion that we are going to deal a few guys pretty soon. Also, Reap you'd have to have at least O'Sullivan and potentially Kopitar in that lineup. Not just from a winning perspective but from a learning perspective.
We are not even close to the 3rd pick....
Good lord I think we really are under-estimating our talent. Even with one of the worst second halfs in the history of the team we still almost made the 8th spot and were in the playoffs for over 3/4's of the season.
From all of the rumours floating around, I think they're going to be dealt for an overpaid goalie.
chicago is going nowhere and probably wants to unload either aucoin or khabi...frankly i'd like to stay with garon/labarbara than getting khabi and his contract.
aucoin is a much nicer player to get for the kings.
TK may be in Manchester. I would be more surprised to see Belanger AND Armstrong on opening night. We know that DL thinks a lot of Avery so I don't think he's going anywhere.
Frolov-Conroy-Cammalleri (esentially your veteran scoring line)
Thornton-Kopitar-O'Sullivan (think Fedoruk, Getz, and Perry)
Brown-McAuley-Willsie (tough to play against)
Cowan-Avery-TK (true checking line)
I think that you'll see some of these older guys either get dealt or sent down permanently (ie waivers). Derek Armstrong's route to the AHL may be a lot like how Alex Daigle ended up in Manchester.
He could be, but $600k is ALOT to pay a guy to play in the AHL...and if they tried to recall him and a team claimed him, the Kings would pay $300k for him to play for the other team. Same with Army...$760k is ALOT to pay a minor leaguer. I would assume they would be traded for "future considerations" (to the Pens, Caps or Hawks?) rather than sent to the AHL.
TK may be in Manchester. I would be more surprised to see Belanger AND Armstrong on opening night. We know that DL thinks a lot of Avery so I don't think he's going anywhere.
I'm not sure if TK would pass through waivers...
Hopefully Avery can keep his crap together long enough for DL to get some sort of return for him...
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikolai19
I think that you'll see some of these older guys either get dealt or sent down permanently (ie waivers). Derek Armstrong's route to the AHL may be a lot like how Alex Daigle ended up in Manchester.
Daigle ended up in Manchester because Houston was over their limit on Vets. I'm not following you here...
Is there a limit to how many games an AHL vet can have on his resume? Besides that, I think both Armstrong and Kostopoulos have one-way deals. In the cap world(and even before it) that'll keep them in the NHL.
Not sure where Armstrong fits, although, over the last 3 years, averaged out over 82 games, it comes out to 50 points a year for him(take it for what it's worth). If Kostopoulos was the 4th line RW next year, that would be fine. He sticks up for his teammates, kills a few penalties, works his butt off. He's only signed for another year, and if that means Kanko gets another year in Manchester, it's not going to kill him.
All these hard working 3rd/4th line guys will allow the young guys to just play. Not forget about the rest of the game, but go out there and use their skill. Hopefully Brown gets at least 2nd line minutes. He had 14 goals in what was essentially his first NHL season. Put him on the PP a little more, he could hit 20. He needs to cut down on the trying-too-hard penalties though.
Is there a limit to how many games an AHL vet can have on his resume? Besides that, I think both Armstrong and Kostopoulos have one-way deals. In the cap world(and even before it) that'll keep them in the NHL.
Not sure where Armstrong fits, although, over the last 3 years, averaged out over 82 games, it comes out to 50 points a year for him(take it for what it's worth). If Kostopoulos was the 4th line RW next year, that would be fine. He sticks up for his teammates, kills a few penalties, works his butt off. He's only signed for another year, and if that means Kanko gets another year in Manchester, it's not going to kill him.
All these hard working 3rd/4th line guys will allow the young guys to just play. Not forget about the rest of the game, but go out there and use their skill. Hopefully Brown gets at least 2nd line minutes. He had 14 goals in what was essentially his first NHL season. Put him on the PP a little more, he could hit 20. He needs to cut down on the trying-too-hard penalties though.
There is a limit on how many veterans can dress for an AHL game...
What is this "veteran rule" I keep hearing about?
In the AHL, player development is a top priority. Therefore, a limit has been set on the number of "veterans" a team may dress for a game. The AHL considers a "veteran" any player who has played, as of the start of the season, more than 260 regular-season games combined in the AHL, NHL, IHL, or any European elite league.
Teams may dress a maximum of 17 skaters (plus two goaltenders) for a regular-season AHL game. Of these 17 skaters, no more than five may be classified as "veterans."
I'm not sure if TK would pass through waivers...
Hopefully Avery can keep his crap together long enough for DL to get some sort of return for him...
This will be one of those years that the Kings lose players on waivers to other teams...and they'll be good, solid, decent players that a few fans will be sad are gone. Kind of like Robitaille, Sim and Norton only better.
But that's a good thing because it means the overall talent is getting better.
Good lord I think we really are under-estimating our talent. Even with one of the worst second halfs in the history of the team we still almost made the 8th spot and were in the playoffs for over 3/4's of the season.
Its a big drop to be as bad as a Chicago.
I hope you're wrong. I would like to see the Kings flop so bad this year that we have a shot to draft the top 3 picks for next year's draft. It will give as an opportunity to get a franchise player we can build around.
Willsie strikes me as a replacement for Armstrong. Both are late-blooming journeymen who have good attitudes, are liked in the locker room and can hold their own on scoring lines, if they're needed there. The difference, though, is that Willsie appears to be more of a 2-way player, and that he's 5 years younger (would you believe that Armstrong is 33?).
Besides just a likely replacement for a current guy like Armstrong, I think that Lombardi may see a player that could be on the verge of solidifying his importance to a team, perhaps even taking his game to the next level.
As long as this is another player (like McCauley) signed for the 3rd-line who could play on the 2nd if required to, then I'm happy. It might actually be one of the better arrangements to have a bunch of 3rd liners like this because they're not a threat to take away from the kids the spots on the top 2 lines, yet they're capable enough to move up if the kids aren't ready.
As for the stockpiling, it's possible that Lombardi is holding onto the extras (guys like Armstrong, Belanger, Avery) until the UFA pool thins out and teams left shorthanded are a little desperate. It might be only the difference between next to nothing and a 5th rounder, but that's still something.
I hope you're wrong. I would like to see the Kings flop so bad this year that we have a shot to draft the top 3 picks for next year's draft. It will give as an opportunity to get a franchise player we can build around.
Problem with that is that most likely the guy you get with that top-3 isn't going to be ready for at least 3-4 years. Which means many of the young guys we have now are either going into RFA/UFA or are very very close. So you end up having to rebuild the team all over again.
Think its better to just hope that the youth we have now can be turned into something good then "rebuilding" every couple of years or so. Besides we havn't really waited long enough to see if the guys we have now are going to be anything....
A deal has to be coming. We just have too many forwards now.
Depends we have a team with a 1st line and a bunch of depth lines or we have a team with a bunch of rookies geting lots of minutes. Same team really... Just depends on who you scratch.
This will be one of those years that the Kings lose players on waivers to other teams...and they'll be good, solid, decent players that a few fans will be sad are gone. Kind of like Robitaille, Sim and Norton only better.
You're probably right...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jt
But that's a good thing because it means the overall talent is getting better.
. But I would be beside myself if we traded either Brown or Frolov for them...
