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Los Angeles Kings Need To Accept Stanley Cup Run Is Long Over

By Derian Carmichael

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 18: Jeff Carter #77 and Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings listen to the national anthem before the game against the New York Islanders at STAPLES Center on October 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NHLI via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 18: Jeff Carter #77 and Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings listen to the national anthem before the game against the New York Islanders at STAPLES Center on October 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The sooner the Los Angeles Kings accept their fate, the better off they will be.

The Los Angeles Kings are headed for a reality check as the aging core of the team has gotten off to an awful start to the season. Through three weeks, Los Angeles has only managed to produce two victories and sit last in the Pacific Division.

Their 2-6-1 record, five-game losing streak, and second-worst goal differential in the league at minus-15 have many wondering if this is the year the club blows up the roster. Or perhaps if they should have done so earlier.

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The Kings chose a questionable route in the offseason by choosing to bring back practically the same club that was swept in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Los Angeles only managed three goals in the four-game sweep at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. Instead of a massive roster shakeup, the team chose to double down on their roster by signing 35-year-old forward Ilya Kovalchuk.

Kovalchuk became the only notable move of Los Angeles’ offseason as an aging roster got older with his signing at $18.75 million over three years. So far the early returns on Kovalchuk have provided what many feared with his return to the NHL. He struggles to keep up with the pace of today’s game as his lack of speed has been noticeable.

He isn’t the only one with mixed results to begin the year as Los Angeles’ core of players in their 30’s appear headed for a disaster season. At a time when the majority of the league is attempting to get younger and faster, the Kings seem trapped in a state of getting older and slower.

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To make matters worse, most of the Kings’ core in their 30’s feature significant contracts that’ll be difficult or near impossible to move. Players such as Dion Phaneuf, Jeff Carter, Alec Martinez, and Dustin Brown all have a cap hit of $4 million or higher for the next three seasons.

Brown hasn’t even played yet this season due to a broken finger. Carter missed most of last season due to injury and Jonathan Quick missed most of the season two years ago. It’s easy to question if the wear and tear of years of Western Conference playoff battles has made the Kings’ core injury prone at this stage of their careers.

Starting next season Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty will combine for $21 million of  Los Angeles’ salary cap for the next five seasons as Doughty’s contract extension kicks in.  If the Kings intend to be relevant during the majority of those years then its time the franchise must accept they aren’t capable of one last run at the Stanley Cup. It’s time the Kings accept it’s time to shake up the roster.

Los Angeles doesn’t have a cupboard of prospects that allowed the Boston Bruins to continue to be competitive as they maintained the majority of their core. They don’t have young exciting players to build around like teams within their division like the Calgary Flames with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, or the Edmonton Oilers with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, or even the Vancouver Canucks with Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson.

The Kings don’t even feature a mix of youth and experience like their state rivals the San Jose Sharks or Anaheim Ducks. Instead, Los Angeles features the same old team trying to hang on for one more miracle run to the Stanley Cup finals that’ll never come.

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Unfortunately, head coach John Stevens will likely be the first domino to fall in a desperate attempt to salvage the season. However, it doesn’t matter who coaches the franchise. The Kings can’t score, and now their too old and slow to maintain the gritty defense that won them two Stanley Cups. The championship window with this core slammed shut at least two seasons ago, except Kings management have still failed to realize it.

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