The Los Angeles Kings open their season tonight against the Minnesota Wild. The Kings are in the midst of the rebuild and we can expect this year won’t really be as focused on their placement in the standings, as it will be on player development.
As a result, the most pressing storyline heading into the season will surround the Kings’ young players. With opportunities available in the lineup, it’ll be a matter of who takes advantage of their ice time and can earn a larger role. Gabriel Vilardi will have a good chance to establish himself as top-six forward, while Blake Lizotte could build off a strong rookie season.
On defense, it’ll be a similar story and hopefully, Tobias Bjornfot and Kale Clague can take a step in their development. It’ll also be interesting to see whether any more responsibility is given to Matt Roy and Sean Walker on the right side. Meanwhile in net, Cal Petersen should start getting into more action and if he’s able to stay consistent, we could see the Kings start transitioning him into the starter’s role.
Something else to keep an eye on is whether the Kings decide to try to sell players at the trade deadline. They’ve already dealt most of their veteran players who had value and given that Alex Iafallo is on an expiring contract and coming off a strong year, he could be Los Angeles’ biggest trade chip. Something else to keep in mind will be the expansion draft and whether the Kings should move players in advance, to avoid losing them for nothing.
Regardless, this will be another season of development for the Kings. That said, it’ll be exciting for more young players to enter the lineup and it should be fun to watch.
For a comparison of the Kings and Wild’s rosters ahead of the game tonight, click here.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Do you think the Kings will trade more players for future draft picks/prospects at the trade deadline this year?
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