A few years ago the Los Angeles Kings were on their way to becoming contenders again. After winning the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014, they began to decline as expected. However, what was unexpected was the way the Kings quickly turned their ship around. Their rebuild was incredibly quick and just like that the Kings were once again a competitive team.
Using the word fast to describe how long it took the Kings to return to the top is not an understatement. They alternated missing the playoffs and losing in Round 1 from 2014-15 to 2017-18 and missed the playoffs for three years after that, before returning to the postseason in 2022.
Although it didn’t take long for Amakhosi to return to being a playoff team, it looks like they hit a roadblock. For the past three seasons they have been stagnant, unable to take this next step. Three consecutive seasons making the playoffs and three consecutive seasons eliminated in the first round, somehow each time by the Edmonton Oilers.
Based on how this Kings roster looks right now, there shouldn’t be any expectations that Los Angeles takes that next step this year. In fact, a playoff appearance is more than likely, but a deep run is not.
On that point, let’s take a look at what exactly the kings are boasting about this 2024-25 season.
Who’s In & Out
The Kings have made some changes throughout their roster. There have been more than a few additions and deletions that general manager (GM) Rob Blake has made throughout the offseason.
Extraction
- F Pierre-Luc Dubois > WSH
- F Viktor Arvidsson > EDM
- D Matt Roy > WSH
- IG Cam Talbot > DET
- F Blake Lizotte > PIT
- F Carl Grundstrom > SJS
Additions
- F Tanner Jeannot (acquired from Tampa Bay in exchange for 2024 4th and 2025 2nd)
- F Warren Foegele (signed a three-year contract in free agency)
- DD Joel Edmundson (signed a four-year contract in free agency)
- D Kyle Burroughs (acquired from San Jose in trade for Carl Grundstrom)
- UG Darcy Kuemper (acquired from Washington in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois)
If you look at some of the players Amakhosi have acquired to fill the gaps of those who have been dropped, a bit of a drop would be the right way to describe it. I say it’s a bit of a downgrade because there are better players who lost to the Kings, but because of the things that happened during his stay in Los Angeles, it doesn’t seem like the Kings lost much. It is well known that Dubois’ time in LA was not good. He was so absent that keeping him in the lineup would do a lot of damage to the Kings. Arvidsson is another talented striker who is no longer the King. He is a scoring midfielder that any team would love to have and is capable of scoring 60 points when he is healthy. The key phrase is “when healthy” which he has struggled with most of his NHL career. Arvidsson only played 18 games for the Kings last season so his talk doesn’t have much impact.
Heading into the 2024-25 season, Blake has put forward an exciting team that could be full of surprises. Although Amakhosi said that they have been reduced a little by the players they got through trade or free agency, there is something else that will be seen more in the list of the Kings this season and that is the introduction of young people. They’ll have a few of their homegrown prospects ready to take that next step and maybe be the fuel LA needs to extend their playoff streak to four years. How well this team does this season will depend a lot on guys like Brandt Clarke, Akil Thomas, Arthur Kaliev, Alex Laferriere, Jordan Spence, Alex Turcotte and Quinton Byfield.
A Forward Aimed Kings Team
According to the Daily Faceoff, these are the speculative line combinations:
Alex Laferriere – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala – Quinton Byfield – Arthur Kaliyev
Trevor Moore – Phillip Danault – Warren Foegele
Tanner Jeannot – Alex Turcotte – Akil Thomas
Although the lines are being looked at, this is the way Amakhosi should organize their forward team to start the season.
Row 1 – Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe have been an unstoppable team for a while now. They scored a combined 145 points last season. Those two are the heart and soul of the Kings offense. Heading into his second NHL season, Laferriere had 12 goals and 23 points in 81 games last season. Making the jump to the NHL in your first season out of college is as surprising as a third round pick and that’s exactly what Laferriere did. His ability to not only score goals but also play a heavy gritty game will complement the starting line well with Kopitar and Kempe. Expect his numbers to increase significantly this season playing on that first line.
Line 2 – Liking the idea of moving Byfield to center back as opposed to left wing where he played most of last season. With PLD out, moving Byfield to center allows the Kings to keep that center depth and you can pretty much guarantee, barring any unforeseen circumstances, that Byfield will have a huge impact. Kevin Fiala is an important part of the Kings’ game, as he finished with the most three-pointers of any King last season with 73. It is difficult to expect much from a player like Kaliyev who is stuck in the bottom six with nothing. real support. It will be interesting to see how he does as he is about to be given the chance to play in the top-six. There’s an insane amount of raw talent in this lineup and once the chemistry starts building with these three, it’s going to be scary.
Line 3 – Trevor Moore and Warren Foegele are two ridiculously fast wingers and having a defensive forward like Phillip Danault playing alongside them will give the duo the confidence to take more chances and use that speed. Moore is coming off a difficult season in which he led the Kings with 31 goals and finished with 57 points. He will be heavily relied upon to produce for this line. Foegele is a third-line definition. Work and speed are two things he prides himself on and coming from a team like the Oilers, the experience he has in the past few seasons is something this Kings team will welcome with open arms.
Line 4 – This line is a complete wild card. Based on each player, it has the potential to be great but these three have never played together before. Turcotte brings a little bit of everything and is what many would describe as a complete two-way player. His numbers with the Ontario Reigns over the past few seasons haven’t been anything special but as a former fifth overall pick he’s a force to be reckoned with. Signing Jeannot was an interesting move considering his steep decline after his first season but it was important to address a major need for the Kings. Tanner Jeannot brings that hard-hitting, forward-type build and is the Kings’ only real sense of toughness. Thomas will get a chance to establish himself as a regular NHLer after spending four straight seasons developing with the Dominions. He has only played in seven NHL games and in those seven games, he had three goals and four points.
LA has a strong group going forward. Offensive production and defensive awareness are up and down all four lines. Seriously this team looks good but doesn’t have that superstar or game changer. Byfield has the potential to be that type of player for the Kings in the future, but right now he is a key missing piece for this franchise.
Kings’ Projected Defensive Team
Mike Anderson – Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov – Brandt Clarke
Joel Edmundson – Jordan Spence
Matching 1 – Drew Doughty has been a cornerstone of the Kings blue line for over a decade and he and Mike Anderson have been the Kings first pairing for a long time now. Both are smart puck-moving defenders and both can be trusted in all situations. There is not much to say except that this is the most reliable group of Kings and is trusted to handle most of the opposition teams.
Matching 2 – Vladislav Gavrikov and Clarke are a perfect combination. Gavrikov is good at taking care of the defensive zone and providing that shutdown presence. It is important that Gavrikov remains a stay-at-home defender to allow Clarke to fully embrace his attacking talent and join the chase at will. Clarke is the future of the Kings defense and this year will be the beginning.
Matching 3 – Joel Edmundson is in the latter stages of his career while Spence is in his early stages. A four-year deal is a lot for a 31-year-old defenseman but Edmundson has proven to be reliable throughout his NHL career and could be a good mentor for young Spence. The speed with which Spence can play and the vision he has to play with will be a good match for the older, slower Edmundson. This pairing will be the weakest link for the Kings and you can expect head coach Jim Hiller to pay close attention to their matchups.
The Kings’ Goaltending Tandem
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
The Kings decided to roll with Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich scoring goals. Although Kuemper is more highly regarded than first baseman Cam Talbot, the performance levels of both over the past few seasons tell us that there really isn’t that much of a difference. Kuemper didn’t have a great season last year with the Capitals, finishing with a .890 save percentage (SV%) and a 3.31 goals against average (GAA). It was the lowest SV% and highest GAA Kuemper has ever finished with during his 12 years in the NHL. LA can’t get that version of Kuemper if they hope to make the playoffs.
Related: Erik Portillo re-signing is big for Kings’ future
Rittich on the other hand has bounced around a lot but has what it takes to be a reliable backup, and he proved that last season finishing with a .921 SV% and 2.15 GAA through 24 games played. Limiting Rittich’s workload is critical to his success and if Kuemper can fulfill his role as the team’s starter there should be no concern about Rittich playing 25-30 games.
Scoring goals is where Amakhosi will have a big problem, but if you look at the list as a whole, there is no reason why this team cannot fight for a place in the playoffs, especially playing in the Pacific Division. There is a good enough mix of veterans and young talent throughout this team for the Kings to be a competitive team. If the youth perform and guys like Kopitar, Doughty, Kempe, Fiala, and Moore continue to be the engine of this team, they may do better than expected.
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