It's tough to compare the Kings sometimes honestly and you can even see it in this thread
I think most Kings fans will say the '12 team was the 'inferior' of the two but obviously everyone was firing on all cylinders and they set some dominant playoff records
I think most Kings fans will agree the '14 team was better on paper but instead of being utterly dominant they were absolute cockroaches and just refused to go away, fighting thru a tougher paths to win three game 7s on the road vs. favored opponents with 111, 111, and 116 points.
so, i mean, who would you take? It would have to be the '12 team on 'performance' wherein you're getting a .946 goaltender lol.
As a Kings fan thats quite fond of this Florida team, well done by the OP making this thread. This is a very close comparison.
Up front, Barkov/Kopitar is a pretty clean wash. I would take Richards (2012-13) and Carter (14) over Bennett at 2C. Tkachuk over Brown for sure. Lundell over Stoll (2012-13) and Richards (14) at 3C. Reinhart over Carter (2012-13) and Gaborik (14). Verhaeghe and Williams is pretty even. Theres not many more clean comparisons, I guess Lustorainen and E-Rod are about even with Pearson and Toffoli.
On defence, Doughty was better than anyone Florida has. But then id take Florida's next 3 (Forsling, Ekblad, and Montour/Jones) over anyone else LA had. So they would trump Voynov and Muzzin. But at #4 and 5 id probably take LA's Martinez/Regehr/Mitchell over who Florida's had.
In net, as good as Bob is I'm taking Quick without thinking twice. Quick was a playoff beast.
I think Florida's higher end wingers swing the matchup in their favor. The centers average out to be about even. As great as Doughty was, the difference between him and Florida's 3 headed monster is less than the difference between those 3 and LA's next best 2. The difference between Quick and Bob doesn't do enough to swing this in LA's favor.
I like how you looked at this but I have to homer vote Kopitar here by a slight margin. He was actually PPG in both Cup runs and a +16 and a +9 where Barkov hasn't' been and was actually a minus. And that was while getting the toughest minutes and matchups in the league.
Defenses shifted a bit but I'd have to go
Doughty
-
Forsling/Ekblad/Muzzin (prime muzzin was a very bad man)/Scuderi
Voynov/Jones/Montour/Martinez/Mitchell
Then Greene/Regehr before the rest of Florida.
I think LA's defensive dmen get underrated here, but it's also a product of the era so hard to compare across. Doughty was an unstoppable force in those years and was allowed to run loose since he had Scuderi and Muzzin. Martinez-Greene didn't allow a single 5v5 goal that whole run. Mitchell allowed Voynov freedom to breathe. They were about as perfect of left-right, offense-defense pairings as I've ever seen.
I'd actually suggest the difference between 2012 Quick and any version of Bob is bigger than you suggest. He entered the Final at .951. Just video game shit. Not a moment of hope for anyone until a late Devils goal by Henrique. He completely choked out everyone's hopes.
But totally agree that the rest of Florida's offense on paper just makes LA's look pretty "how the hell did you guys win again?" Which is why we're always so bullish about Kopitar and Doughty's legacies. Williams is phenomenal and guys like Toffoli/Pearson are nice players (who can forget that 70s line?) but the Cup runs represented a lot of guys playing ABOVE what you'd imagine their ceilings to be. Most of the Florida guys, I think they do what you expect, which is a lot.
But I have to say I've been paying this Florida team a LOT of reverence, they're the closest thing to remind me of my favorite Kings team, just unapologetically running everyone the f*** over, everyone is in the fight. I wouldn't be mad at anyone suggesting they're better but they have to win for it to matter...I love that
@JaegerDice mentioned the competition because I think that's important nuance but I don't want to have it yet for that reason. Yet, you can only beat who is put in front of you (the argument we always had to have about the 2012 Kings until 2014 happened), so that'll be a fun discussion if we get there.
