The 2015-16 NHL season was not kind to the Los Angeles Kings. Indeed, they were routed from the playoffs in five games, suffered from a sag at the end of the season and then watched teams around them get better much more quickly than expected.
The Anaheim Ducks won the Pacific Division and the San Jose Sharks won the Western Conference.
The off-season has been an interesting one for the Kings including the departure of Milan Lucic to Edmonton where the Oilers offered him what he wanted most apparently, a seven-year deal.
The Kings were never going to go that long and a six-year deal was the most reported.
Jonathan Quick – file photo by Lewis.Bleiman
Holding LA back are their salary cap constraints. The loss of Lucic from a salary perspective is not as harmful as the loss of his on-ice presence. The Kings signed Ted Purcell this off-season to make up part of that loss but Lucic is a dark presence on any ice surface and Purcell will not fill that void.
The Kings’ Darryl Sutter coaches from the blueline out. He really does not need to consider goaltending because of the ubiquitous presence of Jonathan Quick in the LA net.
Quick was solid this past season and at 30-years of age he is still young for a goalie. When Sutter needs to pay attention to the goal mouth is when Quick’s backup is in the crease.
Peter Budaj is a potential second chair for the Kings in goal and he will compete with Jeff Zatkoff who was signed as an unrestricted free agent late of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On defense, Drew Doughty at some point will need to reconsider the time spent on ice. No one gets younger anywhere but the Kings are getting old on the blue line.
With Alec Martinez, Matt Greene returning from injury, and Jake Muzzin, the Kings have a solid corps on defense. What the club does over the course of the season will tell how they survive 82 games and progress through the post season.
Of interest, is the issue of Dustin Brown’s response to losing the “C” to Anze Kopitar. In interviews over the off-season, Brown expressed some disappointment in the
Anze Kopitar
management decision. But given his time in the league and commitment to the Kings, it should not be seen as a future problem for the Kings or the lineup and effort this season.
The forward positions are the ones that consume much of the Kings’ salary cap. Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, and Tanner Pearson all make for a highly competitive offense in LA. It’s the money that should be of some concern at this point.
The bottom six of the Kings’ offense need to be leaned on and need to respond to take pressure off the high-end players. But how long will that last? Coach Sutter is a master bench boss but his dog house can get crowded this season if the bottom six do not support the stars.
The Kings should benefit from their Pacific Division competitors’ limited advance over the off-season. The Sharks got a taste of the Stanley Cup Final and should be hungry for a return and the Ducks were anything but active in the off-season free agency period.
Look for the Kings to end up where they finished last season but perhaps a deeper run in the post season.
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