In hockey they talk about duos a lot.
It's never really about the entire line when you think about it. In fact, you rarely see an entire line stick together. You do, however, see a lot of duos and it's always been like this.
Think about it.
Richards/Carter, Crosby/Kunitz, Tavares/Moulson, Lecavalier/St. Louis, the Sedin twins, Gretzky/Kurri. You can go on and on over history.
In rare instances you get those completely dominant lines, ala the triple crown line, the famed Russian Five in Detroit, or the Fly Line of the early 2000's in NYR (yes, yes and the Legion of Doom of course.) For the most part though, it's duos these days.
Duos who can play off each other, be the ying to the yang so to speak. Why was it so important for us to get Carter when we had Richards? Because it was the perfect compliment. Both players are excellent on their own, but together they push each other's games to another level. There is a familiarity and a match up in games. Richards has the vision and the tenacity, Carter has the hands and the vision. You have a recipe for success with two players already, now plug in a third who can make their jobs easier, ala Dwight King, and you have a pretty strong set up.
Which leads me to this question, and it's one I've had at various times over the last several years: Who is Kopitar's guy? Who is it?
We've seen the team try Brown time and time again and it's always to mixed success. No offense to Dustin Brown but he just doesn't have that finishing touch that can raise the level of Kopitar's playmaking. Justin Williams and Kopitar had a strong look together for a while back when Ryan Smyth was on the line, but that also seemed to fall into a touch and go relationship in terms of production.
Enter Marian Gaborik, whom on the surface looks like a match made in heaven for Kopitar.
Why is that? After all we had several options on top of Gaborik to go after at the trade deadline including Moulson and Vanek.
Gaborik is a proven goal scorer. But it's not just the fact that he scores goals, it's HOW he scores them that makes his pairing with Kopitar more appetizing.
Here is a look at where Gaborik has scored his goals in 2013-14 so far:
They are somewhat heavily concentrated in and around the net. Which if you isolate Gaborik on any given night, this is where the guy makes his money. Here is a three month sample from 2011-12 with the New York Rangers when he scored 41.
He is an incredibly intelligent player when it comes to the offensive zone. He is always seemingly in the right spot as you can see, and he does it while losing defenders. It's an art really. To be able to get THAT open in those areas, it's the reason he has so many 30+ goal seasons....seven to be exact. With the Kings shooting mentality, in theory Gaborik will have plenty of opportunities to be in the right place at the right time.
So why does it work with Kopitar specifically? We already have Carter right? He is no doubt a natural goal scorer as well. While the two of them do have chemistry together, Carter is more of a out and out sniper. When you look at his goal locations this year that becomes a little more obvious.
Carter will get himself in the right areas, but a lot of times it will be on his terms. He relies on his veiled and accurate release, and players drawing defenders away from him ala Richards. However, Carter can make those plays happen himself by driving the net and carrying the puck. Kopitar is amazing on the puck as well, so pairing the two together is going to do a disservice to one of them eventually.
I'm not going to say Gaborik NEEDS someone to feed him the puck, because he puts himself where the action happens, but it certainly helps to have someone who can drive the play while he sets up shop. In 2011-12 when he had 41 goals, Brad Richards was his centermen. Richards had 66 points and 41 assists that season. In theory and in action so far Kopitar and Gaborik seem to have that similar feel to them.
Kopitar can easily drive the play to the net where Gaborik is almost always hanging around. Kopitar can equally pull defenders with his possession play, leaving Gaborik open in soft areas for back door tap-ins and or rebound goals. This is all in theory of course, but it has already shown the potential dividends in the short time they've had together.
When you compare this style to the other major trade targets of the Kings it becomes obvious for several reasons why they opted for Gaborik. Matt Moulson is not the type of player Gaborik is. We already have the type of player that Moulson is and his name is Jeff Carter.
Here is a look at the 15 goals Matt Moulson scored in the 2012-13 lockout shortened season:
Definitely more of a perimeter style player who relies in his strong shooting.
The only one who has nearly an identical style of goal chart to Gabroik is Thomas Vanek.
Trust me, it's almost identical.
The defining factor there is that Gaborik is open to re-signing with the Kings and came at a much cheaper price with the salary retainment. While Vanek is now saying he is open to an extension with the Canadiens, he was saying no such thing during the trade deadline. It made the decision pretty easy. I liked the idea of a Kopitar Vanek duo as much as the next guy, but with him dancing with the idea of free agency pretty openly it made more fiscal sense and long-term sense to pursue Gaborik. Whom, might I add, had been rumored to be interested in playing in LA for some time.
So can Kopitar and Gaborik be the next big thing for LA? I like to think so. There are two major factors at play here though:
1. He has to re-sign this offseason
2. He has to stay healthy
If he re-signs it's going to give the two players more time to get to know one another and their games. We are seeing glimpses of a potential monster duo already, and it will only get better with time. The price will have to be right also.
Secondly, there is no better way to stay locked in with a partner than to keep playing together. Ergo, stay healthy. In defense of Gaborik, who has often been considered injury prone, he only missed one game over the last two seasons. Up until his collarbone injury this season he looked back on track health wise. He is 32 years of age, which is starting to get into the twilight of the new NHL. With that in mind there have been plenty of productive older players making waves in the NHL in recent years like Jaromir Jagr, Ray Whitney, Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Shane Doan, and Marty St. Louis. So 32 in reality isn't that old when you have the skill level of a player like Gaborik honestly.
I feel he and the Kings have a strong opportunity at hand. I have liked what I have seen from the two of them so far, and it could potentially be a pairing that not only extends the shelf life of Gaborik and his production but pushes the Kings over the edge in having a threatening one two punch for a couple more years.
It looks good on paper, now let's hope it pans out just as well in reality.
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