The Long & Short of It: Kevin King

IamMOOSE · October 18, 2020

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Today we debate “The Long & Short of It”, a weekly article highlighting a player in the VHL or VHLM that has caught our attention or needs a spotlight in the league to give an overview of the player, some statistical background, and short highlights from an interview done with that player!

This week we have Kevin King, forward for the Vancouver Wolves. King at the time of writing has played 64 games this season, amassing 26 points, including 11 goals (2 of those game winners). It’s been a rocky rookie season for King and you’ll hear that first from the man himself. His underline numbers aren’t where he’d like them to be but his effort and determination are among the elite in this league. It would be unwise to draw complete comparisons, yet he’s on a remarkably similar start to the career of greats like current Moscow forward Mikko Lahtinen and even Dragon’s center Benny Graves who both put up rookie seasons where they were under a 0.5ppg but have both gone on to have great careers respectively. Rumors have abounded that King may go the way of his former GM in Miami [Kris Rice] and reroll his TPE with the intentions of getting more offense and a soft reboot out of his player. Either way, we expect King to do as he’s done from his start in the VHL/VHLM and have an outstanding playoff. In his career, King averages nearly a quarter [.22ppg] more points per game in the postseason, not including his fantastic final three games of the World Juniors in season 73.

King currently sits at a 95 SC and 90 DF as of this writing, his two highest skills. We don’t expect much change in that either, as he’s a very much molded in a two-way style. We would expect that his DF, PH, and SK are likely next on his training schedule but we wouldn’t be surprised to see King ST build either. He’s clearly built for both ends of the ice and with some added speed and strength, he could have a quick turnaround next season on the scoresheet.

And finally, we sat down with Kevin King to discuss a few things like his time in San Diego as an AGM, his thoughts on the VHLM Dispersal Draft, his season in Vancouver, and a surprising remark on what his future might look like. Here are some highlights from that interview:

Q: So obviously you’ve answered this a lot this year so we’ll change it up best we can. What is your next steps to get on the scoresheet in a positive way?

King: “I mean, it’s really a luck of the draw kind of deal ya know what I mean. I’ve been training, doing the right things, but ultimately it does come down to whether the STHS wants what you’ve got. I’m gonna work on my speed though. Little strength, little puck handling, some defense. Definitely speed though. My skating is probably one of the worst parts of my game and so that really hurts me when I’m out there with superstar players. I pondered whether SK did much as a skill in the VHL but it kinda feels like that experiment hasn’t paid off. So that’s what I’m pointing to as an area to focus.”

Q: You’ve been in San Diego behind the desk for a season, almost a full season and a half, what is the job like now versus what it was when you came in?

King: “Honestly it’s a tough job. I know the running jokes about AGMs and what they do or don’t do. Being on the inside of that, it matters. Especially on a VHLM level where we have so much focus on development, not only of players but of users. Of active, long term members. So it’s a tough act to get right, I’ve had my stumbles doing the job. I think I’ve had some good moments as well, but there’s room for improvement.”

Q: This may be a leading question and feel free to say so, how involved are you in the gameplan for the Marlins on a day-to-day basis?

King: “It’s a difficult question because for a little while here I had felt so burned out on the league. I was [still am] struggling up in Vancouver and down here it’s a sunny day in California but we’ll be going golfing at the end of the season and that’s tough for me as a competitor. Rockstar has been great though. We don’t always agree on everything but I think that’s true of any front office. He’s been supportive in some of my missteps as an AGM and he’s a good teacher. I haven’t done a lot of work with the actual sim as of yet but we talk lines like any other team and he’ll take my input to heart. It’s a learning process and he’s a great GM in the M to learn the game from.”

Q: You’re obviously looking at the lottery for the Marlins this season. With two 1^st round picks and 4 picks in the 2^nd-4^th rounds, what direction would you like to see San Diego take in the draft? Are there any names you’re looking at specifically yet?

King: “I mean, I’m still looking at this group to finish strong. We haven’t been on the winning side very often this season but over the last month or so here we’ve been really competitive in a lot of games. As for the draft it’s a silently good field this season. Some solid welfare earners and a few really nice prospects that could be cappers or very close to weekly earners like Prout. It’s a fairly deep draft positionally, which is nice. Last year we saw a lot of jumps for defensemen as they were slim pickings but this time around we have a solid field. I don’t want to reveal a ton but obviously Prout has been a great teammate, great lockeroom guy for us. He wants to play, learn, and be a good member of the community so I like his attitude. Fletcher and Hasek are both great goaltending options as you get passed the two bigger recreations from job payers. Fletcher right now looks like the next guy behind UnGuri & Rasputin but we’ll see if Sterling can start to cap a little closer to the draft. [As a welfare guy] he’s on pace to drop a little bit but that’s good for longterm VHLM team building, a sentence that’s a little rare.”

Q: What does next season look like for Kevin King, as a player and as an AGM?

King: “Much the same honestly. I’ll be in Vancouver unless Beav decides otherwise and this will be the first real draft for me in San Diego as an AGM. I expect to be involved and IR and I will have to get on the same page for it. The offseason is my bread and butter, especially the draft so I’m really excited to see how it goes. I’ll be looking at those next steps as well. I’d like to help build some lines and maybe get some actual hands on the sim, at least in visual. It’s a contract year to me on both fronts.”

Q: Last question, and it’s a little based on your last response. What does that mean, it’s a contract year on both fronts?

King: “I’ve had a rough go of it so far as a player but quite honestly, and this is pre-playoffs and whatever next season brings but I have some expectations and we’ll see where my play is and what that means for me in terms of a resign with Vancouver. As for San Diego it’s much the same, we don’t work on contracts specifically, something I don’t necessarily agree with but in terms of how I feel, I’d like to use the end of this season and all of next season to get myself in a position to maybe see what GM roles are out there come season 76.”

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