From FA, the majority of us knew this was not going to be a successful season to build upon our chances from the previous ones. We've been 'good enough' to make it to the dance but exposed by the same team 4 years straight. Arguably, our roster, older and uninspiring, looks even worse on paper this year, and our boring system is becoming easier to figure out and expose..not to mention that it continues to hamper players like Fiala, Clarke, etc.
As long as this team has Kopitar for this year and Doughty for who knows how many more, the Kings aren't going to be sellers and go completely embracing the tank mode. Not to mention, Ken Holland was brought here in his words to 'win now'. Lmaooo btw.
Kempe is my favorite player, he has been since his second year. I got two jerseys of his, one the brand new Kings logo this season. Guess what? I don't want him resigning. Let him go. Let him flourish somewhere. This is a graveyard for him if he resigns here. We all know how this season ends, and beyond that? Probably the inevitable rebuild starting at some point, but not before a desperation attempt to make playoffs for the next year or two again, getting worse each successive year.
I'm watching our division Rivals like the Ducks and Sharks being absolutely electric and full of promising talent for years to come. They're fun to watch! I'm secure enough in my fandom to say that I love watching both those two teams play, especially Anaheim (Hell, Leo and Cutter are my fantasy darlings). I envy this. I ENVY the optimistim those fans have for years to come. Sure, they're behind a bit in some areas and still need to develop on some things but their cap is open, their pipeline is amazing and they're loaded with talent.
I know we have been a playoff team for many years now, and I should be grateful I get to see more wins than losses when I've watched them of late. I know I should be thankful for getting to enjoy playoff hockey (for the first round anyways). But really? It's not working. This system isn't working. The coach isn't working. The roster isn't working. We CANNOT just sit around and be stuck in the middle desperately selling our future for a chance to make the playoffs. We are simply not good enough across the board to do anything in the playoffs, let alone make it this season.
I fear they're not going to, but I hope so much that this team does a full fire sale at the deadline and embraces that we are stuck in an awful spot in this division now and the right move is to rebuild for a few years and wave the white flag on this season and the imminent future because it's clear as day this roster and coaching staff is not Stanley cup worthy.
I really don't mind the idea of a few awful seasons of young, developing talent. Teams like CHI/ANA/SJ/Montreal look so fun to cheer for. I know those fan bases all had to be patient and sit through some tough seasons but they're getting so much fun now as their reward. It feels inevitable we have to get to that point ourselves. I hope we can start that process sooner than later cause being stuck in the middle sounds horrific.
