Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

 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 p...

The LA Kings have a great young core now, but they aren't quite ready to be contenders yet. However, if they make the right trades, and draft correctly in the coming years, they could be. This is how the LA Kings can become a legit contender in three years At the 2022 trade deadline, a few trades are made: LA Kings trade Dustin Brown to the Minnesota Wild for Mitchell Chafee, 2022 2nd round pick.  If the Wild make the playoffs, the 2nd round pick becomes a 1st round pick. This is a win-win trade for both sides; the Wild gets a veteran forward in Dustin Brown, who has plenty of playoff experience, while the Kings get a prospect and a conditional 2nd round pick, that could become a 1st round pick.  The Kings also trade Olli Maatta, Adrian Kempe to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Vladislav Gavrikov, Eric Robinson, 2022 2nd round pick.  This is basically two trades in one; first, you have an Olli Maatta for Vladislav Gavrikov swap, which is pretty even; then the Blue Jackets ge...

 The LA Kings are a few years removed from their dynasty years, but they are assembling the pieces to become a dynasty once again. This is how I would transform the LA Kings into a dynasty again. Before the Expansion draft, the LA Kings make two trades LA Kings trade Jonathan Quick to the Detroit Red Wings for a 2022 4th round pick.  This trade gives the Red Wings a solid goalie to tandem with Thomas Greiss, while Kings get to unload Jonathan Quick's contract. The LA Kings also trade Dustin Brown to the Seattle Kraken for 4th round pick '22.  If Dustin Brown scores 20 goals, the Kings also get a 2022 3rd round pick. This is a good trade for both teams because it gives the Kraken a good veteran presence in the locker room, while the Kings get to dump Dustin Brown's contract. LA Kings lose Matt Roy to the Seattle Kraken in the Expansion draft. Before the 2021 draft, the LA Kings make one major trade. LA Kings acquire Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets for Adrian K...

 The Columbus Blue Jackets drafted terribly from when they entered the NHL to 2013, they have many chances to draft franchise changing talent but they opted instead to draft players that would turn into the biggest bust in recent memory. In this blog, i redraft the Columbus Blue Jackets for a decade and try to turn them into a contending team. 2003: 4-Ryan Suter over Nikolay Zherdev 49-David Backes over Dan Fritsche 103-Joe Pavelski over Kevin Jarman 168-Dustin Byfuglien over Marc Methot The Columbus Blue Jackets draft 2 stud defenseman in Ryan Suter and Dustin Byfuglien as well as an elite scorer in Joe Pavelski and a very solid top 6 forward in David Backes. 2004: 8-Cory Schneider over Alexandre Picard 46-Brandon Dubinsky over Adam Pineault 59-Alex Goligoski over Kyle Wharton 133-Kris Versteeg over Petr Pohl Columbus drafts a very good starting goalie in Cory Schneider along with a solid two way defenseman in Alex Goligoski, a solid two way center in Brandon Dubinsky and a nice r...

 The Los Angeles Kings had some miserable drafts from in the 2000s and because of that they missed out on building a potential dynasty. If the LA Kings were redrafted for a decade, they could have potentially won more than 2 stanley cups. 2002: 18-Cam Ward over Denis Grebeshkov 50-Johnny Boychuk over Sergei Anshakov 66-Frans Nielsen over Petr Kanko 152-James Wisniewski over Gregory Hogeboom The LA Kings draft a franchise goalie in Cam Ward, two solid defenseman in Johnny Boychuk and James Wisniewski and a good two way center in Frans Nielsen. 2003: 13-Zach Parise over Dustin Brown 26-Corey Perry over Brian Boyle 27-Patrice Bergeron over Jeff Tambellini 44-Shea Weber over Konstantin Pushkaryov LA Kings strike gold this time around, drafting 4 future all stars which include a perennial selke Candidate in Patrice Bergeron, a Norris candidate in Shea Weber, a future MVP in Corey Perry and a clutch goal scorer in Zach Parise. 2004: 11-Travis Zajac over Lauri Tukonen 94-Johan Franzen ove...