As the NHL’s off-season unfolds, THN.com is analyzing the state of every team in the league in a special “Summer Splash” team-by-team series. Did they get better? Did they get worse? Or did they stay the same? That’s what we’re answering in these columns.
In every Summer Splash file, we’ll be going in reverse order in terms of improvement. And we’ll be breaking down the major and minor moves each team has made, focusing on trade and free-agent acquisitions, departures, and in certain cases, on hirings and firings.
To decide on the team rankings, the writers and editors at THN.com debated and decided what teams have improved, what teams stayed the same, and what teams got worse. On occasion, there’ll be exceptions to the rules, for instance, there are teams out there that aren’t notably worse than they were last year, but that made fewer moves of note than they should’ve or could’ve made. But otherwise, this is a simple analysis process.
We began the Summer Splash series late last week and focused on team No. 32, the Buffalo Sabres. We then turned to team No. 31, the Chicago Blackhawks, and on Saturday, we focused on the Winnipeg Jets. Today, the Los Angeles Kings are next under the microscope.
Additions
Joel Armia (RW), Corey Perry (RW), Cody Ceci (D), Brian Dumoulin (D), Anton Forsberg (G)
The Breakdown: The Kings were one of the most active teams this off-season, bringing in experienced hands at forward in Armia and Perry, radically remaking their blueline with the signings of D-men Ceci and Dumoulin, and finally, adding a backup goalie in Forsberg. Even a Kings team that finished second in the Pacific Division last season has felt the need to effect notable change, and with these additions, they have it.
New L.A. GM Ken Holland has never been shy about changing things up, and in his first off-season running things in Los Angeles, Holland once again has drastically altered the team he’s responsible for. Perry and Armia add grit and know-how, Ceci and Dumoulin provide depth on the back end, and Forsberg provides a capable understudy for Darcy Kuemper. You can’t say Holland hasn’t tried to improve his team. But as we’ll explain below, we don’t believe Holland has succeeded at that goal.
Departures
Vladislav Gavrikov (D), Jordan Spence (D)
The Breakdown: Let’s be real here – Gavrikov’s departure to the New York Rangers in free agency is a huge loss for the Kings. The veteran defenseman averaged 23:05 of ice time last season, second only to star Drew Doughty (24:08) – and Gavrikov’s penalty-kill average of 3:17 shorthanded minutes per game also demonstrates what a fixture Gavrikov was defensively for this Kings squad.
Trading Spence to the Ottawa Senators didn’t move the needle for the Kings, and replacing Gavrikov with Ceci, who is now on his seventh NHL team in the past nine years for good reason, is not anywhere close to an upgrade. Nor is Dumoulin going to make the Kings genuinely better, if better at all. L.A. may be slightly more experienced up front, but the poor trade-off of losing Gavrikov and replacing him with Ceci and Dumoulin is chiefly why the Kings are ranked here on our Summer Splash list.
Hirings
Ken Holland (GM)
Firings
Rob Blake (GM)
The Breakdown: After being unable to build a team that gets out of the first round, Blake and the Kings mutually agreed to part ways. And coming in is Holland, a fearless GM who helped craft the Edmonton Oilers team that has been a Stanley Cup finalist for the past two seasons – and a team that’s had the Kings’ number for years now. Blake always had his established group of core players to turn to, and he did so until the end. And while Holland has made many moves, he hasn’t really touched that core group.
However, Holland’s sledgehammer approach to the Kings’ peripheral players is no guarantee of greater success this coming season. Holland knows this team has veterans in Doughty and Anze Kopitar who may not have many shots left at a long Cup run, so he’s trading with a sense of urgency. There’s no denying he’s done that – we just don’t feel like he’s made the right moves.
The Bottom Line
We’re not here to tell you the Kings aren’t going to be a playoff team next season. They’ve got some solid depth in the right places – mostly at forward, with a small nod to the improved goalie tandem – and Los Angeles is still better than many, if not most, teams in their division.
With that out of the way, we also have to be dispassionate and consider all outcomes for this Kings team. And there’s no question the players Holland brought in are all question marks to one degree or another.
How much gas does Perry have left? Can Forsberg keep his save percentage above .900? Will the new-look defense corps be better equipped to handle another playoff showdown with the Oilers? Those are only a few of the questions regarding the Kings.
Thus, we can’t say we’re especially optimistic about this Los Angeles group after their many changes. The Kings weren’t a top team in goals-for last season, as they were 14th overall in that department, averaging 3.04 goals-for per game. And their power play was abysmal, as it ranked 27th in the league at 17.9 percent efficiency. Every other team below them in power-play effectiveness were non-playoff teams, and that tells you something about the offensive issues the Kings had last year.
There’s no great solution in that regard among the Kings’ new players, as Perry is well past his prime and Armia isn’t known for his offense. And the worry with the general state of the defense corps is justifiable. So until we see this team play the way Holland envisions they can play at their best, we’re going to be skeptical that the Kings did anything other than take a step back, however slight that step may be.
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