2009-2010 Los Angeles Kings Preview

The Kings have really struggled this decade as they’ve failed to qualify for the playoffs since the 2001-02 season. Even when Los Angeles was one of the league’s most visible teams in the Wayne Gretzky era, they still only won one division championship! Thus, the Kings have never really iced a consistently strong team. First and foremost, can they at least make a run at the playoffs?

Looking Back at 2008-2009

Last season was another bad year for the Kings. Los Angeles’ final record was 34-37-11, good enough for 79 points, which tied them with the Coyotes for last in the division. The Kings’ youthful squad did have some bright spots, especially with a strong group of young defenders who managed to allow the 11 th lowest number of goals in the league despite not having a clear-cut number one goalie. However, there’s no way to sugarcoat a season that saw the Kings picking in the top five in the NHL draft.

The Offseason

The Kings really didn’t do much this offseason. The biggest splash was undoubtedly acquiring defensive defenseman Rob Scuderi via free agency from the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins. Scuderi will be expected fill a leadership void and help mold the Kings’ young defenders. This was a pretty slick move because the Kings are a team that is long on talent but short on experience on the blue line.

The other big move was acquiring veteran winger Ryan Smyth from the Avalanche for defensemen Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincey in an attempt to boost their flagging offense. Smyth is similar to Scuderi in one regard: He’ll skate through a wall if it helps his team and he should be as valuable in the locker room as he is on the ice.

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2009-2010 Outlook

For the Kings to have any success this season, they have to score more goals. The Kings scored the 3 rd lowest total in the entire league last season! While acquiring Smyth will give them a boost, L.A. will need further improvement from young stars Alexander Frolov (32 goals, 59 points) and last year’s leading scorer Anze Kopitar (27 goal, 66 points). Along with underrated winger Dustin Brown and solid centers Michal Handzus and Jaret Stoll, there is enough talent in place to form two solid lines but the Kings have to hope for perfect health and a major step forward from their young guns to ice an average offense.

The defense is a complete different matter. Drew Doughty was really impressive as a rookie last season after the Kings took him with the 2 nd overall pick in the draft and the acquisition of Scuderi should allow his offensive talents to really shine. Along with Doughty, former top pick Jack Johnson is beginning to come into his own as a shutdown defender and Matt Greene was so strong in his own end that he was the only King to finish with a positive plus/minus rating last season. This is a young but extremely talented group of defensemen whose collective ceiling is stratospheric.

The Kings also have some young but exceptional talent in net. Jonathan Quick posted a winning record in 44 games last season and appears to have the 3 rd goalie spot on Team USA’s Olympic roster locked up. However, star prospect Jonathan Bernier, who is only 21, appears ready for the National Hockey League, leaving the Kings with a very intriguing battle in goal because Quick only established himself in the second half of last year. Either way, there should be some solid keeping in the City of Angels.

PREDICTION: The problem with the Kings is that they don’t have a truly gamebreaking player. Don’t get me wrong, there is some big time talent: Kopitar has 204 points in his 3 NHL seasons and is only 22 and Frolov has the potential to score 40 goals in a contract year. However, they’re both still unproven as go-to guys and the Kings don’t have much depth behind them. Here’s what makes Los Angeles really interesting this season: They’re about six or seven million dollars under the salary cap and have a team that should legitimately compete for a playoff berth on the strength of their defense and goaltending. Let’s say the Kings are in the thick of things in the spring: That cap space could equate a major acquisition (Shane Doan? Milan Hejduk?) in time for a playoff push.

The Kings are young everywhere but are loaded with talent. While I think that their future is as bright as almost any team in the NHL, I don’t think that they make a huge jump this season. Furthermore, I can’t brazenly assume that the Kings are going to actually make a major trade to pick up some much-needed scoring. Thus, their offense just isn’t strong enough to push the Kings into the playoffs and they’re my pick to finish 4 th in the Pacific Division after finishing in the basement in each of the past two seasons. But have faith Kings fans, the future is really bright in Southern California.

By Matt Baxendall
DFN Sports & ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer

Feel your team is underrated? Tell Matt Baxendell why at matt.baxendell@gmail.com

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