Quoting: palhal
I never understand the Roy or even Walker trades. So many say they are top 4 or 6 RHD on good contracts. Then I don't see why the Kings would trade those players for really a good 3rd line winger
Quoting: aadoyle
Kings have 4 RHD. They got Doughty at the top, Walker as the 2nd pairing, and Roy/MacDERMID sharing the bottom pairing. MacDERMID is better suited for the kings as he brings toughness to them and has some solid potential. Roy and Walker in general are competing for the 2nd pairing with both rightfully deserving of it. Moving one allows for the other to have more opportunity plus the kings can improve on their scoring chances with Kapenan.
If neither is moved with Seattle coming in Roy or Walker will be taken.
This trade in general works for them as Kings can get a nice RW on a good contract and toronto gets a good young dman.
Plus if roy or walker go we can see Doughty at the top pairing, walker at the 2nd pairing and MacDERMID as the last pairing.
@TKECANUCK341 can better explain this
I don't think anyone said that Roy is a top tier top four defenseman. He's a 4/5 defenseman that had a really promising year while playing sheltered minutes against mediocre competition. However, he has greatly exceeded all expectations of him and won pretty much every defensive award on the Kings this season. Take that with a grain of salt though, it's kind of like the Jack Adams award going to the coach whose team most greatly exceeded expectations. If you're playing him 22+ minutes per night against the opposition's best forwards, I think you're asking too much from him. If you're playing him 18-20 average minutes with team-leading minutes on the PK, I think he'll do really well.
The Kings do not have 4 RHD. They have 3. MacDermid is a LHD. They tried him on the right side for a dozen games or so last season while they tried the Walker/Doughty experiment, but after that failed miserably, they moved him back to the left. If the Kings trade Roy, they'll be in the market for another 3rd pairing RHD and will probably pursue someone like TVR in free agency.
The reason the Kings would go for this is that they need top-six forwards that can play now. They're doing ok on the left side with Iafallo and Kempe (although long-term Kempe is more suited for the 3LW role), but right now, the Kings top-six RW options are Brown, Frk, and Carter. Carter is already solidly in decline, and Brown isn't going to be top line material for much longer. Frk is a decent stop-gap, but I don't think anyone has him pegged as a top-six player. They have Kaliyev in juniors, but he's still a year or two away from being ready. After that, there's no RW prospects in the pipeline. Kapanen gives them a solid NHL-ready option on the right side.
After the season he just had, Roy's value is inflated. If he has another quality season, then the hype might be warranted, but if not, he goes from being worth a player like Kapanen to being worth not very much. The Kings should trade him while his stock is at his highest. Walker, on the other hand, has a higher ceiling than Roy IMO, but is coming off a relatively mediocre year. He had flashes of brilliance, but also had several defensive lapses that hurt his overall value. I think the Kings would be better off keeping Walker over Roy.
Anyway, I think Roy for Kapanen is probably a slight overpayment by the Leafs. However, I don't think the Kings are looking to move him, and it would take an overpayment to get the Kings to bite. After all, they'd be opening up a gap in their roster that they would need to look to fill via free agency, and as Leaf fans can attest, RHD gaps are not easy to fill.