kliq

Its funny how people are still trying to go with this narrative. 4.75 million for a guy who scored 52 points this year isn't a bad contract by a long shot.Not sure how Tatar's contract is bad considering he isn't even signed yet. Wanting to leave these two exposed while protecting Nosek should lose your right to ever judge Holland again lol.

Unfortunately no. Players exempt are: EXEMPT AGE POS CAP HIT EXPIRY INJ Franzen, Johan 37 RW $3,954,545 UFA (2020) INJ Vitale, Joe 31 C $1,116,667 UFA (2017) Larkin, Dylan 20 C $925,000 RFA (2018) Svechnikov, Evgeny 20 LW $894,167 RFA (2019) Sadowy, Dylan 21 LW $880,833 RFA (2019) Smith, Givani 19 LW $725,833 RFA (2019) Holmström, Axel 20 C $686,667 RFA (2019) Turgeon, Dominic 21 C $686,667 RFA (2019) Bertuzzi, Tyler 22 LW $661,667 RFA (2018) Nastasiuk, Zach 22 RW $647,500 RFA (2018) Lorito, Matt 26 LW $637,500 UFA (2018) Renouf, Daniel 22 D $767,500 RFA (2018) Hronek, Filip 19 D $725,833 RFA (2019) Saarijärvi, Vili 19 D $686,667 RFA (2019) Russo, Robbie 24 D $680,000 RFA (2017) Hicketts, Joe 20 D $635,000 RFA (2019) Cholowski, Dennis 19 D $925,000 RFA (2020) Paterson, Jake 22 G $628,333 RFA (2017)

You're right, Larkin is exempt.

http://www.tsn.ca/kings-fire-sutter-lombardi-promote-robitaille-blake-1.721029

It's actually much more impressive as he did it without any high draft picks.

In this thread you didnt say that, but in previous threads you have said you wanted to "burn it down" "scorched earth" which to me implies getting rid of everybody. The second part I agree with you, I do wish we played more of the kids. I wish Holland didnt make the Datsyuk trade, drafted Chuchrun, played him, and I wish Blashill played guys like AA & Mantha from the start and stopped playing guys like MIller. I'm sick of seeing guys like Sproul and Jurco in the press box while guys like Miller, Glendening etc. play every game. The last part I agree with as well. See we dont disagree on everything lol.

When did I say this Frank? I dare you to find a single post where I say that we need to keep the streak alive at all costs. "Newsflash" it won't happen. You seem to think that tanking guarantees success, and then when you are proved wrong just make excuses. I have never said that I want the status quo to be followed, once again you are putting words in my mouth. I would prefer we go the Toronto route which I know you mistakenly think was tanking. With the exception of maybe 1 season (last year) they didnt tank. They traded Kessel, Pheunef, Clackson and some spare parts but kept alot of their team in tact. I would like us to shed some of the bad contracts we have, and build with our kids. Hopefully we win the lottery this year and land Patrick, and hopefully we trade for Trouba. We do this and I think we are in a very good spot. What I do not want is to trade every single player on this team, and hope to potentially be a playoff team in 6 years. That's wearing rose colored glasses.

You can't bring logic to an emotional argument.

Well who we draft this year i a huge factor. If we get lucky and land #1 and get Patrick, we will have the luxury of being able to get rid of one of our forwards. We have zero studs in waiting on D. Who is our best D prospect? Hicketts? Kid may be good, but not 1A good.

So Frank, how is your tanking strategy working for Buffao, Arizona, Colorado, Carolina, Florida? You really seem to believe that tanking guarantees success, maybe those rose colored glasses you always talk about are looking back at you in the mirror.

You misinterpreted my post Frank, I do not believe those two are actually garbage. My point is that some LA fans thought they were garbage, just as some Wings fans think Holland/Blashill are garbage, I'm drawing parallels here. The reason for the "quotes" are because I am pointing out that perception from one teams fan-base are not always in touch with the perception of others as a team's own fan-base generally forms opinions based on emotion opposed to logic and facts. LA fans wanted to fire these two while Detroit fans are screaming to sign them. Do you see my point? So which is it? Is LA correct and they deserved to be fired? Or are they not "garbage" and LA is refusing to accept the true realities of today's NHL? IMO its the latter. With all this being said, who knows what actually happens behind the scenes. I am actually a fan of Lombardi and Sutter and believe that LA made a mistake firing them. Hence my grass is always greener comment. Maybe we should swap GM's lol, Holland is one of the best ever at keeping a good team good for a long time, but has very little experience in re-building. Lombardi has appeared to struggle to keep LA good for more then a few years, but has a track record in re-building.

Not sure why anyone is surprised by this, exactly what I expected.

I agree with this. I am open to change when it is an upgrade or at worst a lateral move. My issue is when certain people make it sound like change is ALWAYS better regardless of who you are bringing in.

Blashill was just named Head Coach of Team USA at the Worlds http://www.tsn.ca/wings-blashill-to-coach-usa-at-worlds-1.721627

You know he played in only 60 games right? 33 points in 60 games is on pace for 45 points in 82 games, which falls in line with your own parameters. Sure he hasn't done this consistently, but at 23 he hasn't had time to anything consistently. Like I said, only time will tell.

Going back to my original point of the grass is always greener, your just helping me make my point Frank. LA's "garbage" is an "upgrade" for us, our "garbage" would be an "upgrade" for other teams. It's the nature of sports.Holland is let go, fans of other teams would say the same thing as what you are saying right now about Lombardi. I hope what this shows people (though I know it won't) is that in today's NHL parity is ridiculous and every team will go through ups and down's more then ever. Even a GM/coach that are perceived as some of the best in the league are turned on by their fan base/ownership. A team can go from being a cup winner to not making the playoffs (LA) in a season, and a team can go from being at the bottom of the standing (Columbus) to being a contender in one season.

I think we are debating different things here. I am in no way defending any of Blashill's actions such as putting Sheahan on the PP. The point I was making is that I dont care what the coach or GM says to the media.

I'm sure bitter Kings fans are saying the same thing.

You make a very valid point, you could argue Sutter was not able to get a Stanley Cup caliber team even into the playoffs. It's the grass is greener mentality. If the Wings ever let go of Holland, I guarantee a ton of teams and fan bases would be screaming for their teams to get him.

Agreed, you were crystal clear that you thought Trouba was better then Smith, that point wasn't lost on me, my apologies if I articulated my point to where that wasn't clear. The problem with your comparison is that Trouba and Smith are not on the same level, and by comparing them you are subtly bringing Trouba down a peg in terms of perception. You are an extremely smart guy Kip, I know you know this as the main point of your post was to bring the perception of Trouba down. To be fair though, you said nothing about his flaws being overlooked, maybe that was your intention, but your exact words were: "Trouba isn't a #1 defenseman. He's not going to develop into one either. He's a perfectly good defenseman, but if you want a top guy (and everyone seems to) then it's not going to be him. His offense just isn't' good enough." The main part of my point is that he is on a trajectory that says otherwise (see the stats I already posted). I brought up stats because you said his offense isnt good enough. I get it, some (possibly myself included) put him on a pedestal, and it's annoying when people do that, but it doesn't mean the kid doesn't have the potential, only time will tell. I think he will become a 1A d-man, you don't, the only thing we can do is see what happens.

I cant sit here and tell you that Trouba is a guaranteed #1 because the reality of the situation is that I don't know, but I think he is light years above Brendan Smith. This year at age 23, in 60 games he got 33 points which is good for .55 points per game which puts him at 20th in the NHL for D-men. Smith's career high is 19 points, Trouba is at a completely different level. IMO if he is #20 in the league for d-men in scoring at 23, it is not ridiculous to believe that when he enters his prime he can't be top 10. You don't need to win the norris to be a #1, I believe Trouba can be a legit #1.

I'm not going to argue for Blashill, but what these guys say to the media means nothing. Unless you are Torts, you are not going to publicly throw your player under the bus.

They can win the lottery and get the 1st overall pick.

Very small chance these two are brought in. MAYBE Sutter, but no way Illitch gets rid of Holland unless he's bringing in Yzerman. Plus, with Yzerman's future still in doubt in TB (ie. no ext signed) I cant see Illitch bringing in another GM because if Holland stepped down, Lomardi was brought in, then Yzerman became available, this fan base would lose their s***.

I don't think anyone wants him gone, the line of thinking is what would it take to get Trouba and the consensus is that one of Larkin, Mantha, or AA would need to be dealt. With that being the case, AA is the person most people are choosing.