After three-straight first round exits at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers, the Los Angeles Kings underwent a bit of a face-lift this summer.
After identifying the lack of a 'desire to win' alongside new head coach Jim Hiller, Rob Blake had a clear plan for the Kings this summer.
He wanted to bring in hard-working, big, physical players to bolster LA's roster.
Whether you like the individual acquisitions or not, it's hard to argue the Kings didn't lack some size and nastiness in their lineup.
They got pushed around three years in a row by the Oilers, and the addition of Andreas Englund last summer was far from enough. Especially given Englund's limited game outside of physicality.
The Kings' most noticeable losses this summer were Pierre-Luc Dubois, Matt Roy, Viktor Arvidsson and Blake Lizotte.
Carl Grundstrom was another loss, but wasn't an every night player like the other four mentioned.
In Arvidsson and Lizotte, LA had extremely hard-working players, but undersized ones who struggled at time with the physicality of the playoffs.
Roy was one of LA's most physical defensemen and losing him hurt.
In Dubois they had a big forward, but one who lacked consistent enough effort.
They replaced these players with external and internal options.
Tanner Jeannot and Kyle Burroughs were acquired via trade and Warren Foegele and Joel Edmundson were acquired via free agency.
Burroughs is the smallest of this group at 6-foot even, but was one of the most physically defensemen in the league last season.
The three other additions are all 6-foot-2 and above and are physically dominant players, particularly Edmundson and Jeannot.
Both players are likely overpaid, particularly Edmundson, but they bring that 'desire to win" element in spades.
The Kings replaced two small forwards with two, big, physical forwards who can punish the opposition on the forecheck.
While Roy to Edmundson is a big downgrade, Edmundson does bring an even greater element of physicality.
Adding players like Jeannot and Edmundson, who are willing to drop the gloves, also makes LA less reliant on Englund.
The internal options expected to make the team up front, Alex Turcotte and Akil Thomas, while not the biggest, are also extremely hard-working players.
I'm not sure if the Kings will be a better team next season, and I think there's an argument they won't be.
However, they will undoubtedly be more physical and more punishing to play against.
They won't be pushed around in the postseason and won't lack any 'desire to win.'
They might have overpaid for it, but it's an element the Kings need and Blake addressed that need.