Truth be told it did work out for Moller and Holloway, these kids have to think about life outside of hockey and I don’t think you can make a living playing in the AHL forever especially when they were getting paid around 50,000-60,000 and paying rent, car, gas etc. They get paid 4 times that amount in Europe(tax free) and also get their housing, car and phones paid for, they get treated a lot better Europe then North America. Going overseas is a better option then getting buried in the minors.

I can honestly say this kid deserves a shot, I wish “Azey” the best of luck, I still keep an eye on him over there, we sure do miss him in Manchester, but I completely understand why he would go to Europe.

A few thoughts regarding the projections.

Like Kasper in ’91 Stoll would be missed. Something has to give and in this NHL era Lombardi must keep a certain number of low overhead youth flowing into the lineup.

The way the game is now played Westgarth is gone and smaller players can play larger regular season roles. But the post season may be another matter. Take the last two Vancouver, Phoenix and NJ games; Rough, it was the big and strong who thrived. IMO, this does not bode well for Loktionov or Moller.

Ah, the Clifford-King conundrum I’m thinking Clifford-Fraser-Nolan 4th, King-TBD-Lewis 3rd. Wonder where that leave Gagne (and perhaps Williams). Package for a top six with a 4 year contract, ?

I agree with Barry that Manchester is thin. Sure Vey and Toffoli sound good on paper, but that’s pure potential so far. This was, like the Kings, a very low-scoring team last year. What the Kings do not need to call up are defensive specialists. What they need are snipers to bring along should their scoring suffer again next season.

Count me in on that. I’m frankly surprised that there is so much talk about re-signing Stoll and none about Penner. Penner started sending out signals right after the SCF that he wants to come back; has no one else noticed this? His agent may keep him in a basement tied to a chair for the next two weeks as a result of that….
“I think, three years down the road, at least two of Loktionov, Toffoli, Vey or Moller will be regulars and at least two of Williams, Gagne, Penner and Stoll will be gone.”
Also agree. The only thing that could shake me from my conviction that all of the latter group were brought in with a certain degree of planned obsolescence in mind would be giving a lucrative long-term deal to Stoll (which I still don’t think will happen).

Scuderi probably has another couple of solid years beyond Mitchell, then Forbort and Gravel will audition for his spot.

The question is, even 4 years from now, the Kings’ blue line corps will still be relatively young. Will there still be a need for “veteran leadership” at that point, which would seem to require replacing old guy Mitchell or old guy Scuderi with a slightly less old guy rather than a prospect?

Toffoli may well spend the year in Manchester, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he made the team out of camp. But I loved Fraser this year. I frankly would rather re-sign Fraser and Penner than Stoll.

And I also wouldn’t rule out Hickey getting re-signed and then coming into camp and blowing people away.

I think, three years down the road, at least two of Loktionov, Toffoli, Vey or Moller will be regulars and at least two of Williams, Gagne, Penner and Stoll will be gone.