Elimination Eval: Los Angeles Kings

The only thing worse than continuing to not make the desired progress you want to make in the postseason is continuing to run into the same roadblock, year after year after year after year. For the fourth season in a row, the Los Angeles Kings have been eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers. You never want to lose to a rival in the postseason to begin with, but when it turns into a consistent theme like it has for the Kings, it becomes all the more painful. 

Expectations

After three years of making the playoffs and failing to win a round, the expectation for the Kings was to finally get over that hump and win a playoff series. They didn’t do a ton in the offseason to solidify themselves as contenders, but they did bring in Warren Foegele, who has established himself as a valuable middle-six forward that plays the type of game that thrives in the postseason. They also brought in Joel Edmundson on the back end who, if anything, brings Cup experience that could help a team like LA be successful.

They also weren’t a team that was particularly busy on the trade front. They flipped Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitas for goaltender Darcy Kuemper in the offseason, which helped them out big time. They also brought on Andrei Kuzmenko from the Calgary Flames at the trade deadline in exchange for a third round pick, which became a sneaky good trade for them. But none of these were the kind of blockbusters that show they mean business.

Series Recap

The opening game of this series was quite the roller coaster for the Kings and their fans. Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinton Byfield made it a 2-0 game in the first period, and Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault made it 4-0 in the second. A late second period goal got the Oilers on the board, but with a 4-1 lead heading into the third, the Kings were in an outstanding position to close this thing out. Except they didn’t. Mattias Janmark brought Edmonton within two before Kevin Fiala pushed the Kings lead back to three at 5-2. Then the Kings gave up three unanswered goals and were on the brink of heading to overtime in game one. Danault’s second of the night regained LA’s lead and held off the Oilers to secure the win. But that should have been a big warning sign that they had to stay on top of their game if they wanted to compete with Edmonton. 

The Kings seemingly learned their lesson in game two. A first period goal from Brandt Clarke got them started and then a pair from Byfield and Kuzmenko made it 3-0 in the second. Leon Draisaitl got the Oilers on the board and Viktor Arvidsson brought them within one in the third. That’s when the Kings woke up, and goals from Kempe and Anze Kopitar chased Stuart Skinner out of the Oilers net, to be replaced by Calvin Pickard. Kempe would add another midway through the third period to seal the deal, 6-2, and give the Kings a 2-0 lead in the series, and the high point of the Kings playoff run. 

Turns out that forcing the Oilers to pull Stuart Skinner would become the game changing moment of the series for Edmonton. The Oilers came out with some fire in game three, as expected, and were up 2-0 throughout most the first period. A goal from Adrian Kempe cut the lead in half heading into the second, and a pair of goals from Fiala and Drew Doughty gave the Kings their first lead of the night. To think, had LA held onto that lead and gone up 3-0 on the series, maybe things would have been dramatically different. However, the Oilers exploded for four goals in the third to put this one out of reach by a score of 7-4. You can’t win ‘em all, but unfortunately for LA, Edmonton would from this point out. 

Game four saw the Kings once again holding a significant lead through two periods of hockey. However, a pair of goals from Evan Bouchard forced overtime, where Leon Draisaitl would become the hero, tying the series up two apiece. Calvin Pickard played a huge role in the Oilers success as he collected a 38-save night to help them pull event in the series. 

Game five would be the low point for the Kings. A second period goal from Andrei Kuzmenko gave them a 1-0 lead in a pivotal game. But again, they allowed the Oilers to come back. Evander Kane tied it in the second and then goals from Mattias Janmark and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins secured a 3-1 win that put the Oilers in position to close out the series in game six. Pickard once again came up clutch, stopping all but one of the 22 shots he faced. 

The Kings had a 2-1 lead just three and a half minutes into game six, but four unanswered Edmonton goals throughout the first and second periods put this one out of reach. Down by two with a minute to go, Anze Kopitar did what any good captain would do and scored a crucial goal late in the third period to cut the Edmonton lead to 5-4. But Connor Brown would pick up the empty netter in the dying seconds to clinch the series and put an end to LA's run for the fourth consecutive year.

Prediction 

I’ll say it: I underestimated the Oilers when I probably shouldn’t have. I thought the goaltending was too iffy and that the team as a whole was going to struggle. I had the Kings taking the series in six games. I thought this was the year the Kings finally got them but I was wrong on this one. 

Was the Season a Success? 

The Oilers were one win away from the Stanley Cup last season and could very well get close or even go the distance this year. Problem is, we’re not talking about Edmonton. What do the LA Kings want to be? They want to get back to the promised land, and they can’t do that if they keep getting bumped in the first round, regardless of who the opponent is. All that to say, this season was certainly a shortcoming and that’s certainly been made clear by the decision to fire general manager Rob Blake. This team has failed to achieve the success they aspired under him and now they need to think about how they are going to move forward. 

The Kings haven’t won a playoff series since, uh, a time our fan base certainly doesn't want to be reminded of. That was over ten years ago now. Sure there were some misses in that stretch and a three year period where the Kings couldn’t get back into the postseason in any capacity, but not winning a round since 2014 is not an encouraging sign for the LA Kings whatsoever. 

UFA’s/RFA’s

There’s plenty of work to be done in Los Angeles this summer and that will start with decisions on their pending UFA’s. Among the most notable are Andrei Kuzmenko, who seemed to fit in well with LA after the trade deadline, Vladislav Gavrikov, who will be one of the most sought after defensemen on the open market, Tanner Jeannot, Trevor Lewis, and backup goalies David Rittich and Pheonix Copley. I can’t imagine many of those names will be back next season but I also have a feeling Trevor Lewis may not be interested in playing anywhere else. Kuzmenko could be wise to stick around, but don’t know if the money makes sense for either side. 

As for restricted free agents, the Kings just have Alex Laferriere to get signed to a new deal. The former third round pick had quite a breakout year for the Kings and should cost them accordingly. That’s a necessary bit of business as he can be an important piece for them moving forward. 

Biggest Question Moving Forward

The Kings have since fired their general manager Rob Blake, so the question has to become, what does a post-Rob Blake LA Kings look like? I do believe Blake did some good in his tenure at the helm of the Kings, but there were a lot of questionable decisions. Specifically, the whole Pierre-Luc Dubois saga. Giving up Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a draft pick is quite the package for someone who did not end up working out for them after signing an enormous eight-year extension. Rob Blake ended up getting out of that before the extension even kicked in, sending Dubois to Washington for goaltender Darcy Kuemper. It was a trade that worked out for both parties, but still, it's making mediocre lemonade out of lemons. 

Trading Brock Faber away in itself is unforgivable, but the fact that Blake attached a first round pick to Faber to acquire Kevin Fiala is just awful business. Fiala’s a good player, but Faber is a potential 'face of a franchise' type of player. The first rounder became Liam Ohgren who hasn’t quite made an impression at the NHL level yet. But no matter how you slice it, giving up Brock Faber is bad. 

Rob Blake and the Kings also haven’t really handled the goaltending situation well in the post-Jonathan Quick era. They put too much stock into Cal Peterson, who didn't pan out, and have sort of just been finding ways to get by in the meantime. Kuemper has been a great story for them, becoming a Vezina Trophy nominee this year, but goaltending can change at the drop of a hat. At 35-years of age, you have to wonder how much longer the Kings can get by with Kuemper. 

It will be fascinating to see what swings the new guy in charge decides to take. They obviously have some holes to fill through free agency but depending on the direction they decide to take things, there are some big trades that could go down, too. Adrian Kempe has one year left on his contract starting next season, Kevin Fiala’s contract loses some protection year after next, and Anze Kopitar is also entering the final year of his deal. There’s lots at play and it’s become quite clear that this team isn’t good enough to beat their most common playoff opponent. What can they do to get to a point where they can compete with Edmonton? 

Projected Lineup

? - Kopitar - Kempe
Fiala - Byfield - Laferriere* 
Foegele - Danault - Moore
Malott - Helenius - Turcotte

Anderson - Doughty
? - Spence
Edmundson - Clarke
Burroughs 

Kuemper - ?

(*-RFAs)

Final Thoughts

There’s a bit of a Pittsburgh Penguins vibe going on here, as I can’t see Anze Kopitar or Drew Doughty going anywhere. And as long as they are in LA, I can’t help but feel as if the Kings are going to do whatever they can to remain competitive. They’re in an interesting situation where they can consider some really big trades to try and improve this team, but that’s going to require the right general manager to pull those kinds of moves off. They’re definitely going to need a top-six forward to replace Kuzmenko if he doesn’t stick around and need an upgrade on defense. And that's all while banking on a 35-year old Darcy Kuemper to keep up the magic. I’m not overly confident in their future but could see them remaining in the playoff picture for at least another year or two.