Let us look at the positives: the Los Angeles Kings had one of the greatest defenses in the NHL last year and made the playoffs. The poor? The team is full of dead-weight contracts which have obliterated their thickness and they have easily bumped in the first round of the playoffs.
Despite the negatives, you will be hard-pressed to find a better heart nucleus on a team with Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick. Kopitar is the reigning Selke Trophy winner and Doughty is coming from an excellent 2015-16 season that saw him win the Norris Trophy.
The question remains: can the Kings’ low-scoring, defensive-minded play conceal their problems with depth and direct them to another deep playoff series?
Stanley Cup +1800
It appears almost like a distant memory, but LA hoisted the cup at the 2013-14 season. The team then followed up that performance by not making the playoffs the next season and a gloomy first-round ousting the year after.
The core of the Kings is battle-tested and more than able to hold its own in a Stanley Cup series, but how the rest of the group fares is difficult to predict. And heaven forbid the top players on the group hit a scoring slump in the playoffs since relying on the bottom-six forwards for offense is sure to doom LA.. That’s not to say that they can not create a run based on incredible defense and also a red-hot goalie in Quick.
Western Conference +750
The Western Conference is filled with teams that were dangerous. The perennially contending Chicago Blackhawks still look like the course of the summit 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 seasons, they need to have the ability to beat these three groups.
The Kings combined for a middling 5-4-2 record from the Blackhawks, Blues and Kings last season. In fact, among those 3 teams, LA’s only winning album was against the Blackhawks.
Pacific Division +225
Though the Kings have won two Stanley Cups in the past five seasons, they have not won a Pacific Division title. In fact, the only time the Kings finished the regular season atop their division was in 1990-91 when they topped the Smythe Division. It’s very sensible that the Kings could end that drought this season — since they’re co-faves with the Ducks — but they will need to avoid another crippling slump.
The Kings squandered a 10-point branch lead last season to the Ducks following the group imploded to shut out the year. LA has been 30-16-3 entering the all-star break last season and then faltered to a pedestrian 18-18-3 to the rest of the season.
The largest reason for this collapse was that their struggles within the division, since the Kings went just 10-7-0 contrary to the Pacific following the all-star fracture in comparison with 8-4 before. When you factor in that six of those wins following the break came against Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, you can be justifiably worried entering this year.
Point Total OVER/UNDER 97.5
In Darryl Sutter’s three full seasons as head coach of the Kings — we aren’t such as the shortened 2012-13 year — the group has averaged 99 points each season. It’s honestly hard to see that this team regressing too much after posting 102 points last year, however a small drop may be expected considering their ice-cold near last year.
To be able to transcend the 97.5-point mark, some younger players will likely need to provide scoring. Goal scoring will especially be needed from the wings, as the only winger to complete with more than 40 points last season was Milan Lucic, who signed with Edmonton this offseason.

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