Gear: Why the Los Angeles Kings’ Rebuild is Ahead of Schedule
Every year, the NHL sees a few teams fly out of the gate only to fade around the midway point of the season and regress back to the level that was expected of them. These teams fall into the ‘They Are Who We Thought They Were’ category, as Dennis Green might say.
Then there are the teams who come out stronger than expected but never fall off. Instead, they just keep rolling. Usually, these are young, rebuilding teams a little ahead of schedule in their development. People expected they would be good at some point – but not so soon.
This year, that team is undoubtedly the Los Angeles Kings.
To say the Kings snuck up on us would probably be an overstatement. With a mix of grizzled, Stanley Cup-proven veterans and promising young talent, it was always a possibility the Kings would be in the Western Conference playoff race this season. However, with a 7-2-1 record in their past 10 games, the Kings began March sitting in second place in the Pacific Division, just five points back of first-place Calgary and ahead of Edmonton and Vegas. Did anyone really see that coming?
Maybe the fact the Kings play in the same city as Matthew Stafford and the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, and the same arena as LeBron James and the always-relevant Los Angeles Lakers, has allowed the Kings’ progression to fly under the radar this year. The hot start and flashy play of their cross-town rivals in Anaheim might also have something to do with it, too. But if we didn’t notice the Kings before, it might be time to pay attention.
The Kings’ ascension is a testament to the slow and patient rebuild they have adhered to following their Cup wins in 2012 and 2014. The Kings held on to franchise players like goaltender Jonathan Quick, center Anze Kopitar, right winger Dustin Brown and defenseman Drew Doughty but were willing to move on from just about everyone else. Rather than get nostalgic for the good times, they sold on players who still had plenty of career runway left. Fan favorites such as blueliner Alec Martinez, right winger Tyler Toffoli, left winger Kyle Clifford and defenseman Jake Muzzin were all moved for picks and prospects.
The 2019 Muzzin deal was particularly fruitful for GM Rob Blake. He dealt Muzzin for right winger Carl Grundstrom, the rights to unsigned prospect defenseman Sean Durzi and a 2019 first-round pick the Kings used to select defenseman Tobias Bjornfot. All three have played impactful roles on the Kings this season. With Durzi, 23, Mikey Anderson, 22, and Bjornfot, 20, the Kings blueline looks like it will be set for years to come. And Doughty doesn’t seem to be slowing down at 32, either.
The Kings have also seen great development from within. Talented left winger Adrian Kempe has taken a huge step in his fifth year with the Kings. He has already eclipsed the 25-goal mark and seems to be a threat to score whenever he is on the ice. Meanwhile, steady left winger Alex Iafallo continues to improve his overall game while chipping in 14 goals.
The Kings have also been smart in timing their dip into the free-agency pool. After exhibiting patience the last few years, GM Rob Blake has started to add pieces to the group and had a quietly excellent offseason this past summer. He was able to add center Phillip Danault and right winger Viktor Arvidsson in free agency, players who now make up two thirds of the Kings’ second line and have 15 goals apiece in their first year with the club. Both were added with reasonable cap hits that shouldn’t age too badly.
Danault has already exceeded his career-high goal output with 30 games to play, so clearly he has been a fit in L.A. What’s more, his presence looks like it might result in a fresher Kopitar down the stretch, as Danault has taken a lot of the difficult defensive assignments that usually went to Kopitar in seasons past. Kopitar still has close to a point-per-game output, so if you are an opponent, you don’t want him being fresher.
Blake also added veteran blueliner Alexander Edler on a one year deal. With Edler having missed time due to injury but expected back soon, it’s as if the Kings will add another trusted defenseman at the deadline to play with a group that is already performing extremely well.
Looking ahead to the future, the Kings prospect pool is dynamite. We’re already seeing 2019 second-round right winger Arthur Kaliyev playing a strong role and flashing major goal-scoring potential at 20 years old. We’ve also seen snippets of what may lie ahead from first-round centers Quinton Byfield and Alex Turcotte. In case that’s not enough, the Kings’ farm team in Ontario boasts 2017 first-round center Gabe Vilardi and second-round forwards from the 2017-2019 drafts in Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Tyler Madden and Samuel Fagemo. In other words, they are stacked.
From a cap perspective, the Kings are also set up well. Brown is the only real significant expiring UFA, and it’s a good bet the lifelong King will take a team-friendly contract to finish off his career in L.A. With some found savings there and Jeff Carter’s salary retention from last season’s trade to Pittsburgh coming off Kings’ books at the end of the 2021-22, the Kings should have enough room to factor in some well-deserved raises for expiring RFAs like Kempe, Anderson and Durzi.
While it is unlikely the Kings emerge as legitimate Cup contenders this year, this team will be a difficult matchup in the playoffs if it can hold on to its spot in the West. Night after night, the Kings are playing with structure and consistency and getting contributions from all over their lineup. Their goaltending hasn’t been outstanding, but whether they start Cal Petersen or the ageless Quick, they are giving the Kings a chance to win.
If the Kings can’t break through this year, it won’t be long. This is not a team going back to the basement of the Pacific Division any time soon. The Kings even more than who we thought they were.
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Chris Gear joined Daily Faceoff in January after a 12-year run with the Vancouver Canucks, most recently as the club’s Assistant General Manager and Chief Legal Officer. Before migrating over to the hockey operations department, where his responsibilities included contract negotiations, CBA compliance, assisting with roster and salary cap management and governance for the AHL franchise, Gear was the Canucks’ vice president and general counsel.
Click here to read Gear’s other Daily Faceoff stories.