When the Kings acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois in the summer of 2023, they envisioned a team presenting matchup nightmares for opponents. With Anze Kopitar, Philip Danault, and Dubois down the middle, the Kings arguably had the best center depth in the Western Conference—at least on paper. The theory was that while the Kopitar and Danault lines would be tasked with facing the top offensive lines in the league, the trio of Dubois, Kevin Fiala, and Arthur Kaliyev would take advantage of potential mismatches against other teams’ third and fourth lines. Again, it is a fine prognostication on paper. But If you want to make the hockey gods laugh [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/latest-news/los-angeles-kings-rob-blake-takes-responsibility-poor-fit-with-pierre-luc-dubois], tell them your plans, right? That new third line barely saw the ice. Kaliyev was suspended for the first two games of the season and fell out of favor with coaches soon after. Fiala and Dubois lasted about 13 games together before Fiala was elevated to replace the injured Viktor Arvidsson. That left the Kings with a third line of Carl Grundstrom, Alex Laferriere, and the struggling Dubois [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/news/los-angeles-kings-sixth-straight-pierre-luc-dubois-demoted-fourth-line]—certainly a far cry from the unit that was supposed to expose the vulnerabilities of top teams. Fast forward to today. The Kings, at least in this current stretch, have three offensive lines that are humming and are indeed creating matchup issues for opponents. Among NHL lines that have played at least 30 minutes together, the current top three lines the Kings have are all on the positive side of the expected goal share when they’re on the ice. Fiala-Danault-Laferriere - 76.4% (1st in the NHL) Turcotte-Kopitar-Kempe - 60.3% Jeannot-Byfield-Foegele - 55.6% This potential depth was fully displayed during the New York leg of the Kings' current road trip. The top three lines were all over the scoresheet in those three games. Kopitar: 3 assists Kempe: 2 goals, 2 assists Turcotte: 1 goal, 2 assists Danault: 1 goal, 2 assists Fiala: 1 goal Laferriere: 1 assist Byfield: 1 goal, 1 assist Foegele: 1 goal, 1 assist Jeannot: 1 assist Yes, the sample size is small, but with key cogs Fiala and Byfield starting to find their games, it's not a stretch to think that the Kings are on the brink of consistently getting high-impact performances from their top-9 forwards. If that does happen, GM Rob Blake’s vision for his forward group will take a giant step toward becoming a reality, even if the road that led him there was ridden with pot holes and speed bumps. KeithFriesKeysTHNWeek3
