Rob Blake will reportedly remain as the general manager of the Los Angeles Kings (according to Mayors Manor). Blake has been the Kings general manager since April 2017 and has steered the club through a lengthy rebuild that has resulted in three straight playoff appearances.
While making the postseason out of rebuild is a good first step for a team, the Kings have lost in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers in all three playoff showings and have yet to take the next step to get into the upper echelon of Western Conference contenders. While Blake has built a talented core around older veterans Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar, the team has seen their point total drop from 104 points a year ago to just 99 points this season.
Blake has several big decisions to make this summer, including what to do with failed trade acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois who had a disastrous first season in Los Angeles. Blake told the media today that the team will not buyout Dubois, putting to rest a rumor that has been talked about widely in the media.
In other Los Angeles Kings notes:
- Speaking of Dubois, the 25-year-old will reportedly suit up for Team Canada at the World Championships (according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). The Ste-Agathe-Des-Monts, Quebec native flopped in his first season with the Kings after being acquired from the Winnipeg Jets last summer and promptly signed an 8-year, $68-million contract. Dubois posted just 16 goals and 24 assists in 82 regular season games and then tallied a single goal in five playoff games as he struggled with discipline and posted 20 PIMs. Dubois blamed himself for his poor play this season and said he will do whatever it takes to have a better season in 2024-25. The World’s will give Dubois a chance to end his season on a strong note as he looks to improve over the summer and get back to the 60-point pace he displayed in the two seasons before the trade to Los Angeles.
- The Kings are also reportedly discussing what they will do with the head coaching position for next season and a decision is expected in the next few weeks (via Mayors Manor). Jim Hiller took over as interim head coach on February 2nd and led the Kings to playoffs once again, however, his 1-3-1 system was scrutinized heavily by people surrounding the team and moving away from that type of system is being discussed by the management group. Hiller served as a Kings assistant coach for two seasons before taking over behind the bench and finished the year with a 21-12-1 record.
NO NO NO!!
Blake is the architect of this team taking giant steps back since coming within a period of eliminating EDM in six games two seasons ago! Since then the roster has gotten weaker especially in goal and being blasted by the Oilers – three years straight of being owned by EDM! Horrific decisions and allowing the product on the ice to get worse SHOULD NOT GO UNPUNISHED! Please don’t make me follow another club because of this incompetent, fool saboteur!! Shame on you AEG if you are that blind!
That was such a missed opportunity but the 2023 team takes the cake for me. Up 3-0 after the first in a game where a win goes up 3-1 in the series and lose. Just awful
The PLD trade alone should be the end for Blake.
I think the extension was far more egregious.
dm867- Was that really talked about, Buying out a guy you just gave an 8 year 68 million dollar extension to? In a league with an 84 million dollar salary cap that alone would be a reason to fire Blake. That would be a ridiculous use of resources that a GM shouldn’t come back from. Wow.
@Mike, there is talk about it because if they buy him out before his 26th birthday the buyout would be 1/3 of the contract spread out over twice as long. So roughly 1.13M per year. That’s pennies to a team and likely below league minimum by the time the deal is done.
Well I’ll be the first to admit I have no idea how the rules around most of the buyout and cap rules work around the NHL. Not many humans on the face of the planet do I would think. Makes as much sense as how teams can keep guys on LTIR all season and then the Playoffs roll around and now they’re healthy and can be added with no regard to the cap. I guess it’s like football where the guy has a 70 million dollar contract with no guaranteed money and can now be sent packing for free after June 1. Still this is a strange situation that needs investigating. Where’s the Players Union? Somebody needs to rethink the rules and salary cap in this sport fast.
It’s all within the rules. Bettman recently said the owners can change it if they want, but they don’t want to!
It’s been speculated that the PLD and Kovalchuk deals were orchestrated by Luc. LA needs to move off their Good ol Boys club and replace Blake, Luc and Bargain Bin. Horrible decision makers.
This team will take a giant step backwards. 8&11 are very much showing their age despite putting up offensive numbers. They were badly outplayed by the younger top line players they went up against. Padded stats vs weaker competition
I backed Blake for years. It hasn’t worked out, unfortunately. A team with this many struggles shouldn’t be up against the cap ceiling. Anyone not named Kempe, Byfield, or Clarke should not be safe.
Rob Blake has done a lot of good for the Kings but his legacy will be all on the PLD trade which is not the guy you want to put all your eggs in the basket
Even a little bit of research would tell you the 1-3-1 system was NOT Hiller’s, but McLellan’s, and it was discussed at great length before, during, and after Hiller stepping in that they weren’t going to make great changes to that system that late in the season. It would have been pretty easy to get that part right, instead it’s pretty lazy writing.
Blake has done a good job with the giant * that he has not properly prioritized goaltending…rendering the rest of what he’s done largely pointless.
Also, Dubois showed the world who he was over and over. A talented but selfish DOG.
Betting that he’d FINALLY become a team oriented player you could win with AFTER he got paid was…dubious.
True, but the goaltending was actually pretty good. Portillo looks good in Ontario, hopefully he is the long term solution! Buyout PLD while he still can for 1/3rd. (Remember the Mike Richards fiasco!)
Kovalchuk, Campbell and PLD! Three strikes, you’re out Blakey! Perhaps he should hire PLD’s Junior coach, it seems to have worked for McSatan!