The LA Kings are sitting just outside a playoff spot right now, with a 12-10-5 record (29 points) through 27 games this season. Although the Kings have some nice pieces, they aren't quite good enough to be a contender just yet. In this blog, I explain what is wrong with the LA Kings and what they can do to become a contending team.
Issues w/ LA Kings:
1. Not enough Scoring
2. No Secondary scoring
3. Best Prospects are Not NHL ready
4. Don't have a successor for Jonathan Quick
The LA Kings do not score enough; they have only scored 76 goals this season, which is the 8th least in the NHL. Anze Kopitar leads the team in points with 25 points in 27 games, Alex Iaffalo has 9 goals and 17 points in 27 games, Adrian Kempe leads the team in goals with 11 goals and 16 points in 27 games. Viktor Arvidsson has played in only 20 games, but he has 6 goals and 14 points in those games. Phillip Danault has 14 points in 27 games and is a +5; Drew Doughty leads defenseman in scoring, with 13 points in 11 games, while averaging over 24 minutes TOI a game. Alex Edler has 11 points in 26 games and is a +8, and Dustin Brown has 10 points in 27 games.
The scoring really trails off after Dustin Brown, cause no other players on the team have more than 10 points this year. Their top 6 is strong and their top 4 is decent but the secondary scoring is non-existent. The LA Kings don't have much secondary scoring due to the fact that they were not able to sign many free agents, and their best prospects are not NHL ready.
The Kings' top prospects such as Rasmus Kupari, Arthur Kaliyev, Tobias Bjornfot are being used as depth players because they have not fully reached their potential. Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte, Brandt Clarke are not NHL ready but once they are, they will impact players for the Kings. Players like Gabriel Vilardi, Tyler Madden, Akil Thomas, Samuel Helenius, Vladimir Tkachev, Martin Chromiak could also become high-level players at the NHL level.
Jonathan Quick has been the Number 1 goalie for the Kings for a long time, but they have been trying to replace him with Cal Peterson as the Number 1 goalie. Unfortunately for LA, Peterson has not been able to solidify the role of the number 1 goalie, as Jonathan Quick has outplayed him by a wide margin this year. LA may have to think about drafting or trading for a goalie of the future.
Trades:
LA Kings acquire Phil Kessel from Arizona Coyotes for Andreas Athanasiou, Gabriel Vilardi, 2023 2nd round pick. LA Retains $3 million of Kessel's cap hit.
Phil Kessel would give an instant boost in the offense for the Kings alongside Anze Kopitar.
LA Kings trade Carl Grundstrom, Trevor Moore, 2022 2nd round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Dominik Kubalik, Riley Stillman.
Dominik Kubalik is a proven goal scorer who will add some firepower and depth scoring to the team, and Riley Stillman gives them some depth on defense.
This is how the lineup looks like after the trades:
D.Kubalik-A.Kopitar-V.Arvidsson
A.Iaffalo-P.Danault-P.Kessel
A.Kempe-R.Kupari-D.Brown
B.Lemieux-B.Lizotte-A.Kaliyev
T.Bjornfot-M.Anderson
O.Maatta-M.Roy
R.Stillman-S.Durzi
J.Quick
C.Peterson
(IR) D.Doughty, A.Edler, S.Walker
The LA Kings now look like a team that could be a threat in the playoffs once they get everyone back and healthy.
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