The Los Angeles Kings - For Real or a Mirage?

[WarriorofTime]

Not a team that got a lot of hype/love during the offseason. A lot of discussion of bad GM'ing, bad asset management, negging of Quinton Byfield who hasn't delivered a lot on the stat sheet, star defenseman Doughty has been out injured.

As of right now, riding a 6-game win streak and 17-8-3 for a top 5/6 point percentage in the NHL. What are your thoughts on this team?

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[Mobiandi]

Out in 5 to the Oilers again

 

[The Pale King]

Out in 5 to the Oilers again

What a crazy take.

In 2022 it was a close 7 game series.
2023 the Kings lost in 6 games.
2024 it was mercifully over in 5 games.

It's clearly going to be a sweep this year.

 

[Shellz]

Can we not

 

[syz]

Analytics are good. They were also good last year though so idk.

 

[Brookbank]

They were a hot pick early last year. Turns out they were sh**. It became s big topic last year in Canucks land. Would you rather take the Kings roster or Canucks roster. Drance , Mike from Surrey and Pat Johnston all said they'd take the kings. And then the Canucks won the division and a playoff round and nobody talks about it anymore

 

[olli]

I can’t help but think how good they could be now if they hadn’t made the Fiala and PLD trades although it looks like Kuemper has been solid for them.

 

[Ghetty Green]

They were a hot pick early last year. Turns out they were sh**. It became s big topic last year in Canucks land. Would you rather take the Kings roster or Canucks roster. Drance , Mike from Surrey and Pat Johnston all said they'd take the kings. And then the Canucks won the division and a playoff round and nobody talks about it anymore

Oh please, tell us more about the conversations on the Canucks board

 

[JKG33]

I can’t help but think how good they could be now if they hadn’t made the Fiala and PLD trades although it looks like Kuemper has been solid for them.

I can't help but think how good they'd be if they pulled the trigger on an Eichel for Byfield+ package (while also not making the moves you listed)

 

[The Nuge]

They’ve been a ~100 point team for a while. I felt like I was taking crazy pills before the season with everyone calling them crap just because they can’t beat the Oilers

 

[Perfect_Drug]

They're a very good team but they just don't matchup well in a series against the Oilers.

McDavid alone negates the 1-3-1 completely, whereas for almost any other team, it's nearly unbeatable with Kopitar and Danault.

If they can evade the Oilers or Avalanche, I think they could make it far.

 

[JKG33]

If they can evade the Oilers or Avalanche, I think they could make it far.

Honestly I don't like LA's chances against any of the true contenders in the west (Colorado Vegas Dallas) + Edmonton.

But I'd take them over anyone else, especially other similarly overachieving teams like Winnipeg or Minnesota.

They're a team that for the most part beats the teams they should, and loses to the really good teams.

If they would've had any semblance of goaltending the last 2 years they mightve got past Edmonton once, but ever since dumping Quick they haven't had even an average goalie. It's a sad state of affairs when Kuemper looks like a savior by comparison

 

[Zalos]

For real as long as they don't face the Oilers in the playoffs.

 

[bland]

Its still early, and Kopitar usually hibernates for a month in January. There is a lot to like here, but the main issues are still prevelant: solid regular season defense masking subpar goaltending, ancient stars that are worn out and ineffective come April, poor on-ice leadership (when things head south they go deeeeeeep south), and a roster of three second lines that doesn't see anyone take charge and lead from the front.

The additions of Foegle, Edmundson (who is surprisingly rock solid) and Jeannot have really helped the team in the trenches. Laferriere has been outstanding, Kempe is the most underrated player in the game, and the Anderson/Gavrikov pair are killing it. Doughty will be back next month. Clarke and Spence have really improved the transition game.

If Moore, Fiala, Danault and Byfield can get back to their normal production they could challenge for their first ever divisional title.

Or, the usual tailspin and late rally for a wildcard run puts them squarely in line for another first round thrashing.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

They are what they've been, a mushy middle team that's good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to even put a righteous scare into a first round opponent.

Excellent 5v5 team that completely disintegrates once you introduce any sort of special teams situation and ALSO they don't have the goaltending or shooting talent to survive on that alone which takes them out of the 'true contender' category. They can beat Dallas, Colorado, Edmonton once in December; they can't beat them 4 out of 7 on a forecheck alone. They'll need either Byfield or Clarke to supernova and a goalie to go full Giguere and hope isn't much of a strategy. I guess never say never, but they need far too much to go right...but I suppose it's encouraging that they've done what they've done while learning a new system and integrating new players while not having Doughty at all and getting next to nothing out of Byfield and until most recently Moore and Danault while Fiala was actively hurting the team.

 

[olli]

I can't help but think how good they'd be if they pulled the trigger on an Eichel for Byfield+ package (while also not making the moves you listed)

Omg I never even heard that , that would’ve been incredible

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

A lot of the offseason worries had to do with their young guys. None of them had proven really anything at this level, and especially when Doughty went down it seemed like a problem.

Laferriere has 21 pts in 28 games, Turcotte has been fine as a depth piece (+9), Clarke has 16 pts from the back-end and Spence is OK too.

Edmundson’s stepped up as well in Doughty’s absence, playing 20 minutes per night. Some people thought he’s cooked.

So yeah, sometimes those roster question marks work out. A heavy team with balance and enough talent is always gonna have a high floor.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

They were a hot pick early last year. Turns out they were sh**. It became s big topic last year in Canucks land. Would you rather take the Kings roster or Canucks roster. Drance , Mike from Surrey and Pat Johnston all said they'd take the kings. And then the Canucks won the division and a playoff round and nobody talks about it anymore

Canucks forwards, Kings defensemen, and Canucks goalies for me.

Honestly I don't like LA's chances against any of the true contenders in the west (Colorado Vegas Dallas) + Edmonton.

But I'd take them over anyone else, especially other similarly overachieving teams like Winnipeg or Minnesota.

They're a team that for the most part beats the teams they should, and loses to the really good teams.

If they would've had any semblance of goaltending the last 2 years they mightve got past Edmonton once, but ever since dumping Quick they haven't had even an average goalie. It's a sad state of affairs when Kuemper looks like a savior by comparison

Imho Korpisalo outplayed Skinner in 2023.

 

[Shark Finn]

What a crazy take.

In 2022 it was a close 7 game series.
2023 the Kings lost in 6 games.
2022 it was over in 5 games.

It's clearly going to be a sweep this year.

Yeah, in the Finals for the Stanley Cup victory!

 

[Crow]

Don’t think I watch them enough to know. Interested to see what their own fans think. I’m surprised to see them doing so well without drew. I also did not like their goaltending situation going into the season.

 

[johnjm22]

They have 17 regulation wins. Tied for the most in the NHL.

I'm wondering about Jim Hiller. Great coaches can get a lot out of middling rosters. Hiller is an unknown, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe he's really good at this. He's turning chicken shit into chicken soup.

The season is still young. I think they'll finish in the 10th-15th range overall, and be out in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

 

[syz]

I remember talking with my family about how good the Kings were when we got together on Christmas last year. They were in the exact same spot iirc; top 3 in the division and strong analytics. Then the wheels started to fall off shortly after for some reason.

 

[TheNumber4]

What a crazy take.

In 2022 it was a close 7 game series.
2023 the Kings lost in 6 games.
2022 it was over in 5 games.

It's clearly going to be a sweep this year.

Lol. Kings fans are good sports. They just like "yeh.... sounds about right"

I'd like to see the Kings face someone else though. So the League can see they aren't just 1st round fodder. Plus 4 years in a row gets boring.

 

[Dread Clawz]

I always thought they were pretty good. Underrated blueline and good depth up front

 

[Soul Assumption]

Honestly on paper they are barely a playoff team. Their best player is 60 year old Kopitar. Props to the coaching staff, what else can be said.