The LA Kings have found themselves a core of five young players to stick with moving forward. While the core does not render praise as one of the league's elite groups, these five players have started to separate themselves as potential building blocks for a new GM next season if Rob Blake doesn't stick around. Three of the players in this group are not surprises. Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, and Alex Turcotte were drafted within the top 10 (2, 8, 5) and are considered to be a part of the Kings' next core. Of those three, Byfield has been expected to make the leap much faster than the other two. While technically having only one full season under his belt, Byfield is now in his fourth season of 20+ games played in the NHL. The team has finally committed to having Byfield play center full time, the position he was drafted at. He had some woes in the early portions of the season, triggering a return back to his spot on the top line, where he broke out on the wing of Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe (20g-35a-55p). Fortunately for the Kings and Byfield, he has found excellent chemistry with Warren Foegele as a winger at both even strength and on the penalty kill. Like Byfield, Turcotte is getting his feet wet in the NHL at the wing. Unlike Byfield, though, he has shown he can have a positive impact anywhere in the lineup. Turcotte has always been a team player and he recently told THNLA: > "It doesn't matter where in the lineup I play, I'm just happy to play. Center > wise, it's my natural position, but wing is a lot easier to play." - Turcotte has proven to be an excellent complement to whoever he is paired with, whether it's the bottom six or top six. He recently played with Kevin Fiala and they looked dynamite as a pair against the New York Islanders. Even though it was Fiala who stole the show [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/latest-news/kevin-fiala-is-finally-breaking-out-for-the-kings], in the small sample size via NaturalStatTrick, Turcotte was dominant at even strength, posting 9:07 TOI at 68.75 Corsi %. The trust from management is building, and Turcotte is starting to blossom as the potential 2C of the future given he gets more time at the position. On defense, Clarke was always going to be your future number one defenseman. He's arguably the most skilled player to come up in the Kings system in a decade. He's a big-game player and unfazed by the moment, as seen by his elevation on the heels of the Drew Doughty injury. After practice in New Jersey, Clarke spoke with TNHLA: > "You know when he goes down in the pre-season, it really hurt in the moment. > But I didn't really feel my game changed at all [with the injury]. Drew has > been pretty commutative to me this season and has helped me along the way." - So, your future 1C, 2C, and 1D are starting to take on the earliest forms of their far-out-soon-to-be roles. The other two players who entered the conversation might not have been such a season or two ago. Jordan Spence had a fine season last year as a young defenseman in the National Hockey League, and to be fair, playing on a defensively sound LA Kings backend. He was sheltered by two elite pairings in Doughty-Mikey Anderson and Matt Roy-Vladislav Gavrikov. With the departure of Roy and the injury to Doughty, he's had to weather an up-and-down year with different partners and an elevated role, which has seen periods of struggle. For now, Spence has solidified himself as a bottom-pairing defenseman, forming a solid unit with Jacob Moverare. In 103:40 minutes, the two have a 54.55 Corsi %, have outshot opponents 44-39, outscoring them 4-2. Moverare's analytics plummeted when away from Spence (16:46 TOI, 37.5 Corsi %, outscored 0-2). For Spence, he looks to be someone the organization will stick with on their right side. General Manager Blake either dealt or walked away from Sean Durzi, Sean Walker, Matt Roy, Helge Grans, and Brock Faber. That leaves Spence and Clarke as the two right-handed defensemen the organization has essentially chosen to stand by. The last of the five is Alex Laferriere. Drafting goal scorers has historically been a struggle for the Kings, and while Laferriere isn't some highly touted sniper, he's starting to emerge as a legitimate scoring threat. The 23-year-old scored 12 goals in the 81 games he played last year, his rookie season. He's completed the same feat in 53 fewer games this season. So, while the Kings initially drafted Arthur Kaliyev to potentially be their scoring winger of the future, he has so far navigated a mangled path with the organization [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/latest-news/kaliyevs-ontario-stint-could-be-exactly-what-he-needs]. Laferriere has essentially emerged from obscurity, rising through the ranks in quick succession. It's not that Kaliyev is the lesser player; he's just currently on the outside looking in. To be fair, Laferriere scores at even strength, and he checks more of the boxes the Kings are looking for. This is a significant reason his TOI has seen a near three-minute jump this season (13:13 to 16:01). These five can potentially be the central group the Kings use to navigate their future. Three are potential locks for this, while Spence and Laferriere have made a case for their need to stick with the organization due to the voids they fill. The age grouping is highly complementary to each other. Byfield (21), Turcotte (23), Clarke (22), Spence (23), and Laferriere (23) all have the potential to grow with one another as the team's core for the future. THNWeek2KeithFriesKeys
