By Brian Smith
Since we last met…
The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, Free Agent Frenzy began 48-hours later when teams were allowed to use their bailout, um, er… ahem! Compliance Buyout option, and the 2013 Entry Draft went down… with a couple of surprises along the way!
So, what???
Well, Jonathan Bernier is headed to the Toronto Maple Leafs. And in return, the Kings received Right Winger Matt Frattin, Goaltender Ben Scrivens, a 2nd Round Draft Pick - with Toronto having the option of the pick being in either the 2014 or 2015 Entry Draft, and $500K in salary cap relief.
Frattin has apparently been on the Kings radar for some time now. According to the twitterverse, Dean - tried to trade for Frattin a couple of years ago. Also, it seems as if Ron Hextall's son, Brett played with Matt at North Dakota for 3-years. I've seen none but a few Leafs games in the last couple of years, and not much of Frattin. I gather by what I've been reading that he's (in Kingspeak) somewhere in-between Brown and Clifford with a little more top end because of his willingness to move the play with speed, and either hit you with his shot off the rush, or slash to the net for garbage.
I still think Clifford is going to end up being moved.
Ben Scrivens seems to be getting a raw deal around town, man… With Scrivens you get an actual back-up. A spot starter who's a year older, much cheaper, and probably better suited than Bernier to come off the bench, cold. I would gather it not too far a stretch to assume (being an Ivy Leaguer) Ben also has the right mental makeup necessary to play Goaler 2 in a Sutter rotation that leans way heavy on playing your number one. He'll be an unrestricted Free-Agent at the end of the year, whereas Bernier is an RFA now, and Toronto needs to negotiate a deal… I would imagine Bernier has a number in mind, and it will certainly be for no less than Reimer's $1.8 Million (cap-hit).
One thing you have to remember about Bernier Vs. Scrivens is role… Number ones tend to need to get into a rhythm to play well - which is why we always hear about how so and so "thrives" the more he plays. Bernier was at the point of tipping the scales to where he would no longer likely be an effective back-up, so they couldn't retard his progress any further. If you didn't notice, he played a helluva lot better when he started as opposed to when he came on in relief this year - with exception to the playoffs, where he was as sharp as to be expected.
Behind a Kings defense rather than a Leafs defense is something to consider here. This isn't a debate over who has a better group of defensemen (though that one probably can't even be argued), it's the complete game up and down the lineup. I reckon there will be a bunch of I told you so's early on with a complete disregard for the transition Bernier is in for. I mean Toronto is the center of the Hockeyverse, and it is heavy on players… and he's a francophone. I imagine he's gonna have a rough start. Look at the facts…
7th ranked defense this year (3rd in shots allowed) / 2nd last year (5th in shots allowed)
Tops in the post-season this year (4th in shots allowed) / tops last year (4th in shots against.)
Basically the Kings are among the top-5 defensive teams in the NHL
By comparison, Toronto's defense was ranked 17th this year, and were 27th in shots against / up from 29th last year (24th in shots against)
This year the Maple Leafs gave up a league worst average of 39 shots a game in the playoffs.
Big Ben is also going to be working with Bill Ranford… and Hexy's always around.
And so it was reported that Bernier had mentioned he was "miserable" here in Los Angeles. While many may have taken that as a slight (don't forget he had been previously quoted giving props to Dean Lombardi for everything), I honestly don't believe it was anywhere NEAR the same galaxy as Tim Leiweke's comments were. I think you have to really take into consideration the fact that his (Bernier's) position would have been understandable for every backup. But every backup isn't behind one of the three best keepers in the world.
Personally, I wish him all the best. He's a terrific goaltender, and quite frankly, I truly believe he should be considered among the team's MVP's this season because the Kings probably wouldn't have made the playoffs without him. Everyone knew over a year ago that he wanted to leave, and was probably disappointed a little when he wasn't moved at the deadline. But he swallowed it ( and I'm sure appreciated being able to add Stanley Cup to his résumé as well) and showed up this season like a real Mensch.
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At the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Corey Schneider was surprisingly traded to become Ali's heir in New jersey for a Top 10 pick (a trade I could probably talk for hours about). So of course, many people felt the Kings should have gotten more for Bernier had Dean waited until draft day. I can't abide by that, necessarily. Toronto was probably the only team that would have been able to afford Roberto Luongo, so had Dean waited, who's to say Luongo isn't a Leaf right now, Corey Schneider's deal never happens... and so on? As it stands, in addition to the return on the deal, they've already significantly impacted a (newly added) Division rival, and we ain't even hit training camp yet.
Besides… Dean seemed perfectly content kissing Uncle Lou's ass all night long.
I read a silly article yesterday that said something to the effect that Dean Lombardi rarely ever makes draft day trades… and thought to myself - wait, hasn't he made a trade at every draft since he's been here? Well, yes, and he did so again by moving up higher in the 2nd round to draft ANOTHER RIGHTY!
All kidding aside, my pal David Hofreiter, who rides the sobriquet King'sPawn over at Letsgokings.com has a very comprehensive thread dedicated to the draft, something he's done every year for a while now. He tends to focus on players who may be of interest based upon Dean's drafting pattern and history. It's always an awesome read, as in a number of people eventually contribute pre-draft analyses of their own. I suggest you check it out… It's a stickied thread in case you're interested.
this is KP with a few kooky observations about the draft...
• "Just wanted to point out some interesting stuff:
I had said the Kings have NEVER gone a year without drafting a player from the CHL Top Prospects game. This year? They drafted Valentin Zykov.
Before this year, the Kings most frequently picked from the OHL than any other league, and most of their forwards came from the OHL. This year, the Kings drafted 3 of their 7 picks from the OHL; two were from the same team, with two forwards and one defenseman (Kubalik, Auger, Leslie)
We said before that the Kings have never gone two drafts in a row without drafting a goalie, and they have never taken a goalie from the OHL. This year, the Kings DID draft a goalie, and he was from the WHL. (Bartosak)
When the Kings pick international players, they seem to prefer players who commit to North America ASAP. This year, they drafted three Europeans who are already imports. If they were to pick a player of European heritage, they would pick a European goalie who is already overseas, which they did (like Christopher Gibson).
The least frequent size player range the Kings have drafted is under 6'. This year, they drafted nobody under 6' tall.
They drafted one player from the USNTDP; he is committed to Minnesota of the WCHA, which is the favorite NCAA division from which Lombardi drafts." •
I trust David, and many more will have much more to talk about with regard to this draft once Prospect Camp rolls around… I hope to see some of you there!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot… Meanwhile, on As the Piece Turns, ESPN's Pierre LeBrun seems to be the one dialed in to whatever is going on with the Kings and Rob Scuderi, as most information is seemingly coming from him. So I suggest you tune into him as well. It's still - talks are on going, Kings are very interested, nothing close...
If the word is true, I can't see how interested they should be in a Defenseman with a LOT of miles, looking for a 4/4 deal.
ciao!
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