Return of the Kings (to the playoffs) year in review

[yave1964]

PRESEASON OUTLOOK The West was expecting a bit of a down year and with all their top end prospects bubbling over it looked as if they were in position to possibly contend for a playoff spot.

 

FINAL RECORD 44-27-11 99 points 3rd in the Pacific lost in 7 hard fought games to the Oilers

 

HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR The Kings started slow (1-5-1) they continued to slog along sitting at 10-10-4 after being shut out by the Canucks on December 4th. After that, they never really had a red hot streak but they never lost more than three in a row (once) while winning at least three in a row four separate times. they won more than they lost, never had a losing streak that mattered and slowly pulled away from the pack and finished off the doubters by finishing the season going 5-0-1 to get back into the dance.

 

LOW POINT OF THE YEAR Just like there were no real highs, there were no real lows. Again a slow start could be mentioned but they never panicked. You could say the first round loss but I dont see it that way, they played a tough and determined Edmonton team the same way and came out of their series feeling hopeful and sure that this was the beginning of something special

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT Kopitar had another aging like fine wine year on his way to the Hall. Kempe finally established himself as a dangerous sniper with 35 goals and plays in all situations. Eyebrows were raised over Danaults contract but he more than justified it during his first year. Arvidsson contributed 20 goals. Trevor Moore came from nowhere to contribute 48 points. Doughty when healthy was great. Iafello and Kalyev contributed nicely from the middle six. Blake Lizotte is established as a center with promise and lots of upside. Roy and Durzi are mainstays on the back end who seldom are caught out of position. Edler proves old dogs still have bite. The goalie tandem of Quick and Peterson picked each other up when they needed it. lots of kids got their first look and didnt embarrass themselves

 

WHAT WENT WRONG Doughty could not have went down at a worse time missing the playoff series against Edmonton. Dustin Borwn had a bad year and retired. Athanasiou didnt do much. Bjornfot got caught out of position way too much as a rookie blueliner.

 

FREE AGENTS AND DRAFT PICKS No extra picks here. As for free agents, Dustin Brown is off the books as he retired, Athanasiou wont be invited back, at least one or maybe two of Edler, Maatta and Stecher will be invited back but youth must be served for the Kings who are stacked in the prospect pool. 

 

PROSPECTS Byfield was okay in his first look but showed signs of brilliance as a two way shut down center on a team that already has Kopitar and Danault in that role. If Byfield claims the 3C role and plays up to his enormous talent the division is in trouble. Alex Turcotte will be on the third line as a sneaky good shot. Austin Strand will be pushing for ice time on the back end. Anderson Dolan will win the 4th center role as a shut down forward who can score a bit. Moverare was forced into action when Doughty went down and didnt embarrass himself and is probably ready for 3rd pair action. He will have to fight off Kale Clague who the team loves. Rasmus Kupari didnt show much in limited ice time but the team is very high on him. Sammy Fagemo loves to shoot from anywhere and often and is full of self confidence. Akil Thomas had a good but not great year in the AHL. This team is stacked with A and B prospects knocking the door down and forcing themselves onto the roster. Good God I forgot about Tyler Madden and Gabe Vilardi two solid prospects who scored just under a point a game in the AHL.

 

STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR The Kings defensive corps as a whole managed a tied for league worst 21 total goals, in fact their entire defensive corp was outscored by Roman josi 23-21.  On the power play it was a bit better but not much, they were 4th from the bottom with 6. 

 THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE KINGS but I missed it when i did the writeup on the Sharks and have to list this somewhere, Brett Burns had 4 power play goals on the year, they were the only 4 power play goals by a Sharks defenseman ALL YEAR. He also had 14 power play assists compared to all of his other defensive mates netting 12. In other words, Burns outscored the other defenseman on his own team on the power play 18-12. Again, not the Kings, but YIKES.

 

OFFSEASON OUTLOOK This team needs an infusion on the back end, they have players who can play but no offense on the back end and to take the next step they must address this. They may move a forward for a puck moving defenseman this offseason, forwards are in abundance. IMHO I could see it being Alex Iafello caught in the squeeze of talent pushing him. They must decide if the aging Quick and the slightly dissapointing Peterson are enough to carry the team going forward as they continue to role young talent onto the roster. The future is very, very bright in Los Angeles, love where they are heading.

Edited May 23, 2022 by yave1964