Kings’ Fall from Grace: What It Means for the Trade Deadline

After a five-to-nothing loss to the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks and a point-dry three-game road trip, is this a new season low for the Los Angeles Kings? While closing the gap in the Pacific Division from the Oilers and Knights, the Kings just jumped off a cliff. It's been a sad story for these Kings, who are watching home ice and a promising future slip away, with their play hemorrhaging from LA. Previously on the road earlier this season, the Kings had been embarrassed by the San Jose Sharks but then rattled off an 8-1-2 run. Is that going to be the case again for these Kings right now?

Do these guys need another John Travolta adrenaline shot aiming for a magic marker dot? This late into the season is a major red flag. Add into the mix the fact the team is scratching the highest-scoring defenseman (not a true rookie, but practically a rookie) in the form of Brandt Clarke while maintaining the ethos of its current schematic; it is baffling, to say the least.

Despite the favorable shot advantage against the Hawks, the Kings were physically outworked in a 'must-win' game. The Kings surged ahead to a 12-3 advantage before Chicago broke through. Of course it was an Alec Martinez shot. The Kings dissipated into thin air for the second period, and Chicago would only see two high danger chances against in the third period.

Speaking of Martinez, memoirs of legendary games have been played in that historical building, and none of the recent memories are uglier and more instructive than last night's spectacle. It's as if one of the best teams in the league just lost their mojo completely, as the Hawks looked, at times, elite during that game. The Kings effect?

Moves will have to be made, but does a road trip capped off with a sour performance in Chicago this late into the season trigger Rob Blake and co. to make a drastic move? My gut tells me this general manager already made his risky move last offseason with Pierre Luc Dubois. That's a scarring move, and it foretells me that touching the hot iron that burned you before will make you hesitant to touch it again. That being said, the last four games plus (results coming out of the break as well) have been alarming, to put it lightly.

Names aplenty have been thrown out there, ranging from Mikko Rantanen to Jake Evans. It's been there as if the Kings would actually go as drastic as Rantanen or even Mitch Marner but also lack the professional vision to consider an Evans or a Kyle Palmeri to be what gets them over the hump. The move, or moves rather, must fit into an offensively dry schematic that preaches defense first. That eliminates guys like Rantanen, but I would also have difficulty envisioning Rickard Rakell or Brock Boeser thriving with the Kings' defensive-first centers.

Back to Blake now. Trading Clarke would be a massive mistake and gamble for a franchise that is currently treading water in the worst type of 'middle ground': too good to be a lottery team, not good enough to be elite. With a promising once-emerging core of Gabriel Vilardi, Brock Faber, Alex Turcotte, Quinton Byfield, Rasmus Kupari, Arthur Kaliyev, Tobias Bjornfot, and Brandt Clarke decimated, how much longer can the franchise hold onto the belief that their defense-first style, led by two aging stars of a decade-plus cascade of a championship team, can get them to the promised land? But what other options does Blake have after a domino effect of less-than-savory choices?

The team will be just good enough for the playoffs, with a home-heavy schedule to gloss over their clear-cut flaws. Does a fourth first-round exit in a row jar anything? Does the pending doom of that jar the front office to make a Dubois-type move?

Say what you want about the Dubois move being the defining moment in Blake's tenure as general manager; in all reality, his decision to make a move this week, whether seismic or non-existent, will likely set the fate of this franchise for the next half-decade or more.