This article will be another in my series of player profiles, where I’ll look at each player on the Los Angeles Kings and assess how their season went. This piece will focus on Joakim Ryan.
Between being injured and scratched, Ryan played just 35 games in his first season with the Kings. He had one goal and five points in that time, a pace of 12 points per 82 games, with a minus-10 rating. That said, when he did play, he actually had quite a large role, playing over 19 minutes per game and also playing 1:39 per game on the penalty kill.
His corsi for percentage of 52.2 per cent is strong on the surface but was actually lower than the team’s overall corsi for percentage of 53.1 per cent and Ryan also had a high offensive zone start percentage, which would've contributed to that. His goals for percentage of 35.3 per cent was the worst of any defenseman on the team, though his expected goals for percentage was significantly better, at 55 per cent (according to NaturalStatTrick.com). That said, he did face a lower quality of competition than the majority of Los Angeles’ defenders.
Overall, Ryan was alright this season when he did play. That said, I think it’s highly unlikely that he's back in Los Angeles next season. The Kings' defense group is probably pretty close to being set for next year, while Kurtis MacDermid is likely to act as the first spare. Even if Ryan is brought back, it would almost certainly be on a one-year deal and he’d likely be in the press box for the majority of the season.
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