Andrei Loktionov’s absence has been explained… Loktionov has been assigned to the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs. More info after practice…the Kings are 50 minutes into their morning work.
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Sad to see him move down, but it will def be for the best IMO…
He will get lots more ice time down there…
This could mean Schenn + clifford are here to stay!!
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AZ King Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 11:01 am
@lafan13,
Definitely doesn’t hurt their chances.
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He looked good, but I think he can definitely benefit from the increased ice time. I think he’s going to be a really good player next year.
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lafan13 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 11:01 am
@Matt R,
Ya, think the kings have him eyed out for Stoll’s 2nd line center job… Hes got some mighty big shoes to fill if stoll continues to play like he is.
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roadtripper Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 11:04 am
@Matt R, I agree, plus he really needs to add some strength, and then watch out.
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Deke'r Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 1:40 pm
@Matt R, …and learn how to dominate faceoffs…
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Not a huge surprise. Lokti needs to play a top 6 role to be successful.
Always nice to know we have a guy with that much skill waiting in the wings whenever we need him though.
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Kinda sucks, but he’ll be back. He’s a keeper.
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Just making room for Parse
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i like this move…i think if Schenn or Clifford were eligible to go to Manchester, then one of them would go down instead of Lokti…its a good way to keep these guys under the same system.
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next year loki
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It’s gotta be for more ice time for him. The choice to make room would be Lewis over Lokti, but Jimmy Neutron needs his ice time and he’ll get it in Manch.
Hope Poni is OK.
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quisp Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:41 pm
@Cynic,
Lewis is not waiver-exempt.
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You did a nice job Lokti, nothing to be ashamed of. This is just a numbers game and we are really deep at center right now so go down there and kick some butt and I wouldnt be surprised to see you this season in case of an injury..good job Andrei !
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Nice work Lokti, you’ll have your day. Take care of business in Manchester.
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Loktionov needs to play so going down to Manchester is probably correct move.
Clifford looks more ready than Schenn. If one has to back to Juniors it should probably him.
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Real 7 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 11:54 am
@Crown Royal,
I don’t think it’s coincidence that Clifford is -5
& Westgarth is -4 … although I will say Clifford has shown more presence in his last couple of games;
he just needs to be more responsible on a consistent basis….
the most responsible [best position/not caught out on opp. breakouts] tend to get rewarded….Mitchell
*6, Stoll +6, Smyth +5 …
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Crown Royal Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:22 pm
@Real 7,
Some truth there but remember plus/minus also counts for you when your unit scores while on the ice. When your playing with three other rookies plus Drewiske, who is no veteran, your plus/minus is going to suffer. TM has consistently put Clifford-Schenn-Westgarth out with Muzzin-Drewiske. These five are not going to score a ton of goals at this point in their young hockey lives when playing together. Clifford has a chance to be another Lappy for the Kings. He is stronger and a better skater than Schenn right now so it makes more sense to keep him with the big club.
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Kyleclifffordfan Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:33 pm
@Crown Royal, Yup agree 100% Crown.. I haven’t seen one goal against while Clifford was on the Ice, that was a direct result of his play. Matter of fact, two of them were fluke goals on the shortside that should of been stopped. You want teams taking those angle shots and if they go in… Well what can you do…
Lokti, good things were seen from you while you played. Look forward to the future. Now go tear the AHL to pieces!
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Loktionov is the center-in-waiting for the job Stoll currently has (as others have noted). Stoll is playing very well, so Lokti is better served playing more in Manchester. He probably will be back up at some time during the season, depending on injuries or other issues.
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lafan13 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 11:42 am
@Purple Ghost,
^this
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Did Schenn and Clifford play their 9th game already? I wouldn’t mind letting Schenn go back to his junior team. He has the skill but he still looks like he’s gripping his stick a little too hard and not finishing his chances. Clifford has done his job as a pest (with skills).
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lafan13 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:04 pm
@Mark,
nope,this will be schenns 9th game thursday, with clifford playing his 8th.
So technically, they both could go back to jr’s and lokti can be back soon.
Question is… is lokti acully on a plane to manchester? or is he chilln in the back room for a few days till someone goes to jr’s???
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PRMan Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:52 pm
@lafan13, He has to report.
I can’t find it now, but some team last season sent guys down to their AHL affiliate between every game in order to have less days on the NHL roster. They had to actually report to the AHL team in person.
I think they ended up flying over 26,000 miles or something.
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PRMan Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:57 pm
@PRMan, I thought it was Vancouver. Here’s an example from the start of the season, but they did it all year.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/moose/cap-mayhem-makes-mess-manitobas-roster–at-29-we-think-104473444.html
quisp Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 1:32 pm
@PRMan,
That’s not an example of what you say it’s an example of. I believe the team you’re talking about is Chicago. But here’s what you have to keep in mind:
This season (for example) is 186 days long. There are 22 places in the schedule (for the Kings) where there is more than one day off. You need more than one day in order for the demotion/promotion plane-trip gambit to work because otherwise you wouldn’t have time to get the player back for the next game. So lets say you decide to work this to the maximum. You fly waiver-exempt ELC player x back and forth from Manchester 22 times. The player’s salary is between $500K-850K. So the cap savings is…between $59,000 and $100,000, assuming you utilize every spare day, which a team would never really be able to do, just because of the logistics.
Teams that don’t have their noses pressed up against the cap ceiling obviously get no cap benefit from such a move. And teams that are up against the cap aren’t likely to have $800K players on the club when they can have $500K players (since every dollar counts). Therefore, the savings is at the low end of the range, closer to $59K. Which is why teams that are in real cap trouble, like New Jersey, simply opt to go with a reduced roster (they’re skating 20 instead of 22 or 23). That gives them a cap savings of a million or a little more.
The last thing is that teams like New Jersey have no wiggle room, so it doesn’t help them to have their cap figure bouncing up and down every other day as a player leaves and arrives. They need to get it down and have it stay down.
Rich — can you ask TM if they asked Mark to play him at wing?
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Shakes Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:08 pm
@jet,
Good question Jet
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Too bad, I really liked Lokti. In my opinion I think Clifford should be send down. Keep Schenn up here.
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I saw this coming. Lokti only made the team out of Camp because Parse was hurt. TM even said that he deserved to be on the opening night roster. His quotes seemed to say that it was only temp…
I’m sure Parse will be on a short leash and if he isn’t playing well, he will sit. They can use Richie at center position on the 4th line and if Parse doesn’t show up, they can move Richie right back to the first line (scratch Parse). Also Richie can give guys like Clifford a night off if he needs it, by playing the 4th line left wing role.
This move just makes a lot of sense.
Hopefully Lokti gets stronger on the puck (that’s what he needs to work on). If he wants to take Stoll’s spot, he better work on a few things.
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NHL players are faster and stronger. Playing in the AHL is not the same as the NHL. Loktionov is ready for the NHL!
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PRMan Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:54 pm
@THEROCKNROLL80S, Hate to say it, but Loktionov has had a golden opportunity with Kopitar and Brown and has done virtually nothing. With his flashy skills and lack of substance, he reminds me of Yanic Perrault, but without the faceoff skills.
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Michael_DD8 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
@PRMan,
What? Done nothing? He has been our best rookie campaign so far this season. He moved the puck very well, and started making many great plays with Kopitar, then Richardson got that Hat Trick. Anyway, he has lots of substance, he is a very good player.
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Deke'r Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 1:52 pm
@Michael_DD8, Agreed….and he may be the missing piece to the trade puzzle.
King John Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 2:02 pm
@THEROCKNROLL80S,
Yeah, the NHL is faster and stronger, so Lokti has to work on a few things. He will develop better to that level with more playtime in the AHL. We should give Parse a shot on the 1st line right now.
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When is Voynov going to get a chance to show what he can do at the NHL level?
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Jay Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 12:56 pm
@THEROCKNROLL80S, When he plays an NHL caliber game. Same thing for Hickey. They just aren’t ready to make the jump yet. The speed kills em. I recall Voynov getting blown by in last years prospect game…and he was hurt for this one..so….yea tough to make that call this early in the season…especially with Muzzin emerging as an NHL spot contender. Expect Voynov to see the whole season or play MAYBE 5-10 games with us.
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Still to this day, Lokti had the best camp, and proved the most to me then any other rookie! He needs his ice-time, so Manch is the place for that as of now, i know well see him called up sometime!
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I really liked Lokti on the PP and thought he looked comfortable up there.
Schenn and Clifford haven’t impressed other than spurts. Not sure they’re ready, it’s just a shame they can’t go to Manchester to play with the better players.
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USHA#17 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:02 pm
@Dan H.,
Lokti looked comfortable on the PP but 5-5 doesn’t (yet) have the strength to move along the boards well.
Scheen takes a beating on the the 4th line and keeps on ticking and fits Murray’s mode of being able to plug into different lines and not fall on his face.
Clifford, in my opinion, has really improved starting about three games ago.
Sometimes he looks a little weird but usually because he’s on the ice when Westgarth leaves his wing and starts chasing about.
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USHA#17 Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 3:10 pm
@Dan H.,
PS It was knid of hard to figure what/who would give when Parse returned.
Looking at the decision Lokti makes the most sense. To weak for the 4th line and currently positioned on a scoring line where Parse was slotted for. Hopefully this will be Kapitar’s spark.
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