On the first day of Los Angeles Kings training camp, Drew Doughty described how losing to the Edmonton Oilers for a third consecutive year in the playoffs sat with him.
“Everyone wants to dwell on the fact that we lost in the first round again to the same team, but they made the Stanley Cup Final,” Doughty said. “Really, we lost to the second-place team in the league. It’s not the end of the world. We don’t have to fully blow up anything or anything like that.
“Let’s just put all that in the past. This year is a new year. We got a different team. Different mentality. Different system. It’s a whole new ballgame.”
Positive spins can be found anywhere. Especially before a new season.
The Kings are the same in several ways, but they’re also different. They’ve ventured from their 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap to having a more physical element in their game and have brought in players to fit that objective.
That added edge was revealed in last week’s initial camp scrimmages. Is that how a breakthrough will be made? We’ll see as the weeks and months go on, but the combinations and the depth chart have been largely formed. Let’s take a look.
Center
This is Anze Kopitar’s 19th season. At 37, Kopitar is still one of the NHL’s top defensive centers and is coming off his ninth 70-point season. He’s starting a two-year contract extension that could take him to the end of his career. His ice time could be something to watch, as it fell under a 20-minute average last season for the first time in nine years.
Quinton Byfield steps into a big position as a center on a second scoring line. The Kings have always viewed him as a center, and Byfield wants to be there. This move to drive his own line is expected to have some permanence. “There’s no trial period here,” coach Jim Hiller said. “We’re not testing him out. Q is a centerman and he’s going to be a good one for a long time.”
If Byfield secures the 2C role, Phillip Danault drops to the third line. That can be good for the Kings even if’s not necessarily good for him, since his offensive opportunities could diminish some. But it’s still a strong bet that Danault will play some of the most important minutes, especially in late-game situations when the Kings are protecting leads.
Alex Turcotte served as the Kings’ No. 1 center in Monday’s preseason opener at Utah. Turcotte obviously won’t be that on this club, but the Kings also view him as a center, and the 23-year-old now looks like the heir apparent to Blake Lizotte, who’s now in Pittsburgh. Some of the promotions to the big club can lift Francesco Pinelli into a much larger role with the AHL’s Ontario Reign.
Left wing
Make no mistake, Kevin Fiala is the Kings’ top left wing. Fiala was second in scoring on a balanced Kings club last season and has averaged nearly a point per game over his two seasons in Los Angeles. But he isn’t on the top line. That’s because the initial pairing with him and Kopitar as his center had the Kings giving up more chances than they created. They do play together on the top power-play unit.
That spot alongside Kopitar is open with Byfield now in the middle. Alex Laferriere is getting the first crack at sticking there. While the 22-year-old has a good shot and will need to produce, the key to him staying with Kopitar and Adrian Kempe is being defensively responsible and being willing to do the grunt work that Byfield did. Laferriere being a right-hand shot will also take adjusting to.
The unsung Trevor Moore led L.A. with 31 goals last season. Just two came on the power play, which showed Moore’s prowess in five-on-five play while also being a threat to score short-handed. It also helped that his 244 shots on goal finished only two behind shot leader Kempe and that his 12.7 shooting percentage was a career-best. It might be wise to expect some regression.
After a promising call-up at the end of last season, Akil Thomas has his best chance at winning a spot. Thomas is a natural center, so versatility in playing all three forward positions will help the 24-year-old in his rookie season.
Arthur Kaliyev isn’t listed because of the injury that the winger suffered on the second day of camp. It’s a big blow to Kaliyev, who looked at this preseason as a fresh start after last season ended with him being a regular healthy scratch. As of now, the 23-year-old is out indefinitely.
Right wing
Kempe was voted by the media as the Kings’ top player in 2023-24, and it’d be hard to argue against that. Kempe’s goal total fell from 41 goals to 28 but his point total rose from 67 to 75 despite missing five games. At age 28, the Swede led L.A. in scoring for the first time and has never been better as an all-around player. And he wants to be better.
“I don’t think my chances were as good as the year before, so that’s something that I want to take a step back and look at what I can do different this year,” he said. “Overall, I think I was pretty happy with my season contributing both offensively and defensively. Penalty kill. All that kind of stuff. There’s some things I still need to improve to become better.”
After Kempe, the Kings will lean on newcomers who bring rugged play that could create space for their linemates. Warren Foegele starts out in a second-line role with Fiala and Byfield. When moved up and down the forward lineups in Carolina and Edmonton, Foegele has shown that his persistent straight-ahead play can complement a team’s top players.
Jeannot comes back to the Western Conference after a stay with Tampa Bay that didn’t measure up to what he or the Lightning expected. The 27-year-old can play a mean game, and it looks like he’ll start out with Danault and Moore on a high-pressure forechecking line that has a defensive slant. He had 24 goals as a rookie with Nashville but hasn’t come close since.
The Kings value Trevor Lewis, who returned to the club and played all 82 games after three years away. The 37-year-old is just 26 games away from 1,000. Some would like a more offensive presence on the fourth line, but Lewis did contribute to a penalty kill that was vastly improved — until the Edmonton series. Samuel Fagemo is now an AHL sharpshooter who led the Reign with 43 goals last season, but he comes with questions of his defensive play and getting off that shot in more limited space.
Left defense
It isn’t easy to gain Drew Doughty’s trust as a partner, but when you do, you’re in a great position to play critical minutes. Jake Muzzin was once that trusted other half on the top pair. Mikey Anderson is now. Anderson enters the second year of the eight-year extension that he signed during the 2022-23 season.
Vladislav Gavrikov wasn’t as effective as he was in the 2023 playoff push following his arrival from Columbus. It is an important year for Gavrikov, as he’s entering another contract year after signing a two-year extension following his successful incorporation as a key second-pair piece. Something to remember about Gavrikov’s contract, in case he were to become a trade chip, is that it has a full no-movement clause.
The Kings felt they needed an upgrade from Andreas Englund on the third pair, and their investment in Joel Edmundson wasn’t cheap: four years with a $3.85 million cap hit. The signing of Edmundson drew a lot of criticism but Los Angeles, which clearly desired him in outbidding other suitors, believes the 31-year-old will be a physical hard-checking nuisance.
Englund heads to a depth role after playing in all 82 games last season. Jacob Moverare has been a capable injury fill-in across three seasons. Moverare doesn’t play with the edge that Edmundson and Englund bring but he’s been a strong AHL performer who might get more NHL chances with a club that has a clearer path on defense.
Right defense
Doughty remains prominent for the Kings, which is why they had to be concerned to see him leave Wednesday’s preseason game at Vegas with a lower-body injury. Hiller did not give an update on Doughty’s status after the game. Doughty, who turns 35 in December, has had consecutive 50-point seasons. His 15 goals last year were one off his career-high and while his days as a leading Norris Trophy candidate are likely behind him, he earned several top-five votes last season and seems to thumb his nose at those who predict his demise as a No. 1.
With Matt Roy gone to Washington and cashing in on free agency, Jordan Spence appears to get the first shot at filling that sizable hole. Spence is getting the bump in role after solidifying himself with the Kings for good last season. He had 24 points in 71 games. The question with the 23-year-old will be whether he can defend consistently with an anticipated spike in ice time.
Brandt Clarke is being groomed to play alongside Edmundson. The two have been together in practices and played Monday at Utah. “He probably had as good of a summer as you can have as a young player in the position that he was in,” Hiller said of Clarke. “Some of the things he did, the commitment he made to certain things that were laid out for him. And then, some of the physical gains he made, he gave himself the best chance I can tell you that. Now let’s see. Let’s see.”
Kyle Burroughs and Caleb Jones have over 400 NHL games between them. How many games they play with the Kings figures to depend on injuries that pop up, but the Kings are happy about their depth.
That’s probably the strength of the organization right now,” Hiller said. “Since I’ve been in the league, that’s as deep of a d-corps as I’ve seen. You talk about competition, that’s good. And there will be players that end up out of that group in Ontario. It just has to be. But that’s as deep of a d-corps with experience and young potential as I’ve seen. That’s what you want out of an organization for sure.”
Goaltenders
The Kings had to take back Darcy Kuemper’s contract to be able to deal Pierre-Luc Dubois without retaining any of the remaining $59 million owed to him. But Kuemper still has a $5.25 million cap hit, and they need him to play closer to that after getting some solid work from Cam Talbot for far less. Kuemper must be better than last year in Washington, where he struggled and lost the net to Charlie Lindgren.
David Rittich is back for another season after re-signing for $1 million. Rittich hasn’t had a starter’s workload since 2019-20 with Calgary but he was outstanding in a backup role last year. The 32-year-old provided the Kings some necessary wins when Talbot started to falter at midseason. Can he do the same if Kuemper runs into some rough stretches?
Erik Portillo had an excellent season as a first-year pro. As Rittich was called up when Pheonix Copley went down with a torn ACL, Portillo took a big step toward becoming their “goalie of the future” as he ranked in the AHL’s top 10 in wins (24) and save percentage (.918). His 2.50 goals-against average also sat just outside the top 10. The Kings brought back Copley, who is healthy again and can provide veteran depth.
Carter George figures to head back to the Ontario Hockey League’s Owen Sound Attack. The Kings have high hopes for the 18-year-old after taking him in the second round of this year’s draft. George looked very sharp in the Rookie Faceoff and got his first NHL experience Monday. The goalie pipeline is flowing again with young talent as Hampton Slukynsky starts his freshman year at Western Michigan after winning a USHL title.
(Photo of Joel Edmundson: Jamie Sabau / Getty Images)
