yave1964 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS: High. Stanley Cup champions, returning essentially the entire team, no reason that they should not be considered for another deep run, a chance to go for their 3rd cup in five years. FINAL RECORD:40-27-15 95 POINTS 9th in West, missed playoffs. HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON:Banner raising ceremony on opening day is always special, marred only by losing to the hated Sharks 4-0. They went on a streak, two weeks into the year they were sitting at 6-1-1 and looking royal. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: After defeating the Canucks 4-0 on March 12th they were sitting at 33-21-13 and looked to be a lock to make the postseason. From there they lost one won one pretty much the rest of the year and were passed by the Wild, Jets, and Flames and the Canucks also held them off. The Kings became only the third team in the past 45 years to win a cup one year and miss the postseason the next. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Tyler Toffoli got off to a blazing start and then was injured, he still put up very good stats. Anze Kopitar overcame a bad start to storm back, nearly leading the Kings to the postseason and leading them in points scored. Jeff Carter had 28 goals, Marion Gaborik had 27. Drew Doughty was brilliant and Jake Muzzin was a wonderful number two on defense. Quick and Martin Jones had a combined 2.24 goals against. WHAT WENT WRONG: For starters, Slava Voynov picked the wrong year to beat his wife, and was suspended for the entire season. Captain Dustin Brown was a shadow of his former self, his hard charging ways finally seem to have broken him down. Mike Richards was beyond bad and even had a stint playing for Manchester in the AHL. The teamwas not really that bad, but a lot of guys like Justin Williams were simply ordinary. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: Tyler Toffoli had more short handed goals than 14 teams, all by himself. MVP: I am going with Doughty who had a solid year (7-39-46) over Kopitar who led the team in scoring because Doughty was consistently brilliant all year. UFA's:Justin WilliamsJarret StollAndrej SekeraRegher (retired)Jamie McBain TOP PROSPECTS FOR 2015-16: Tanner {Pearson scored 12 goals in limited time and look for him to play top nine minutes next year. Nick Shore could step into the role played by Stoll. A few others, Zykov and Kempe could get their feet wet next year. OFFSEASON QUESTIONS: The Kings barely missed the postseason, does GM Lombardi make serious moves or simply tweak the roster? A lot of grumbling is going around that Darryl Sutter is losing the room, is he on a short leash? With Voynov, Sekera, Regher and McBain likely not returning for next year and no ready now prospects down on the farm for the back end, where do they find defense or are they planning on playing Doughty sixty minutes a night? Will the team hit the door with n attitude after barely missing the postseason, instead of their usual laid back California style where they usually just sneak in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS: High. Stanley Cup champions, returning essentially the entire team, no reason that they should not be considered for another deep run, a chance to go for their 3rd cup in five years. FINAL RECORD:40-27-15 95 POINTS 9th in West, missed playoffs.HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON:Banner raising ceremony on opening day is always special, marred only by losing to the hated Sharks 4-0. They went on a streak, two weeks into the year they were sitting at 6-1-1 and looking royal.LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: After defeating the Canucks 4-0 on March 12th they were sitting at 33-21-13 and looked to be a lock to make the postseason. From there they lost one won one pretty much the rest of the year and were passed by the Wild, Jets, and Flames and the Canucks also held them off. The Kings became only the third team in the past 45 years to win a cup one year and miss the postseason the next. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Tyler Toffoli got off to a blazing start and then was injured, he still put up very good stats. Anze Kopitar overcame a bad start to storm back, nearly leading the Kings to the postseason and leading them in points scored. Jeff Carter had 28 goals, Marion Gaborik had 27. Drew Doughty was brilliant and Jake Muzzin was a wonderful number two on defense. Quick and Martin Jones had a combined 2.24 goals against.WHAT WENT WRONG: For starters, Slava Voynov picked the wrong year to beat his wife, and was suspended for the entire season. Captain Dustin Brown was a shadow of his former self, his hard charging ways finally seem to have broken him down. Mike Richards was beyond bad and even had a stint playing for Manchester in the AHL. The teamwas not really that bad, but a lot of guys like Justin Williams were simply ordinary. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: Tyler Toffoli had more short handed goals than 14 teams, all by himself.MVP: I am going with Doughty who had a solid year (7-39-46) over Kopitar who led the team in scoring because Doughty was consistently brilliant all year.UFA's:Justin WilliamsJarret StollAndrej SekeraRegher (retired)Jamie McBainTOP PROSPECTS FOR 2015-16:Tanner {Pearson scored 12 goals in limited time and look for him to play top nine minutes next year. Nick Shore could step into the role played by Stoll. A few others, Zykov and Kempe could get their feet wet next year.OFFSEASON QUESTIONS: The Kings barely missed the postseason, does GM Lombardi make serious moves or simply tweak the roster? A lot of grumbling is going around that Darryl Sutter is losing the room, is he on a short leash? With Voynov, Sekera, Regher and McBain likely not returning for next year and no ready now prospects down on the farm for the back end, where do they find defense or are they planning on playing Doughty sixty minutes a night? Will the team hit the door with n attitude after barely missing the postseason, instead of their usual laid back California style where they usually just sneak in?Regehr is retiring?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Regehr is retiring?! Yep. Right around mid season, when I was looking at potential UFA's, I was hoping the Lightning could entice him to come over on a two year contract as a solid physical 3rd pair guy while some of their younger defensemen from the AHL properly developed into NHL caliber players. But alas, he felt his time was done. http://thesportsquotient.com/nhl/2015/4/19/los-angeles-kings-d-robyn-regehr-calls-it-quits-after Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 @TropicalFruitGirl26 Huh, go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 The kings, like the Hawks and Bruins are also in cap trouble. Just not to the same degree. Kings have a manageable situation.Toffoli is RFA too. 49 points, 3rd on the team. Not as enticing as Saad, but an offer sheet target. Kopitar being UFA in a year could potentially suck for them too. how the Voynov situation plays out will be important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 @TropicalFruitGirl26 Huh, go figure. Yeah news to me too...well at least he won a Cup...can't blame him 15 years is a solid career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Yeah news to me too...well at least he won a Cup...can't blame him 15 years is a solid career. Yeah, about 10-12 years longer than the average. And a Cup as you say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Toffoli is RFA too. 49 points, 3rd on the team. Not as enticing as Saad, but an offer sheet target. I think Taffoli is WAY better than Sadd. WAY higher ceiling....Saad can get better, but Taffoli can get significantly better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I don't think the Kings will sign any of their free agents. ESPN has a lengthy article on the "Anatomy of the Kings' trying season" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 I think Taffoli is WAY better than Sadd. WAY higher ceiling....Saad can get better, but Taffoli can get significantly better.I think you are nuts lol. They are equal to me, but different sort of players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 @jammer2@J0e Th0rnton My opinion, Saad has more upside as a goal scorer but Toffoli is not a bad scorer himself and is now and will continue to be the more complete player. He kills penalties with the best of them and seems to get a chance for a shorty every night, he is defensibly responsible, my kind of player. Saad as well, but in a different way. If I could have only one of them, it is razor close but IMHO I would go with Toffoli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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