2023–24 NHL team preview: Los Angeles Kings

LAST SEASON

As their rebuild shifts into contender mode under GM Rob Blake, the Kings have become a consistent threat in the Pacific Division in recent years, led by a slew of new offseason additions and a resurgence from captain Anze Kopitar. However, they have reached a point where they have accomplished making the Stanley Cup playoffs but need help to rid themselves of the first-round curse.

The Kings finished with a 47-21-14 record and 104 points, ranking third in the Pacific Division and 10th league-wide. Kopitar led the Kings, as he has done for the past six seasons, with 28 goals and 46 assists for 74 points in 82 games.

At the trade deadline, the Kings made it clear they wanted to go deep in their playoff run and executed trades that brought in goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Even with the changes, the Kings, for a second consecutive season, were bounced out of the first round of the playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers. There is no shame in losing to a team with two of the world’s three best players on their top line. But with Kopitar’s prime in the rearview mirror, the Kings are entering a clear win-now window. Coach Todd McLellan will need to push the core in the right direction.

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions

Pierre-Luc Dubois, C
Kevin Connauton, D
Cam Talbot, G
Trevor Lewis, C
Andreas Englund, D
David Rittich, G
Mikhail Maltsev, LW
Joe Hicketts, D

Departures

Gabe Vilardi, LW (Wpg)
Sean Walker, D (Phi)
Cal Petersen, G (Phi)
Alex Iaffalo, LW (Wpg)
Sean Durzi, D (Ari)
Rasmus Kupari (Wpg)
Joonas Korpisalo (Ott)
Alexander Edler, D (UFA)
Lias Andersson (Mtl)
Zack MacEwen (Ott)
Nate Schnarr (CBJ)

OFFENSE

It has been six straight seasons in Los Angeles where Kopitar has been the leading scorer, which has remained the same since 2016-17 when Jeff Carter plotted 66 points. Relying solely on one player never gets the job done. This summer, Kings general manager Rob Blake traded a trio package of Alex Iaffalo, Rasmus Kupari and Gabe Vilardi to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois signed an eight-year, $68M extension with the Kings the day of the trade and will be an impact player and a guy McLellan can rely on. While the move could be a desperate attempt to push the Kings over that first-round speed bump, it also adds insurance for the future. Over the last two years, Dubois has played in 154 games, scoring 55 goals and adding 68 assists.

Phillip Danault set a career-high 54 points last season, and Swedish forward Adrian Kempe notched a career-high 41 goals. The Kings also got point production out of Kevin Fiala, who, in his first season with the Kings after coming over from Minnesota, tallied 72 points. Meanwhile, Viktor Arvidsson registered 26 goals and 59 points, the highest since 2017-18. The Kings had five 20-goal scorers, which included Kempe, Kopitar, Arvidsson, Fiala and Vilardi. 2020 No. 2 pick Quinton Byfield saw the ice last season; he tallied 22 points in 53 games and added four points in six Stanley Cup playoff contests while getting a look alongside Kopitar and Kempe on the first line.

While you can’t rely on just a few players, the Kings should not have trouble finding the back of the net in 2023-24. Kempe has become a prolific goal scorer as of late and could be on the 50 watch for this season. Dubois tallied 27 goals and 63 points last season and will likely assume the second-line center role alongside Fiala and Arthur Kaliyev. While some minor construction still needs to be hammered out, Dubois should add a flair of offense to the Kings’ top lines.

The bottom six is rounded out with the addition of free agent Trevor Lewis, who returns to L.A. after winning two cups with the club in 2012 and 2014. He will join the likes of Danault, Trevor Moore, Carl Grundstrom, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Blake Lizotte.

DEFENSE

The Kings have relied heavily on Drew Doughty on their back end for years and will continue to do so. There will be changes this season to their defense corps, given that the Kings traded Sean Walker to Philadelphia and Sean Durzi was traded to Arizona. This opens room for Brandt Clarke and other young defenders, such as free agent signing Joe Hicketts or prospect Tobias Bjornfot, to slot in on the third pairing. Bjornfot should see an increased role; he appeared in 10 games with the Kings in 2022-23, tallying one assist, but played in 70 with them in 2021-22.

The top pairing will consist of Doughty and Mikey Anderson. Anderson notched 20 points in 77 games last season. Emerging as one of the better shutdown blueliners in the league, he racked up 129 blocked shots, which ranked him third on the Kings roster behind Durzi with 142 and Matt Roy with 153. Anderson led all Kings players with 162 hits, while Roy picked up 119 and Doughty racked up 115.

The Kings will also look to free agent signee Andreas Englund, who inked a two-year, $2M deal in the summer. Englund spent the 2022-23 campaign with Colorado and Chicago, registering four points and 133 hits. With Gavrikov signing a two-year $11.75M extension, it points to the Kings’ ability to retain a defenseman. Gavrikov will have an increased role as the minute muncher was precisely what the Kings needed when they acquired him.

The Kings ranked in the middle of the pack at preventing goals last season, but team defense wasn’t the true culprit. They allowed the fourth-fewest shots per game in the league. Goaltending was what held them back. More on that below.

GOALTENDING

During the trade-deadline frenzy, the Kings parted ways with longtime King and two-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick – who went on to win a third Stanley Cup with Vegas. Now, the Kings look towards a new tandem. Pheonix Copley will return between the pipes; the North Pole, Alaska product put together a stellar run, which saw him compile a 24-6-3 record along with a 2.64 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. 

With the departures of Cal Petersen, who is off to Philadelphia, and Korpisalo, who had a shaky performance during playoffs, GM Blake went shopping and inked voyager Cam Talbot to a one-year deal. Talbot has played for the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers (Todd McLellan was the coach there), Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators. Talbot appeared in 36 games with the Senators last season, posting a 2.93 GAA and .898 SV%.

The duo is not necessarily the most potent tandem between the pipes compared to what other teams offer. Still, anything is possible with Copley riding a high from last season and a seasoned veteran like Talbot looking over. But the question remains: will Blake pull the trigger on an elite goalie this season?

COACHING

McLellan returns to sunny Los Angeles for a fifth season, where he has helped the club make the playoffs the last two seasons after a three-year hiatus. The goal, of course, is to return the club to the early 2010s form, when they were Kings of the league, winning two Cups in three years. 

But with two consecutive first-round exits, is McLellan the guy to get the job done? Well, right now, it seems he is. Since taking over, he has helped the Kings reach their highest win total (47) since 2015-16 and guided them to back-to-back 40-plus win seasons. Those 47 wins last season helped the Kings achieve their highest point total since 1974-75 when they had 105 points. McLellan has appeared behind the Kings bench for 290 games, compiling a 141-115-34 record.

ROOKIES

The Kings’ prospect pool is in a dire situation. They had a great young prospect in Vilardi, who tallied 23 goals in 2022-23; however, he is off to Winnipeg now, and Byfield scored just three goals and has yet to realize the immense promise of his high draft slot. Alex Turcotte has still been unable to find his groove; he went pointless in his four appearances with the Kings last season. Turcotte notched 17 points in 32 AHL games and dealt with injuries. Naturally, this is far from the future the Kings had in mind when they selected him fifth overall. This all makes the rookie scenario in L.A. spread thin.

It comes down to Brandt Clarke, and the departure of Durzi and Walker opens up even more for Clarke to slot in and establish himself as a top-four NHL defenseman. Clarke appeared in nine games last season with the Kings, where he tallied two assists. The Kings returned Clarke to the Barrie Colts of the OHL, where he massacred the league and notched 61 points in 31 games. It truly is only a matter of time before Clarke is maneuvering around like a highlight-reel machine on the ice. Following his OHL dominance, he appeared in five games with the Ontario Reign of the AHL to cap off the season. 

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Can the Kings rely on their goaltending? It really is going to be a tricky situation between the pipes. Coach McLellan has a lot of confidence in Copley, and if Copley can replicate the season he had last year, the Kings could find themselves in ‘Adin Hill territory’ with a hot goalie taking the league by storm. But this is all a big gamble; Talbot is 36 years old and struggled last season down the stretch, which soiled the Senators’ playoff chances. However, he can still provide useful veteran experience. It will be a crucial first couple of months for the tandem to prove themselves to coach McLellan and GM Blake. Otherwise, the Kings will have to procure another top goalie.

2. Will Quinton Byfield be able to establish himself as a bonafide top-six forward? The 2020 No. 2 overall pick has struggled to establish a role for himself, but it seems evident that he will break out of his shell soon enough. Byfield is overcoming an ankle injury that he suffered as a 19-year-old rookie, which has been a major contributing factor to his play. The Newmarket, Ontario product had 22 points in 53 games last season, an improvement from the 10 points in 40 games he had in 2021-22. With an increased role this season, Byfield should see his numbers increase to career highs all around.

3. Does the addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois extend the Kings’ window? When GM Blake pulled the trigger on this massive deal, it really meant that the Kings were looking at Dubois as their ‘savior’ for the coming years. The Kings have heavily relied on Kopitar and Doughty, but adding Dubois alleviates some of that pressure. With Kopitar and Doughty both extended until at least 2025-26, adding a go-to center widens the Kings’ window to capture another Stanley Cup.

PREDICTION

The Kings are in the wild, wild West and with teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken all on the prowl to make the playoffs, it will be a battle to clinch. With lots of competition in the Pacific Division, the Kings must lock it down to cruise past the Kraken and the resurgent Calgary Flames. Those two teams will be the only real competition in the way for the Kings in their quest to make the playoffs. Kings fans will have to wait patiently for a chance of first-round redemption. But a playoff berth at the very least feels like a foregone conclusion.