Taking LA Kings CHAOTIC start to the season with Connor Doyle of The Hockey News

Taking LA Kings CHAOTIC start to the season with Connor Doyle of The Hockey News

We’re talking Kings new edition so far. What will we be seen through seven games? Adrien Kempe contract talks and more with Connor Doyle of the hockey news on this edition of Locked on LA King. You are Locked on Kings. Your daily podcast on the Los Angeles Kings, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hey Kings fans, welcome to Locked on LA Kings, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Thanks for making Locked on LA Kings your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account and use the code locked on NHL. We’ll get $20 off your first purchase. I am Eddie Garcia, your host of Locked On LA Kings. I’ve worked in sports media for the past 30 years. also one of the co-hosts of Locked on NHL Game Night, a nightly YouTube and uh YouTube show and podcast that recaps the night in the NHL. And I’m a passionate LA Kings fan for over 30 years. We are happy to be joined once again today by a man who covers the LA Kings for the hockey news. His name is Connor Doyle and you can follow him on X Twitter at Lords of the Rinks. Hey Connor, welcome back to the show. How are you doing? Great. Good to be back Eddie. Always good to be back. We We have hockey season. Seven games in, but we have hockey season. Yeah, it is good to uh to be back. That off season seemed a lot longer uh than normal. Maybe it was because of how the season ended for the Kings last year, but it is good to be back. Although what we’ve seen so far has been very interesting. Uh we’ll certainly get into all that. But the last time we had you on, uh Ken Holland had been named general manager. We kind of speculated about, you know, what kind of things might happen in the offseason, but I haven’t gotten your take on this group of players that Ken Holland has brought in. We got to see one of them for the first time uh in the most recent game for the Kings. Of course, that was Cory Perry. Uh but it a couple of forwards, a couple of defenseman, and a backup goalie. Uh when it was all said and done, what was kind of your takeaway from this first off season for Ken Holland as King’s general manager? It would be pretty easy to say that it was underwhelming. But then when you look at the market and you look at who was available, I mean throw out the Mitch Marner that was always going to be a um you know wild not a wild goose hunt. But if you look at the market for who was available, I really think that the Kings salvaged under Holland what they could have. If anyone was coming in thinking that Holland was going to knock out that Raasmus Anderson trade, maybe get Mitch Marner, maybe just have this team take another run. I think he did what he could what was available on the market, but I would still label it as underwhelming. I think Joel Armia was a great pickup. Cory Perry’s another savvy pickup to bolster their their forward group, but their defensive moves were definitely very underwhelming. Um, Anton Forsber’s a good pickup for the back end. Um, and the only thing I think I would add on to that that D that back end is that Brian Dooman has uh has I would almost throw him in that middle category of he might also be a savvy move. He’s also looked good. Uh, you know, while you’ve brought it up, I would like to maybe get your theories on this, if you have any, because, you know, the Kings were scheduled to meet with Mitch Mner, but he made his decision before they ever got a chance to even pitch to him what they were going to offer him or whatever it was. Um, and he chose Vegas, and frankly, that made a ton of sense. I mean, he got the money he wanted. He goes to a team that’s been to a Stanley Cup final uh and deeper in the playoffs than the Kings have anytime recently. They’ve got, you know, he could play with a guy like a Jack Eel there. Uh and and frankly, without all due respect to LA, I think people in Las Vegas probably are more passionate about the Vegas Golden Knights than your regular sports fans are here in Los Angeles. So, it made a ton of sense. I I’m not surprised at all if it was even a choice between Vegas and LA, which it probably wasn’t. The Kings have traditionally not drawn free agents uh of any note. You know, they’ve added pieces as we’ve seen, but they have never really gotten a bigname free agent ever. Now, granted, they did maybe get the biggest trade uh in hockey history with Wayne Gretzky, but you you have any theories as to why uh the LA Kings don’t seem to land big-time free agents? Yeah, that’s a that’s a great question. I think specifically in like that Dean Lombardi moving into Rob Blake era where this is transition of rebuilding. I would say that the the Kings particularly stuck to a schematic and they didn’t really add a ton of free agent. You know, you saw that with uh Alex Edler. Um they they signed Phil Deno through free agency. you saw kind of that as they kind of moved into this like retransitioning period, but I really think that they stick to their schematic and like you see today or sorry this year, this offseason where they kind of had to add to pre free agency, right? Having to do it and then sticking to the schematic have been two different things. And then like going to your question about LA versus Vegas, um I know they do it before every single game during the uh Star Sle banner, the national anthem. Um, they show those two banners. Um, I’m not showing any gray hair yet, but that’s that’s over 10 years old. Vegas has had way more success since since their inception league than the Kings. The Kings have have skip have haven’t sensed anything. Um, Vegas has been to the finals twice now. They’ve won and they’ve had deep playoff runs. They’ve had a lot of success and if you look at the names they’ve picked up over the years, you can go back to like Max Patcher Ready. Um, you know, they pick up Noah Hannneathan, they get Jack Eel from Buffalo. I mean, like that that’s a buzzing hockey town. I don’t know if you’ve actually get been able to get to see a game over at T-Mobile. I’ve been that is great arena. They have their walking song as one of the the background music to John Wick. I mean, it’s it’s a buzzing crowd. It’s a great place to play and I think it’s also a little bit under the radar, too. I mean, it’s a big hockey town now, but I still think that these guys it’s uh very much Elvis Presley City. There’s probably I don’t know if there’s 50 lookalikes of Noah Hannneathan or Jack Eigel walking around unless people are getting perms out there, but um I still think that going from Toronto to LA versus Toronto to Vegas, the the scenery, the c the current culture that’s there, who you’re getting to play next to, is Mitch Martner going to play next to the era parent in Biffield or the consensus number one they’re still running with with a almost 40-year-old on Kopar? Um, I think if you’re Mitch Marner, you want to go with a bonafide top five center in the league. I don’t know if you could even remotely say that about Kopar. In all due respect to a Hall of Fame career, you’re from Southern California. You know the market. I think understandably some Kings fans will say, “Well, the Dodgers can get Show Otani or the Lakers can sign, you know, some big free agents. Why can’t the Kings do that?” Is that even a fair comparison considering kind of where those franchises are in relation to their sports and where the Kings are? I mean, look, the Kings are a top five franchise as far as value. Yeah. Right. And and they do spend to the cap traditionally, but is that do you think as far as fan take, do you think that’s a fair take for Kings fans to say, well, if they can do it, why can’t we do it? I don’t think it’s a fair comparison because there’s two words and I’d say luxury tax, right? Dodgers pay a plethora. They pay a premium on luxury tax. Um there is certain aspects where like you have the scouting overseas like now the Dodgers just have cornered a market from Japan. Imagine getting Shi Otani a generational player and then going to get the next generation player player out of Japan twice. I mean I think Yamamoto won this their equivalent of the Sai Young award like six times and the Sasaki is supposed to be even better. So, I mean, I know this is not a locked on Dodgers, but I don’t think it’s a fair comparison when you could pay a luxury track and your threshold of salary cap is in the hundreds of millions and your best player on the LA Kings is which I’m sure we’ll get to, but um is making maybe 11.5 11 million. I mean, is that Kik Hernandez salary? I mean, not that Kik is not having a great off season or postseason, but yeah, I don’t think it’s fair comparison. a luxury tax and I I look at the ownership groups between the two and used to be McCort now it’s kind of that new I believe it’s the Guggenheim with Magic and you think about the funds that are being thrown that way I mean AG the Anolds group has been great for the franchise but I think when you can dip into a luxury tax and when the salary cap’s kind of fluid it’s not it’s not a fluid salary gap right we’re in the cap area era the hard cap era they’re finding ways now as we’ve seen I know we just mentioned Vegas but we’re they’re finding ways to close down loopholes too with the LTI. I mean, there’s not many ways you can get that creative anymore. Before we get into what we’ve seen so far this season, I did want to ask you, and you mentioned the moves that Ken Holland made, and you kind of felt like it was under the circumstances, maybe the best the Kings could have done, how did you feel the Kings were without seeing them on the ice, obviously, but just from a a lineup standpoint, just looking at how things appeared they were going to shake out, how did you feel about the Kings going into this season? Did you think they were better, about the same, worse? What were what were your thoughts on it? It’s it’s the push and pull um is immediately what I thought. I thought, wow, like you’re going to see these major internal growth from guys like Lefari, Turkot, Bfield, right? You’re going to see those big jumps and now you’ve enhanced a fourth line even I wouldn’t I wouldn’t argue that fourth lines can make or break a playoff series. I think your top nine is really going to your fourth line is going to enhance things, but it’s not a make or break. I think that’s a layman’s or a poor man’s excuse for losing a series is just playing it like oh like our third pair and our fourth pair really let us down. Yeah, they didn’t use it but the upgrades they got were players that could play in special teams veteran presences. I think Joel like I said was savvy pickup. Corey Perry, great pickup for power because that second power play unit last year Eddie was non-existent, right? Just right now kind of still the same situation, but I thought their forward group with the internal growth they’re going to take and with the pickups they had, I was like, this is a better forward group from last year. Is it m like leaps and bounds from last year now? But it’s a better forward group, but that defensive end. Oh, go ahead. Sorry. No, no, please continue. Okay. Um the the back end though like you the departure of Spence departure of Gavacov who was essentially their their number one last year when D is out. We we forget that that Anderson Gaver pairing Gavro playing on his offsite like they held it down for almost more than what almost half the season and he was used as the number one guy and I just don’t know if maybe that sat well with him. I can’t speak on his behalf. I’m just from an outside perspective. That’s what I I understand from the situation. he was the number one guy. You you essentially lost a number one defenseman and you you use that price tag to get technically on paper and analytically two sublevel defenders. So, and then also your back end, not just because Spence is just your speed demon on the back end, but your back end lock lost a ton of mobility. Um, this might be and I was trying to look it up prior to this call, but trying to look up the edge data on the back end for the Kings. It has to be and obviously I don’t have the proof because I wasn’t able to get fully that it has to be one of the slowest decors in the league. It has to be one of the one decors that struggles to get the puck out of their own end. I So long-winded way to answer your question. I my fears have kind of been um confirmed about the D core and then the the forward group is still kind of in flux especially with the injuries that have occurred and um but better on the on forward core marginally and I’d see definitely a step back on D. All right, we’ll get more into what we’ve seen on the ice uh at this point through seven games of the season. We’ll do that next. You’re on lock and kings. team every day. Let’s be real. Making excuses doesn’t solve anything. We’ve all heard them before. It’s just stress. I’m tired. Or it happens to everyone sometimes. But when it comes to performance, sometimes your body needs a little extra support. That’s where RugIt comes in. 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And if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets to bet across the app. I love using FanDuel because if it’s however you like to bet, player props, building a same game parley, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds, it makes every game more exciting. Whether you’re watching your team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup, it is quick, easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to your Sunday. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanuel.com to get started. That’s fuel.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, we are continuing with uh Connor Doyle. He covers the LA Kings for the hockey news. And uh you talked about maybe some of your fears realized at this point of the season. It’s been seven games. Uh, and we’ve seen a little bit of everything and not necessarily in a good way from the LA Kings. 2, three, and two is the record. Um, we’ve seen at times them get off to a good start uh and then blow it late. We’ve seen them get off to terrible starts and then rally uh to get back in the game and maybe force overtime uh or shootout. Uh we’ve seen them take a ton of penalties. We’ve seen them get a lot of power play opportunities and not be able to score. It’s been a lot of different things on a lot of different nights. Add it all together and it seems like they’re very disjointed at this point. Although coming off a game in St. Louis where I thought it looked a lot more like the Kings were used to seeing with the defense and limiting shots on goal, that kind of thing. Um, just kind of what’s your take on what we’ve seen so far? Uh, I know it’s early, but it doesn’t take long for that to just kind of wear off. Do you I again, I’ll just go ahead and ask the question. What do you think about what we’ve seen so far from the Kings? Haven’t seen a game one in regulation. I mean, I think that’s like the biggest thing that’s on my mind from these Kings. And like you said with the St. Louis game, like I think we saw what these Kings were capable of and what these Kings have done and we got to see exactly what they’ve done the last few years. I mean, smother opponents. They start off the third period. It was 19 to8 on shots on goal. I mean, they were, you saw them kind of steamroll in terms of possession, in terms of zone time. they’re doing their thing. They have something that they have made a part of their DNA, but that hasn’t been the case for all the games. And what you’re hoping with is, you know, in my opinion with, you know, seven games in is that you’re it’s so early on and you kind of see things fall into place. Um, it’s a tough team to read because they have not been consistent. They put together some type of consistency through certain periods where you’re like, “Wow, this team might have something, but then you also watch them, it’s just it just doesn’t seem all there.” I think the record reflects that. Not being able to get it done in regulation, having to claw back in games, letting things the penalties, the amount of pent times I think they’re the number one or number two team in the league. The amount of penalty minutes they’ve had this season that’s that’s just not sustainable. And yes, you had an elite penalty killing performance from Keer last year. And even prior to that, Cam Talba was an elite penalty killing goal attender in LA. That hasn’t been the case this year, right? You have two goalenders that analytically have been some of the worst goalending in the year. Keer came back in a strong way against St. Louis. That’s that’s what expected. That’s also something I I probably should have touched about is that that was also my fear going into the offseason is that Keer was a Vzna finalist and you have to you wanted him to replicate that in his age. It’s you’re getting into like a fishy area. So, seven games in I think you’re seeing a lot of fears materialize, but there are some bright spots. Um they had they ran into the Dumaland CC problem. Putting them under the pair probably wasn’t the right thing to do. But now they split the two and right now you have the best D pair on the Kings analytically. The Dumland Dy leads them in Corsy leads them in shots four. Uh they look good. Um even though the most consistently used pair is Edmonson and Clark. Uh their top four is kind of shaping out and so they’re they’re they were running into this Doomland CC issue. They broke it apart. And I think your last kind of scenario for CC is to put him with with Edmonson and put um you’d have to put Mikey next to Clark, which might be your decor or first D pairing of the future. Kind of a quick preview, but there’s kind of a situation where you have to eat it. If you’re Holland and Jim Hillard, you just kind of have to eat this problem. You’re not making a trade. I don’t know what team’s just going to be like, “Oh, oh, he’s struggling in LA. We’ll pick him up here.” Like we’ve seen these especially Cece struggle in other locations. I mean this is what his fifth or sixth team. So this is just a season where so far it’s been super turbulent. You’ve had some key injuries very early on. Um Perry getting hurt in the preseason. Koptar being when’s the last time I think I I have I don’t know if I’ve ever unless I don’t I’m trying to think of when the last time I’ve seen I don’t know about you Eddie. When’s the last time you saw a picture of an Koptar in a red jersey? It’s been at least five, six years, maybe at least. It’s been a while, right? I mean, he’s played I think I think the last four years he’s missed like four or five games total. So, uh, reliable to say the least. Yeah. Yeah. That the longevity of that. So, you deal with certain injuries like this and you see have certain guys step out. I mean, I never took Lefari to be a guy to step into the 1C roll or at least have, you know, some of the two more talented wingers on next him. It hasn’t worked. I’m very happy they got a turnover, a quick breakaway goal, but that line has not been good. I’m glad that he was able to get on the board point-wise. That line can’t it can’t be sustained. Um, analytically, that line’s getting crushed. Um, so it’s been a it’s been a weird tale of the season. It’s so early on where you can’t, you know, I uh a few people have mentioned to me and I am still not one to be press the panic button and and find the uh the dead hand switch and it’s not one of those situations at seven games in. But I think you start to move into that conversation if St. Louis comes back and they win that game and we’re looking at a a you know two two three and three team. Sorry. A two two or two three and no no no sorry my bad. One three and three team is not that’s not the start you want and you still haven’t won a regulation. They’re still on the the former than the ladder in the terms of being more on the risky like things can go real south like they’re playing with the final. This is they’re still on a road trip but early on this team has been kind of underwhelming. They look out of sync but when they are in sync Eddie they have something there. Brent Clark. Um, I know Ken Holland talked about it in the offseason. Uh, he he was one of the names that was always mentioned as far as the internal growth and those guys taking a step forward and that being a part of the plan. Uh, you know, we’ll see where his minutes are at the end of the year, which is most important if the Kings are where we would like them to be anyway. But so far, he’s not getting the minutes uh that you that I would have expected. Um the last two games he’s been the defenseman has the least amount of minutes played. Um are you confident that at some point they’re going to show more faith in him or do you think what’s been how he’s been used to this point is is okay as long as it increases at some point? I I’m a little confused as to why he is your it hasn’t been every game, but the last two games he’s had the fewest amount of minutes played for any of the defenseman and I scratch my head at that. What do you think about his usage and and will that increase? Will it will it, you know, turn it into something else as we go along and it’s just early or what is your thoughts on how they’re using him? It’s hard to not sound like a pessimist here, Eddie, but um you got to stick with a winning formula and this team has shown that they don’t really mess with that. They don’t really mess with if if he plays 14 minutes and they win 53 out of 82 games this year. Um people are still going to there’s people would tear down at Hiller but at the end of the day they won 53 games and probably are way up there with President’s Trophy Newers which is absurd. They obviously I don’t think they’re going to win 53 games but they’re probably not going to mess with a winning recipe and it’s just it’s a really it’s a big bummer for for Clark and really top down organizational organizational perspective that you’re letting kind of Q run with the show. I mean defense the the defensive side of things coming in as a defenseman is always harder than being a forward but there’s not letting him take the reigns and run with it. And when he has taken the when they have given him minutes I don’t think you could pinpoint the performances of the team on like well if Clark plays 18 plus minutes they’re going to lose games. I I would argue not. I think if you play certain players they picked up in the offseason over 20 minutes you’re starting to get into dangerous territory. Right. That’s what we’ve seen from some of these D pairs is the more they play the worse off it is. There was a I think it was up until the Winnipeg or St. Louis game that Clark had not been scored on five on five boys on the ice. So your defensive liability kind of looks like your best defensive player, but let’s be fair. If if Austin Matthews is coming down the wing, if I want one of the Kings defensive to come on the board to defend him, I’m probably not going to say Brett Clark is my go-to guy. But you have the perfect example of the reluctance to kind of change the keys, change hands, um, do this transfer power. If you need a perfect example of that, just go look at the second power play unit who’s both on point. Why do we have two defensive out there? Both of them are not really point shot threats at this, especially at Dowy’s point, Dowy’s point in his career. I don’t really see him as a point shot threat. Why do you have two facilitators out there? Grant Clark’s not a shot threat. I think it’s a perfect visage of like this scene that the the Kings are showing us that they’re unable to turn the keys over. Drew Dowy is still your number one time on ice leader on this team and it looks like it’s going to be that way. I think until Drew Dowy has retired and he’s going to have a he’s a Hall of Famer. I don’t think he’s ever Drew like Brent Clark’s never going to be the number one guy in LA while Drew Daddy’s on the roster and I think they if they have a winning formula they’re just going to run with it. I think that might be at the expense of Brandt Clark playing 18 plus minutes a night. I think he’s probably going to be in that 14 to 17 minute range depending on power play time. But at this point, they they got to go with the one the one defenseman and the four. It’s two defenseman out on a power play is a no pun. Not that I’m doing it literally, but that is a head scratcher. All right, I’m going to You talked about Hall of Famer Drew Dowy. There’s certainly another Hall of Famer who’s uh playing his final season. We’ll touch on that and Adrien Kempe as well coming up here on Locked in LA Kings, your team every day. Hockey season is obviously here and nothing beats being in the arena for early season games, but let’s be real, getting tickets can be a total headache. Between waiting in cues, surprising fees, and prices that jump right before checkout, it’s easy to get frustrated when all you want to do is cheer on your team. That’s where Game Time comes in, the app that gives fans the advantage. It’s your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NHL tickets fast, easy, and stress-free. I love that what you see is what you pay for. No hidden fees at checkout. Plus, I could actually see my view before I buy the tickets with their inapp seat view feature. Their zone deals are g are game changer. You pick a section, game time picks your seats, and you save big. And you can even find NHL tickets for under $25. Take the guesswork out of buying NHL tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s code locked on NHL for $20 off. Tap, swipe, ticket, go. All right, we’re wrapping things up here with Connor Doyle, who covers the LA Kings for the hockey news. Uh Andre Kopitar announced before the season that this will be his final season. Uh unfortunately we got a little sort of a glimpse of life without him uh the last few games uh with him being injured. However, he should be back uh here on this road trip which is which is good to see. Uh you know just your thoughts on on the career of Andre Kopitar and kind of what he’s meant to the LA Kings. There’s he’s uh he’s on the Mount Rushmore of the LA Kings. He he has to be um he’d probably be leading that parade because as much as people want to put Marcel Dion on there and Gretzky both not um homegrown kings, but Koptar is the king of Kings. Um Dustin Brown is, you know, be right there because he’s the first captain, but An Koptar is the most talented player to ever play for the Kings and has done the most for the LA Kings in terms of community on the ice. Um he’s going to go down as easily top four, top five, probably in that range. two-way players of all time. I would argue that if Patrice Berseron wasn’t playing for Boston or wasn’t in the league, he probably would be on his fifth or sixth selfie. Or if you swap those players and Koptar plays in Boston, I almost guarantee you he has more than two selfies. Um that’s not to take a chip off of Patrice Bers hell of a player, but Kopchar just just a legendary play legendary player. And I I hate to say that. Um gosh, I feel old by telling saying that. Like I’ve had to tell people like go watch game one of the New Jersey doubles Kings game one. That’s all you need to see. Or just go watch his first game against you know going around Chris Pronger to score a future Hall of Fame defenseman. Like there’s just so many moments. I mean, Jim Fox, I think, said it best in in that one his one, if you want to call it anomaly season in the 2017, 2018 when the fourgoal game in Colorado, I mean, I was speechless. I mean, Jim Fox said it in that game. And I hate to say that. I’ve watched that so many times when um before I was writing that to hear Jim Fox say, “I’m speechless.” Like, I cannot believe I’m about to say this about a two-time Stanley Cup champion, I’m speechless. I’m stunned. Um he’s he’s he’s going to be missed. I mean, I’m sure that he’s probably going to me remain somewhat connected to the organization. I know he’s moving back to Slovenia, but just a legendary player, the King of Kings on Mount Rushmore. Um I know he technically already has a statue, a part of a statue that’s with everyone. Definitely deserves his own. Um just he will be missed. Hall of Famer first ballot should practically be unanimous. I don’t know if you want to do the baseball comparison again, but should be a unanimous hall of fame. No one else should be wearing number 11 in LA after he retires. Adrien Kempe is looking for a new contract. Um, I know he had said that there was no rush and that he was okay with this process kind of playing out and but he also he didn’t give a deadline, but he did say he’d like to have it done by Christmas. Um, I said I would have signed him before the season started and gotten this over and done with. Um but it’s the the negotiations are going on. Uh there are various reports as to where they are uh as far as the progress goes. Um you know, Kyle Connor up in Winnipeg gets a a big deal, another winger who’s somewhat comparable to Adrien Kempe, I guess. Um you know, he’s getting 12 million a year. Um there was the report that Kempe was looking for 10, maybe that’s gone up now. Your thoughts on on how this uh is resolved? Are you confident that this will get done here uh relatively soon or are you concerned it hasn’t gotten taken care of at this point? I’m not I’m not exactly concerned. I think that the team’s play probably doesn’t have as much weight into it. I’ve seen that on social media that like Kemp’s watching this team even though he’s playing and seeing this team isn’t doing well. I don’t think that really has the fact that this isn’t, you know, 10 15 getting into 20 games in where the team is just sliding. He’s like, do I want to sign here? Um, and also maybe that backfires a little bit that he’s like, “Yeah, I’m in no rush.” Well, guess what happened while you’re in while the team and the league was in no rush. The time stopped for no one, right? Capri Soft signs the the most uh most expensive contract in NHL history in terms of the AAV. Conor McDavid signs a team friendly but kind of scary deal if you’re an Oilers uh fan. Only two years, but huge pay cut. I mean, he’s someone that could have gotten 20 like you said the Kyle Connor. the market has now shifted because it’s all comparables. It’s um in the economics and finance world, you got to do a kind of comparable and compatibles. And if the market is rising, you have to go with the flow. I mean, this is how the the housing market works. Um you’ve almost waited a little bit too long. Now we’re in this middle ground where okay, well, you kind of have to play ball. You can’t not sign Adrien Hemp. If this team is floundering and let’s say it’s a it’s a zero, you know, o, you know, o and six or 06 and0 start, then maybe you start looking into if this team is that bad, maybe you trade Kempe who probably has the most value to go get someone out there in the league or start that retool. Or, okay, we’ve we’ve messed up the retool. We’ve messed up this rebuild. Let’s use our most prized asset to go get that if we’re not going to resign him because $12 million is probably a little too expensive for Kemp right now. It won’t be in a couple years. But right now, you don’t have a choice. You have to sign your best player. And right now, I’m not concerned. It’s still very early on. Um there’s very few players left that can up the ante in terms of getting resigned themselves. So, right now, it’s just a little bit of a waiting game, but I think in the next probably month, month and a half, the things should get resolved. All right, that is Connor Doyle of the Hockey News who covers the LA Kings. You can follow him on X or Twitter, Lords of the Rinks. Uh, and Connor, as always, we appreciate your time. Good to get your insights into things and we will definitely check in with you uh as the season unfolds and get your thoughts on things. For sure. I just wanted to close with one thing, Eddie. One thing I did write down for this that anyone that’s listening, uh, one thing to keep an eye out on before I I tip my cap and head out of here. fifth, fifth, sixth, and second. Those were the rankings of the LA Kings last year in Corsy Fenwick uh shots four and goals four at five on five. That’s their bread and butter. This year, Eddie, 11th, 13th, 8th, and 19th. All right, that’s seven games in. Something’s got to give. But if you’re relying on special teams and your five on five game, which is your bread and butter, not working, something to be something to monitor. But yes, just wanted to leave that little nugget there before I head out. Very good. and maybe we’ll check those numbers again the next time we have you on the show. Appreciate that. Appreciate your time, Connor. And we’ll see you out at the rink hopefully sometime soon. Sounds good, Eddie. Thanks for having me. Thank you very much. Hope you guys enjoyed that conversation. For you everydayers, those you listen and watch Lock of the Kings every day. Our next show will be following the Kings Stars game Thursday night in Dallas. We’ll have a complete recap of everything that goes on in that game as well. And of course, we have our fan feedback show at the end of the week for you to take part in if you would like the email address to get in on that or for any other reason to contact the show. Locked on Eddiegmail.com eddie. You can always leave your comments if you’re watching on YouTube in the comments section and stay interactive with the show on social media x Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok. We’re at lockedonla kings. I’m Eddie Garcia. Thank you for listening and watching this episode of Locked on LA Kings, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Have a great rest of your day. We’ll talk to you next time. And as always, go Kings go.

We are talking LA Kings chaotic start to the season, how players have performed so far, Adrian Kempe’s contact situation and more on this episode of Locked on LA Kings.

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