2024-25 NHL team preview: Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings center Quinton Byfield

Credit: Mar 11, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Kings right wing Quinton Byfield (55) controls the puck against the New York Islanders during the first period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

LAST SEASON

A year ago, it still felt like the Los Angeles Kings were building toward something. Their rebuild under GM Rob Blake had exited phase 1 a couple years earlier. They’d made the postseason two years in a row. After pulling the trigger on a blockbuster deal for Kevin Fiala in summer 2022, Blake repeated the move and landed a big center in Pierre-Luc Dubois, packaged with an eight-year extension at an $8.5 million AAV. The Kings were determined to avoid a third consecutive first-round exit at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers and built a deep roster that theoretically had a chance to make waves in the Western Conference.

But nothing played out like Blake drew it up in 2023-24. Dubois was an unmitigated disaster, delivering 16 goals and 40 points in 82 games. The Winnipeg Jets, who landed a second-round pick plus NHLers Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari from L.A., quickly emerged as winners of the trade. After opening their year 20-7-4, the Kings dropped eight consecutive games from late December through mid-January. Kings legends Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar publicly called out the team for selfish play and chasing individual stats, and the widespread assumption was that they were referencing Dubois. Blake axed coach Todd McLellan during the All-Star break and promoted assistant coach Jim Hiller to the head job.

As so many teams do, L.A. recovered after the coaching change, going 21-12-1, posting the eighth-best record in the league from February onward. They entered the postseason with the league’s No. 3 scoring defense and No. 2 penalty kill, but it still wasn’t enough; they were outclassed by the powerful Oilers offense, surrendering 22 goals in five games and falling to the same opponent a third straight season.

The Kings have hit a wall, with no playoff series wins since their last Stanley Cup victory in 2014. Blake has been their GM since 2017. This offseason, he made a slew of headscratching moves, replacing some skilled players with a lot of big, lumbering veterans. The Kings were already seemingly stuck in quicksand. But have they actually gotten worse instead of better heading into 2024-25?

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions

Darcy Kuemper, G
Joel Edmundson, D
Warren Foegele, LW
Tanner Jeannot, LW
Caleb Jones, D
Kyle Burroughs, D
Jack Studnicka, C
Glenn Gawdin, C

Departures

Matt Roy, D (Wsh)
Pierre-Luc Dubois, C (Wsh)
Cam Talbot, G (Det)
Viktor Arvidsson, RW (Edm)
Carl Grundstrom, RW (SJ)
Blake Lizotte, C (Pit)

OFFENSE

The Kings iced a mid-pack offensive club with an above-average power play last year. Whatever they are this time around, for better or worse, it will look different. The first major depth-chart shakeup came when Blake escaped the final seven years of Dubois’ contract by trading him to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Long-term, it was a savvy move, but it created a hole at center in the top nine.

For the past couple seasons, rising star Quinton Byfield has primarily flanked Kopitar and Adrian Kempe on the top line, but with Dubois gone, the Kings may need Byfield to take over No. 2 center duty. After his breakout last season, they rewarded him with five-year extension at a $6.25 million AAV. They’re paying the 2020 Draft’s No. 2 overall pick a salary befitting of a play-driving pivot. He’s likely to center the second line alongside Fiala, while Kopitar and Kempe man the top line, and each duo has a variety of options to play with them. Maybe Alex Laferriere gets a look with Kopitar and Kempe. If the Kings keep underachieving shooter Arthur Kaliyev around rather than trade him, he could get a look in a scoring-line assignment.

Of course, L.A. has another key contributor down on the third line in Trevor Moore. After a horribly unlucky 2022-23 campaign, his puck luck levelled out and he produced a career-best 32 goals last season. He could easily end up playing in the top six, but he works so well with Phillip Danault that the Kings may keep those two together and role with three duos in the top nine.

The team’s overall forward depth will be tested with Dubois and Viktor Arvidsson gone. Newcomers such as Tanner Jeannot and Warren Foegele will bring a heavy forechecking game, but they aren’t direct replacements in terms of pure scoring upside. Just for L.A. to break even year over year on offense, it may need more help from the next wave. After grinding through injury problems for several years, former top prospect Alex Turcotte seems ready to contribute as a full-time NHL center.

The Kings should continue getting offensive contributions from Doughty, who delivered his second-highest career goal total in his age-34 season with 15. But what they really need is for Brandt Clarke to stick as a permanent NHL blueliner. He possesses monstrous scoring upside, having made it look easy in his final OHL season and first AHL season over the past two years. He could break out the same way Thomas Harley did for the Dallas Stars last season.

DEFENSE

The Kings played stingy, disciplined hockey for much of last season, particularly after Hiller took the reins and installed a 1-3-1 scheme. They were the NHL’s No. 5 team in expected goals against at 5-on-5 and ranked third in expected goal differential. But are they still the same defensively sound club going into 2024-25?

They still have two of the better checking forwards in the NHL in Kopitar and Danault, and their rocksteady top pair of Mikey Anderson and Doughty remains intact. But Roy’s departure in free agency leaves a gaping hole. He averaged more shorthanded minutes per game than any other King on the league’s second-best penalty kill, and his expected goal share graded out top-15 among all NHL defensemen.

Joel Edmundson is simply not an adequate replacement for Roy. Edmundson is a towering, bull-strong veteran with a long reach, but he also takes quite a few penalties and allows a lot of 5-on-5 scoring chances. On the whole, the Kings still look like they’ll be an above-average defensive team that clogs up opponents’ transition games, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they regressed slightly. A lot might come down to whether Clarke or Jordan Spence is ready to become a bona fide top-four defenseman and solidify the right side of the second pair alongside Vladislav Gavrikov. Neither youngster even averaged 15 minutes per night last season, so the Kings are asking at least one of them to inherit quite a bit of responsibility.

GOALTENDING

The Kings went the bargain route last year, signing Cam Talbot for $1 million, and he made them look smart for most of last season, mid-winter slump aside. Among 54 goalies who played at least 25 games, he sat 24^th in 5-on-5 goals saved above expected per 60, and he graded out as a top-three netminder on the penalty kill. He now stops pucks for the Detroit Red Wings. The Kings have a new starter after inheriting three seasons of Kuemper at a $5.25 million AAV in the Dubois trade. Just a couple years ago, he was a fresh Stanley Cup winner and legit candidate to start for Canada at the next Olympics. But Kuemper’s game fell off once he joined the Capitals. Last season, he sat 42^nd in goals saved above expected per 60 in that sample of goalies with 25 or more games. His .890 save percentage was by far a career low, and he lost his starting job to Charlie Lindgren. Kuemper didn’t play one second in the postseason. The Kings are making an expensive gamble that Kuemper’s play will rebound with a superior defensive team in front of him – and that’s assuming it still is a superior defensive team.

Behind Kuemper is David Rittich, who was quietly one of the NHL’s best backups last season and even earned a pair of playoff starts. Third goaltender Pheonix Copley is working his way back from ACL reconstruction surgery and will operate in an insurance role, while Erik Portillo is the long-term bet to become the Kings’ No. 1. Are Kuemper and Rittich good enough to keep the seat warm for Portillo another year?

COACHING

Hiller is your classic “new” head coach who has been around the NHL for years. He broke in as an assistant with the Red Wings in 2014-15, followed Mike Babcock to the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2015-16 through 2018-19 and was an assistant on two Cup-contending New York Islanders teams before joining L.A. beginning in 2022-23. Even though the Kings improved defensively when he took over from McLellan, Hiller’s area of expertise is actually offense and specifically the power play. The Kings had the league’s No. 27 power play before he arrived. Since: fourth in 2022-23 and 12^th last season. The Kings lack true top-end scoring talent, with no 50-goal scorer since 1992-93 or 100-point scorer since 1993-94, so Hiller is a good fit. Elevating the power play keeps the Kings’ so-so offense competitive.

ROOKIES

“To be eligible for the Calder Memorial Trophy, a player cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in any major professional league.”

Clarke has just 25 games of NHL experience but lost his Calder eligibility after playing six or more games in two consecutive seasons. Turcotte has dipped his toes in for eight, four and 20 games in three seasons, so he’s out too. Spiritually, it still feels like they’re rookies.

If we want to look at Calder-eligible freshmen, Akil Thomas is one name to watch. Already 24, he was approaching sink-or-swim status before finally busting out for 22 goals in 64 AHL games last season. He earned an NHL look and buried three goals in seven games. The Kings could use his skating ability on the fourth line. It will also be interesting to see if Portillo gets a look in net, perhaps as an injury replacement. He acquitted himself excellently in his pro debut with the AHL Ontario Reign last season, going 24-11-3 with a .918 SV%. He brings a gargantuan 6-foot-6, 224-pound frame to the crease.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Is Quinton Byfield ready to be the team’s top star? The Kings have some very good offensive contributors. The criminally underrated Kempe is tied for 29th in goals over the past two years, while Fiala is tied for 39th in points. But they don’t have an elite star right now. Byfield has the best chance to change that. He has flashed true highlight-reel ability in his 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame and appears to be a classic big-man late boomer. But his breakout last season got him to a modest 20 goals and 55 points. The Kings need him to jump at least one more level if they want to be a serious contender.

2. Is this the Brandt Clarke breakout year? There’s a case to be made that Clarke’s progression is the single most important storyline for L.A. this year. Someone needs to step into Roy’s spot on the second pair and eat significant minutes, and the Kings need a long-term successor to Doughty on the power play. He is still going strong but could show signs of decline soon given he turns 35 in December.

3. How much runway does Rob Blake have left as GM? Blake begins his eighth season in the chair and doesn’t have a single playoff series win to show for it, not even after rolling the dice on some blockbuster deals in consecutive summers. Even though he’s a Hall of Fame player and, pun intended, Kings royalty, he can only get by on his reputation for so long. If L.A. doesn’t advance deeper in the playoffs this time around, it may be time for a change.

PREDICTION

Theoretically, the Kings are a win-now franchise in desperation mode, trying to get over the hump and finally conquer Edmonton. It would’ve made sense to see them make aggressive improvements heading into 2024-25. But they actually look weakened on paper. Their additions look inferior to their departures. Unless their youth movement takes a significant step forward, the Kings could slip in the pack and end up fighting down to the season’s final day for a Wildcard spot. They look like the fourth-best team in the Pacific right now – at best.

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