The official LA Kings thread 21-22

[deepdrive]

The only thing saving the Western Conference from Edmonton has been the poor coaching and lame management in the past. That's been ending the last couple years. It could be hard going for the next 5-8 years. Especially if they get good goaltending.

[Tank]

Draisaitl just killed us. it's tough to watch a year that saw them reach 104 points for only the second time end in a first round loss. props to the oil as several of their goals were just crazy accurate and in places that few if any goalies could have stopped.

i like this team. they'll be that much better next year and hopefully go deep in the playoffs. i hope Kopi is back for another year. 

[arch stanton]

Kopi’s due to collect 7 million next season so I imagine he’ll be there. They have to settle the goalie situation and maybe find some more offense from the blue line 

[Tank]

the one change i'd make immediately is to put byfield on a different line. regardless of how much talent he has, the fact is he needs to produce more points, plain and simple. i don't know who i'd move up to play with kopitar and kempe, but i'd spend a major portion of the off-season looking for that guy somewhere if i were rob blake. three goals and 19 assists on a line with the team's leading scorer and a 40 goal guy just isn't good enough.

[Tank]

In a surprising announcement, the Kings said today they have not renewed the contract of tv play by play announcer Alex Faust. They're going to have Nick Nickson do a simulcast for both tv and their streaming service (they no longer have a radio station to broadcast games, in case you didn't know) and have Darryl Evans and Jim Fox as analysts. 

Faust had the unenviable job of replacing a legendary Hall of Famer, and I thought he did a solid job. He had his critics, of course, but he never bothered me.

That said, I'm glad to have Nickson back. Love his style and delivery, and any time I've had a chance to chat with him, he's been like an old friend.