Lost in Translation, Now it’s Desperation
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The General Manager is now in question, players are being tossed around for a deadline deal, the playoffs are in doubt — and could quickly become a long shot.
It’s been bad, it’s getting worse.
The Kings’ inconceivable lack of scoring has had an awful effect all year long, those effects have hit this roster no harder than in the past two games.
Two 1-0 losses, two consecutive shutouts on home ice, both against clubs that hopped over the Kings in the standings with those wins. That’s not going to cut it, not even close.
This team now finds themselves out of playoff positioning. Sitting in the Western Conference‘s 9th-seed slot, the Kings are in a frenzy to find a solution, to find an answer — and fast. With 65 points, the Kings are no safe bet to recover and solidify a postseason bid. They are far from alone in claiming the final playoff spot, with four clubs trailing just five points behind them, going down all the way to 13th in the Western Conference, where the Anaheim Ducks stand with 60 points.
Same result, all year long
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Dealing with Dean: The way things have continued to play out for the Kings, a deal prior to Monday’s trade-deadline may be the only solution in order to fend for a third consecutive playoff berth. Two big names that have been tossed around the grid both belong to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are reportedly open to dealing a couple of major assets.
Yes, that would be Rick Nash and Jeff Carter.
The Jackets, who are mired in their worst season in franchise history, are starting to hint at a full rebuild. This means they’ve got to get something of very high value to part-ways with either of these players. For Nash, Columbus is reportedly asking for Jonathan Bernier, Jack Johnson, Andrei Loktionov, and maybe even a bit more.
Do I like this? No. Am I worried about a desperate knee-jerk move made by Dean Lombardi? Yes.
Ask yourselves, how much thought is Lombardi genuinely putting into the Kings short-term future here, rather than just this season alone? Because, quite frankly, there’s a good chance he’s shown the door if things don’t turn around quickly, and at a very impressive rate. He’s got to act now, and that may not be as good of a thing as it sounds to be.
The last thing you want to do is give away highly talented youth, who have yet to hit their prime stride, for one man’s last-ditch effort at saving his job.
As for Jeff Carter? Well, all right. His attitude is shaky to say the least, but at least he’s got strong connections with Mike Richards. Plus, he’s quite a bit cheaper than Nash, and could fill in as a winger on any of the top-three lines. I’d definitely mull it over.
The Kings are desperate, but they can’t be desperate for a trade. They’ve got to be desperate at playing hockey. The talent is here already, I’ll say it again. If it happens to be one of those year’s in which things just don’t click, then so be it. If a deal is made at the deadline, we can only see how it pans out.
The worst time to shoot yourself in the foot is when you’re already down. For the Kings, I wouldn’t go after anything higher than a Jeff Carter. Add a couple of pieces if you can, just be sure to still value the players this team has now. A big deal, well one that’s too big, could potentially haunt this club for years.
All you can do is wait and see
Desperate in the Desert: It’s a date with the Phoenix Coyotes, yet again. This one is huge, this one is mammoth. The Kings (9th – 65 points) and Coyotes (7th – 67 points) meet just five days after their last affair, which saw the Sun Dogs take a 1-0 shutout victory at Staples Center. The Kings could find themselves as high as 7th in the Western Conference with a win, or continue to separate themselves from the playoff bubble even more. To call this the biggest game of the year wouldn’t do it justice.
At least the Kings have proven they can beat the Coyotes with just one goal. The problem they’re facing tonight, is scoring that goal.
That’s some optimism to build off of.. Right?
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