On February 29th, the LA Kings decided to go with a new look, the 11-7 format. That night, the Kings faced a premiere foe in the Vancouver Canucks, and punished them on the road in a 5-1 victory.
They repeated their success against the New Jersey Devils with the same score the following game. The Kings are 5-2-1 with this on-and-off format, and while that success mark all but guarantees them into the playoffs, it is a format that showcases the irony of a team that started the season with unrivaled depth.
The Kings have scored at a higher rate during the 11-7 format: 25 goals in eight games, 3.12 per game. They have also posted excellent defensive metrics, with 14 goals allowed in eight games, 1.75 per game.
Their ratio of goals for to goals against is elite, and while their power play has slipped back into mediocre territory (3/18, 16%), their penalty kill has reigned supreme (24/27, 88.8%).
The Kings have their four centers to start the year (Blake Lizotte, Phillip Danault, Pierre Luc Dubois, Anze Kopitar) healthy and have been playing most of their minutes at the center position. Lizotte has seen some ice time at the wing next to Kopitar, as Jim Hiller is open about injecting different looks throughout the lineup. The centers have been excellent during the 11-7 stretch, and the stats reflect that.
Dubois has been on the positive side of play in these games, producing at a .5 ppg clip during the eight-game stretch (2-2-4 +2).
Danault has heated up significantly (4-2-6 +8), primarily due to the play of Kevin Fiala as a linemate.
Kopitar posted similar stats to Danault (3-4-7 +2). Lizotte is the only center not to record a goal during the same stretch (0-1-1 even). The Kings' centers are a combined +14 with 9 goals and 9 assists for 18 points.
Ice time is now a premium for the forwards in the lineup, and some specific wingers have benefitted more from the 11-7 format than others. Rising star Quinton Byfield didn't light up the stat sheet during the eight-game stretch (1-4-5 +2) but broke 20 minutes of TOI five times and broke 22 mins twice out of the five 20-minute games.
Fiala scorched his way through the first five games (4-4-8 +5), but following the Dallas beatdown, he has yet to find the scoresheet in three consecutive games. During the stretch, Fiala has broken the 20-minute threshold three times. He had broken the 20-minute mark only thrice in the last 15 games before the stretch.
Alex Turcotte broke the 15-minute mark in the overtime loss to Vancouver but also played just four minutes in the shutout against the Islanders.
He's played back-to-back games for under ten minutes vs Ottawa and then Dallas. He has seen ice time aplenty next to Kopitar and Byfield, and he has looked sharp but still needs to put together the confidence to conduct zone entries, moving the puck on his own into high-danger areas.
He has also looked good in his minimal ice time with Dubois, which is a pairing that may pay dividends if Hiller sticks with it.
The motor is excellent, the hockey IQ is there, and the compete level is to. His shot isn't high end, but rather his passing is. There's an impact player there if they invest the TOI in him, regardless of him never living up to his draft slot.
As critical as Byfield is for the franchise's future, Turcotte's career revival would also be a major boon for the team.
Since Jared Anderson-Dolan was waived and claimed, it looked like Arthur Kaliyev could be reinserted into the lineup. He's been inserted twice during the eight-game stretch, going pointless in those two games while whiffing only 5 minutes against Ottawa and 8 against Dallas. Post game, Hiller said Kaliyev was one of the better forwards but wasn't 100%.
Since that comment, Hiller has stated that his scratches have been a Coach's decision. Kaliyev doesn't see any more power play time and realistically limited overall time as he has only played in two contests this month.
For a team that plummeted in league scoring following their torrid start to the season, they certainly don't utilize a guy who has struggled to score this year but acts as one of the best natural scorers inside of the organization.
It is hard to see the organization sticking with Kaliyev after this season, and it would be best for Kaliyev's career to go somewhere to grow.
So, while the team has been playing well during the on-and-off 11-7 eight-game stretch, the question is if it's sustainable.
The Kings will come home from their road trip and hopefully see Viktor Arvidsson's return. That'll shake up the lineup, but Turcotte can be sent down, and they can continue to roll the 11-7 with Arvidsson if Hiller wants to continue their trend of play.
The defense has diluted Drew Doughty's minutes, who arguably could be the team's MVP this season.
Trent Yawney can rotate his seven defenders with vigor but come playoffs; it's hard to see either Andreas Englund or Jacob Moverare crack the 10-12 minute mark to win games consistently or rather win a playoff series.
The Kings were a powerhouse to start the year based on their depth. However, it is apparent that if they stick with the 11-7 format upon Arvidsson's return, they cannot be viewed as a realistic contender.
Multiple outlets see the Kings as lacking game-breaking star talent. The team has many impact players who have suitable resumes and are outstanding but are genuinely not star talent in this league.
They rely on a mixed rotation of very good players to get them down the stretch and roll the dice as they look to be underdogs in all variables of playoff possibilities. The 11-7 has proven that very good wingers rotate around the lineup to get the juices going and centers that succeed in matchups with multiple line variations within the same game.
The format and the team's success will depend on Arvidsson's return. The 11-7 is here to stay but should not be seen as a strength but rather a crutch to keep them as competitive as possible.