Should You Expect A Regression From The Kings?

Let us look at the positives: the Los Angeles Kings had among the best defenses in the NHL last year and made the playoffs. The poor? The group is filled with dead-weight contracts which have obliterated their depth and they got easily bumped in the first round of the playoffs.
Despite the negatives, you will be hard-pressed to locate a better core nucleus on a team with Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick. Kopitar is the reigning Selke Trophy winner and Doughty is coming off an excellent 2015-16 season that saw him win the Norris Trophy.
The question remains: can the Kings’ low-scoring, defensive-minded play conceal their issues with depth and direct them to the next deep playoff series?
Stanley Cup +1800
It seems like a distant memory, but LA hoisted the cup at the 2013-14 season. The team then followed up that performance by not making the playoffs the following season and a miserable first-round ousting the year after.
The crux of the Kings is battle-tested and more than able to hold its own at a Stanley Cup series, but how the rest of the team fares is hard to predict. And heaven forbid the very best players on the group struck a scoring slump in the playoffs because relying on the bottom-six forwards for offense is sure to doom LA.. That’s not to say they can’t create a run based on incredible defense and also a red-hot goalie in Quick.
Western Conference +750
The Conference is filled with teams. The perennially contending Chicago Blackhawks still look like the class of the conference but there are still emerging powerhouses in St. Louis and Anaheim. For the Kings to win the Western Conference for the third time in six months, they need to have the ability to beat these 3 groups.
The Kings combined for a middling 5-4-2 record against the Blackhawks, Blues and Kings last year. In reality, among those three groups, LA’s only winning album was against the Blackhawks.
Pacific Division +225
Even though the Kings have won two Stanley Cups in the previous five seasons, they have never won a Pacific Division title. In fact, the only time that the Kings finished the regular season atop their division was in 1990-91 when they awakened the Smythe Division. It’s very sensible that the Kings could end that drought this season — as they’re co-faves with the Ducks — however they need to prevent another crippling slump.
The Kings squandered a 10-point division lead last year to the Ducks following the team imploded to shut the year out. LA was 30-16-3 entering the all-star break last season and then faltered to a pedestrian 18-18-3 for the rest of the season.
The largest cause of this collapse was their struggles within the branch, since the Kings went only 10-7-0 contrary to the Pacific after the all-star break compared with 8-4 before. When you factor in that six of those wins after the break came against Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, you can be justifiably concerned entering this year.
Point Total OVER/UNDER 97.5
In Darryl Sutter’s three full seasons as head coach of the Kings — we are not such as the shortened 2012-13 year — the group has averaged 99 points per season. It’s really hard to see that this team regressing too much after posting 102 points last season, however a slight drop could be expected contemplating their Travels near last season.
In order to surpass the 97.5-point mark, a few older gamers will probably need to provide scoring. Goal scoring will especially be needed in the wings, as the sole winger to complete with more than 40 points every year was Milan Lucic, who signed with Edmonton this offseason.