It was quite the summer for the Los Angeles Kings as they found themselves in the middle of the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes. In the end, GM Dean Lombardi found that the asking price for the Russian’s services were too high and let the New Jersey Devils be the front-runners to eventually sign him. Now we’ll find out if they missed out or saved themselves from a lot of headaches.
The Kings have slowly built themselves from a cellar-dweller to a team that is destined for greatness because of all their young talent. What they’ve done in the last 3-4 years is a perfect blueprint for franchises that are looking to rebuild from the ground up and are willing to use the draft as their means of replenishment.
It starts with their star forward up front, Anze Kopitar. He enjoyed his best season in the NHL by picking up 81 points in a full season. At times, he could single-handedly put the Kings on his back and win the game for them with his production. But what may have separated him from the rest was his attention to the defensive side as he was on the right side of the plus/minus category for the first time in his career.
If the Kings are to become a contender for the Western Conference title, they will need a couple of guys to step up and help out with scoring at close to the same pace that Kopitar did last season. The gap between Kopitar and the next highest scoring forward was 35 points as Dustin Brown picked up 56 points a year ago.
Defensively, the Kings are solid as well. Their Top 6 include a top pairing of Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson that could be in line to be a dominating pair for the next decade. Their second pairing is also solid with Rob Scuderi returning to play with his new defence partner, Willie Mitchell.
In goal, the Kings are set with a good 1-2 of young goaltenders as well. For now, Jonathan Quick is the starter after starting 72 games, winning 39 games and picking up a 2.54 GAA with a save percentage of 910. However, the plan for the Kings all along has been to make Jonathan Bernier their franchise goaltender and he’s done his time at the AHL level. If Quick falters, they may act fast to give Quick the hook and give Bernier the position that he’s coveted for so long.
Two players to watch out for in camp are Alexei Ponikarovsky and Willie Mitchell. Pony is coming off a 50 point season with the Leafs and Penguins. He’s always been counted on to be a breakout player, but every single year, he fails to live up to the expectations. Can he finally put it all together on the West Coast? Mitchell was considered damaged goods after having troubles with concussions last season. Much like Tim Connolly in Buffalo, Mitchell was given a second chance to prove that his concussions were in the past, he could stay healthy and that he could produce. Will he make his bosses in LA happy with taking the risk?