When LA Kings’ general manager Rob Blake signed winger Warren Foegele to a three-year deal last July, fans could be forgiven for asking, “who?” Among the many Oilers who have tormented the Kings the past three years in the playoffs, the name Foegele would probably come well after Bouchard, Draisaitl, Ekholm, Hyman, Kane, and McDavid.
However, when one looks at Foegele’s numbers so far this season and factor in his reasonable $3.5 AAV over three years, this may turn out to be one of Blake’s best signings. Sorry, Ilya Kovalchuk.
The 28-year-old forward leads the Kings with 18 goals and 33 points at even strength. With LA only sitting at 18th in the league at 2.84 GF/G, it's hard to imagine where they might be without the addition of Foegele.
With 20 games remaining in the regular season, Foegele is well on his way to surpassing his career best offensive production from last year. In that 2023-24 season with Edmonton, Foegele struck for 20 goals and 21 assists but is projected to hit 24 goals and 22 assists this year with the Kings. Could a 30-goal season even be in the cards one day?
Teammate Trevor Moore seemingly came out of nowhere to score 31 goals for LA at the ripe old age of 29, using a similar blend of speed and slick hands in tight around the net. Maybe LA is the place to be when it comes to late-blooming goal scorers.
On a squad with certified burners like Quinton Byfield and Adrian Kempe, Foegele can also hold his own in the wheels department. In fact, according to NHL Edge, Foegele registered a max speed burst of 23.19 miles per hour this season, ranking in the 92nd percentile. Tops on the Kings this year? Notorious speed demon Quinton Byfield at 23.40 (98th percentile).
Long story short, Warren Foegele has been an impactful player for LA in the first year of his contract. If he builds on his long postseason run with the Oilers last season, could he be the piece that LA needs to finally get past Edmonton and into the second round?
If LA were able to finally vanquish the firm of Draisaitl, McDavid and Associates with solid contributions from Foegele, the deal could end up being last summer’s best free agent signing.