Hmm, tough one, I'm against L.A. though, I don't think they have a whole lot to be scared of, but obviously a team like the Avalanche have a lot of young talent that can be real good, and also the Lightning for sure. I will have to defend my stance against L.A. I'm sure, but my opinion on them is they don't have much going on outside of Kopitar and Doughty.
Hmm, tough one, I'm against L.A. though, I don't think they have a whole lot to be scared of, but obviously a team like the Avalanche have a lot of young talent that can be real good. I will have to defend my stance against L.A. I'm sure, but my opinion on them is they don't have much going on outside of Kopitar and Doughty.
Well they also have Jack Johnson (olympian), Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Bernier, Dustin Brown, and Thomas Hickey if he lives up to his potential. Simmonds could be good as well.
Besides, they have the future best defenseman in the league in Drew Doughty and he, along with Kopitar as you mentioned, would be enough for a lot of teams.
Well they also have Jack Johnson (olympian), Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Bernier, Dustin Brown, and Thomas Hickey if he lives up to his potential. Simmonds could be good as well.
Besides, they have the future best defenseman in the league in Drew Doughty and he, along with Kopitar as you mentioned, would be enough for a lot of teams.
I don't see the depth going forward. Sure, they can potentially have a good team from the defense to the net, but I just don't like there group of forwards outside of Kopitar. Even though it will be downplayed, I think losing Frolov was a big loss, despite his struggles, he was still a guy the other team had to watch out for.
Well they also have Jack Johnson (olympian), Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Bernier, Dustin Brown, and Thomas Hickey if he lives up to his potential. Simmonds could be good as well.
Besides, they have the future best defenseman in the league in Drew Doughty and he, along with Kopitar as you mentioned, would be enough for a lot of teams.
Brayden Schenn, too. I see big things in LA's future if they can keep their key young guys around.
Brayden Schenn, too. I see big things in LA's future if they can keep their key young guys around.
ehh, Schenn is okay I guess. Schenn is there only guy outside of kopitar that projects to be a possibly good offensive player. You can say Simmonds, but I always seem him more of a banger like Brown. There defense can be outstanding, but I think at forward they have a lot of work to do outside of there bottom six or tweener second line guys.
LA has prospects and young players proving their worth at every position already, which is why I think they're a good bet going forward to emerge as a power.
I don't see the depth going forward. Sure, they can potentially have a good team from the defense to the net, but I just don't like there group of forwards outside of Kopitar. Even though it will be downplayed, I think losing Frolov was a big loss, despite his struggles, he was still a guy the other team had to watch out for.
Well you're the first person I've heard who has questioned their forward corps. Sure, they're no Washington, Chicago, or Pittsburgh, but they're defense is/will be more than good enough to make up for any holes in their offense.
I fully respect your opinion though. To each his own, eh?
ehh, Schenn is okay I guess. Schenn is there only guy outside of kopitar that projects to be a possibly good offensive player. You can say Simmonds, but I always seem him more of a banger like Brown. There defense can be outstanding, but I think at forward they have a lot of work to do outside of there bottom six or tweener second line guys.
I'll agree with you there. They certainly aren't built like the young Chicago teams leading up to this past year; they don't have that same kind of offensive firepower. They were still 7th in the league in GF last year with a lot of the young guys leading the way up front, so I'm not terribly concerned about their offense looking forward. If a guys like Schenn and Loktionov can develop into quality top six forwards that can consistently create offense, they would form a real nice nucleus with Kopitar, Brown, and Simmonds. I'll agree with you, though, that their forward group is not elite right now and may never be. I like Colorado's group of young guys up front significantly more, but Los Angeles's future in goal and on the back end are much brighter IMO.
Given that I obviously follow the Kings, I will ignore them for my east and west selections. The two I have my eye on in the west are the Yotes and the Avs. I personally look at the Avs as being the most dangerous though the Yotes probably have the best intangibles where it counts. The Yotes are extremely fast and Bryz is very solid in goal and kills us everytime we play them, but the forward group I see emerging in the Avs strikes fear in me, I think their future looks lethal.
I have questions about both their defense and goaltending going into the future, but they have a great prospect pool on the back end, and some goaltending options that should arise for them going into the future. With that forward group, they are going to be tough to beat once that blueline fills out with that young talent.
For the east, the answer for me is the Lightning. They are just stockpiling ridiculous talent when they already have some ridiculous talent developed. When things click, the sky could be the limit. Not much else to say, other than questions I have about goaltending. If they can acquire a stable goaltender that they can lean on and steal games for them, I expect that team to explode up the standings.
As for my Kings, obviously the issues are all mostly with the forwards and the development of the goaltending. Defense looks strong, and the prospect pool is flush. The Kings can practically put a first round youngster in every defensive position, not that they would or should, but the fact that they can is comforting. With the future secure in Doughty, Johnson, Hickey, Teubert, Forbort, and Voynov, defense is the team's last concern.
The goaltending is their key going forward. Bernier's development is huge, and now that he signed that contract, the Kings have both Bernier and Quick in net for the next 3 seasons for a combined cap hit under $3 million. They can afford to be patient with them, and both have had great success thus far. There is no reason to think they can't get there, but there is nothing telling us they absolutely will...
The biggest question marks lie with the forward group. Top prospects going forward are not easy to find. Offensively Schenn, Loktionov, and Toffoli lead the way. Schenn will likely make the team this season playing a bottom 6 role and Loktionov could only be held off for another season at most given that he is about as NHL ready as it gets. Loktionov has the most offensive skill and is best suited for a top 6 role, but Schenn's abilities can't be underestimated and there will be a battle for that second line center position in the near future. Toffoli is our best winger prospect, and he seems well on his way to earning a top 6 job one day, but he is a couple seasons away at the earliest. Another one to look out for is Kyle Clifford. He is under the radar but he is poised to be Simmonds 2.0 and become a force on the third line once Poni leaves.
The forward groups are pretty decent though thus far, but obviously missing that one big gamebreaker outside of Kopitar. The Smyth-Kopitar-Brown line is likely going to be great, and the Ponikarovsky-Handzus-Simmonds line is going to continue to be our solid third line, but our second line still has a lot of questions surrounding it and the secondary scoring is in question. Stoll is good, but better suited for a third line role, and outside of faceoffs he doesn't stand out in any way whatsoever. Williams looks new and improved and poised to have a tenacious season - he has worked very hard this offseason and has gained some noticeable speed and got his step back, but no one really knows if he can make it a full season. And then there is Parse who is our ultimate question mark on the entire team over whether or not he can handle a second line left winger job. The odds are against him, but he will have his chance, if not then Brad Richardson replaces him, but that will likely result in similar production.
Overall, they have the tools, the question is can they put it together? The only reassurance going forward is Lombardi knows he needs a gamebreaking top 6 foward, and the Kings easily have the assets to obtain one, but given Lombardi's patience and history of acquiring such a player, it begs the question of how long will that really take?
Either way, it is going to be a fun season full of battles and rivalries in the west
The Kings roster as it stands this very moment:
Smyth-Kopitar-Brown
Richardson-Stoll-Williams
Ponikarovsky-Handzus-Simmonds
Clifford-Schenn/Loktionov-Westgarth
Lewis
IR - Parse, Greene (will likely replace Muzzin when he returns)
The likely forward group after Parse returns:
Smyth-Kopitar-Brown
Parse-Stoll-Williams
Ponikarovsky-Handzus-Simmonds
Richardson-Schenn-Westgarth
Lewis
__________________
"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.
can't believe I forgot Schenn! lol
