Los Angeles Kings preview: Anze Kopitar leads aging LA Kings squad
Projected Lineup
How will the Los Angeles Kings look this season? Lineup projections were done with the help of Roster Resource and Daily Faceoff. Additions are in italics.
Forwards
Ilya Kovalchuk – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Alex Iafallo – Adrian Kempe – Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford – Nate Thompson – Michael Amadio
Depth forward options: Zach Mitchell, Jonny Brodzinski
On the rise: Gabe Vilardi
Top prospect Gabe Vilardi would give the top-nine a bit more balance, but his spot on the NHL roster isn’t certain thanks to a back injury. Whenever he has been healthy, he has dominated. The Kings desperately need what he brings to the table, but it’s unknown when he’ll be able to contribute.
The top forward line should be a great one. Kopitar likely isn’t scoring over 30 goals again, but adding Kovalchuk to the equation will help mitigate that. Brown had a surprising bounce-back season. If he can build on that, the Kings will easily have one of the best top lines in the NHL.
Carter put up 13 goals and nine assists for 22 points in 27 games last season. On paper, that seems really good. Carter’s still a very good scorer if he’s healthy. The primary concern, though, has nothing to do with his health. It has to do with Carter’s ability to drive play. His five-on-five relative CorsiFor percentage of -3.2 percent was the third-worst among all Kings forwards with at least 300 five-on-five minutes.
Their third line could be a fun one if Vilardi makes the team. But if he doesn’t, Lewis or Amadio will have to step in and neither appears to be a good fit for that line. Thompson was one of the worst offensive players in the NHL last season.
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Defensemen
Daniel Brickley – Dion Phaneuf
Depth defensemen: Paul LaDue, Oscar Fantenberg, Alex Lintuniemi
Doughty and Muzzin are both amazing defensemen. The problem is, their depth isn’t impressive after those two guys. Together, they form an elite pairing. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Kings can afford to keep them together.
Martinez is coming off arguably his worst NHL season. Pairing him with Muzzin, who does a lot of things well, should help him bounce back. But Martinez didn’t do well with him last season (though it’s worth noting he didn’t do well with anyone last season).
Brickley is a guy who I believe could help cover for Phaneuf. The latter’s numbers have been going downhill for a while. Phaneuf didn’t even have success while playing relatively easy minutes with the Kings last season. Brickley is comfortable with the puck and is great at getting the puck out of the zone with control. The Kings have a nice group of depth defensemen they can go to if things go haywire. But unless they can fix that second pairing, it won’t matter.
Goaltenders
The Kings goalies were great last season. Quick had one of his finest seasons, though due to his age and injury history, they shouldn’t count on this moving forward. Campbell did remarkably well in a six-game sample size. If he can keep it up, the Kings could have an amazing goaltending tandem (assuming Quick doesn’t regress or get injured).