The playoffs have been obsolete for the Kings and another season without it may just happen again this season. There has been a huge youth movement going on in Los Angeles for the past couple of years and they have stock piled good solid youth. That youth is so good that they may just battle it out down the stretch for a playoff spot. With youth and a lot of it comes a lot of inexperience, and that is the Achilles heel for this team. If you take a look at the Kings’ roster they have some of the best young players in the game and the brightest future of any team in the NHL today. With that said this will probably be the Kings’ last non-playoff season for a while.
The Kings downfall of last season was that their young superstar forwards struggled to score on a consistent basis. Three players that were looked to the most were Dustin Brown, the teams captain, Alexander Frolov and Anze Kopitar. These three players did finish in the top three in team scoring at season’s end, but their numbers weren’t at all flattering.
Kopitar the team’s leading scorer with 66 points had a solid 27 goals, but he could do so much more in the way of scoring. Just look back to his 2008 season, when he scored 32 goals and had 77 points. The potential is there and the line mates are there as well, and Kopitar will get back on track and produce an eighty point season.
Frolov led the team in goals scored with 32 and was second in points. The goal production was there but his 59 points make it look weak. He too is another player that can pile on the points, and should be a lock for seventy points.
Brown, the player with probably the most potential and talent had just 53 points. In 2008 he scored 33 goals on a team that lacked scoring, and hitting thirty goals should be no problem for this player. For the Kings to succeed and finish with at least a winning record, they will need Brown to be an 85+ point producer.
Some veteran help also fills out this lineup with Michal Handzus and Ryan Smyth. The scoring ability for Handzus has gone down, but he can still play on the second power play unit, and can still score 15 goals. As for Smyth he was the perfect veteran player to bring in to this team full of youth. He will show them how to play the game with passion, what it takes to win and to play smart hockey. His point total of last year wasn’t bad either, 59.
With the Kings this season you can look forward to plenty of rookie and sophomore skaters that will hit the ice. They may include these highly touted prospects, Marc-Andre Cliché, Oscar Moller, and Brayden Schenn.
The youth doesn’t stop there on offense, they are loaded with highly touted players on defense that have made their first full season appearance or they are on the cusp of it. Leading off is future superstar defensemen Drew Doughty. He can play the game both ways, defensively and offensively. For a rookie defenseman, he played in 81 games and collected 27 points. Doughty will only continue to build both sides of his game.
There are only two thirty year olds on this Kings defense, Rob Scuderi, 30, and Sean O’Donnell, 37. These two will be locks to make the team with their experience, and especially O’Donnell who has played in the playoffs and will lend his voice to help out the youth on defense. The Kings are stacked in this position as well.
Thomas Hickey, Jack Johnson, and Colten Teubert are three players that will make a huge impact once ready to play in the NHL full time, and add that in with Doughty, the Kings should have the best defense within two years. Who knows maybe their time is now, just look at what Doughty did, he was 19 and made the Kings full time. It will be tough for these three to all crack the lineup come opening day, because the amount of players the Kings have in total in training camp.
Four spots are already taken on defense, with Drew Doughty, Robe Scuderi, Sean O’Donnell, and Matt Greene. For Greene, he was bounced from the Oilers and has the talent to be a good stay at home defensemen, and can make a name for himself with LA, as he is only 26.
Goaltending, their future has played a few games in the NHL and has impressed, but maybe a little bit more seasoning in the AHL will do Jonathon Bernier some good. Until his time comes, the Kings have entrusted, as it now looks, the number one job to Jonathon Quick. He had a pretty impressive season with 21 wins, a .914 save percentage and a 2.48 GAA. Again, this is another position where the Kings are stacked, and if Quick doesn’t play well, the Kings have four other goaltenders on the depth chart, with three being under the age of 22.
OVERALL--> THE KINGS HAVE SOME AMAZING YOUNG TALENT AND EXCELLENT PROSPECTS, WITH A BRIGHT GOALTENDING FUTURE. THEIR TIME MAY NOT BE NOW, BUT THEY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PROVE EVERYONE WRONG THIS SEASON.
POSITIVE--> THE CORE GROUP OF YOUTH THAT WILL BE PLAYING THIS SEASON. DUSTIN BROWN, ALEXANDER FROLOV, ANZE KOPITAR, DREW DOUGHTY, BRAYDEN SCHENN, AND THE LIST GOES ON.
NEGATIVE--> TOO MUCH YOUTH THROUGHOUT THE TEAM, AND NOT ENOUGH VETERAN HELP. THE DEFENSE MAY SUFFER BECAUSE OF THAT, THE OFFENSE MAY NOT SCORE CONSISTENTLY, AND THE GOALTENDING DEPARTMENT COULD SURE USE A GOOD VETERAN STARTER.
X-FACTOR--> ON THIS TEAM, THERE ARE TWO PLAYERS THAT FIT THIS BILLING, DUSTIN BROWN AND DREW DOUGHTY. THESE TWO ARE THE FUTURE OF THIS FRANCHISE, AND WILL NEED TO SHOW THAT THEY ACCEPT THAT ROLE.
SLEEPER PICK--> BRAYDEN SCHENN IS JUST 18, BUT HE PLAYS LIKE A MAN, AND WILL MAKE THAT JUMP TO THE NHL THIS SEASON, JUST LIKE HIS OLDER BROTHER LUKE DID LAST SEASON WITH TORONTO.
PREDICTION--> THE LOS ANGELES KINGS WILL IMPROVE ON THEIR 79 POINTS, 34 WINS AND 14TH PLACE FINISH IN THE WEST. THEY SHOULD WIN AT LEAST 36-38 GAMES AND FINISH BETWEEN 11TH-13TH PLACE IN THE WEST.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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