NHL Preview - Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings

2015-16 season: 48-28-6, 102 points Lost in the 1st RD to San Jose	Head Coach: Darryl Sutter (2011)
2nd Place Pacific Division	General Manager: Dean Lombardi (2006)
5th Place Western Conference	AHL Affiliate: Ontario Reign ECHL Affiliate: Manchester Monarchs
Cap Space: $679,773

News

• Traded D Nick Ebert to Dallas for G Jack Campbell

Players Lost in the Offseason

POS.	Player	New Team	Contract
LW	Milan Lucic	Edmonton Oilers	7 years, $42,000,000
RW	Kris Versteeg	Edmonton Oilers	PTO
D	Luke Schenn	Arizona Coyotes	2 years, $2,500,000
D	James McBain	Arizona Coyotes	1 year, $600,000
D	Jeff Schultz	Anaheim Ducks	1 year, $575,000
G	Jhonas Enroth	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 year, $750,000

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old Team	Contract
C	Michael Laata	Washington Capitals	1 year, $600,000
RW	Teddy Purcell	Tampa Bay Lightning	1 year, $1,600,000
D	Tom Gilbert	Montreal Canadiens	1 year, $1,400,000
D	Zach Trotman	Boston Bruins	1 year, $650,000
G	Jeff Zatkoff	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 years, $1,800,000

2016 Draft Picks

RD	Pick No.	POS.	Name	Junior/College/Club Team
2	51	D	Kale Clague	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
4	112	D	Jacob Moverare	HV71 (SHL)
5	143	C	Michael Eyssimont	St. Cloud State Huskies (NCHC)
7	202	D	Jacob Friend	Owen Sound Attack (OHL)

Top Three Prospects

POS	Name	Draft Info	Current Team
RW	Spencer Watson	2014 1st RD (29)	AHL/ECHL
LW	Nikolai Prokhorkin	2012 4th RD (121)	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)
C	Michael Amadio	2014 3rd RD (90)	AHL/ECHL

Projected Lineup

Forwards

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
LW	Tanner Pearson	24	Canada	2017 (RFA)
C	(C) Anze Kopitar	29	Slovenia	2024
RW	Teddy Purcell	31	Canada	2017
LW	Kyle Clifford	25	Canada	2020
C	Jeff Carter	31	Canada	2022
RW	Tyler Toffoli	24	Canada	2017 (RFA)
LW	Jordan Nolan	27	Canada	2018
C	Trevor Lewis	29	USA	2020
RW	Dustin Brown	31	USA	2022
LW	Michael Mersch	24	USA	2017 (RFA)
C	Andy Andreoff	25	Canada	2017 (RFA)
RW	Dwight King	27	USA	2017

Defensemen

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
D	Jake Muzzin	27	Canada	2020
D	(A) Drew Doughty	26	Canada	2019
D	Rob Scuderi	37	USA	2017
D	Alec Martinez	29	USA	2021
D	Brayden McNabb	25	Canada	2018
D	Tom Gilbert	33	USA	2017

Goalies

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
G	Jonathan Quick	30	USA	2023
G	Jeff Zatkoff	29	USA	2018

Extra Skaters

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
C	Michael Laata	25	Canada	2017
C	Nick Shore	24	USA	2017 (RFA)
D	(A) Matt Greene	33	USA	2018

Inactive Skaters

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
LW	Marian Gaborik	34	Slovakia	2021

Season Outlook

• After failing to make the playoffs two years ago, the Kings righted the ship last season, getting back to the playoffs.  They finished second in the Pacific Division and met the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, losing the series, four games to one. The Kings were a good overall team, but struggled to produce enough offense, only ranking 14th in Goals For.  They had four players with 20 or more goals, but only one with more than 30, Tyler Toffoli.  LA's struggle to score goals continued in the playoffs, not scoring more than three goals in any game during their series with the Sharks.  On defense, the Kings had two excellent puck-movers, in Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin, both of whom had north of 40 points. Doughty played well enough that he, almost controversially, won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman over the likes of Erik Karlsson.  The Kings also had solid goaltending last year as both Jhonas Enroth and Jonathan Quick had better than league average years.  The Kings' best asset, however, was behind their bench, in head coach Darryl Sutter.  Since returning to coaching for the 2011-12 season, all Sutter has done is win.  In his six seasons in Los Angeles, the Kings have won two Stanley Cups, lost the Western Conference Final once, and failed to make the playoffs just one time.  In fact, during Sutter's 16 seasons as head coach, his teams have only missed the playoffs twice.  Sutter's coaching style has adapted well throughout his coaching career, having not finished outside the top three in Corsi For Percentage since becoming coach of the Kings.  He has established a system that values puck possession, and has had success despite not always have the most talented teams.  Last year's team had only one regular player with a Corsi For Percentage below 50%, and that was bottom-six forward, Jordan Nolan.  I'm not sure that is something that any other team can claim.

CAT.	Goals For	Goals Against	PP %	PK%	PDO	Corsi For	Corsi Against	Corsi For %	oZS%	dZS%
Stat	225	195	20.00	81.40	100.0	5107	4201	54.9	54.7	45.3
Kings’ Rank	14th	3rd	8th	15th	18th	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st

PDO= Even Strength Shooting Percentage + Even Strength Save Percentage

Corsi For= Shots + Blocks + Misses while in possession of puck

Crosi Against= Shots + Blocks + Misses while not in possession of puck

Corsi For %= Corsi For/(Corsi For+Corsi Against) -> Above 50% means that team controls play

oZS% = Offensive Zone Start Percentage

dZS% = Defensive Zone Start Percentage

• During the offseason, the Kings were forced to part ways with winger Milan Lucic, one of their 20 goalscorers last year.  They are in a similar position to the Blackhawks in that they don't have much cap space to sign free agents during offseasons, and those that they do sign, are usually cheap and to short-term deals.  Following this year, GM Dean Lombardi is going to need to figure out a way to extend young forwards Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, and Toffoli especially, is due a big raise from the $3.25 million he'll make this season.  This could be a struggle for the Kings, though, as they don't have much money coming off the books following this season, with Rob Scuderi's contract the only one expiring that's north of $3 million.  The Kings have to hope that Dustin Brown will be taken during the Expansion Draft next summer, whose $5.875 million cap hit would go a long way to helping the Kings sign players after this season.  The Kings also have Marian Gaborik's contract to pay through 2021 and, at 34, has struggled mightily to stay healthy in recent seasons.  For some reason, the Kings made a habit out of paying older players who helped them win Cups a lot of money and to lengthy deals.  They did this with Gaborik and they also did this with Mike Richards, who has left the Kings with a $1.32 million cap hit in dead money each year for the next four seasons. To me, this team has gotten old very quickly, with many of their core pieces approaching, or over, age 30.  I guess I didn't realize how old the team was even when they were winning their Cups, so there could be some down years approaching in the Kings' future.  This is because, in addition to their expensive contracts given to older players, they also have the worst-ranked farm system in the league and don't have much talent to be called upon when needed.  If they are able to get Las Vegas to take Brown in the Expansion Draft, the Kings' immediate future could brighten as they'd have the cap room available to be able to sign a few free agents to help bolster their core. For this season, I'm not sure how the Kings will do.  Jonathan Quick, who plays such a non-structured game in net, had a poor showing in the World Cup of Hockey and will need to be much better for the Kings this season.  They are also lucky to play in the weaker of the two Western Conference divisions, where there isn't much competition outside of the three California teams.  Ultimately, however, I simply trust in Darryl Sutter to get everything he can out of this roster and get them back into the playoffs.

Breakout Candidate

• C Michael Laata - Laata came to the Kings on a one-year contract after spending the duration of his short career with Washington.  He has had problems taking off in the NHL after putting up several solid seasons at the AHL level.  I'm not sure if I trust Laata to really take off, but the Kings don't have many other options.

Regression Candidate

• D Rob Scuderi - Scuderi will turn 38 in December and struggled badly last year, only putting up 10 points between the Penguins, Blackhawks, and Kings.  While having a veteran on the blueline is helpful most of the time, Scuderi has struggled with puck possession numbers throughout his career, only having a positive Corsi For Percentage three times since the stat was made available in 2008.  These kinds of players typically struggle with age, even though Scuderi is a smart hockey player.  I think this year will be his last in the NHL.

Bounceback Candidate

• LW Marian Gaborik - Gaborik had just 22 points for the Kings last year in an injury-shortened season.  I don't think that he is the elite goalscorer he was with the Wild and Rangers, but I think he is better than he showed last year.  While representing Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey, Gaborik scored two goals in four games, a scoring pace the Kings would absolutely take this season.  Better than just his statistics, Gaborik looked good once again, and was strong on the puck.  However, he suffered a foot injury during the tournament and will miss the first month or two of the regular season.

*All statistics and information come from: rosterresource.com, thehockeywriters.com, hockeydb.com, hockey-reference.com, and generalfanager.com