The Athletic says the Kings finish with 91 points

[jt]

I took too long to write this and Jammer beat me to it. Please delete or merge.

2 behind the Oilers and Stars and just out of the playoffs.

https://theathletic.com/3094596/202...ances-in-the-second-half-of-the-nhl-season-2/

1st Half Schedule Strength: 0.517 (2nd)

Home/Away: 25/18

2nd Half Schedule Strength: 0.487 (28th)

Home/Away: 16/23

While everyone has been looking at Edmonton and Vancouver fighting for a spot, or the surprising Ducks, it seems the Kings have been getting overlooked a fair bit. Los Angeles is the team that’s actually in the driver’s seat based on its current point pace, narrowly edging out the Oilers and Ducks.

It’s going to be a dog fight, but the model has really come around on the Kings thanks to resurgent seasons from Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick, plus key offseason additions, Viktor Arvidsson and Philipp Danault, being even better than expected. The Kings look ready to steal a playoff spot and have been playing some really inspiring hockey of late, earning the third-best expected goal rate in the league during the New Year at 57.5 percent.

They’re legit, and though their home/road splits look really tough down the stretch, that’s offset slightly by a huge shift in schedule strength going from second-toughest to fifth-easiest.

The Oilers need a goalie they probably won't get (who would be an improvement over injured Smith and mediocre Koskinen) and that may keep them from hitting 93 points.

The Stars will probably trade Klingberg and if it's for prospects and picks, they'll be worse and probably not get the 93 points predicted. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up below 90 even with the team they have.

Time to make a couple moves for a LD and scoring W to get those 3 points and give the kids some playoff experience.

 

[DryKing]

Maybe it's time to bring up Vilardi and try him out on Kopitar's wing. I'd like to see Spence come up too.

Really the Kings have a good enough team to make the playoffs with or without making any trades. It's just about putting the right players on the active roster at this point.