LOS ANGELES – The Kings will once more look to Anze Kopitar this season to lift over the cut off line for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Anze Kopitar – Photo by Jack Lima
Kopitar, 35, did just that in the 2022-23 season when he scored 28 goals on 74 points.
More remarkable is the fact he has missed on game in the last seasons.
“I don’t think he’ll ever slow down. It’s just the day he says, ‘I want to go home,'” Kings president Luc Robitaille said of Kopitar. “We’ve all had to do it. Some of us are good enough to pick our moments and some guys, it just happens. ‘Kopy’ happens to be one of those players who doesn’t seem to slow down. There’ll be a day he’s going to say physically, probably, he can’t do it and I do think we have to be ready.”
The Kings traded for Pierre-Luc Dubois and then signed him to an eight-year deal. The thought it to get Dubois to a point where he is the number one center in LA at the end of the Kopitar tenure.
Dubois will need to prove his worth of an eight-year deal and the confidence the3 Kings have placed in him for future development. Something he has come up short on with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets.
One potential upgrade this season was the signing to a one-year deal of Cam Talbot in net.
The deal reunites LA coach Todd McLellan with Talbot, 36. The goalie signed with LA because of McLellan behind the bench.
“Playing for Todd in Edmonton, I had some of my best years when I was there,” Talbot said. “When we were there, he rode me pretty hard and I played the most games I’ve ever played, had some of my best years and getting to reunite with him was definitely a huge bonus for me.”
In a league where young centers are misplaced and under-utilized (Alexis Lafreniere with the New York Rangers), Quinton Byfield is just the latest. The center was put off the left wing , and though he had a decent season, he will need to get more comfortable on the left side with the arrival Dubois slotted for the second line center.
If Dubois falters, then look for Byfield to get another shot at center.
Last season, the Kings finished third in the Pacific Division and made an early exit in a first round loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
“I was fortunate toward the end of my career, I played with an organization like [the] Detroit [Red Wings] and I learned, you’re not trying to make the playoffs, you’re trying to win the playoffs,” Kings president Robitaille said on NHL.com. “That’s the goal.”
The prospect pool is light for this season with defenseman Brandt Clarke projected to make it to the LA roster season.
He iced nine games with the Kings last campaign with two assists. Clark was drafted in the eighth slot in the 2021 Entry Draft.
The balance of last season was played with the Ontario Reign of the AHL, and Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League.
“You look at where he’s been, at the World Juniors, as the tournament got better, he got better,” Kings player development coach Sean O’Donnell said. “As the games went along, he started getting double-shifted, playing more. Once he settles into a situation and sees where he’s at and gets a feel for it, he doesn’t get overwhelmed by situations at all.”
Four other prospects are slated to make the jump to LA in the 2024-25 season. Those four include forwards Alex Laferriere, Francesco Pinelli, and Martin Chromiak, and defenseman Jordan Spence.
All four players iced with the Reign last season.
The Kings will need another solid year from Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Kevin Fiala, and Dubois to get back to the playoffs. Their 2023-2-23 season faltered late, and fizzled in the opening round loss.
The Dubois trade cost them three of their core players, Dubois needs to make the that trade a success with a commitment to hard play.
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