How the Kings’ spending spree sent them spiraling into mediocrity
January 21, 2026
How the Kings’ spending spree sent them spiraling into mediocrity
13 comments
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Data to back up what everyone in this sub said over the summer. What the fuck are you doing??
What???? 8 mil tied to Ceci and Dumo was a bad thing?????? No way
So this basically all started with PLD trading 4 young players and picks for someone who had never scored 30 goals in a season. blake some how got out of that shit contract and than fast forward to this past off-season they had a real chance to make some good moves nah we locked up a bunch more bottom 6 D men.
I agree with most of it but
“On the forward side, Armia has been a bit of a whiff, as his game has completely fallen off a cliff.“
Armia has been more then as advertised. What he brings to the PK is worth it. A solid add in a vacuum. Sure it’s another bottom six guy but he’s played well. You can make the argument if that’s what we should have gotten or not but he’s been good
A certain Kings reporter was crashing out at fans who called these bad signings and said name the better alternatives. Then someone sent the entire list of free agent defenseman lmao
Losing Spence and Durzi for no fuckin reason basically is tantamount to incompetence. Fire the whole managing team except for the Video team. They’re pretty damn good at catching things in motion as they happen
I read all of it, and analytics or not, Ceci is worse than Dumoulin. He just is. At least the past month+, and recency is what matters in this game.
Everyone has been good except Ceci early.
I watch every game.
Robitaille should have offered more encouragement to Blake to get him to stay.
However everyone was shell shocked and exhausted from the lead losing, 4th year in a row loss to the Oil.
I think Holland is the right choice for the objective of bumping the team up but that is the real whiff.
Gav leaving was the kill shot.
I wonder if it was Hiller bumping him back to 2nd pair after Doughty came back and the opportunity to one pair.
Likewise Holland must have gotten negative info from Hiller on Spence and he was unhappy and wanted to bolt. Regardless his playoff benchings were and indictment. I get it Spence was getting pushed around especially in the playoffs.
He was not getting the puck through to the net especially on the PP.
However in retrospect, looking at Ceci, the Kings should have finessed it and kept Spence and given him some ice to see if they could patch things up.
I like Dumo as 3rd pair, he is good and I liked him since I saw him with Ducks last season.
Armia has been great.
Forsberg lets in soft goals especially early. However he makes huge save as well and seems to be cutting the softies out.
Damn good lad night.
The Kings needed to make some upgrades and fill holes.
After mulling it over and seeing no free agents of top caliber choosing to come over, I have determined that Holland got what he could.
The players also used that as leverage for length and contract amounts.
Seems like a stats guy that does not watch more than the game highlights.
Holland is really in the batters box with Kings striking out.
I want to see him be smart on the pitch count and get walked to first base.
This team has not shown enough to make a big trade and can’t afford to give up significant players, prospects or high picks.
Reclamation projects that can be acquired on the cheap are the path forward along with the young core , Greentree and the Reign 4th liners.
Fans don’t get it, we are going to only be able to acquire what we got this year, players with blemishes.
For me , I would rather have more of that related to off ice antics than on ice performance.
A scorer with grit willing to throw down is an ideal get if he is willing to extend.
But the reactions have been totally detached and fans don’t see the big picture of players not really wanting to come , and this seasons crumble only makes it worse.
Best case is get a couple reclamation’s that will extend and get into the playoffs with no expectations.
Playoffs is a good experience for are young players despite what would almost certainly be a first round loss.
Another reason to balk and get walked on any big trades.
Off season free agency will be the time for the behind the count Holland to step into the batters box and try to hit it out of the park or maybe , a triple or a double or a few singles anyway.
The problems didn’t start last summer. They started in summer 2022 when Blake traded Faber and a first for Fiala, a massive overpay for a guy who is not just offense-first, he’s offense-only. The problem was exacerbated the following summer when Blake traded almost 25% of his lineup of skaters (Vilardi, Iafallo, Durzi, and Kupari) for the career underachieving locker room cancer known as Pierre Luc Dubois. There were never reinforcements coming from Ontario to replace the forwards and then trading Spence a summer later took away the d-man who was meant to fill Durzi’s spot. Not defending Holland but Blake’s terrible asset management left him little room to maneuver. Blake royally fucked this franchise, Holland is just holding the bag Blake emptied and he’s unprepared to refill.
Armia has been the only good sign proving himself consistently on the line. Ceci and Dumo were obvious signs of red.
“Problem is, now you have to trust the architect who put this team together in the first place.”
Written for 2026, applies perfectly for 2025, 2024…
13 comments
Make sure to [join the /r/LosAngelesKings discord as well](https://discord.gg/H6EH73h) for live game chat and more!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/losangeleskings) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Data to back up what everyone in this sub said over the summer. What the fuck are you doing??
What???? 8 mil tied to Ceci and Dumo was a bad thing?????? No way
So this basically all started with PLD trading 4 young players and picks for someone who had never scored 30 goals in a season. blake some how got out of that shit contract and than fast forward to this past off-season they had a real chance to make some good moves nah we locked up a bunch more bottom 6 D men.
I agree with most of it but
“On the forward side, Armia has been a bit of a whiff, as his game has completely fallen off a cliff.“
Armia has been more then as advertised. What he brings to the PK is worth it. A solid add in a vacuum. Sure it’s another bottom six guy but he’s played well. You can make the argument if that’s what we should have gotten or not but he’s been good
A certain Kings reporter was crashing out at fans who called these bad signings and said name the better alternatives. Then someone sent the entire list of free agent defenseman lmao
Losing Spence and Durzi for no fuckin reason basically is tantamount to incompetence. Fire the whole managing team except for the Video team. They’re pretty damn good at catching things in motion as they happen
I read all of it, and analytics or not, Ceci is worse than Dumoulin. He just is. At least the past month+, and recency is what matters in this game.
Everyone has been good except Ceci early.
I watch every game.
Robitaille should have offered more encouragement to Blake to get him to stay.
However everyone was shell shocked and exhausted from the lead losing, 4th year in a row loss to the Oil.
I think Holland is the right choice for the objective of bumping the team up but that is the real whiff.
Gav leaving was the kill shot.
I wonder if it was Hiller bumping him back to 2nd pair after Doughty came back and the opportunity to one pair.
Likewise Holland must have gotten negative info from Hiller on Spence and he was unhappy and wanted to bolt. Regardless his playoff benchings were and indictment. I get it Spence was getting pushed around especially in the playoffs.
He was not getting the puck through to the net especially on the PP.
However in retrospect, looking at Ceci, the Kings should have finessed it and kept Spence and given him some ice to see if they could patch things up.
I like Dumo as 3rd pair, he is good and I liked him since I saw him with Ducks last season.
Armia has been great.
Forsberg lets in soft goals especially early. However he makes huge save as well and seems to be cutting the softies out.
Damn good lad night.
The Kings needed to make some upgrades and fill holes.
After mulling it over and seeing no free agents of top caliber choosing to come over, I have determined that Holland got what he could.
The players also used that as leverage for length and contract amounts.
Seems like a stats guy that does not watch more than the game highlights.
Holland is really in the batters box with Kings striking out.
I want to see him be smart on the pitch count and get walked to first base.
This team has not shown enough to make a big trade and can’t afford to give up significant players, prospects or high picks.
Reclamation projects that can be acquired on the cheap are the path forward along with the young core , Greentree and the Reign 4th liners.
Fans don’t get it, we are going to only be able to acquire what we got this year, players with blemishes.
For me , I would rather have more of that related to off ice antics than on ice performance.
A scorer with grit willing to throw down is an ideal get if he is willing to extend.
But the reactions have been totally detached and fans don’t see the big picture of players not really wanting to come , and this seasons crumble only makes it worse.
Best case is get a couple reclamation’s that will extend and get into the playoffs with no expectations.
Playoffs is a good experience for are young players despite what would almost certainly be a first round loss.
Another reason to balk and get walked on any big trades.
Off season free agency will be the time for the behind the count Holland to step into the batters box and try to hit it out of the park or maybe , a triple or a double or a few singles anyway.
The problems didn’t start last summer. They started in summer 2022 when Blake traded Faber and a first for Fiala, a massive overpay for a guy who is not just offense-first, he’s offense-only. The problem was exacerbated the following summer when Blake traded almost 25% of his lineup of skaters (Vilardi, Iafallo, Durzi, and Kupari) for the career underachieving locker room cancer known as Pierre Luc Dubois. There were never reinforcements coming from Ontario to replace the forwards and then trading Spence a summer later took away the d-man who was meant to fill Durzi’s spot. Not defending Holland but Blake’s terrible asset management left him little room to maneuver. Blake royally fucked this franchise, Holland is just holding the bag Blake emptied and he’s unprepared to refill.
Armia has been the only good sign proving himself consistently on the line. Ceci and Dumo were obvious signs of red.
“Problem is, now you have to trust the architect who put this team together in the first place.”
Written for 2026, applies perfectly for 2025, 2024…