Achieving a strong position near the top five league standings without their number one defenseman is an impressive accomplishment for these Los Angeles Kings. Mikey Anderson and Vladislav Gavrikov have developed a formidable shutdown pairing, even with one player playing his offside. Future number one defenseman Brandt Clarke has improved his defensive play after a challenging start to the season while still contributing offensively. He has paired well with Joel Edmundson, who has exceeded expectations [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/latest-news/kings-defense-faces-questions-amid-blueline-health-issues] with his performance relative to his contract. Then there's Jordan Spence, who has recently teamed up with Jacob Moverare. Although Spence struggled at the beginning of the year, his play has started to satisfy the eye test without overloading the stat sheet. Moverare has been instrumental in Spence's uptrend, even if the Kings have opted for an 11-7 format that rotates Kyle Burroughs and has kept Andreas Englund as an option. Earlier in the season, Clarke was believed to be most affected by Doughty's return. However, that assumption has proven to be incorrect. Clarke will be affected, as his minutes on the top power play should return to Doughty. He will likely take over the second unit, which, unsurprisingly, has been less effective than the first. This shift will undoubtedly impact Clarke's overall production. Despite the return and shakeup, Clarke should retain his pairing with Edmundson. They have formed an anchor pairing, one of only 25 pairings in the league to log over 400 minutes together. The Kings feature two such pairings, and the higher tier one will need to be adjusted for Doughty's return, directly affecting Spence's role. The other long-lasting pairing is Gavrikov and Anderson, who have excelled despite their new partnership and Gavrikov playing on his offside. Doughty is almost certainly rejoining Anderson, necessitating that Gavrikov and Spence establish a new second pairing. Spence has already spent some time with Gavrikov. In the season's early weeks, he was paired with Anderson and Gavrikov but struggled significantly alongside Anderson against top competition. In 94:36 of ice time together, their Corsi was 42.13%, and Fenwick was 44.63%. They were outshot 45-38 and outscored 5-2 but allowed more high-danger chances, giving up 18 while attempting 15. They may have a promising pairing with Gavrikov in a smaller sample size. In 38:34 together, their Corsi was 64.62%, and their Fenwick was 67.92%. They outshot opponents 30-9, outscored them 3-1, and had a superior high-danger chance ratio of 7-4, scoring one high-danger goal without allowing any. Ranking them among 418 pairings with 30+ minutes together on Monepuck.com, they sit 3rd in Expected Goals Percentage (78.8%) and sixth lowest in Expected Goals Against (0.7). While Spence is trending upward and Gavrikov is likely playing the best hockey of his career, could this pairing serve as a foundational second pairing that propels the team deep into the playoffs? The statistics suggest that while they may not quite reach the defensive level of Matt Roy and Gavrikov [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/latest-news/kings-defense-has-thrived-despite-matt-roys-departure], this new pairing could be equally effective with the potential for more offensive contributions. The strong performance in the small sample size has been notably influenced by the early season adjustments as the team navigated Doughty's injury. With Spence improving and Gavrikov demonstrating elite defensive play, the potential effectiveness of the Kings' second defensive pairing featuring Spence and Gavrikov could be a crucial factor in playoff success, especially in the pivotal contract year for the Russian defenseman. THNLAKKeithFriesWeeklyVideoJan5
