We are going to pull it all together here with the final two evaluations coming together, on two wingers who were incredibly important to the Kings down the stretch.
First is the young rookie phenom, Tyler Toffoli.
Second is the veteran Conn Smythe winner, Justin Williams.
Let's get these bad boys over with.
Tyler Toffoli #73
Age : 22
Contract Status: $716K ELC through 2014-15
Stats:
Other stats:
iFenwick/60: 13.195 (3rd on the team)
IPP (Individual point percentage - The % of goals scored while player was on ice that the player had a point on) - 75.9%
Shooting percentage - 8.7
HE WAS AWESOME IN THE PLAYOFFS
His season
Toffoli was awesome. No, I'm not just saying that because we all like fresh young faces and we all want prospects to succeed. We all do want those things but it's easy to root for players when they play as strong as Toffoli did this year. He didn't start out the season with the Kings if you recall, and he had to deal with being sent to the minors after it seemed almost assured that he would be a full-time NHL player. The minors didn't hold Toffoli for long, as he burst back onto the scene in November and never looked back.
His stat pack is pretty desirable overall. All of his advanced stats rank highly on the team, be it fenwick, corsi, or his quality of ice time. I mean, just look at him chillin out here with his good performances with quality ice time.
For those unversed in what this chart is representing, I highly suggest checking out
David Johnson's Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com. Incredibly solid site with a wealth of stats to mull over on each player. For now we shall cheat sheet you a bit here straight from the site.
HARO = Hockey Analysis Rating Offense = An all inclusive offensive rating (0=average, >0=above average)
HARD = Hockey Analysis Rating Defense = An all inclusive defensive rating (0=average, >0=above average)
So yea. Toffoli was pretty good. Overall his minutes weren't extremely protected either by Darryl Sutter, and the veteran coach who is notoriously hard on young players seemed to trust his young forward in a lot of situations. Toffoli played a ton of time on the powerplay and was used fairly heavily at times in the playoffs in a top 6 role. The 22-year old even had a few games in the playoffs where he was pushing the 20-minute mark. With that being said he didn't see a ton of overall ice-time, and was actually 8th amongst Kings forwards in the post-season when it came to minutes. Sutter usually opted to play the hot hand when it came to both Toffoli and Pearson. Nonetheless, it was great stuff from a young player and hopefully something we can all look forward to as he progresses. On a straight production level it's hard to be unhappy with a near 30 point abbreviated first season. Had he played a full 82 it may have been closer to 40.
He was involved in one of the biggest plays in Kings history as well, having notched the primary assist on the Kings Cup winning goal.
Moving Forward
He simply has to show us more. He is up for contract off his ELC next season and he stands to make a decent amount on his bridge contract. He played the role last season of a burgeoning young talent, and now he needs to step into the limelight. The AHL holds nothing for Toffoli now , and his main focus should be adjusting to the NHL and learning to adapt.
As far as this season goes, it's hard to find any fault in his play. He was solid through and through. The sky's the limit for young Toffoli.
Final Grade: A
Now enter Mr. Game se....oh yea he doesn't like that. Maybe Mr. Conn Smythe?? Nah. Whatever.
Justin Williams #14
Age: 32
Contract Status: $3.650MM AAV through 2014-15
Stats:
His season:
Seriously. That's all that needs to be said with Williams. I normally try not to gauge a player's season based on the outcome or the playoff run, but when you have one that impressive it's hard to ignore it. Williams also had a fairly productive regular season as well, getting into the 40-50 point range yet again. As far as all his fancy stats go? You guessed it, they all look solid as can be.
Moving Forward:
Williams is entering a contract year. If he has another year even close to this last one you can imagine the Kings are keen on keeping him. Heck they might be anyways. Williams isn't just a prototypical top 6 player, he has some nasty to him and he will play a third line checking role. He did it the entire playoffs and that seemed to work out fairly well for he and the Kings. It will come down to money and term obviously when Williams and the Kings sit down at the negotiating table. At age 32 he is no spring chicken, but Williams is arguably one of the best players on the team right now. I can't envision him going anywhere else.
As far as a more short term outlook: Stay healthy, stay productive. If Williams can do those two things he is going to be an important cog in the Kings machine for another year running. He is a massive part to the team and he proved it in the postseason.
A's for everyone today!
Final Grade: A
Alright. Fin. Reviews done!
Thanks for sticking with me through the summer on that. And hey look at that, we have real hockey in just about 3 weeks time. Buckle up everyone and get ready!
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A little side note of news on Kevin Gravel.
Jon Rosen, the reliable LA Kings Insider,
posted this fine feature on LAKI discussing Gravel and the Kings. It appears that while Gravel isn't signed by the Kings, only the Monarchs, he is still in a position where teams have to ask the Kings to negotiate with him. Seems like a loophole to me, but the CBA is filled with these sorts of fun little things. Confusing yes, but the silver lining here is that the Kings seem intent on holding on to the rugged defenseman.
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