Additions: None
Subtractions: LW Ethan Moreau (retired)
UFAs: RW Scott Parse, RW Trent Hunter
Promotion candidates: D Jake Muzzin, D Thomas Hickey, RW Tyler Toffoli, G Martin Jones
Los
Angeles did win the first three games of every series for the first
time in League history, and doing so as the road team in Games 1 and
2 each time made it even more stunning. The Kings simultaneously
became one of the most unexpected and most dominant champions in the
history of the Stanley Cup. "This is as good as it can get. I've
won world juniors, Calder Cup and now the Stanley Cup," Jeff
Carter said. "For a Canadian boy growing up, you dream about
winning the Stanley Cup. When you have the chance and it actually
happens, it's almost a surreal feeling. Today, bringing it back to my
family and friends, it all kind of comes together and it's pretty
special." The Kings also had an offseason unlike any for recent
Cup champions. General manager Dean Lombardi retained every
significant free agent, including unrestricted forwards Dustin
Penner and Jarrett
Stoll. Every player who dressed for a playoff game is back, a
rarity because champions often face attrition as player values are
typically inflated by winning the Cup. Lombardi's big move of the
offseason was singing Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan
Quick to a 10-year, $58 million contract extension which begins
in 2013-14. There is an incredible amount of continuity in Los
Angeles, not just from last season to the forthcoming one. Penner,
defenseman Rob
Scuderi and forward Simon
Gagne are the only key guys who can be UFAs next summer, and
captain Dustin
Brown is the only core player who isn't signed for at least three
more seasons. "The first thing you think about as a coach, these
guys are all young enough, they've got to try it again," Kings
coach Darryl
Sutter told reporters just moments after lifting the Cup for the
first time. There are sure to be concerns that crop up for Sutter.
Quick had what the team called "minor surgery" on his back
earlier this month, and he might not be ready for full-time duty in
goal by the start of the regular season. While Gagne missed a huge
chunk of last season because of a concussion, the Kings were pretty
fortunate on the injury front, especially in the postseason.
Another remarkable feat for the Kings in the playoffs was Los Angeles
played six defensemen and one goaltender in 20 postseason games. That
would be almost impossible to repeat given the rugged nature of the
Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Kings will also have to deal with
complacency, and the idea of reversing recent history. Last season
the defending champion Boston
Bruins had a terrible first month before bulldozing opponents
during a two-month stretch of dominance rarely seen in League
history. At that point, the Bruins' chances of repeating looked
great, but like the Chicago Blackhawks before them they didn't reach
the second round during their title defense. The 2011-12 season was a
tale of two halves for the Kings. They were inept offensively and
struggling to stay on the edge of the top eight in the Western
Conference for the first half, then they were a juggernaut in the
second. After the Kings acquired Carter for Jack
Johnson from the Columbus Blue Jackets (and reports that captain
Dustin Brown
was available for a possible trade), Los Angeles went 29-9-3
including the postseason run. That's 41 games at a 122-point pace.
Expecting a similar rate of success during the 2012-13 regular season
is probably folly, as would expecting a similar express route to the
Cup. Still, few other elite teams made significant improvements this
offseason, and the Kings could very well be the first NHL champ to
defend their crown in 15 years.
The Los
Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup and brought back every
significant player from the first title-winning team in franchise
history, so there aren't going to be a lot of questions for the
club to answer as the 2012-13 season approaches. Los Angeles will
be considered one of the favorites in the Western Conference this
season, but the Kings were not one of the best in 2011-12 until
late in the season. Some production levels from players may not be
sustainable, and injuries are bound to occur. The Kings can look
no further than the Boston
Bruins, who won the Cup in 2011 and for the first half of last
season looked primed to repeat before a couple of injuries and the
wear and tear of trying to repeat ultimately felled them in a
first-round upset by the Washington
Capitals.
Jonathan
Quick had two strong seasons for the Kings prior to 2011-12, but
even then he wasn't clear of the possibility of uber-prospect
Jonathan
Bernier usurping him. Not only did Quick put that idea to rest
last season, his rise to superstardom was one of the biggest
reasons for the Kings' title run. After a Vezina Trophy-finalist
and Conn Smythe Trophy-winning season, Quick cemented his place in
Los Angeles with a 10-year, $58 million contract extension. He
also had what the Kings deemed "minor surgery" on his
back earlier this month to repair a disc fragment and an
inflammatory cyst. The Kings said his timetable for recovery was a
minimum of six weeks. If Quick isn't ready when the season starts,
it would be an opportunity for Bernier to showcase his abilities.
Los Angeles will be in no rush with Quick, in part because of
Bernier and also because the Kings need their No. 1 goaltender to
be at his best if the team is going to defend its title.
The
NHL has a long history of dynasties and teams defending their
championships, but that hasn't been the case recently. No club has
repeated since the Detroit Red Wings captured the Cup in 1997 and
1998. The Red Wings were one game from completing the feat in
2009, but the Pittsburgh
Penguins denied them. Few, if any, champions in recent NHL
history can boast the kind of continuity the Kings were able to
keep this offseason. Everyone is back, and aside from Quick,
currently healthy. Last season proved to be unlike any other in
Kings' history, but this forthcoming campaign will be as well. Los
Angeles is now the target for 29 other teams, and expectations
have never been higher. That said, the Kings are loaded and, on
paper, look primed for a serious run at a repeat. One of their
biggest opponents may be themselves, can they recapture the
incredible form that helped them steamroll through the Stanley Cup
Playoffs, or at least a close facsimile?
For
the second straight season, a team claimed the Stanley Cup despite
a porous power play in the postseason. While the Kings players and
coach Darryl
Sutter defended it on a daily basis, Los Angeles' work with
the extra man (with a few exceptions) was deficient. Los Angeles'
power play was middle of the pack during the regular season (tied
for 16th at 17.0 percent), but the Kings converted only 12.8
percent of their chances in the postseason, and that number was
inflated by a couple 5-on-3 tallies against the Phoenix Coyotes
and the three-goal outburst after Steve
Bernier's major penalty in Game 6 of the Final against the New
Jersey Devils. Having sniper Jeff
Carter around for a full season, as well as more man-advantage
time for defenseman Slava
Voynov, could help the Kings boost their power play back to
more respectable figures.
This
is connected to the power-play question, and comes with a bit of a
disclaimer. Los Angeles did score plenty of goals near the end of
last season and once the postseason began. That said, the Kings
finished the regular season 29th in goals per game at 2.29 per
contest. There were plenty of reasons for the increase, adding
Carter helped balance the lines and deflect some defensive
attention from Anze
Kopitar and Dustin
Brown, adding Jordan
Nolan and Dwight
King provided depth scoring, Dustin
Penner started producing like the player he had been before he
came to Southern California, etc. The question now is, will Penner
and King continue to produce at their Spring 2012 levels? Even
Brown and Kopitar's regular-season production was depressed from
recent seasons before they starred in the playoffs. If the Kings
play like they did in their last 40 games or so (including the
postseason), offense will not be a problem. Having a healthy Simon
Gagne and a full season of those additions mentioned above
could even make the Kings an above-average offensive club.
By
returning everyone who donned a sweater during the 2012 playoffs,
general manager Dean Lombardi has ensured the Kings will be among
the favorites in 2013 but also blocked several young players from
a clear path to NHL opportunity. Jonathan Bernier has been waiting
for three years, but at least he's doing so at the big-league
level and earning some NHL experience in the process. Others may
not be so lucky this season. Andrei Loktionov, Kyle
Clifford and Jake
Muzzin have NHL experience, but could all end up waiting their
turn with Manchester in the American Hockey League, not to mention
players who'd almost certainly see an NHL debut in other
organizations, Tyler
Toffoli and Martin
Jones. Should the Kings run into injury problems, there will
be some exciting options available. It is a testament to the
organizational depth Lombardi has constructed in the past few
years.
While
Dean Lombardi re-signed every notable free agent Los Angeles had
and locked up Quick with a long-term deal, he didn't add anyone.
That said, the Kings still have nearly $8 million in salary-cap
space, according to Capgeek.com. There were reports that Lombardi
was interested in Zach
Parise, just as the GM had tried to lure another Devils
forward, Ilya
Kovalchuk, to Los Angeles. As the season approaches, the Kings
don't need anything; however, a serious injury, or just the desire
to inject new energy, could lead Lombardi to tweak his roster even
after bringing everyone back.
When Los
Angeles Kings forward Simon
Gagne returned from a concussion during the Stanley Cup Final,
the veteran told reporters he was trying to view the series as "a
last chance" to claim hockey's most coveted trophy. Gagne had
been close twice before, and he knew, whether it was injury or
just the difficulty of winning a championship, that opportunities
like the one the Kings had might not be available in abundance in
the future for a 32-year-old. Not only did Gagne and the Kings
complete a remarkable run to the franchise's first Stanley Cup,
but they might not have to wait long for a chance at claiming it
again, and he could play a vital role. The Kings return every
player who dressed for a 2012 Stanley Cup Playoff game, and given
the lack of marquee moves by other top contenders from last
season, Los Angeles looks set to enter the campaign with maybe the
best chance to repeat as champion since the Detroit
Red Wings won again in 1998. Not only is everyone back, but
Gagne will have had a full offseason to get healthy. He missed the
final 47 games of the regular season and the first 16 playoff
contests, but was back in the lineup for Games 3-6 during the Cup
Final. He logged a little more than 32 minutes of ice time in
those four games, but the mental relief they provided to a player
who has dealt with multiple long-term injuries, including multiple
concussions, was significant. "The way things were going, I
was confident I was going to be OK, but if you had to wait the
whole summer before playing a game, it is a long wait," Gagne
said during the Final. "It could have been a long summer to
think about it, maybe putting a little bit of stress on yourself.
Not the type of stress you want to have in the summer, summer is
the time to get ready for next season and relax and recover and
get ready. For me to come back and be able to test myself and play
and feeling good about it, it was something that I was really
looking forward to." Now that the Kings might have Gagne at
full health, he could be like a new signing in 2012-13. The Kings
struggled to score last season until they traded for Jeff
Carter and promoted Dwight
King, Jordan
Nolan and Slava
Voynov to bigger roles. With unrestricted free agent Dustin
Penner retained on a one-year contract, there might not be a
spot in the top six forwards for Gagne, but that could make him
one of the League's top third-line threats. Gagne averaged nearly
41 goals in the three seasons he was able to stay healthy from
2005-09, but there also was a campaign cut to 25 games mixed in.
He hasn't played more than 63 games in any of the past three
seasons, and has 41 goals in those seasons combined, but even
15-20 goals from Gagne would offer scoring depth the Kings didn't
have last season. More than that could make a club already
dominant at preventing goals downright frightening at the
offensive end as well. Gagne will be a free agent at the end of
this season, but 2012-13 will be another chance for him to chase
the Cup while trying to prove he can still play at a high level
and stay healthy. "I think the main thing was that the team
and the medical staff, the doctors, they gave me the time to rest
and come back 100 percent," Gagne said. "I was skating
in March and I was feeling pretty good, but not good enough, not
100 percent. I was maybe 95 percent, but that was not good enough
for me, for the team, for the doctors. I have to say in the past I
went back and played at 95 percent with that type of injury. I
think the medicine is getting better. The doctors are more aware
of that injury, and I think you are going to see guys take more of
the time to come back. We're starting to learn a little bit about
it. "After about three weeks after the injury, I knew it
wasn't really similar to what I had in the past. It wasn't that
bad. Because of my [history] with this injury, we took double
caution with the doctors and made sure that I got the right rest,
the right exam, to make sure everything was fine. That's what we
did, and now I have to say I give total credit to our doctors here
in L.A., the medical staff, they really put me in the best
situation for me to get back and be 100 percent. The more we kept
playing and the more we kept winning in the playoffs, I was like,
‘Oh, maybe there is going to be a chance for me to come back and
test it before next season.'
If the lineup below
looks quite familiar, it's because the Los
Angeles Kings took the phrase "getting the band back
together" pretty seriously. Los Angeles completed an incredible
run to its first Stanley Cup title, then retained every player who
dressed for a playoff game. Dustin
Penner was an unrestricted free agent, but he re-upped on a
one-year contract. The Kings did not make a big move to improve the
club, but general manager Dean Lombardi has a roster full of Cup
winners and plenty of salary-cap space to work with, according to
Capgeek.com. Lombardi's biggest move of the offseason was locking up
Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan
Quick with a 10-year, $58 million contract. There are some
intriguing prospects who might be ready for full-time NHL duty, but
it is going to take injuries for them to get a chance during the
early stages of the season.
Forwards
Dustin
Brown - Anze
Kopitar - Justin
Williams
Dustin
Penner - Mike
Richards - Jeff
Carter
Dwight
King - Jarrett
Stoll - Simon
Gagne
Jordan
Nolan - Colin Fraser - Trevor
Lewis
Brad
Richardson - Kevin
Westgarth
Defensemen
Rob
Scuderi - Drew
Doughty
Willie
Mitchell - Slava
Voynov
Alec
Martinez - Matt
Greene
Davis
Drewiske
Goaltenders
Jonathan
Quick
Jonathan
Bernier
NOTES:
Not
only does coach Darryl
Sutter have everyone back from a lineup that was essentially the
same for every playoff game from the middle of the second round on,
but Gagne is healthy and could be primed for a bounce-back season.
Those top two lines were so effective in dispatching the St.
Louis Blues, Phoenix
Coyotes and New
Jersey Devils once Sutter moved Penner to the second unit that it
would certainly make sense to start this season with that alignment.
Gagne could be a top-six forward, but he might have to settle for
third-line duty with Stoll and possibly playoff goal-poacher King.
This lineup doesn't even include Andrei Loktianov or Kyle
Clifford, let alone prospect Tyler
Toffoli. Any of those players would probably see regular minutes
for a lot of teams. The defense was aligned in the same way for
virtually the entire postseason, and Quick logged every minute in
net. There has been some speculation about the Kings trading Bernier,
but Lombardi doesn't have any particular needs at this point. If the
Kings do need cover on defense, prospects Jake
Muzzin and Thomas
Hickey are likely ready for a chance to prove they belong in the
big leagues. If Bernier does get dealt, Martin
Jones could be ready for NHL duty in his place.
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