EL SEGUNDO, CA — It has been quite a while since hockey has been at such a turning point in Los Angeles. Dean Lombardi ushered in an era of championship hockey for the expansion draft West Coast pioneering club that started their roots out in the old Forum. Not Roman, but certainly times new, the team rattled off two championship runs in three seasons before justifying floundering picks, assets, and personnel in a 'championship defense-window' sort of a rearguard action that melted away in the Spring of 2016.
That era turned over to Rob Blake, a franchise icon, who, with another icon in Luc Robitaille, was given practical, tactical full control for the fate of a franchise that looked to be pivoting to regain some of its former championship traction. Just you halt right there why don't you. Eight seasons, four of which were spent largely collecting assets, have boiled down to the results of four consecutive first-round departures to the same team that's in a desperate mode to cash in with two generational talents.
Change had to occur. Blake's mutual agreement to depart the franchise was a much-needed jolt for a franchise that openly had its two highest executive members agree that they were "right there" just a season ago, as the Oilers dispatched them in just five games in 2023-24.
Well, this season, they were actually just "right there" with a commanding 2-0 series lead and a lead going into the third periods of games three and four on the road. The Oilers certainly came alive following Evander Kane's return as well as their return home, but the Kings have only themselves to blame. Blake was the scapegoat, but also within itself, the harsh reality of an exemplary schematic built by Blake and his cabinet. An excellent team, a 105-point team. Just not good enough, though.
It leaves the Kings in search of a General Manager. It leaves the Kings in a period of uncertainty as they reflect on the vast number of crossroads that have outpaced just one 'fork in the road.'
In my eyes, the General Manager, whether Mike Futa, Marc Bergevin, or any suitor Robitaille will be talking to, will have to deal with the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
The Good?
Young talent has entered the 'established' phase. Quinton Byfield is on the cusp of being the 1C they envisioned him to be when they drafted him second overall in 2020. Brandt Clarke played more minutes than his more experienced counterpart, Jordan Spence, in the playoffs. His ceiling is not easily seen, while his floor looks like a clear-cut top four piece for the future. Both of these players will be well below their 'prime years' entering next season but should be their go-to's for new management.
Whether you'd like to look at it symbolically or not, both players are the ones who got the Kings' first two goals in their game six elimination game off individual efforts-type plays.
There is also the two Alexes to consider. Alex Laferriere, who will see a significant raise if he stays with the Kings, became a significant top-nine producer while playing next to Byfield and Kevin Fiala. Alex Turcotte, who has more or less fallen from the grace of his drafting position, started to show some promising signs of production once given the opportunity in December to play on the top line. In over 300 minutes of playing time, Turcotte and the top line thrived, being positive in their underlying analytics and outscoring the opposition 16-10, and 6-1 in high danger goals (via NST). Turcotte looked to be following the development curve of Byfield, but since the line couldn't maintain its success, the team was focused on finding a top-six winger to play with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.
Regardless, there is still his youth (24 years old), but the next season has to be a do-or-die season for him in LA. Byfield and Turcotte can still easily fit a mold of an effective 1-2C down the middle, but is that championship worthy?
The Bad?
First and foremost, to kick this off, is the fact that two of the highest-paid players, leading men in their positional categories on the roster, are now both clawing away towards 40 years old. Kopitar will be 38, and Drew Doughty will be 36 next season.
Doughty will be making $11 million for two more seasons, and the hope is that his injury playing form is not remotely to what he is capable of, because if recent playoff Doughty is what the Kings have to play with moving forward, there is clear-cut peril for their backend. The club has decided to stick with Jim Hiller as the head coach, and he routinely went to Doughty in crunch time in their six game collapse this postseason.
There is less apprehension with Kopitar despite him being the elder statesman of the two. He's already off his mega deal and making four million less than Doughty and has the readiest level replacement in Byfield. Clarke is much less ready-level replacement despite a positive first half showing of the season in his non-redshirt first full season with Doughty sidelined to injury.
The Ugly?
Outside of their Stanley Cup Holdover elder statesmen, the Kings have a gauntlet of aging players who will creep closer towards the end of their primes. Phillip Danault will be 33 next season. Trevor Moore will be 31. Warren Foegele will be 30. Joel Edmundson will be 32, and Darcy Kuemper will be 36. Adding that to the list with Kopitar and Doughty, the eyebrows should be raised.
The Kings, as noted, have positioned themselves well with Byfield, and to an extent, Clarke and Spence. Is the next level of replacement ready players Turcotte, Samuel Helenius, or Akil Thomas (25 yrs old)?
Even more troubling is that defensively, the next ready level replacement is Jacob Moverare, who is arguably already in his 'prime' at 26 years old and has yet to be a regular in an NHL lineup during his career.
The final layer for this new GM could land in any of these three categories of the good, the bad and the ugly. Andrei Kuzmenko and Vladislav Gavrikov are pending free agents. That could be good, bad, or really ugly for these Kings. With a projected cap space shy of 24 million, the Kings could essentially add some definitive pieces in their 'win-now' mode, but at what cost will that be, at the cost of walking away from giving Gavrikov a 9+ million-dollar contract or committing to a contract with a soon to be 30-year-old in Kuzmenko?
Some big names could hit free agency this offseason, and a new GM will have to either be bold or backtrack in what will be a season decided in its success, dependent on at least four playoff wins.