Quoting: Fail4Nail
Read it again, I said scoring was one of the Kings many problems against the Oilers. No way you guys signed him to be a third line guy. He's only a third line guy cuz you landed PLD. I get what you're saying, but prioritizing to keep a declining, shutdown center in lieu of a 80 point scorer ain't it.
Roy is very good at what he does, but I don't think its as black and white as you think it is. Daughty is already a liability and you guys are paying him 11mill to play top pair mins. With his contract, no way he plays less than a second pairing role, despite how much he declines. That leaves Roy or Clarke playing on the third pair, which makes no sense. Unless one of them goes to their offwing, which is so rare.
100% not true. The Kings told Danault prior to signing him that the long term plan was for him to start at 2C and move down to 3C once Byfield was ready. When Byfield didn't emerge as quickly as expected, the Kings went out and traded for Dubois. Here's a quote from his media availability immediately following his signing.
I think you need three good centers to win, so 2C or 3C isn't that big of a deal... other than maybe a little bit of ice time. -- Danault
If you think Doughty is a liability, you're not watching. Anderson and Doughty were one of the single best pairings in the NHL for the last two seasons. Is he worth $11M? No, but that doesn't mean he's not a top quality 1D any longer. I'm not sure why his contract makes any difference in where he plays in the lineup. If in the final years of his contract, he's not playing up to snuff, he'll play further down in the lineup. If Clarke signs a bridge deal for one season, then there's more than enough room to fit all three of them.
If you have Roy playing with Bjornfot and Clarke playing with Gavrikov, then you have three "top four" defensive pairings, which is necessary for any true Cup contender. The Kings had Alec Martinez playing on the 3rd pair on both of their Cup winning teams, and there's no doubt he's a top four guy.