Earlier today, the Kings held a press conference announcing John Stevens as their new head coach. Here are some thoughts:
John Stevens
"I'm going to start to answer your offensive question by answering about defense. The success here and in the National Hockey League comes from teams who can defend."
If anybody was still expecting a sweeping change to LA's philosophy, this should put that to rest.
"We don't get enough in the middle of the ice...on the rush, in the zone, getting to the net.
"I think part of our identity as a hockey team has to be that the LA Kings are a team that goes hard to the net, and quite honestly, if we lead the league next year in coach's challenges for goalie interference, I’d be really happy about that."
How do you achieve this with similar personnel?
We may see less emphasis on low-to-high plays in the offensive zone. Low to high often resulted in Los Angeles point shots. I think the forwards, in general, created enough traffic last year, but the shot origination area could've been lower in the zone. In short, we may see less "fire at will" from blueliners Drew Doughty and company.
Of course, it's easier said than done to get into the middle of the ice.
Perhaps LA will emulate San Jose's behind-the-net emphasis, which Ryan Stimson
broke down well.
Could we see Anze Kopitar take a more Joe Thornton-like role in the attack? We're used to see Kopitar circle from behind the net and drop it off to the point, perhaps he'll be pushed to look for another play lower in the offensive zone.
This doesn't mean that low to high will go away, but there may be just a little bit less of it.
Rob Blake
"The philosophy that the team has been built on the defensive side, like I’ve said, over and over, will stay intact. Brodzinski is a little different player than Dwight King. Adrian Kempe is a different player than Jarret Stoll. In that aspect, yes, there are different changes. You have to be able to adapt or adjust to the players that you have available.” (Mayor's Manor)
Sutter often seemed intractable with his notion of a winning player. To some degree, he wasn't wrong -- the results over time bear out his vision. But what's also true is that winning players come in many forms. Adapting to your personnel -- especially when you're cap-strapped and don't have a ton of options -- is a wise way to squeeze out a few more goals and victories.
Associating Kempe with Stoll is also interesting. Personally, I've always preferred him at wing. But the potential of the Swede commanding the middle of the ice at both ends with his speed is tantalizing. And his defensive focus, which was criticized last year, has improved. It's something of a reach, considering his inexperience, but I have to imagine that LA would really love for Kempe to take control of the third-line center role that's been so unsettled since 2014 -- it's within reach of his ability.
"You take that in steps, whether you take it from the d-zone, you take the neutral zone, the offensive zone, then you start adding the analytics to what you think you’re seeing, and you’re either going to be supported or it’ll going to go against it. I think it supported a lot – we were at the bottom of controlled entries, goals off controlled entries, we were near the bottom at getting the puck to the slot, whether you were skating it or passing it...
"Whether we’re going to be at the top of the league or not I can’t say that, but you don’t want to be at the bottom in those categories." (on improving neutral zone play)
This is a not surprising reveal of the kind of analytics that the Kings themselves follow (or hire out to track).
The potential emphasis on "controlled entries" is promising. There will inevitably be a little less dump and chase if forwards like Kempe and Brodzinski are truly incorporated into the attack. This might also be a telling clue about the kind of player that Blake will target this summer -- players who contribute to controlled entries and don't compromise the defense. Of course, that's usually a very popular kind of player.
"I’ve had a conversation with Kopi the last couple weeks, and a lot of it revolved around his off-season training, and to look at the top players – the Toews, the Crosbys, and see what they’re doing off-ice, because there has to be an element, when you get to a certain age, to be able to play at a high level, the off-season becomes such an important factor. I know our strength guys have met with Kopi, and he’s got a real good attitude and understanding on what he needs to accomplish to get back to that high level...
"I’m not saying he’s out of shape, I’m saying he needs to adjust his training or adapt his training. It’s a different style of game than it was eight years ago and the quickness aspect has to be in there...
"There’s no problem looking at what they do, I’ve done it myself, Luc [Robitaille] has at certain times in his career. Look at the best players and see what they’re doing, you have to adapt as you go but age and stuff comes into effect." (Mayor's Manor)
"Best shape of his life" alert! We went through this recently with Dustin Brown and Mike Richards. Not to say Kopitar will go the same way -- as Blake alluded to, Robitaille revived his career in his early-30s with more appropriate offseason training (he got bigger and stronger in the dead puck era).
One thing that's interesting about Blake taking over, he certainly brings a been there, done that gravitas. Not to say that Kopitar wouldn't have responded to Dean Lombardi's opinion about his conditioning, but the criticism probably had a little more weight coming from a Hall of Fame player.
"I don’t know, there are issues with everybody’s contracts. I’m probably one to speak." (on Tyler Toffoli's extension)
Now that's funny!
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Ending weeks of speculation, Blake revealed today that Marian Gaborik won't be bought out.
Seeing that nobody is trading for him either, giving Gaborik a "clean slate" and some credit for playing hurt is probably the best thing that the Kings can do to reset their relationship with the aging sniper. In other words, they're stuck with each other, why not make the best of it.
The cost of buying out Gaborik this offseason would have been high. The cap hits from the remaining four years of his deal would have been spread out over eight seasons:
View post on imgur.com
Combine this with Richards's recapture/termination cap hits and you can see why Los Angeles will try to play nice with Gaborik for another year. This would have been a lot of dead space between the former stars:
View post on imgur.com
Anyway, kumbaya with Gaborik may not last long. This time next year, we'll probably be revisiting this topic.
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