I think the Kings have settled in and have become a pleasant surprise, especially recently. They're doing all this without Drew Doughty, which is even more impressive. This road trip is gonna be very interesting coming up. Besides Byfield's struggles, Spence's inconsistencies, and Kevin Fiala's bone-headed plays at times, the newcomers have been pretty damn good. Thoughts?
Are The Kings Playing As Expected? Surpassing Expectations? Not playing to their abilities?
- Thread starter Dorian20
- Start date
I've been impressed with the team's 3rd-period & late-game resilience. Whereas last season they tended to fold up under pressure late in a game or never be able to mount a comeback when down, this season they have proven multiple times that they have what it takes to come from behind or hold a lead without letting off the gas. Would be nice if a couple of those almost-a-shutout scenarios had actually been shutouts, but for the first time in quite a few seasons I don't sit in my seat going "oh....we're going to manage to blow this, aren't we?"
Foegele has been my biggest surprise despite being familiar with him from his days with the Hurricanes. He was underused there and overshadowed by "flashy" players.
As for Spence, I've been super impressed with him as well - he makes WAY fewer mistakes than Drew did in his early days! His shot is wicked, and he & Moverare are just seamless together.
EDIT: Just realized we are 5th in the WHOLE LEAGUE (tied w Canes) by Win % right now....it is far too stressful for us to be this good!! aaaagh!
Foegele has been my biggest surprise despite being familiar with him from his days with the Hurricanes. He was underused there and overshadowed by "flashy" players.
As for Spence, I've been super impressed with him as well - he makes WAY fewer mistakes than Drew did in his early days! His shot is wicked, and he & Moverare are just seamless together.
EDIT: Just realized we are 5th in the WHOLE LEAGUE (tied w Canes) by Win % right now....it is far too stressful for us to be this good!! aaaagh!
Last edited:
Pevsfreedom
somehow in south carolina
This team confuses me. I do believe that we should suck with this roster. We're winning games and getting points however. A lot of players have regressed or aren't showing up. If we didn't flub a few games this year we'd be top 3 in the league, if not 1st. Having said that, if we continue in this fashion and get a high seed - the troubling and most obvious thing to look at is the special teams - power play and PK are not good, and have killed us the last 3 years against the Oilers obviously, and probably any other team in the playoffs. If they can fix that it seems they can do good. We're beating good teams this year, which we didn't last year. Our goal differential is +10 I think, which is better. So I think they're exceeding my expectations - I fully thought this was the tank into black hole year. Losing in the first round again would be worst than that though, and delay the desperately (IMO) needed rebuild, but if some players pick up some speed (55/24/12/22 a bit,etc.), and goaltending continues to remain pretty good, and we make some kinda move - we may look alright this postseason. Kempe (and always Kopitar) has become my favorite player to watch (guy can just plain shoot and play defense, he's improved his game so much over the years). I think there's several others that need to step it up and who knows what can happen. I like most of the new acquisitions.
Last edited:
They seem like they’re starting to gel, after the first quarter of the season and I would certainly say they’ve exceeded expectations. However, let’s see how this road trip goes (I think it should go pretty well, considering they’ve already had a long trip at the start of the year). Oh, and then there’s the game on the 28th against the Oilers. I do think it’s fair to say the Kings came out on top with the RV / Foegele “trade”.
Bollocks
Top Forward
I agree with this, pretty much. Confusing is the right word.
Considering DD is missing and QB is a no-show, considering their special teams struggles and how their defense pairings look like something out of the dumpster diving period of the Kings' past, they should be quite a lot worse, but they aren't. Which is a very good thing, unless DD coming back "upsets" the weirdly gelled defense and makes them perform worse somehow as things on the back-end are generally very solid now.
Surely the PP should benefit a lot from DD's return, and he can't be worse than Burroughs/Moverare 5 on 5 in a vacuum, but are the Kings going to roll 7 D-men in the long run (they should at least for a while when DD returns to cushion his return) and if not - who's the odd man out? It would suck to "upset" the upward trajectory of Moverare, whom I always thought is a very solid player that could develop into a Willie Mitchell type of a solid, dependable D-man with good size in the long run...
If DD "fits right in" and QB finds some form, and the rest of the team doesn't regress too much (I can't see Kopi keeping this pace up for the whole season, for example) and of course we avoid serious injuries, this team can do some damage in the playoffs for sure.
This road trip will be a huge test. They aren't very good on the road this season, it's just in time for the December struggles this team is notoriously known for and these games are mostly against some underperforming teams that we struggle against this year, so...we'll see. If they manage close to .500 point percentage I will be impressed. If they suck bad, the Oilers at home to top it all off could turn things around pretty badly.
So McIndoe does a ranking every week of 5 teams on the road to the cup plus 1 more team that's unranked. This week he chose the Kings and had this to say:
Not ranked: Los Angeles Kings — It didn’t feel like there was much buzz around the Kings heading into the season, and whatever there was seemed mostly negative. Their biggest offseason move involved dumping Pierre-Luc Dubois, which was a nice bit of work to correct a mistake but still reminded everyone just how bad the mistake had been. Their fan base had pretty much lost all faith in the front office. And after three straight years of first-round exits at the hands of the Oilers, it felt like we knew that the Kings were: A playoff team, sure, but not any kind of actual threat to the teams that mattered.
Two months later, it might be time to reevaluate. The Kings keep banking points, with a five-game win streak moving them up to second in the Pacific. They’re solidly in the top 10, right there with teams like Florida and Carolina in points percentage, and doing it without Drew Doughty. And this week included home wins over the Stars and Jets, so it’s not all empty calories.Saturday night brought another opportunity against a Central contender with the Wild in town, and the Kings turned it into another impressive win.
And sure, maybe they’re just headed to another first-round matchup with the Oilers that everyone will pick them to lose. Nothing about the roster necessarily screams elite, with the possible exception of Anze Kopitar not realizing he’s 37. And it’s worth thinking back to last December — a year ago today, the Kings were tied for the best points percentage in the league, and they’d end up firing their coach just a few weeks later.
Things can change.But for now, don’t sleep on the Kings, even if you wrote them off at the start of the season. They’ve got something going in L.A. right now.
It's definitely worth noting that the oddest part of this club right now is their home record vs away, and their odd reliance on the 11-7 configuration. This 7 game roadie should still see them 3rd in the Pacific if they continue their .500 tendencies there. The still strange thing is that it's very difficult to decide what if anything this teams identity really is. Getting Drew back certainly feels like it should improve things. Fingers crossed they don't have the January they had last year.
www.nytimes.com
Not ranked: Los Angeles Kings — It didn’t feel like there was much buzz around the Kings heading into the season, and whatever there was seemed mostly negative. Their biggest offseason move involved dumping Pierre-Luc Dubois, which was a nice bit of work to correct a mistake but still reminded everyone just how bad the mistake had been. Their fan base had pretty much lost all faith in the front office. And after three straight years of first-round exits at the hands of the Oilers, it felt like we knew that the Kings were: A playoff team, sure, but not any kind of actual threat to the teams that mattered.
Two months later, it might be time to reevaluate. The Kings keep banking points, with a five-game win streak moving them up to second in the Pacific. They’re solidly in the top 10, right there with teams like Florida and Carolina in points percentage, and doing it without Drew Doughty. And this week included home wins over the Stars and Jets, so it’s not all empty calories.Saturday night brought another opportunity against a Central contender with the Wild in town, and the Kings turned it into another impressive win.
And sure, maybe they’re just headed to another first-round matchup with the Oilers that everyone will pick them to lose. Nothing about the roster necessarily screams elite, with the possible exception of Anze Kopitar not realizing he’s 37. And it’s worth thinking back to last December — a year ago today, the Kings were tied for the best points percentage in the league, and they’d end up firing their coach just a few weeks later.
Things can change.But for now, don’t sleep on the Kings, even if you wrote them off at the start of the season. They’ve got something going in L.A. right now.
It's definitely worth noting that the oddest part of this club right now is their home record vs away, and their odd reliance on the 11-7 configuration. This 7 game roadie should still see them 3rd in the Pacific if they continue their .500 tendencies there. The still strange thing is that it's very difficult to decide what if anything this teams identity really is. Getting Drew back certainly feels like it should improve things. Fingers crossed they don't have the January they had last year.
Weekend NHL rankings: Kings roll, Sabres spiral and a wild weekend in New York
The Rangers have been tumbling down the standings lately but have shot to the top of the rankings of the NHL's most interesting teams.
www.nytimes.com
JETS GARAGE
Triple Crown Line
So Far, So Good. Glad to see the young'uns stepping up. Reminds me of when Kopi, Dewey, Brownie & Quickie started out.
Statue4Deano
Super Star
Kings as a team are exceeding nearly every expectation I had coming into the season.
Can I just say **** the Oilers for another season where they sleepwalk for two months and finish just hot enough to end up playing us in the 1st round. It’s inevitable at this point.
Can I just say **** the Oilers for another season where they sleepwalk for two months and finish just hot enough to end up playing us in the 1st round. It’s inevitable at this point.
Clif
Super Star
I expected a bubble playoff team whose main goals were to recalibrate the culture of the locker room, embrace a physical and checking game again, and provide real NHL minutes to several rookies and a couple sophomores.
They are clearly exceeding the bubble team projection as of late. To be the most defensively sound team 5-on-5 is the biggest surprise of all to me. As @Pevsfreedom succinctly said before the season started, the entire D corps and goaltending was a red flag. I agreed.
New players including rookiesV new system, those goalies, no Drew and this is the result defensively? Yeah no one called that.
They are clearly exceeding the bubble team projection as of late. To be the most defensively sound team 5-on-5 is the biggest surprise of all to me. As @Pevsfreedom succinctly said before the season started, the entire D corps and goaltending was a red flag. I agreed.
New players including rookiesV new system, those goalies, no Drew and this is the result defensively? Yeah no one called that.
If I weren't a devout follower of the Kings I would have found it amusing to read the rollercoaster of comments in here from one game to the next. Having followed proceedings from so far away here in the UK and personally experiencing the heights of euphoria and the depths of despair, the fist-pumping glee and the fist shaking outrage seemingly so close to each other, I don't know how to feel overall about where this team is truly "at" and even less so where they're going to end up (other than opening the playoffs yet again against our nemesis, the Oilers).
All I know is that how I feel at this moment in time is probably going to be the exact opposite to how I'll be feeling in a week's time. That's how it seems to me to be, to be a Kings devotee. You never get to hold onto the joy or turn your back on the despondency for very long, you just have to take each game as it comes and hope for the best. Just when we think the team's settled on an upward curve into the limitless wild blue yonder they blow an engine (or two) and go into a statistical nose dive at which point everyone starts blaming the pilot (naming no names) for the lack of suitable parachutes provided.
Certainly, this is currently a great run of solid performance across most of the team at least and hopefully we'll be able to get to enjoy some more consistently high performances. This is certainly about to be a very long road trip, the second one that the NHL schedulers have seemingly mercilessly put our guys through. I've never been a fan of the Rangers (though, if I ever wore one, I have absolutely no trouble in doffing it to Mr. Mark Messier), but I don't really have anything much against the big three; New York, New Jersey and Long Island. However, it would certainly be sweet to sweep them all and finish the trip on a high with a win in the capital.
Yet, as always it seems with this group of players, it's all just about which team turns up on the day. Who decides to play and who doesn't. They're just totally inconsistent and unpredictable and that's the way I fear they'll stay for the foreseeable future at least.
PS/ All I hope is that Alex Turcotte manages to keep his head up and out of the way. I really, really like both him and smart Alex Lafferiere and I hope they both continue to get to show us all not only what a couple of great young players they truly seem to be, but they get to realise their full potential on this team.
All I know is that how I feel at this moment in time is probably going to be the exact opposite to how I'll be feeling in a week's time. That's how it seems to me to be, to be a Kings devotee. You never get to hold onto the joy or turn your back on the despondency for very long, you just have to take each game as it comes and hope for the best. Just when we think the team's settled on an upward curve into the limitless wild blue yonder they blow an engine (or two) and go into a statistical nose dive at which point everyone starts blaming the pilot (naming no names) for the lack of suitable parachutes provided.
Certainly, this is currently a great run of solid performance across most of the team at least and hopefully we'll be able to get to enjoy some more consistently high performances. This is certainly about to be a very long road trip, the second one that the NHL schedulers have seemingly mercilessly put our guys through. I've never been a fan of the Rangers (though, if I ever wore one, I have absolutely no trouble in doffing it to Mr. Mark Messier), but I don't really have anything much against the big three; New York, New Jersey and Long Island. However, it would certainly be sweet to sweep them all and finish the trip on a high with a win in the capital.
Yet, as always it seems with this group of players, it's all just about which team turns up on the day. Who decides to play and who doesn't. They're just totally inconsistent and unpredictable and that's the way I fear they'll stay for the foreseeable future at least.
PS/ All I hope is that Alex Turcotte manages to keep his head up and out of the way. I really, really like both him and smart Alex Lafferiere and I hope they both continue to get to show us all not only what a couple of great young players they truly seem to be, but they get to realise their full potential on this team.
Last edited:
Helvetica
Top Forward
Normally, ive posted my own thread about what im seeing and thinking about the team at around the 10-12 game mark. I didnt do that this season because it's felt like a really wild ride with no consistent trends to latch on to.
With that said, the inconsistency has been the most consistent part of the season so far. They'll beat a good team, then turn around and lose to a really sh*t team, or vice versa. They'll get an extra day or two of rest, and come out completely flat. Im not sure they've played a complete 60 min in any game this season. Guys i thought were poised to break out have been real slow to get going.
And yet, here we are. As jammer mentioned, their road vs home records are pretty starkly dissimilar and i believe it's mostly to do with Hiller taking full advantage of last change. Mikey and Gavy have been out there against top lines at every opportunity, and they've had to do that because spence has not looked like the guy we saw to finish out last season. Out of Englund, Jones, and Movarare, it seems quite clear that Movarare is the guy (for now) to play that bottom pair. He's generally been the most consistent defender, and his mistakes are generally not too frequent. Im really hopeful that when Drew returns, the added depth will aid their road record when they cant always get the matchups they're after.
As for the new players, I think we need to acknowledge that (so far) these guys have done well to play into tehir roles, and that Blake may have done well to identify the types of players the King's needed. There's no doubt that a guy like Edmundson was overpaid if you look at it from face value, but the mentorship and fit with a guy like clarke has certainly appeared to work out. Foegele hasnt always been perfect, but his style of play, when he's on, has been incredible. He's fast, tenacious, plays great D, and can score. Jeannot too has brought qualities to the table that the team was searching for. When these three are playing into their roles, it's easy to overlook the overpayment to get them here. And it should be noted that the Kings just arent a destination right now. West coast team. A bit removed from relevancy. Overpaying for the guys you want is what you have to do, and you live with it as long as your properly identify the guys you need.
If this team can continue to push in the direction it's been going, i think you have to like your chances for them to do some damage in the playoffs, because ultimately, this season is going to be viewed purely by how they perform there. If they get knocked out in the 1st round again, nothing else matters. If they can find a way to remain high in teh standings, and avoid one of the better teams in the 1st round, i think it would go a long ways towards helping them take that next step.
But who teh f*** knows what to expect right now. They just finished a 5 game win streak against several very good teams. It's their longest streak of the season, and with the sting of last season's cratering around this time, i still hesitate to place any bets on what comes next. But i definitely like what ive seen as of late.
-------------------------------------------------
it's worth noting too, and ive been constantly trying to keep it in the back of my mind so far this season... they put in a new system. Byfield is playing a "new" position. They lost Doughty. The inconsistency should be expected to a certain degree.
With that said, the inconsistency has been the most consistent part of the season so far. They'll beat a good team, then turn around and lose to a really sh*t team, or vice versa. They'll get an extra day or two of rest, and come out completely flat. Im not sure they've played a complete 60 min in any game this season. Guys i thought were poised to break out have been real slow to get going.
And yet, here we are. As jammer mentioned, their road vs home records are pretty starkly dissimilar and i believe it's mostly to do with Hiller taking full advantage of last change. Mikey and Gavy have been out there against top lines at every opportunity, and they've had to do that because spence has not looked like the guy we saw to finish out last season. Out of Englund, Jones, and Movarare, it seems quite clear that Movarare is the guy (for now) to play that bottom pair. He's generally been the most consistent defender, and his mistakes are generally not too frequent. Im really hopeful that when Drew returns, the added depth will aid their road record when they cant always get the matchups they're after.
As for the new players, I think we need to acknowledge that (so far) these guys have done well to play into tehir roles, and that Blake may have done well to identify the types of players the King's needed. There's no doubt that a guy like Edmundson was overpaid if you look at it from face value, but the mentorship and fit with a guy like clarke has certainly appeared to work out. Foegele hasnt always been perfect, but his style of play, when he's on, has been incredible. He's fast, tenacious, plays great D, and can score. Jeannot too has brought qualities to the table that the team was searching for. When these three are playing into their roles, it's easy to overlook the overpayment to get them here. And it should be noted that the Kings just arent a destination right now. West coast team. A bit removed from relevancy. Overpaying for the guys you want is what you have to do, and you live with it as long as your properly identify the guys you need.
If this team can continue to push in the direction it's been going, i think you have to like your chances for them to do some damage in the playoffs, because ultimately, this season is going to be viewed purely by how they perform there. If they get knocked out in the 1st round again, nothing else matters. If they can find a way to remain high in teh standings, and avoid one of the better teams in the 1st round, i think it would go a long ways towards helping them take that next step.
But who teh f*** knows what to expect right now. They just finished a 5 game win streak against several very good teams. It's their longest streak of the season, and with the sting of last season's cratering around this time, i still hesitate to place any bets on what comes next. But i definitely like what ive seen as of late.
-------------------------------------------------
it's worth noting too, and ive been constantly trying to keep it in the back of my mind so far this season... they put in a new system. Byfield is playing a "new" position. They lost Doughty. The inconsistency should be expected to a certain degree.
Last edited:
As of late, and on the season as a whole, the Kings are exceeding expectations. The players Blake brought in in the offseason have all paid dividends so far, and we are getting it done on defense without having Doughty available.
Biggest surprise on offense so far this season for me is Laf, who I expected to be good but not this good or this complete. Better yet, placing skill aside, he seems to out-think the competition and is just seriously impressive. Turcotte hasn't yet put together his offensive game, but he has been a difference maker on the team. Kopi and Kempe have also been impressive, and Foegele (who I was most excited about getting the offseason) and Jeannot both seem like glue players which the team was lacking in last season.
On defense, the biggest surprise is how well Clarke has adjusted to the NHL. I thought he would struggle physically (especially as teams seem to like to target and take runs at him) but he has done way better than I could have imagined. Gav has also played way above expectations, as have Edmundson (who honestly I wasn't a fan of picking up - but he has proved me wrong), Spence and Moverare. Mikey has been solid as expected.
The sad thing is that I think this team is better without Doughty than they are with him as they don't have one player to constantly rely. Hopefully when Doughty comes back he can reign in his minutes and lessen the number of extended shifts per game, allowing the younger players like Clarke and Spence to still get key opportunities.
I still think, come playoff time, we are lacking in size on the backend and goaltending may still be a weak point. Our most glaring weakness, however, remains the Power Play which Doughty's return should help boost but fundamentally just looks broken.
Biggest surprise on offense so far this season for me is Laf, who I expected to be good but not this good or this complete. Better yet, placing skill aside, he seems to out-think the competition and is just seriously impressive. Turcotte hasn't yet put together his offensive game, but he has been a difference maker on the team. Kopi and Kempe have also been impressive, and Foegele (who I was most excited about getting the offseason) and Jeannot both seem like glue players which the team was lacking in last season.
On defense, the biggest surprise is how well Clarke has adjusted to the NHL. I thought he would struggle physically (especially as teams seem to like to target and take runs at him) but he has done way better than I could have imagined. Gav has also played way above expectations, as have Edmundson (who honestly I wasn't a fan of picking up - but he has proved me wrong), Spence and Moverare. Mikey has been solid as expected.
The sad thing is that I think this team is better without Doughty than they are with him as they don't have one player to constantly rely. Hopefully when Doughty comes back he can reign in his minutes and lessen the number of extended shifts per game, allowing the younger players like Clarke and Spence to still get key opportunities.
I still think, come playoff time, we are lacking in size on the backend and goaltending may still be a weak point. Our most glaring weakness, however, remains the Power Play which Doughty's return should help boost but fundamentally just looks broken.
LAKingSteve
Super Star
It's very hard for me to say with any confidence right now. They are very up and down...when they are down, they are below any expectations I had and when they are playing like they have over the past 5 games, they are exceeding my expectations. Talk to me after this road trip and I might have a more firm opinion.
VCRW
Classic player
Simply put… Old Man Kopi, Laffy, Foegele, Turc, Clarke/Edmundson, Anderson/Gavi have by themselves lifted this team to a place that far exceeds expectations. Please! May it continue!
Moverare seems to have focused Spence who had very uneven performances previous to Jacob getting the call up.
Top to bottom, the Kings seem to be a far more complete team this year despite the lack of a superstar goalie.
Moverare seems to have focused Spence who had very uneven performances previous to Jacob getting the call up.
Top to bottom, the Kings seem to be a far more complete team this year despite the lack of a superstar goalie.
DarkLeftHand
Super Star
Didn’t this team do something similar 4 seasons ago, when Drew Doughty was out for a prolonged period? They were winning games by committee, and that was the first of our three consecutive playoff losses against Edmonton, but it was also the only instance where they actually looked capable of beating Edmonton, before ultimately losing seven games. Hmmm….
dannybuoy1
Cause Mitchrock said so
I still do not know what their identity is. Last two years they certainly had one, and prior their identity for 6 seasons was poop sandwich.
Doughty will help for sure, but they need a scoring winger bad. After that I will still have no friggin clue.
Doughty will help for sure, but they need a scoring winger bad. After that I will still have no friggin clue.
orpheus
The Dolphin Cares!
Kopitar is aging wonderfully. Part of it is because of his hockey IQ. He sees the game so well, knows what to do.
I remember when the Kings singed Danault and I liked that signing, but also, thinking, that contract is twice as long as it should be. And in this year he seems off. And Q not brining it isn't helping.
I feel like this team isn't a cup contender, but can actually win a playoff round this year. Small steps.
I remember when the Kings singed Danault and I liked that signing, but also, thinking, that contract is twice as long as it should be. And in this year he seems off. And Q not brining it isn't helping.
I feel like this team isn't a cup contender, but can actually win a playoff round this year. Small steps.
Now Chirping
- No one is chatting at the moment.