This article will be another in my series of player profiles, where I review the season of every player on the Los Angeles Kings. This piece will focus on Matt Luff.
After a strong 2018-19 season, this was somewhat of a stagnant year development-wise for Luff. That can’t all be placed on him, as he wasn’t given much of a chance with Los Angeles, getting into only 18 NHL games this year, which was actually 15 fewer games than he played with the Kings in the 2018-19 season. He scored one goal and five points in those 18 games (with a shooting percentage of just four per cent) and spent the majority of his season with Ontario, where he scored nine goals and 24 points in 30 games.
He had a strong corsi for percentage of 53.7, that said, he was playing against a low quality of competition (according to Hockey Abstract). His goals for percentage was also below 40 per cent, while his expected goals for percentage was below 50 per cent (according to NaturalStatTrick.com).
While some of those numbers don’t look great, I think it’s important to give Luff an extended shot in the NHL, as it’s obviously going to be difficult to adjust to a higher quality of competition if you’re not playing every night. I really want to see him get a permanent spot with the Kings next season, even if the team’s forward group is only about to get more crowded. He’s now 23 years old, has done what he can at the AHL level and it’s time to see how he’d do in an extended run with Kings.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Kings Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow @HB_LAKings for updates on articles, Kings news, etc. We're starting right from scratch, so any followers would be appreciated!***
Here's today's poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Do you think Matt Luff will earn a permanent spot with the Kings next season?
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