Out of gas. Hit a wall. Wasted. Pooped. Spent. Beat. Bushed. Drained. Dead. However you want to phrase it, the Los Angeles Kings have simply run out of energy. Following one of the league's toughest schedules in March, by all accounts and purposes, the over-performing Kings have crashed back down to the Earth in the most ungraceful manner with a stinky 0-3 road trip, in which their recent matchup against Minnesota saw them not only blow a 3-0 lead in a very short amount of time, but also surrender six goals against.
Nothing about the team has been consistent over the past 74 games--aside from the consistent rash of injuries. On nights that their goaltending is superb, their offense fails to show up. When they could use some help from their goalie, both Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen have turned in average-at-best replacement level performances. This is not to pin the team's woes on them. While they aren't performing at a Vezina quality, the skaters in front of them aren't exactly all playing at Norris/Hart/Selke levels, either.
Much of that is due to the aforementioned injuries, which has seen players forced to elevate their games beyond their readiness or roles (i.e. Olli Määttä being thrust into a first pairing role or asking 21-year-old rookie in all senses Jordan Spence to be a reliable third pairing NHL defenseman). Alex Edler missed three months and has been slow in his return to the lineup. The losses of Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty (who is now out for the rest of the season following a wrist surgery) are also weighing heavily on the blue line where Matt Roy and Määttä are forced to shoulder the load along with the rusty Edler and Troy Stecher. The former Red Wing has been a big boon to the weary Reign players, but as expected, has not been the team's saving grace--though that was never the intention in trading for him.
What looked like a sure bet two weeks ago to make the playoffs is now looking like dicey odds. The Vegas Golden Knights, with a game in hand, have managed to win their way back into a bubble spot whilst the Kings have slipped into the third spot behind the red hot Edmonton Oilers with blow points against the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Seattle Kraken looming large.
In this short podcast episode, Sarah and Robyn discuss the team's potential to make the postseason (despite head coach Todd McLellan's insistence that this is the team's "playoffs") and how disappointing it could be if the team manages to miss out on playing more games in May.
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26 Mar 2022
Crown Conversations: Post Trade Deadline Madness
The trade deadline may have come and gone very quietly for L.A., but other teams around the league were busy making moves for what they hope will be a deep playoff run. On this special episode, Ryan Dunn and Sarah Avampato join James and Robyn to discuss the Kings' (lack of) trades and what will hopefully be a lengthy playoff for the team's AHL affiliate, Ontario Reign. Questions pondered include how will Troy Stecher fit in with the team and what are they going to do with their 12 restricted free agents and how that impacted the deadline day? "Dry Island" makes a special appearance in this episode and all four take a strange trip down memory lane.
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19 Mar 2022
Crown Conversations: LA Kings Trade Dead(line) Day
On Thursday, at the morning ahead of their final season tilt against the San Jose Sharks , the Los Angeles Kings and their fans got possibly the best trade deadline acquisition news possible: Alex Edler would be returning to the lineup. Out with a broken ankle for 110 days, the team’s inexperienced blue liners sorely missed Edler’s calm, stabilizing presence.
On this episode of Crown Conversations, James and Robyn discuss potential trade deadline moves for the Kings. With Ken Hughes getting quite a haul in return for Ben Chiarot, should Rob Blake consider moving on from some of the young players? But does that help the team? And what kind of moves could the team make over the summer? Injuries forced the issue and the prospects have responded in a big way. It’s good and a great problem to have. But now difficult decisions abound for Blake and the front office. What the future of this team looks like is still anybody’s guess.
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