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The Los Angeles Kings have just 11 games remaining in the regular season and currently sit second in the Western Conference in points percentage.
The team has been on an absolute tear lately, going 8-0-2 and picking up 18 of a possible 20 points over their last 10 games. While their quality of competition hasn’t been wildly difficult over that stretch, the streak still speaks for itself.
If it weren’t for the Vegas Golden Knights getting just as hot as the Kings have been recently (going 8-2-0 over their last 10 games themselves), Los Angeles would be the top team in the West right now. Over the last three months from Dec. 15 onwards, only the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes have a higher points percentage than the Kings.
This comes only two years after the Kings were the sixth-worst team in the NHL during the shortened 2020-21 season, which marked their third season in a row missing the playoffs. However, after reaching the postseason somewhat ahead of schedule in their rebuild last season, the Kings have already taken another step and in an unpredictable West, they're now legitimate contenders.
A major factor has been offense, with the Kings getting goals throughout the entire lineup. They’ve averaged 4.2 goals per game over the 10-game point streak, which has boosted them to 10th in the NHL in goals per game overall. Compare that to last season, where the Kings ranked 20th overall, and it’s a major improvement.
Kevin Fiala has been a star in his first season with the Kings, but the Kings have a solid base of established contributors, with Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson. Meanwhile, Gabriel Vilardi and Quinton Byfield have taken steps and Trevor Moore, Alex Iafallo, Blake Lizotte and others make for excellent complementary pieces.
The trade deadline additions from the Columbus Blue Jackets have worked out as well. Joonas Korpisalo has generally been very steady for the Kings over his four starts, posting a .921 save percentage. He’s essentially been just what the team needed in goal.
Meanwhile, Vladislav Gavrikov is already taking on a big role on the team’s blue line, averaging roughly 21:30 per game with the Kings in each of his last three games. For a team that was so thin on the left side of the defense group and could really use another reliable defender, Gavrikov has helped.
The team already ranks seventh in the NHL in points percentage, but of the six teams above them, the only Western Conference opponent there is the Vegas Golden Knights. Looking at how open the West is, there’s no reason the Kings can’t make it out of the conference in the postseason.
Examining their competition, there’s just no clear frontrunner in the West and it’s certainly still possible we could see the Kings leapfrog Vegas for top spot in the division, and conference. In the postseason, you have to feel relatively good about the Kings’ chances against any other team in the conference.
Vegas will be without Mark Stone, who remains out indefinitely. After a torrid start to the year, the Golden Knights really cooled off as the season went along, only picking up steam again after the All-Star break. The Seattle Kraken are in a similar spot, where they're still hanging onto a playoff spot but have seen a decline as the season went along.
The Edmonton Oilers will be a threat and did fill a big need with the Mattias Ekholm trade. Obviously with the talent they have, they won’t have any issues creating offense. At the same time, if you’re looking for a playoff team in the West who has even more trouble keeping the puck out of their own net than the Kings, it’s the Oilers.
Moving to the Central, the Minnesota Wild go the other way, where they can really shut down opponents, but don’t generate much offense themselves, ranking 24th in the NHL in goals per game. The Dallas Stars may be one of the most threatening teams, but even they've cooled off a bit over the last couple weeks, allowing 33 goals over their last eight games.
The defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche are dealing with massive injury trouble, without Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Evan Rodrigues, and the entire right side of their defense group, in Cale Makar, Josh Manson and Erik Johnson. Obviously, some will return before the playoffs, but given the team already lost key pieces last offseason in Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky, the Avalanche aren’t looking as deep as last postseason.
The Kings have a fairly deep and well-rounded group heading into the postseason. Whereas other teams will really count on top players and could take a huge hit if someone went down with an injury, the Kings have enough depth that other players (both up front and on the blue line), should be able to step in if needed. There isn’t a glaring hole in their lineup after the trade deadline moves and there’s no reason we won’t see the Kings make a deep run.
The sky’s the limit with this group but I think it’s still important to note that the Kings are a lot further along right now than would’ve been expected only a couple years ago. Winning a playoff round or two at this stage in their cycle to compete would be impressive enough, but the goal is still about building a sustainable, long-term contender.
However, with some top teams now without key players due to injury and nobody really stepping forward as a clear top team, Los Angeles has a really good opportunity here. We've seen how good the Kings can be and if they carry this momentum into the postseason, they're legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
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