Bob McKenzie’s Bernier trade rumor

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Matthew Barry :: McKenzie: “I Think Tampa Will Trade For Jonathan Bernier”.

Well, God said it in a tweet, so there must be SOME sort of speculation, right?

Fans are offering Brett Connolly and maybe one of Tampa’s 1st round picks for JB and Muzzin? Or Loktionov (if Stoll is re-signed as expected)?

There’s just one major problem.

Jonathan Quick still has a year to go on his contract MEANING they can’t negotiate until JULY 1ST… AFTER the draft. Maybe Lombardi wants to stockpile 1st rounders in 2013 (CBJ can opt to keep the Kings 1st rounder this year or wait for next year).

This doesn’t seem like a Lombardi move at all.

Those who say Jones and Zatkoff are ready, haven’t SEEN Jones and Zatkoff. It took YEARS for Bernier to be comfortable in the show and how many years did the Kings wait for Quick to develop?

McKenzie may have some serious insider information (**cough, Yzerman, cough**) but I don’t see Lombardi dealing Bernier unless thre’s someone in the draft he REALLY covets and is available when Tampa selects.

Thoughts?

It just makes no sense to trade Bernier before Quick is re-signed. I’m not even sure it makes sense after he’s re-signed. What happens if Quick gets inj***d? It’s not like he relies on his quickness or athleticism or anything. I agree with Matt that assuming Jones or Zatkoff could just step in is naive. Could work. Probably wouldn’t. Why take the chance? Bernier is an RFA next summer (2013). Perversely, if he’s a back-up all season in 2012-13, he’s not even going to have the body of work to demand a huge raise. He can hold out for more money, but he can’t sign wherever he wants unless he gets an offer sheet. And I don’t think other GMs really want Dean Lombardi as an enemy.

And I would be shocked if Lombardi were to trade Andrei Loktionov and keep Jarret Stoll. ESPECIALLY since Stoll can go wherever he wants to on 7/1. For the same reason Lombardi wouldn’t deal Bernier before Quick is re-signed, he also won’t deal Loktionov when Stoll could bolt. Underline: I would keep Loktionov and let Stoll walk. But if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t trade Loktionov without signing Stoll first.

The bottom six next season should be King, Loktionov, Lewis, Toffoli, Clifford, Nolan and Fraser. Yes, I know that’s seven names. I might also re-sign Penner and drop Gagne to the bottom-six, and do something like:

Gagne – Loktionov – Toffoli

King – Fraser – Lewis

(Clifford, Nolan)


 

Some posts the robot says are related, but I'll let you be the judge of that:

  1. Bernier “expects” to be traded? [also: POLL]
  2. People have asked: why keep Jonathan Bernier?
  3. Dean Lombardi Trade History
  4. Every LA Kings Lineup Since 2005
  5. LA Kings Reserve List
  6. Pierre LaBrun has an interesting Bernier tidbit
  7. BREAKING: Sources Say ESPN is Looking Closely at Kings Trade Rumor
  • Saronoff

    Given what Penner has done with Carts and Rick, I’d think you would need to re-sign him. Hopefully for around 2-3 million with incentives to get him up to 5/year. Something like that deal seems to make sense. Maybe even a 1 year deal with a club option or just a flat one year deal. You figure he wants a year to show-off he’s “back.”

    • DougS

      I would sooner re-sign Penner — especially under those terms — than re-sign Stoll. My one quarrel with that post by Barry is that I don’t understand who is expecting the Kings to bring Stoll back rather than give Loktionov a shot.

      I do give Barry a lot of credit here — and I say this as someone who has ragged on him pretty hard in the past — for a rock-solid analysis of the Kings’ goalie situation that leads him to actually pour cold water on a trade rumor, rather than hype it up.

    • https://twitter.com/BobKnob2point0 Bob Knob

       Is Penner even eligible for performance bonuses? Don’t you have to be a youngin or an old fart for those?

      • http://www.mcsorleys-stick.com/ Quisp

        You are correct. ELCs and contracts for players 35 and older can have performance bonuses. Otherwise, they aren’t allowed.

  • Doughty99

    Sweet Jesus that’s a deep team.

  • http://keithkorneluk.com/ Keith Korneluk

    I like Loktoinov but he’s not a 3rd line center.  His faceoff and defense ability alone don’t make him a 3rd line center.  I was hoping Lokti would step in to the 2nd line center role but that’s not happening now that we have Richards.  I think he’s trade bait at this point. 

    As for Bernier, we can trade him if we know we’re going to sign Quick on July 1 (an agreement would need to be in place for his signature).  There are plenty of affordable veteran backups that will hit the market.  We all know Sutter is going to have Quick play 60+ games (yes, we’re screwed if he gets injured) and we’re not doing Bernier any favors by playing him just a few games. 

    Lombardi has always wanted a hard-hat team that is responsible defensively.  You have a very good third line but it’s not one I see Lombardi (or Sutter) going with. 

    It’s going to be an interesting summer!

    • http://www.mcsorleys-stick.com/ Quisp

      I don’t disagree with you if I accept your definitions of line numbers and roles. However, Sutter likes to roll four lines, and the defensive “shut-down” line isn’t and never has been the third line (not since Handzus and Simmonds left). The shut-down lines are the top-six lines. This is, I think, one of the main reasons King has (and the bottom-six in general have) been so-successful in the playoffs. He’s not always matching up against the best or second best of the other team, as he would have were he on last year’s team (e.g. King – Handzus – Simmonds). 

      A third unit of Gagne – Loktionov – Lewis is only a third line in name. You put that line out for O-zone face-offs against the opponent’s muckers. Kopitar and Richards get the tough assignments.  

      Stoll’s stock is high right now and — if the Kings were to win a cup in the next week — his stock will be even higher. He’s not taking less than $3MM for fewer than three years. If you’re Lombardi, is that a deal you want to make, or does it look like a deal that we’ll be dying to get rid of in a year? 

      Not to mention the fact that the team was offensively challenged all year, and especially so on the PP, and Loktionov is a fucking wizard in those areas. I’m glad Stoll is in there now, because he’s experienced and can take draws. And I’m thankful for the OT goal against Vancouver. But really, for 2012-13, if you give Loktionov a regular shift for a whole season, he’ll be a different player a year from now. And he’s likely score more than Stoll, given the same ice time. 

      Re Quick: the truth is, we just don’t know what he’s going to ask for. It would be foolhardy to assume that he’ll be reasonable, or that it won’t be reasonable for him to expect the moon. After all, a week from now, Quick might be a Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe winner. Because if he’s one, I think he’s both. And then what do you pay him? He could reasonably ask for $7MM. Is that worth it? And if it’s not worth it, what the hell do we do if we’ve already dealt Bernier? 

      And then you have to ask yourself, would you rather trade Bernier and maaaybe get a Brett Connolly in return? Or trade a contract-stalled-asking-for-the-moon Quick, and maaaaybe get yourself a … who? Who is on that level even? 

      I don’t want to trade any of them, mind you. My preference is to keep Loktionov, Quick and Bernier and have them all take a home-town discount so we can be great for a long time. 

      • DougS

        “Stoll’s stock is high right now and — if the Kings were to win a cup in the next week — his stock will be even higher. He’s not taking less than $3MM for fewer than three years. If you’re Lombardi, is that a deal you want to make, or does it look like a deal that we’ll be dying to get rid of in a year? ”
        [Raises hand] Oh! Oh! I know!
        “…if you give Loktionov a regular shift for a whole season, he’ll be a different player a year from now.”
        A classic mistake that fans (and former Kings general managers, I often think) make with young players is to assume that the player you see is the player you’re always going to get (see “King, Dwight” and “Martinez, Alec”). Lokti is young enough so that he still has room to improve, and he’s never going to prove that he belongs in the NHL unless he’s given a proper chance. He may develop into a much better player or he may not, but it’s a mistake to pigeonhole him until he has had a proper chance to establish his ceiling.

  • https://www.facebook.com/logan.gawain Logan Gawain

    “The bottom six next season should be King, Loktionov, Lewis, Toffoli, Clifford, Nolan and Fraser. Yes, I know that’s seven names. I might also re-sign Penner and drop Gagne to the bottom-six, and do something like:Gagne – Loktionov – Toffoli
    King – Fraser – Lewis
    (Clifford, Nolan)”

    I like that line up a lot. And it is amazing to see how much Penner’s stock has gone up ever since the playoffs started and he ended up playing with Carter and Richards.

  • Niesy

    If you go through Tampa press clippings, they’ve wanted Bernier for years. It makes sense with Al Murray being over there. Yzerman keeps waiting for him to be available, or for the price to come down. So far the Kings had no need to move him.

    I also wonder if Tampa keeps pushing the Bernier angle because of all that Luongo drama going on now.

    It’s just like how Colorado wanted him or Schneider last year. Tons of Avs fans thought for sure they were getting one of them. Sure the Kings could move him for picks, but do they have to? No. Keeping Bernier as a backup wouldn’t hurt either.

    Only the Kings’ goalie scouts know how ready they think Jones is, though.

  • angelofdeath

    I actually thought Jones was ready last year… Then he lost his job to Zatkoff… I’d say both aren’t ready… Berube was too hot in the ECHL either…

    • https://twitter.com/BobKnob2point0 Bob Knob

       One of the two ManchVegas players was an AHL all-star this year, and the other was an all star the year before. I’m not saying they’re ready, just that they’re clearly a little better than your average AHL goalie.

      Berube wasn’t too hot in the beginning of the season, I believe he was recovering from injury/surgery still. I wouldn’t hold it against him just yet.

  • https://twitter.com/BobKnob2point0 Bob Knob

    I’m not sure why you’re insisting Toffoli makes the team this year. He seems like the type of player who would need a year+ to mature in the minors before he’s ready for the physical play and also to further develop the other aspects of his game he probably didn’t have to worry about in juniors.

    • http://www.mcsorleys-stick.com/ Quisp

      I’m not insisting. He may well spend a season or two in Manchester. I won’t be surprised if he makes the team this fall, though. 

      • https://twitter.com/BobKnob2point0 Bob Knob

         Fair enough. Hopefully he dazzles enough to prove himself ready.