Jeff Carter, You Say?
I’m still not on board with this idea. The cap hit is great for someone who can score 40 goals. But put him in the offensively challenged Los Angeles system and we’ll be lucky to see him bury 25, and that’s IF he stays healthy every year until he’s 37, when he already has a bad knee and a repaired shoulder.
But since rumors have started to pick up that the Kings are out of the Nash race and are pretty much the only ones in the Carter race (isn’t that a red flag?) we might as well discuss at what the lineup might look like:
Williams – Kopitar – Brown
Nolan/King – Richards – Carter
Clifford – Stoll/Loktionov – Lewis
Richardson/Penner – Fraser – Westgarth
Or something. After last game I have no handle on what Sutter is doing with the lines. Richards skated with Williams and Kopitar and Clifford was on the fourth line. The kids (Nolan and King) are bound to head back to Manchester after the roster is figured out next Tuesday. Who knows, maybe one of them will move to Columbus but I hope not for their sake.
This is also assuming that Lombardi would make the Carter trade mainly because he would not have to give up a roster player- maybe Bernier at the most.
Let’s try something- ideal roster, with Carter (assuming no roster players removed in the deal):
Penner – Kopitar – Williams
Gagne – Richards – Carter
Stoll – Loktionov – Brown
Clifford – Fraser – Lewis
That’s IF Penner gets his act together, IF Gagne gets healthy, and IF no rostered forwards get moved (except maybe Richardson). I’m not sure which of those are the biggest IFs. Probably Penner. So it’s probably going to be more like the top chart. Is that a cup contending lineup? Not from what I’ve seen. At least now it’s your lineup for the next decade.
We need someone else to play on the top line. Maybe Sutter will try this:
Gagne – Kopitar – Richards
Brown – Carter – Williams
Screw it, I don’t care anymore. Just don’t give up any of Loktionov, Toffoli, Vey, or Voynov, that’s all I ask.
Oh wow…I didn’t realize that the Kings were still playing hockey this season. Good for them.
Depends on who you mean by ‘Kings’ and what you mean by ‘playing’.