30 teams in 30 days: Los Angeles Kings
Finished: 14th western conference
Leading scorers: Anze Kopitar 66, Alexander Frolov 59, Dustin Brown 53, Michal Handzus 42
Who did they add?: Rob Scuderi, Ryan Smyth
Who did they lose?: Tom Preissing, Kyle Quincey
Overview: The Los Angeles Kings once again finished as peasants, at the bottom of the west and haven’t made the playoffs since the 2001 season. However, the Kings’ woes have led to a multitude of high draft picks and plethora of phenomenal prospects, its hard to see the Kings not succeeding in future. The offense is led by Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar, two big, physical forwards who hit and score. The addition of Ryan Smyth should add some stability to the offense, while also acting as a good mentor for the up and coming Kings. The defense is an okay group, led by Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. Doughty had a great rookie season, if you overlook the -17 record, and will need to repeat the same success in his sophomore year. Add Colten Teubert and Thomas Hickey into the mix in a few years, and you have one amazing group of defensemen. Some stability between the pipes was finally found last year with the emergences of Jon Quick and Erik Ersberg, and with Jonathan Bernier developing in the system, the cage will soon be very well minded. Don’t be surprised if the Kings make a push early in the season, but fall off the pace and finish once again at the bottom of the conference. In a few years though, watch out.
Winners or losers?: The Kings are winners this offseason. They needed a veteran forward who has seen it all, to help guide their young core. They got this, in Smyth, let’s see if it pays off in the long run.
