After starting the season well, the Los Angeles Kings have been one of the worst teams in hockey during the month of January.
They've won just two games in the month, with a possibility to make it three on Wednesday, and look nothing like the team that started the season.
They're run of just two wins in 16 games, dating back to Dec. 28, has seen them plummet down the standings, now barely hanging onto a wild card spot.
For a team with Stanley Cup ambitions, this is simply not good enough.
It has also led to several fans to call for Todd McLellan's firing.
Few coaches would survive a run like this on a team with the Kings' ambitions, but the Kings have remained loyal to McLellan so far.
While this is a frustrating thing for fans to watch, it isn't without logic.
Fans see the Edmonton Oilers' fantastic run after firing Jay Woodcroft and envision their team doing the same.
That might happen, but you might also be the Ottawa Senators, who saw minimal improvements after firing D.J. Smith.
Firing a coach isn't an immediate fix for a team's problems.
The numbers also suggest that the Kings are underperforming right now on an individual level, not because of system flaws.
Their finishing and goaltending look nothing like they did to start the season, and on some level, it's hard to blame McLellan for those issues.
He can't go out and finish chances or make saves for the team, that's on the players.
A drastic system change mid-season isn't always a great idea either.
Not only that, it's unlikely that the organization moves in a drastically different direction if they do make a coaching change.
A lot of McLellan's ideas and philosophies are shared by management, meaning a new coach wouldn't be a huge change.
The lack of a good internal option to replace McLellan also makes things difficult.
Marco Sturm hasn't impressed in Ontario and I'm not convinced Jim Hiller or Trent Yawney are the right option as head coaches.
If the Kings still believe in the structure that's been built with McLellan, and they do, I can see why they're reluctant to fire him.
A Change Needs to be Made:
Even having said all of that, and understanding the reasoning behind not firing McLellan, it's still time to move on.
Yes, this team's problems don't fall solely on McLellan's shoulders and a coaching change might not fix things.
However, the Kings cannot sit back and do nothing as their playoff hopes continue to slip away.
Waiting until the All-Star break to make a decision, especially if the team loses on Wednesday, makes sense, but that decision has to be made.
A team with Stanley Cup ambitions can't accept a run of just two wins in 17 games, regardless of what the underlying numbers say.
The Kings can't make a trade and have limited options in Ontario for reinforcements, making McLellan the only change available.
Maybe a coaching change doesn't fix things, but the Kings need to at least try.