The Kings may turn it around, but too me it's highly unlikely.
An old quote says "We have met the enemy and he is us" and for the Kings ownership/management group it fits perfectly right now.
My uncle was a head coach in the NHL many years ago, he said "I never faulted the players as they played to the best of their abilities, some were just better than others, the problem was, we only had the others."
If you bring in 4 like minded people, you don't need to tell them what to do, they will do it naturally. That's why you need different voices, different opinions to get the best out of everybody.
It was rumored that Blake wasn't a Lombardi choice, but a choice thrust on him by ownership at the urging of Luc. Those 2 thought the Kings could continue to challenge for a cup. And their voice coupled with visions of deep playoff runs with millions in revenue, vs. a costly teardown and possibly no playoffs for a few seasons, won over ownership.
Today it's been 8 seasons, 3 misses, 4 first round exits and what appears to be a fifth first round exit on the horizon. So that's 5 playoff series played in 8 seasons. Taylor's teams, 8 seasons 4 misses and 3 first round losses and 1 second round loss. 8 seasons 5 playoff rounds. Taylors tenure was often referred to a disaster.
Not to get political, but with the possibility all things at the store costing more, is there a better time to not get skinny and blow it up? The flip side is folks love their sports and going to a game many times it gives us all an escape from whatever is going on because we see our team win, it's a nice escape for a few hours.
Rebuilds are never a guarantee of future success, it's why owners don't like them. And some teams get into the shampoo cycle, apply, rinse and repeat.
I would like to see The French Connection and The Ingrate tossed out after what is likely another first round exit. Then bring in somebody who can navigate the waters of having to deal with 2 Kings legends.
I believe Kopitar could be packaged up with some retained salary in exchange for a pick or 2/prospects and moved and I believe he would be a fine addition to a cup challenging team in a role similar to Goring on the 80's Islanders or Trottier with the Penguins in the early 90's. But as far as our #1 center, that ship has sailed.
Doughty will be a bit more difficult, 11-mil is a big number for 2 seasons at his age. Injuries and father time have taken their toll. Maybe something can be worked out, possibly a buyout/trade/???. But that would be a hard pill to take for a home grown player who has given his heart and soul to this team.
But with what appears to be a couple of days in left the Kings season, one thing I believe will happen, nothing. The club will circle the wagons, point to an anomaly of a regular season and once again claim, we were/are right there.
Al Arbor entered the locker room, Mike Bossy's back was toast. Al told Bill Torey he felt the Islanders were done, no Bossy no more cups. Ownership held on, but after a couple of seasons Torey felt it was time to move on from that group, but ownership held on for a few seasons.
A few seasons later it was clearly over and Torey made the difficult decision to part with what he believed was the heart and soul of the team, Bryan Trottier.
Trottier was 34 when he was dealt to Pittsburgh. By that time the Islanders had spent 7 seasons chasing past glory.
Kopitar will be 38 next season and it will be 11 seasons since winning the cup in 2014.
