Newly acquired defenseman Ellerby – Are The LA Kings Grasping At Straws Trying To Recapture The Magic Of Last Season? Or Is Lombardi And Company Simply Making Necessary Moves While Mitchell And Greene Are Out? Photo: bridgetds
By Paul Armbruster • KingsNewsDaily.com •
After a solid win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, which brought the club back to an even record and got them off to a good start after leaving California, the Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings have undergone a number of significant changes.
- First, on Wednesday afternoon, it was announced Kings promising prospect Andrei Loktionov was traded to New Jersey for a 5th round draft pick. The move was not a surprise considering his public desire to leave the organization and his apparent fall from grace within Kings management. While some made a strong case why this was a mistake, most thought it was a prudent move.
- Then came word that the Kings called up rarely discussed defenseman Andrew Campbell from Manchester, sending down another prospect (Bodnarchuk) in his place. As with most of these moves, there was a lot of fan chatter about how Campbell would fit into the Kings plans on a depleted defensive corp. Many thought he would make his Kings debut against the Predators on Thursday but that proved not to be the case as the pairing of Drewiske and Muzzin stayed together.
- Next was yet another disappointing offensive effort against the Predators losing 3-0. While the Kings defense is still a concern, it seems rather obvious that scoring zero goals is of equal concern.
- Cut to: Friday morning it was announced the Kings, using the 5th round pick they got from the Devils, picked up Florida’s disappointing 2007 #1 draft pick Keaton Ellerby. Ellerby, a stay-at-home defenseman, appears expected to come in and give the Kings a lift in the absence of veterans Matt Greene and Willie Mitchell. Some pretty big skates to fill indeed. Especially for a guy already under a ton of pressure to perform in an anemic Panthers market and now under the spotlight in LA? Talk about going out of a sunny Florida frying pan and into the fire!
- Of course, this meant a very quick end to the Campbell call-up when it was announced he would be heading back to Manchester. Out with the new, in with the even-newer I suppose.
This leads us to Saturday’s practice in Nashville before the team headed to Detroit for tomorrow’s early contest against the Red Wings. Not only was the new defenseman Ellerby paired with Kings superstar Drew Doughty (how about that for even more pressure Keaton?), Coach Darryl Sutter made major changes to the forward lines as well.
Jon Rosen of the Insider reported that along with D-man Muzzin, Dustin Penner was wearing a ‘scratch’ jersey. This isn’t a change as Penner has been scratched a lot. But Penner has also been included on practice lines where today he apparently wasn’t. To me, this marks a significant change in Penner’s status within the organization and may lead to his ouster altogether sooner rather than later. This is pure speculation mind you and little more than an educated guess.
The big shakeup on practice lines were as follows:
Gagne (12) – Kopitar (11) – Brown (23)
Clifford (13) – Carter (77) – Williams (14)
King (74) – Richards (10) – Nolan (71)
Richardson (15) – Stoll (28)/Fraser (24) – Lewis (22)
Ellerby (5) – Doughty (8)
Scuderi (7) – Voynov (26)
Martinez (27) – Drewiske (44)
First up, Dustin Brown jumps back on the right side. This is an odd change at first glance but coupled with the 2nd line change at center, starts to make sense. Putting Simon Gagne on the left with Kopitar and Brown gives Gagne the ‘shooter’ role and that was what was missing from the Brown/Kopi/Williams line it seems to me. Anze Kopitar certainly needs to shoot more himself, but with Gags next to him and Brown crashing, I think it gives Kopitar 2 targets to dish the puck to who can finish. Williams has only 1 goal in 9 games on that top line and that’s just not going to cut it so a change was necessary.
On the 2nd line, with Jeff Carter moving back to center, it really frees up Sutter to find complimentary wingers for him. Kyle Clifford’s rise and fall and rise again must make him feel like he’s at Magic Mountain and not heading to Detroit. Dustin Penner would be the natural choice on the left side but that’s just not in the cards it seems. With Justin Williams play-making ability and him dishing to Carter, I can see them being a pair for a long while if they start to produce. Clifford gives the line the forechecking that’s needed to keep the puck in and both he and Williams can both put Carter’s rebounds in the net.
With Carter back at center, it really changes the approach to how Sutter puts the pieces together and marks a major change down the middle. I figured if the Kings kept struggling, that’s what would happen and sure enough here it is. Mike Richards obviously moves to the 3rd line center where he is reunited with Dwight King and Jordan Nolan. When King and Nolan first came up to the Kings last season, Richards was their centerman while Stoll recovered from an abdominal injury. Richards, I believe, really compliments King and Nolan much more so than Stoll. This should be a fun line to watch. Good size, super gritty and a scoring threat.
The 4th line, or as I’ll call it the ‘Center’ line (since all skaters are natural centermen) is very odd to see at first. Jarret Stoll and Trevor Lewis essentially move down together leaving Colin Fraser and Brad Richardson as the two battling for a spot it would seem. Since someone has to sit and Richardson has been the odd-man-out, it makes sense on the surface to put him in the press box. However, if I’m guessing (which I am) I think having Stoll and Fraser on this line during practice means one of them sits tomorrow and not Richardson or Lewis. My thought is Fraser, who has struggled early on, won’t play. This essentially would make the “4th” line, a second “3rd” line.
Time will tell how this particular lineup makes due, but one thing is certain. Something needed to be done. With the Kings languishing at the bottom of the conference and time running out quickly, Coach Sutter is shuffling the deck in hopes of reigniting a team that seems to have left its Cup magic on Staples Center ice back in June.
-PA
panic moves to me……..intensity and grit is needed….A hangover is bad but glad we have one !!!!
And heart also, true at least we finally got our hangover.
Good read, I’m not a big fan of King right now, both he and Pens are missing but I would much rather see Pens or Toffoli right now then King. I know Pens is lacking and Tofs a right winger, but I would like to see him come up for a little while. Thanks Paul.
You’re welcome! Thanks for reading.
Nice details and analysis! Hopefully Gagne will continue his progress back to his old self. Clifford is the key to Carter’s line, but he is still a kid.
The King’s “system” seems to inhibit the potential of talented offensive players. Maybe we shouldn’t care about that because we won a Cup. To me, winning one Cup is not enough, especially since that accomplishment really amounted to a magical 17 game run (we went 1-2 the final three games and were given the last one via a dumb hit by a Devils’ player). Otherwise, at regular season’s end the team appeared to be slipping back and Lombardi’s job was in jeopardy. I think we all agree that we want the team to play to its potential during the regular season and be a perennial Cup threat. I don’t think that can happen without scoring more goals.
Granted, our biggest problem these early games this year has been defense. I believe that defense is largely a matter of effort and smart play and our problems here can be corrected relatively easily, assuming Mitchell returns soon. After all, we played great defense last year and everyone is back, minus Greene and Mitchell. What is a real bugaboo is our offense. Looking at prior stats it would seem that several of our current players are underperforming offensively while a number of them have “found” their offensive touch when leaving. I think we should question why.
Specifically, before coming here:
Mike Richards: 28,30,31 and 23 goals — 75,80,62 and 66 points (last year 18 and 44)
Jeff Carter: 29,46,33,36 goals (too early to tell but he’s not going at a pace to challenge this)
Simon Gagne: 47,41,34,17,17 goals (The last two numbers during injury plagued seasons)
Justin Williams: 31 and 33 goals (has been over 20 with us but not approaching prior numbers)
Dustin Penner: 29,23,17,32,23 goals (except for playoff performance, totally ineffective with us)
All these players should be in their prime. I have seen them criticized here (particularly Penner)for being “lazy” and “heartless,” among other things. I don’t buy that, but let’s go further. Look at Anze Kopitar, my favorite player. His goal totals here are: 20,32,27,34,25 and 25. He has yet to have a season where he has scored more than a point per game. I think his skill level is up there with Malkin, Crosby, Ovechkin and Stamkos and he’s smarter than most of them. Is he lazy? Absolutely not! Something else is keeping him from performing to his full potential.
Now look at some outside players. Neither Matt Moulson or Teddy Purcell could find their touch here. Yes, you could say they were relegated to 3rd and 4th line duty. For whatever reason, they blossomed offensively elsewhere. How about Wayne Simmonds. He scored 16 and 14 goals here–28 in Philly. Another interesting case is Alexei Ponikarovsky. His goal totals before coming here were: 21,21,18,23,and 19. In his one season here he scored 5. We might assume he was losing it but last year he bounced back with 14 with two different teams.
Something about all this points to a system which smothers offensive skills and creativity. It also points to coaching which is rigid and cannot get the most out of players. I know these guys are well paid and I was disgusted at their stance during the lockout. That said, on the ice they are human beings with different personalities. Just as in horse racing where some horses respond to the whip and others just sulk, people tend to respond differently to coaching styles. If that style is rigid and oppressive, it inhibits creativity, which is what great offense is largely about. Guys tend to fear making mistakes and become tentative. I see that in this team. I saw it under Murray and I see it under Sutter. During our magical 17 game playoff run it wasn’t evident because Sutter could just coast on the wave. But now we need more coaching insight. A good coach can deal with different personalities differently without being preferential.
I want to come to the defense of one player. Dustin Penner has taken a bad beating on this site. Granted, his performance has been largely ineffective. Once again, he has been accused of laziness and heartlessness. But I suspect that with more insightful coaching the goal totals he achieved in Edmonton might be attainable. I see Penner’s abilities as being misperceived. He’s a very large man and everyone sees him as a power forward, body bouncer type, and our coaching staff has tried to use him that way. I have seen him putting out effort to perform in that role and he seems to have trouble. To me, he has proven himself to be more of a finesse player with soft hands and the ability to pass. I think he would be more successful in that role, rather than in the role he is being used. If there is no place for him in that role with the Kings he should be moved. But I don’t think it’s fair to ridicule him. I suspect the guy is bewildered.
Two more things trouble me about Sutter’s coaching. First, his badmouthing his players to the press. If he feels it’s best to tonguelash them or heavily criticize their performances, that’s his prerogative. But do it away from the public. It’s classless, unprofessional and demeaning to broadcast it to the world. I would also like to know from him why he continues to roll four lines, giving the fourth line significant ice time when we trail late in games. I know most people here seem to love the energy and feistyness of Clifford, Fraser and Nolan, but between them last year they scored 9 goals in approx 180 man games. Last night we were down 3-0 in the 3rd period. Can any reasonable person expect those three guys to have as good a chance to cut that margin as the first three lines? I don’t care how much energy they generate, it’s wasted ice time. I know, Clifford has 5 points this year. One is a rebound goal–kudos to him. Of his 4 assists, two of them he knocked the puck around the boards; a defenseman picked it up, passed it to a teammate who put the shot in. That hardly makes Clifford a scoring phenom. He hasn’t scored in the last five games.
Great analysis Russ and you make a number of valid points. Sutter was considered another version of Murray but he HAS shown an ability to loosen the reigns on the offensive guys giving far more flexibility than Terry IMO. Maybe the system inherently stifles production making it next to impossible to produce like the Tampa’s and Chicago’s. I don’t know.
I personally love Penner. I don’t know what to say about the guy right now. I know last year he had a tough year personally so that accounted for a very large part of his drop off. His head was not in it until very late in the season. Maybe there’s more of that going on now, I have no idea. But it is strange he isn’t given more of an opportunity considering he wasn’t any worse than others in the first 2 games of the season.
As for the bad-mouthing, I chalk that up to Sutter being Sutter more than any type of mind game being played. Maybe it is unprofessional in some ways but Sutter doesn’t play those games, which is one reason I like him. He basically calls it like he sees it. Should he do it in public? Perhaps not.
To your other point, I agree. There have been multiple times where guys on the ice don’t seem to fit any kind of strategy for success. Whether it’s, like you said, toward the end of games or, as I’ve noticed, having the 4th line out there on a power play. Those are the kinds of decisions I mostly say are “above my pay grade” so-to-speak. I guess I give an NHL coach the benefit of the doubt in that he knows a heck of a lot more about hockey than I do. But you’re right in that some of those moves are real head-shakers.
WRT Penner..He had one bad game and was taken out….No one on the team has that short of a lease. Penner is a key…With Penner you have a better chance of running out 4 lines…Its hard to tell if the lockout…or the hangover is to blame….But the changing of the lines are not going to help…Put Richardson in and see if his speed can pick us up. The forecheck last playoffs was amazing and really helped with our scoring…maybe we should practice that part of the game… Great posts here !!!
Very nice post Russ. As each game goes by it’s looking more and more like the Kings great playoff run was an anomoly, and not how this team can be expected to perform. I’ve complained about the Kings system limiting offensive production numerous times the past 3 seasons, and sadly it seems like nothing has changed. To add to your line about Kings players going elsewhere and suddenly producing offensively, in the DL years the Kings have yet to produce a top 6 forward on our own team. Brown and Kopi were Dave Taylor picks, and the rest of the top 6 were acquired either via trade, or free agency.
Thanks for pointing out about the draft picks. I noticed that myself. You can also add Jonathan Quick to Dave Taylor’s astute drafting.
Related to that, I’m not a Dean Lombardi fan. He came into the organization and treated everyone who had been here as having the plague, then sold Leiwicke on a 5-year plan. The first three years we stunk and didn’t make the playoffs. In the meantime, four other teams–Chicago, Boston, Washington and Philadelphia–who had been as deep down in the standings as us, rose to the top of their divisions, two winning cups, that in those three terrible years. (In that time Washington won the President’s Trophy.) To me, Lombardi comes across as arrogant and a poor judge of talent. He got lucky in our magical 17 game run and his job was saved. But to me, it was the players who won us the Cup, not the maneuverings of either coach or GM. And now they’ve been “crowned” with 4-yr. extentions. I can only shake my head.
At the end of the day the Kings won the cup on DL’s and DS’s watch. When you are an upper echelon franchise such as Montreal, Detroit or the Yankees or Lakers, you can critique the the Coach and or G.M. the following year after a championship run.
But we’re not them, we’re the Los Angeles Kings. Our championship last year was out of character definitely, but considering who we’ve been for 38 of our 45 year existence, I’ll just say thank you and move right along.
I agree with you that DL and probably DS leave a little to be desired, but with the looming ownership change, securing a stable management structure was probably more what the contract extensions were all about.
really solid post, RUSS…(!)
WRT the lockout and yr disgust with the players…:
even though i respect yr opinion, i strongly disagree…the owners owned this lockout…they even telegraphed their plans last year, right after we did what we thought was impossible to ever do here in l.a….and that’s win a cup…i think about 80% of the owners were predisposed to lock the players out…and it was all because they overspent on contracts, committed too long on terms and found ways to usurp the checks and balances that were glorified – by the owners – back in 2004-05.
rather than to regurgitate and re-litigate all the reason why the owners were contemptuous in their negotiating style, liberally spoke disingenuously in representing their motives and relied on a failed public relations strategy, let’s see how they police themselves going forward…every time a free agent signs in the foreseeable future, let’s see how much the owners start overpaying for marginal/average talent…it’s bound to happen again…and i can totally see us having to relive all this garbage eight -to-ten years from now…
as far as penner being an enigma (see frolov), sutter’s social graces and how los angeles has had the kevorkian touch in thwarting offense during the last several years, you make a lot of sense…
i’m not sure what will be…i have several opinions…and, like in life, their constantly influx…
but i will say this…:
teams that want to win the cup and compete consistently in playoffs yearly, adapt and make the necessary personnel decisions that keep them motivated, relevant and competitive…
if…or when…penner is asked to leave, that can only open the door for someone else to succeed…and if yr the kings, that’s a good thing, since they have the resources and cap room to make a major statement by shaking things up…penner is looking like he will either be waived or traded for probably less than fair-market value…of course, there’s the possibility of both happening…either way, he should pack his suitcase…and that’s too bad, because it’s hard not to like penner as a person…he has a dry sense of humor and seems like he would be a great teammate…but these games are played on ice, not in the locker room or in the press box or on a blog…
the fear i have is that the window of opportunity to carry over the momentum from last year has dwindled to vacant cheers and abandonment from many casual-to-hardcore kings fans…that leaves this team at a public perception crossroads…and makes dl’s navigation in building the perfect beast all the more cumbersome, as he has to consider jettisoning this year’s strategy in salvaging both his job and the season…
and as we all know, sutter and dl are attached to the hip…so, if one goes, i can almosty guarantee the other one goes, as well…
yes, my friends…it’s deja vu all over again…
Craig, not having been in the negotiations, it’s hard for me to take a side–owners or players. I just didn’t like seeing a group of union members, whose average salaries are around 2.7 million a year and whose minimum is $650,000, act like they’re being cheated. Maybe it’s simplistic to view it that way, but that’s just the way it seems to me.
And Greg, I was willing to give DL and DS a chance to prove themselves this year. But the 17 game playoff run at the end of a season in which we appeared to be fading does not justify claiming these guys have proven themselves to be worth the 4-yr extensions. It’s not the money that bothers me but rather the fact that Leiwicke is not likely to consider getting rid of them for at least two years. And if these guys are the paper tigers I suspect, we’re stuck for at least the next two seasons. They should have been told to wait till the end of this season to be reevaluated for new contracts.
Russ,
A fantastic insight. I’m on board with your sentiments regarding Penner. As a Manager, I have to take responsibility for getting my employees to perform. If I can’t, it’s my fault. So, I put all of it on DS. I feel Penner has earned the opportunity to figure out where and how he fits into this team. If management weren’t prepared to let him do that, they should have said good bye last June.
Go back and read the comments(by the fans) right before TM got fired…..same problems as of now…except we have a Cup in hand !!!
Great article Paul. Maybe Penner’s “carefree” attitude doesn’t mesh with Sutter’s “in your face” outlook. I don’t know why he’s not playing. He certailny hasn’t played any worse than several other high paid players have.
Mitchell is clearly a critical element to what makes the Kings a better team defensively, but getting the puck out of the defensive end is as critical to scoring as putting the puck in the net.
I think we’ve been giving Doughty way too many minutes and he looks tired at times. Don’t know what kind of ice time this new d-man is used to, but I doubting it is anywhere near Doughty’s ice time.
It would appear that Penner is waiting on his walking papers. I’m guessing we’ll get draft choices and that is about it. The good news about that is it opens a roster spot for someone like Toffoli to get some time up to practise with the Kings at least. Maybe a peak at some 3rd line minutes with Richards and King.
Don’t like Brown on the RW, but Brown hasn’t been effective much at all this year so hard to argue against it at this point.
I would rather see Penner at LW on that 2nd line. Clifford just is not 2nd line material, at least not yet.
Glad to see Stoll going to the 4th line. Just hasn’t shown anything so far this year, which isn’t much different from last year except for the playoffs.
I think Gagne is getting back to form and will be a critical element to the King’s offense very soon. Especially the PP.
I think Williams has been a victum of Browns soft play early on and Kopitar’s being slowed by the knee brace. Won’t surprise me at all if Williams and Carter go on a scoring spree. I just hope Clifford can keep up his end of the bargin.
Going to be interesting to see what happens with Voynov working with Scudes. DS seems to really feel Martinez was holding Voynov back. We’ll see how that goes.
OK, where to start:
Totally agree about Mitchell being missed. The Kings miss him more than they would miss any other skater.
I agree that DD is probably getting too many minutes and too much defensive responsibility. Oh well, The D-Corps is depleated.
The Penner situation has me baffled. I’d love to see him get a half dozen games on Carter’s line (sorry @Harty). I would alos love to see Toffoli get a chance with Kopi & Brown – might be DL’s next move.
Before last year’s cup run didn’t Brown say he preferred RW?
Gagne…
Agree on all things Williams.
Scuds will benefit from the addition of Ellerby.
Brown has said he likes his off wing better (LW).
First off, Paul this is really a great site and I really enjoy the reads here. Russ, what a great look at the Kings. absolutely on the head. The more I’ve watched the Kings this year, the more I get the feeling that they just jelled at exactly the right time and rode the wave for all it’s worth. But Quick and the “D” played a huge, huge part in that wave. As it has already been stated, “what’s going on with Pens and DS? Some here have said that DS’s system is stifling, But yet he had really freed the team from bondage when he came in and then when we got Carter to me that seemed to open up the flood gates and away they went.It is very tough to fill the skates of two outstanding “D” men, and although Muzz has done a nice job, he needs to be with someone like Matt, Willie or even Scuds, not Doughty. I see “that” other team picked up Lovejoy and he has already paid them benefits and has more experience then Ellerby. Whoever said it, you were right, DL has no eye for talent. Lovejoy was the stay at home “D” man we needed.
Thanks Paul.. got my line up for puck drop.. have to read comments later..
question..( I should know ..but) what is the scratch jersey color you were talking of?