Let us look at the advantages: the Los Angeles Kings had among the greatest defenses in the NHL last year and made the playoffs. The poor? The group is filled with dead-weight contracts which have obliterated their thickness and they have easily bumped from the first round of the playoffs.
Regardless of the negatives, you will be hard-pressed to find a better heart nucleus on a group with Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick. Kopitar is the reigning Selke Trophy winner and Doughty is coming off a great 2015-16 season that saw him win the Norris Trophy.
The question remains: can the Kings’ low-scoring, defensive-minded play conceal their issues with depth and direct them to the next deep playoff series?
Stanley Cup +1800
It seems almost like a distant memory, but LA hoisted the cup in the 2013-14 season. The team then followed that performance up by not making the playoffs the following season and a gloomy first-round ousting the year afterwards.
The core of the Kings is battle-tested and more than able to hold its own at a Stanley Cup series, but how the rest of the group fares is difficult to predict. And heaven forbid the top players on the team hit a scoring slump at the playoffs because relying on the bottom-six forward for offense is guaranteed to doom LA.. That’s not to say they can not make a run based on incredible defense and a red-hot goalie in Quick.
Western Conference +750
The Western Conference is loaded with teams that were dangerous. The perennially contending Chicago Blackhawks still look like the class of the conference but there are still emerging powerhouses in St. Louis and Anaheim. For the Kings to win the Western Conference for the third time in six months, they will need to have the ability to beat those three groups.
The Kings combined for a middling 5-4-2 record from the Blackhawks, Blues and Kings last year. In fact, one of those 3 teams, LA’s only winning album was contrary to the Blackhawks.
Pacific Division +225
Even though the Kings have won two Stanley Cups in the previous five seasons, they have never won a Pacific Division title. In reality, the only time that the Kings ended the regular season atop their division was in 1990-91 when they awakened the Smythe Division. It is very sensible that the Kings can end that drought this year — as they are co-faves with the Ducks — but they need to prevent another crippling slump.
The Kings squandered a 10-point division lead last season to the Ducks following the team imploded to close the year out. LA has been 30-16-3 entering the all-star break last year and then faltered to a pedestrian 18-18-3 for the rest of the season.
The largest cause of this collapse was their struggles within the branch, since the Kings went only 10-7-0 against the Pacific after the all-star fracture compared with 8-4 before. When you factor in that six of those wins after the break came from Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, you can be justifiably concerned entering this year.
Point Total OVER/UNDER 97.5
In Darryl Sutter’s three full seasons as head coach of the Kings — we are not including the shortened 2012-13 season — the team has averaged 99 points each season. It’s honestly hard to see that this team regressing a lot after posting 102 points last season, but a small drop may be expected considering their ice-cold near last season.
To be able to transcend the 97.5-point mark, a few younger gamers will likely should supply added scoring. Goal scoring will especially be required from the wings, as the only winger to finish with over 40 points last season was Milan Lucic, who signed with Edmonton this offseason.

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