Week 25 Recap (w/ Dan Greenspan)

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Byfield off the back, steps in with Byfield, cuts to the front, backhander, he scores!

Quintin' Byfield chips it through the gold-tanner, doesn't-

You're listening to all the King's men, the official podcast of the LA King.

Serious three underway and now Byfield with a break from the red line, Byfield scores!

Quintin' Byfield in a flash!

Now, here's your host, Jesse Cohen.

All right, it's Monday morning, that means it's time to crown a King of the Week, joining

me from NHL.com, Dan Greenspan, how are you doing today, Dan?

Doing good, Jesse, thanks for having me again.

Sorry that I scheduled this before that game on Saturday night, which puts sort of a dampener

on the mood for a King of the Week, because frankly, I mean, last night was so bad, I think

it kind of wipes out any gains that were made earlier, but we're going to do it nonetheless.

So Dan, we're going to start with you, your honorable mention.

I will go with Artemi Panarin, a couple of goals during the week, and just, he's the best

most watchable thing about this team right now, and at a time when the Kings are not providing

a lot of entertainment, he is delivering in all facets, so I figure that's worth recognition

this week.

I should clarify that this week does not include last Sunday.

Oh.

So it's only one goal for Artemi Panarin, would you like to read?

I always forget the timing of...

Yeah, sorry, it's Monday through Sunday, yeah, it's our week here, all right.

So, all right, well that's fine, Artemi Panarin.

And you know what I will say this, he smashed his stick on a board last night and shattered

it, and it was literally the only evidence I saw last night that anybody really cared

about the outcome of that game, so if nothing else, I'm always happy to give Panarin more

points.

My runner-up is going to be Trevor Moore, because in that week, a goal to assist three points

a plus three, excuse me, playing 18 minutes, 24 seconds a game.

That line, LaFarrier, Moore, and Byfield, everything I say this episode, by the way,

is with the exception of last night's game against Utah.

That line, LaFarrier, Moore, and Byfield has looked really good, and if the Kings are

going to have any success and are going to be entertaining or competitive, they're going

to need depth scoring, and that line has provided it, even though the other lines have

sort of fallen off a little bit, and so Trevor Moore is my honorable mention.

Good call, and it leads into where I assume we're both going for King of the Week, could

you very well be, so your runner-up then, Dan?

I would go on the one, you kind of have to go by default to Kemper for the shout-out, especially

given how you had hoped that that had been the turning point, because obviously he didn't

play in the Olympics, he came back, all sorts of messed up travel fatigue issues, which

having gone through something similar recently, I can certainly identify with, and know the

base point against Utah on Saturday night, but I still, look, you can only beat who's

in front of you, being Coopers very bad, and that was an important win, especially with

what would happen a couple days later, so I'll give it to Kemper on the basis of the

shout-out, plus a couple of over-time shoot-out points earlier in the week.

That's fair enough, my runner-up is going to be Alex LaFaire here, the second member

of that line that I previously mentioned, also with one goal and two assists.

The only thing that puts him slightly ahead of Trevor Moore for me is that he won some

face-offs, and his shooting percentage was a little bit higher, and he played more men.

It's just, this is, we're talking about margins here, but Alex LaFaire and Trevor Moore,

I thought, in the two games where they got points this week, that line has played well,

and Alex LaFaire, I think, is put in a tough spot where he's the youngest, he's younger

than I feel, right?

Or is he not?

Yeah, yeah.

But either way, he's the youngest in his career, if not the youngest in years on the

planet, and just goes out and does what's asked of him and is putting up points at the

right time of the year, and finally allowed to sort of play the role that I think he was

suited for, and drafted to play, and yeah, he's my runner-up.

So then you're, this is maybe the fastest king of the week we've ever done, and you're

working in the week, then.

Quinn Byfield, and I guess you were going the same direction.

Yeah.

Yeah, this is, this is what we, everybody had kind of been hoping for throughout the season,

that it would obviously be a breakout year where he could build on what he did last

year, maybe sort of become that one B to Anjay Kupchar's one A. Better light than

never.

Ideally, you'd like to see him, you know, carry this through the rest of the season and

get them in the playoffs and assert himself there, but obviously a very productive week

for him and his line is, as you blade out.

Yeah, so four goals to assist, six points, a plus three, 56.5% of the face-off dot 19.

Or 19 minutes, 27 seconds, 30% shooting percentage, 13 shots on goal.

Like he's, he did everything, I mean, again, with the exception of Saturday night where

nobody looked good, he, he led that line, he led the team and scoring this week.

He has shown up into your point, has become the second option behind Kupchar.

My only question, Dan, is do we think that his second half resurgence this year, or

not even second half, last quarter resurgence this year, is because there's a different

voice behind the bench.

He's being asked to do less or at least his role has been clarified, or do we think that

this is going to be his move from now on, which is when the pressure, I mean, I don't

know, I say sometimes I think he's playing well because the pressure is off, but the reality

is the pressure couldn't be any higher right now because if they win, they're in, if they

lose, they're not.

Yeah, I, I would hope that it's him having some stability.

When he's been at his best, excuse me, it's been set role, set line, really given an

identity and given the opportunity to play to that identity, and I think that DJ Smith's

given him more of an identity than we saw, especially towards the end of Jim Hiller's

coaching tenure here, and you know, now he's got to build on it.

Obviously, we think it's unless they make the playoffs and go on a run, it's likely there

will be a new head coach and a, probably a new style of play next year's.

Obviously, no copetar.

So that will have a huge impact on where things stand for Quinn-Buyfield is he the de facto

number one center going in the next year, do they make a big trade, make a big signing?

There's a lot of uncertainty for Quinn-Buyfield, so to see him ceasing the opportunity now where

there's still a little bit of stability and a little bit of runway is key timing.

I don't want to fall prey to like, recency bias because it happened at the end of last

year that he and Kevin Fiala teamed up and looked really, really good down the stretch,

but he's playing so well with more envelope air that I'm tempted, whereas previously

I would have said no, you have to play by field in between Kenpei and Panera next year.

Now I'm like, well, I don't know, now unfortunately Kuzmaiko and Fiala are out, so we have no idea

how things would change with them in the lineup.

We don't know if Kuzmaiko will be back, Fiala is under contract, but given how well

more LaFaria and Buyfield are playing, I'm tempted to say, well, keep that line as

a line, if you're going to, if you're going to run back some version of this roster, I'm

inclined to say, keep that line together, but like I said, between injuries and guys

who are leaving through retirement and free agency, it's hard to know who's going to

be back.

We don't even know what the coaching situation is going to be, so I mean, it's hard to

say, but I don't know, I think that line plays really well together.

Yeah, for whatever reason, Trevor Moore just, he matches and meshes with his center so

well during his time here in Los Angeles, obviously he and DeNo for so long was an incredible

one-two punch and whoever slotted in with them tended to work out really well.

I just think he's got a lot of intangibles and parts of his game that mesh really well

with whoever he's asked to play with, and so I think he's really helping out, and LaFaria,

I think he has a good sense of what he is as a winger, and so that really can help out

Quinn Byfield.

The other thing to remember is, what, COVID completely messed up, what would have been

Quinn Byfield's trajectory and path to the NHL, he was able to come into the NHL a

lot sooner than he would have otherwise.

He was able to play NHL games a lot sooner than he would have otherwise.

You know, he is very much still, I think, developing, and you know, we saw Taj Thompson the

other week when Buffalo came to town, and you know, it took him a while as a bigger center

to figure out his game, and I still think that that potential, that possibility is there

for Quinn Byfield, and I look on Reddit and a few things here and there, and you see

what's trade byfield, trade byfield.

That's, I think he's still worth waiting to see where he settles in, is this his level,

you know, as like a 20 to 25 goal scorer, 55 point kind of player, or can he take that

next jump?

Yeah, the problem is that he's going to be 24 in August, and so the idea of potential

were at the tail end of potential, like if they do what you suggest and I'm on board with it,

then next year he is what he is, there's no more potential, like last year he finished with 31

points in the final 32 games or something like that, and it was like, oh my god, okay, this is it,

you know, point per game guy, paired with Fiala, it works, it's amazing, blah blah blah, and then

this season, no, we fare everything once out this season, but this season, you know, a large part

of the team's failure to score rests on the shoulders of all of the centers, you know, denote,

didn't have any goals, I feel didn't have, I mean at some point it was a month or two into the

season, I think all four centers have been buying for like two or three goals, and I think

Conchet Hopens are at all of them, so yeah, you're right, but at some point potential runs out,

and you just are what you are, now they have Fiala done a contract for a few more years, so

regardless of what he is, they have the ability to stick with it or not, and I do agree with you,

and I have said time and time again, I think he is the kind of player that takes a while to

evaluate and incorporate lessons before mastering them and moving on to the next

quantum leap of his evolution, but at some point, you know, the are what you are, so

I don't know, either way, congratulations on Fiala this week's King of the Week.

Now, Dan, right before we started recording this,

Vegas fired their head coach, and a hired John Torrella.

The hockey fans of a certain vintage will recall that the New Jersey Devils did this,

was it like 1999, I think, or the 1990s? Yeah, I mean, they fired, I think they fired,

I don't remember who the coach was, I think they promoted Larry Robinson,

and I think it was about this close to the playoffs, maybe slightly closer, but it was like,

it was, I mean, somebody said like, oh, I've never seen this happen before, and I was like,

oh, it was eight games, okay, March 23rd, 2000, the New Jersey Devils fired Coach Robby Fatorik,

that's the last former King's head coach, Robby Fatorik, and promoted Larry Robinson. Now,

they won the Stanley Cup that year, so, you know, it worked out, and my recollection is that they

did it again the next year, but I could be wrong. So I'm looking, they, in 2001, they went to the

Cup Final and lost, and then in 0102, they fired Larry Robinson, looks like about,

with about 30 games remaining or so. Okay, it's not quite as close, but yeah, they tried

the same trick. Yeah, Yuri, I'm looking at right here, yeah, they, they hired Larry Robinson,

March 23rd, 2000, fired him January 28th, 2002, Kevin Consteen, team lasted until June,

they hired Pat Burns, fired Pat Burns. Went to the Cup, and won it. Yeah, and then, yeah,

Larry Robinson. So yeah, so I mean, it has been done before, but I guess the short term question

for King's fans has to be, does firing Cassidy in replacing with Torturella, do we now expect

Vegas to come out of their slump and start, you know, because they only have however many games left

as well, do they now get that new coach bump to carry them? Because, because as far as I'm concerned,

the kings are chasing Vegas, not Utah or Nashville. Does Vegas's

bravado encourage whatever you want to call it to fire their coach with nine games left,

or eight games left, excuse me, does that mean that they now are going to get that new coach bump

and put themselves out of reach of the teams behind? I would tend to think not just because

Vegas's fundamental issues have been goal tending all year. I'm not sure how Torturella

fixes that. Obviously, you can improve the defensive structure in front of your goal tending

and make things easier for them that way, but like just the same percentages for these guys,

you know, has not been good and they make a lot of mistakes. You know, I was watching

that Edmonton Vegas game the other night where Vegas each had a point, like a crucial point,

given how badly they've been playing of late, and just they don't make saves. I don't know how

you fix that regardless of who's behind the bench. Yeah, I don't know if it's optimism or pessimism.

I do think they're going to get a bump just because Torturella is such a

unique personality unto himself. I just have to believe that he'll come in. And even if it's just

for two or three games, yeah, which might be all they need. Well, exactly. There's not enough time

for it to matter whether or not it's going to last or if it's just a short thing because honestly,

if they make the playoffs and lose to Edmonton or somebody else in the first round,

I think for their purposes, it kind of doesn't matter. They just need to make the playoffs to keep

being Vegas. And the Pacific division is so crazy this season that if they're one of the teams

on the outside, that's like a double mark. And I just think Torturella will come in and no

nonsense. They'll win a couple under him. And that'll be enough because, I mean, they're,

they have 80 points at the time of this recording. The Kings have 76. Seattle's got 75. When

they pay us 74. LA is the only team that can catch them with two wins. Seattle's got to go

through Utah as 82. So I mean, in order for Seattle or Winnipeg to challenge for a spot that Vegas

might hold, LA has to pass them in the standards. So multiple layers have to happen for those other

teams to catch them. I suppose San Jose could catch them. But at this point San Jose has got 73 points.

Vegas has 80. It doesn't seem likely. So I don't, I don't know. I just, I was caught completely off

guard and you yourself said you had to double check to make sure it was real. Yeah, it was one of those

where it's like the donchage trade. It's like, yes. Is this the actual person? Yeah, did somebody

get hacked? Is this Frank Sera Valley? Yeah. Or Bob McKenzie? It was, no, I thought it up from

Vegas's own socials. And it's like, wait, did you get hacked? There's some shady crypto

scheme coming in the following tweet. But yeah, that was a shocker. Then again, they've been so

lousy since the Olympic break. It's like, at some point, the coach is under a thread. And like

you've said, quite a few times, whether it's on on here on, you know, your own post game shows

what have you. Vegas is all in. They've got to make the playoffs. The Pacific is so lousy. You

think that once they're in, they have a decent chance of getting out of it. And they, you know,

they spend all this money. They spend all this draft capital. Go for it. You know, I mean, honestly,

like when the season is the coach, trying to handicap the Western conference playoffs.

I would think it's sort of impossible because like, okay, Colorado will likely win the West.

Dallas and Minnesota in the second round. Who knows? Like, that's a brutal matchup.

And then anybody can finish anywhere in the Pacific. And I would believe it. But even if we just,

like, even if the playoffs ended today, and it was Anaheim against Nashville, Utah against Colorado,

Edmundson against Vegas, I don't know. We've seen weirder first round upsets than Colorado losing

to whoever they go up against in the first round, right? Like that year, the Boston set the record

and lost in the first round. Well, I mean, for years, it used to be the president's cup.

Yeah. It was always good. Go out in the second round. And then we saw the past few years. It's been

the, they can't, if you get out of the first round. Right. So I mean, there's something to be said,

if you're, if you're front running and piling up all those wins at the start of the year,

and then you tail off, because I think since about pretty much the start of the new year,

they're basically like a 500 team in terms of actual record.

Yeah. I mean, they're five, four and one in their last 10. And then like I said, once you get

through that, then you can't tell me anybody in the Pacific is sufficiently better or worse than

anybody else. And yeah, I look at if Utah is the wild card and then I'm like, I would tend to lean,

I think I would lean Utah. I think I would too. And then, and then who, you know, Utah against

Edmonton or Vegas, I don't, I mean, yeah, it could be, honestly, it could be a Utah

Nashville Western Congress final. I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be too, well, I guess I would be

stunned because I still think someone that out of the central will come out of it. The white

Dallas is playing like, yeah, there, but, but we're doing things have happened. And it's just a

bizarre season. And like I said, trying to, trying to handicap any of it is crazy. Dan,

there's two days off before the King's next game. I have said repeatedly that I think they

need 92 points to be comfortably within a conversation of the bike. I figure if they

finish with fewer than 92 points, playoffs are kind of a pipe dream. And now you're really

desperate for other teams to slip and fail. If I'm not mistaken, last night's loss to Utah means

that the most points they can finish the season with is 94. If they win every game remaining on

the schedule, I believe they finish with 94 points. That makes Wednesday's game. What, the third

or fourth must win game in a row. But this one actually is in my mouth. Is it crazy to say

must win on Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues? I think it's a, you've got to get something out

of it. Obviously, the Kings have been very good about picking up a lot of loser points this year.

But you start doing the math. And especially like, I would say that the national games are the

must wins and ideally must wins in regulation, given how things are shaping up. But yeah, I mean,

especially St. Louis is playing so well. I think whether they eight, two, and one, they're last

11. They've got all these young kids that they've thrown in that are jumping off the page and

scoring a lot of goals. You know, it's a key test because it's, it's a game you've got to get

something out of it. You're really a playoff team. Here's the most annoying thing about it.

If St. Louis wins, they move to within one point of the games and two points behind

national. So annoying. A team that should have been out of it months ago or weeks ago, and there,

and now if they win, like it becomes another four point night. A lot of four pointers this up

coming week and yeah, I mean, he's a point swing on the table with national. It's crazy.

Yeah, I mean, let's get back to like one of the key questions, you know, I hit on

Kemper a little bit ago. Like at one point, do you, do you trust him more than, than Anton

Forsberg in these key games? Obviously, it's a back-to-back Wednesday, Thursday. So you assume

it'll be split, but like all things being equal is, is Kemper still your number one right now?

I mean, I said this months ago, if we were in Boston or Detroit or Toronto or Montreal,

that conversation would have started a month and a half ago and it would have been a lot louder.

Because no disrespect to Darcy Kemper, who was absolute phenomenal last season, he has struggled since

the hit from Rantonen. And Forsberg's numbers over the last, I don't know, I looked at that

recently and Forsberg had a couple rocky starts and Kemper had a couple good ones. Obviously,

Kemper getting a shut out against Vancouver Helps, but like just looking, I'm going to mess around

for fun. I'm going to go to December 1st between the King's goalies.

Kemper's 10, 10 and 8, Forsberg is 7, 9 and 3. So technically, Kemper has more points, but

Kemper's a sub-908 percentage, Forsberg's a 0.906. And if you change it to January 1st,

Forsberg's a 905, Kemper's an 875, Kemper's goals against average 3.15, Forsberg's 2.93.

When was the coaching change was the first, right? Yes. Yeah. Darcy Kemper 4, 2 and 4,

891 save percentage, 2.65 goals against Anton Forsberg, 1 and 3, so worse record, but higher save

percentage, but higher goals against average. So yeah, it's weird, and I don't know how you judge

that. And obviously, it's up to Mike Buckley and DJ Smith. But yes, there's been plenty of evidence

to suggest that Anton Forsberg is playing better in the last four months, three months, however long

you want to call it. Yeah, and the random thing, even though nobody ever officially

used the word concussion, because the way we are in the NHL, especially in 2026, is

people are very reticent to use that word, but obviously it was concussion, and you go back

to the Olympics and him, like, Insomnia is no joke. Jailag is no joke, and especially for him,

having not played games, you know, yes, he was practicing, yes, he was there with Team TAN at a,

you know, I'm sure he was a fantastic teammate, you know, he's a fantastic guy to be around,

so I'm sure they loved having, I'm loved having such a capable third option, but, you know,

I just think those set of factors, he has not been sharp since the break. Yeah, no, it's been

rough, and I mean, there are people, I won't throw them under the bus, but there are people out there

I've spoken to who believe that the king's season essentially comes down to gold. Maybe not every game,

maybe not every night, but to start out the season, gold heading, you know, stumbled a bit, then

got on its feet, then the rant and hit, and then over the last few games, you know, a lot of it,

a lot of it is gold heading, the numbers suggest that the defense is playing the same way it has

for the last three or four years, they're just not getting the same gold heading, so I don't know

what you do about that, but Dan, they got a win, because that game against Utah was brutal, so

time's running out, yeah, they painted themselves into a corner, and all the talk in the world

won't get them any more points on the board, so they got to start winning, oh, it's over.

Dan, thank you so much for joining me, I appreciate it. Thank you, Jesse, always a pleasure.

We'll talk to you soon, king's fans.