Los Angeles Kings: Worst Playoff Matchup For Every Western Team

The Los Angeles Kings are the last team anyone wants to see in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

With the playoffs right around the corner, the last team anybody in the Western Conference should want to face in the first round is the Los Angeles Kings.

After earning perennial Stanley Cup contender status for years, the Kings stumbled back down to Earth the previous three seasons. They missed the postseason twice and got eliminated in the first round in the other season.

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However, under a new coach and new management, Los Angeles is looking dangerous once again. They appear set to provide a first-round playoff opponent with everything they can handle.

Imagine being the Vegas Golden Knights or Winnipeg Jets. While both have had great success during the 2017-18 regular season, neither of the teams have much playoff experience. Their reward in the opening round of the playoffs could be playing a team still possessing most of its core from two Stanley Cup winning teams.

Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, and Jake Muzzin are still around. A lot of the same players responsible for turning the Kings into a juggernaut just a few years ago are still on the roster. These are players who have had success at every level they’ve played at from the NHL to international competitions. They simply know how to win.

Factor in the Atlanta Thrasher version of the Winnipeg Jets have never won a playoff game. Along with the clock having to eventually strike midnight on the Golden Knights’ Cinderella season, and Los Angeles would be a horrible first-round match up for either opponent.

Outside of Winnipeg and Vegas, neither the San Jose Sharks nor Anaheim Ducks would be eager to play the Kings in the opening round. The California-based franchises provide the most brutal battles in the playoffs when facing each other and often the victor doesn’t have much left in the tank for further playoff rounds.

Los Angeles has a lot working in its favor that make the Kings a dangerous first-round matchup. Kopitar is having a career year with 88 points. Doughty with 55 points is only four points away from matching his career-high of 59 points he set in his sophomore season. Brown also has 55 points and considering he only broke the 30-point mark once in the past five seasons, the newfound offense has him looking like a completely different player.

Then there is Carter, who missed over four months of the season due to injury but has returned as one of the hottest players in the league. Since returning at the end of February, Carter has recorded 14 points in 16 games while cementing the second-line center position behind Kopitar.

There’s also the underrated addition of Dion Phaneuf prior to the trade deadline. The Kings managed to offload Marian Gaborik’s bad contract for Phaneuf’s bad contract but won the deal in a landslide given Phaneuf can still play. Since joining Los Angeles, Phaneuf has played exceptionally well giving a steady defensive team another reliable horse on the blue line they can depend upon.

What is making Phaneuf so effective is he finally belongs to a team where he isn’t even close to being the main focus. When the defenseman was with the Toronto Maple Leafs he was often the punching bag for every team as he simply had no backup or depth to support him.

While with the Ottawa Senators, Phaneuf played a lesser role behind Erik Karlsson but still found himself as one of the most physical players on the roster. Now with the Kings, the entire roster is practically a physical threat making Phaneuf an afterthought for most opponents allowing him to be effective in his second-pairing defensive role.

The Kings still have some work to do in order to a clinch a playoff berth but earning a spot in the postseason is all that matters. The last thing Los Angeles cares about is seeding or who their opponent could be given this is a franchise with the same core that won a Stanley Cup as an eighth seed.

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With the team having a career year offensively, who traded to get stronger defensively, and still has Quick between the pipes, the Kings will be a nightmare matchup for whoever they face in the playoffs.