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Draft Week Moves Have Started

June 18, 2019, 10:55 PM ET [35 Comments]
Matt Ross
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Things are starting to move around the league and it's getting exciting, especially with the draft in a few days and the lead into it...

While there's been a number of moves already, the big one came last night when the New York Rangers acquired Jacob Trouba from Winnipeg for defensman Neal Pionk and the the 20th overall pick in this years draft (which was originally Winnipeg's).

It certainly feels like a perplexing move - especially when you take into account the quality of defenseman Trouba is and all the talk about what it would take to get him for any team looking to acquire his services. I guess you have to take into consideration the Jets' cap crunch and need to resign a number of other guys, on top of other things/reasons we're not really privy to. But it still feels really lopsided.

Either way, check out TSN's NHL Transaction tracker to keep up with all the offseason action.

Movement in the Kingdom

The Kings started their offseason moves by buying out the remaining two years of defenseman Dion Phaneuf's contract this past Saturday.

Not a huge surprise as many folks speculated that it was coming. At 34, Phaneuf spent 93 games with LA - earning 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) and racking up 68 penalty minutes.

The move is about as "it's just business" as it gets. Everything I've read points to Phaneuf being loved and respected in the locker room, but the reality is, the Kings need to try a save some money wherever they can and get younger. Cutting Dion loose saves them a bit of moola and makes room for a young guy to step in and start getting experience.

Phaneuf's absence means a loss of veteran presence/leadership, but that should fall to Drew Doughty and Alec Martinez at this point.

Derek Forbert kind of falls into the "older guy" category at 27 and now with a few years under his belt - though looking to bounce back after a rough season. To be fair, most of the guys wearing the crown had a rough year. Forbert's contract is up at the end of the year, so he might have a little extra motivation.

Paul Ladue (26) is another guy whose contract is up at the end of the year and making a cool $825K. He played in 33 games last season, which was his most so far at the NHL level, and recorded two goals and three assists.

Beyond that, it's a youth movement if they don't make any moves to bring in a guy(s) more established on the blue line.

Could be exciting, could be rough. But these guys have to start getting more experience and what better time to start getting than now?

Here's some of the names:

Kurtis MacDermid (25) - 45 total games with LA (1 goal, 4 assists); only 11 games last season; his entry-level contract will finish at the end of the 2019-20

Sean Walker (24) - 39 total games with LA (3 goals, 7 assists); called up last year and made the most of it with solid play; his entry-level contract will finish at the end of 2019-20

Matt Roy (24) - 25 total games with LA (2 goals, 4 assists); is a RFA

* Guys with no NHL experience that might get some looks:

Alex Lintuniemi (23) - 6' 4", 231 lbs, shoots L; Drafted by LA in 2015 in the 2nd round (#60 overall)

Sean Durzi (20) - 6', 196 lbs, shoots R; Drafted by TOR in 2018 in the 2nd round (#52 overall); acquired in the deal that sent Muzzin to the Leafs

Coaching Update

Rob Blake announced today that they agreed to terms with Trent Yawney to serve as Assistant Coach.

Yawney served as Assistant Coach during the 2018-2019 season in Edmonton under McLellan. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Coach in Anaheim from 2014-18.

McClellan had this to say about Yawney:

"Trent has an incredible amount of experience coaching all different types of defensemen. He has played with and coached several Norris Trophy winners and Hall of Famers, including Chris Chelios, Doug Wilson, Phil Housley, Rob Blake and Duncan Keith. On the whole, he has played and coached the game at a high level and he is a tremendous teacher who relates very well to many different types of people."

Sounds like he has some serious defensive chops, which is great. He' also a Blackhawk alum... which is cool for me because I'm a big Hawks fan, too.

So the spots behind the bench are getting filled up...

Kings Podcast

Shifting gears a bit, I found myself listening to the latest episode of All The Kings Men today while at work.

Jack Jablonski joined host Jesse Cohen and the two discussed the Phaneuf buyout and dedicated the majority of the show trading opinions on the style of play of the St. Louis Blues employ.

I don't want to give away too much of the discussion, but if you listened to it or plan on listening to it, I'd love to hear your guys thoughts.

Now...I'm not a fan of the Blues in the slightest. Yuck. However, I found the discussion the guys had to be unique in the fact that there was significant criticism towards St. Louis' style of play to win the cup; with the guys zeroing in on big bodies, heavy physicality and the idea that they tended to protect leads once up - which drew the ire of Jablonski.

While I didn't agree with a lot of the discussion, it was interesting in a sense that it presented a different perspective on the game through someone else's eyes, interpretations and experiences.

I found a lot of the perceived negatives against the Blues to be things I think a lot of Kings fans might like to see in LA.

There's no doubt about it that the game has been moving towards speed and skill, with an influx in smallish players that possess these types of abilities. But there's still a place for size, grit and intimidation in my mind.

I'm not sure the Kings need to blow the whole thing up entirely, but they do need to get younger and faster. Hopefully they can achieve some of this by moving some of the contracts that make sense, or, realistically, the ones they can. I would love for them to find that blend of a youth, speed, size and snarl.

Sure, maybe a lot to ask for, but not completely out of the realm of possibility.

________________

If any big news comes in prior to the draft, look for the *UPDATE* verbiage on the title of this blog. Other than that, I'll post a blog after the draft looking at what the Kings did and giving you guys a place to discuss the moves.

Until then, enjoy this picture of Syl Apps looking like a dad that's double checking your lawn mowing job to make sure you didn't leave any lines.


[Photo from Pintrest]

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