Fan confidence in the Los Angeles Kings' front office is at an all time low, ranking 31st in a recent poll by The Athletic.
Team's were judged based on six categories; roster building, cap management, draft and development, trading, free agency and vision.
The Kings' highest score was a D and they finished with a D- total score. I've already discussed the vision grade, and now we move on to roster building.
First, let's look at the current roster and why there's a general lack of confidence in it from the fan base.
The glaring issue with the current Kings' roster is the lack of elite talent in premium positions.
If you don't have any elite centers, defensemen or goalies, you aren't going to compete for a Stanley Cup. They Kings don't have any.
Anze Kopitar is still productive for his age but is no longer a top 1C in the league, he probably sits somewhere in the 15-20 range.
Drew Doughty is the same amongst numbers one defensemen. With Darcy Kuemper representing a huge gamble and certainly not an elite player in his position.
The Kings need Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke to become those elite players in premium positions, but it's unlikely either takes that step this season.
After that, the supporting cast is good, not great. Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe are excellent players but are both second-tier elite.
They're top forwards on any team but fall behind the upper echelon of elite wingers like Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, Artemi Panarin etc.
The secondary scoring is made up of players like Trevor Moore, Warren Foegele, Phil Danault and Alex Laferriere.
Moore headlines that group after his 30-goal season but it's unlikely he repeats that. It's another group of good, not great players in their roles.
Their true depth players are a mix of young forwards trying to cement a spot in the NHL and player like Tanner Jeannot and Trevor Lewis.
It's an average to slightly above average forward group.
On defense, the top pair of Doughty and Mikey Anderson is excellent, but after that it's a mixed bag.
Vladislav Gavrikov is a very capable second-pair defenseman but will be partnered with one of Clarke or Jordan Spence. Two good young defenders but a step down from Matt Roy.
The third pair of Joel Edmundson with one of Clarke or Spence will be interesting. Edmundson will likely be an anchor for one of them, much like Andreas Englund was last season.
It's an average to below average group depending on how Clarke and Spence develop and how Edmundson looks.
In net, they'll be happy with average goaltending between Kuemper and David Rittich.
It isn't a bad roster by any means, but it isn't great either, a tough spot to be in for a team with a mediocre prospect pool.
A D- probably looks harsh just looking at this current roster, again it's average, a C might seem more appropriate.
However, when you take a step back and look at how this was built, a D- starts to make sense.
The Pierre-Luc Dubois trade is the obvious blunder that automatically knocks you down a letter grade.
Trading a young player who just broke out (Gabe Vilardi) a solid roster player (Alex Iafallo), a 4C (Rasmus Kupari) and a second round pick for Dubois is terrible roster building.
The lack of planning in net is a big sore spot too.
The lack of elite talent in premium positions, okay complementary group and massive question marks in net combined with a huge blunder in the Dubois trade puts the D- into perspective.
For all the tinkering and aggressive moves they've made in the last few summers, they're in the same spot they were three years ago.
Waiting for young players like Byfield and Clarke to reach their potential to hopefully take them to the next level.
But now those players have a weaker supporting staff of similar aged players.
This roster looks like one that's stuck in the mushy middle of the league and they are, something Blake must wear.