EL SEGUNDO –– The Kings entered last season with national media buzz unseen since their glory years ended a decade earlier and they produced a start to match.
But an abysmal midseason stretch cost coach Todd McLellan his job and elicited a frantic playoff push that produced just two postseason home games, both losses, with one goal scored between them, as well as the abrupt end of the costly Pierre-Luc Dubois experiment.
Sans Dubois – as well as departed peripheral leaders like Matt Roy and Viktor Arvidsson – the reimagined Kings have at least three burning questions to answer.
Is the dream over?
The Kings used shrewd trades and savvy signings to stock remarkable depth in terms of their skaters and right defensemen in particular. But two offseasons ago they gave up what turned out to be their best trade chip, Brock Faber, and a first-round pick for Kevin Fiala, who has delivered in large measure. Then last year, they reconfigured the cosmos to land Dubois and retain defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who is now again in a contract year.
Dubois is now in Washington, sent there in a massive salary dump that also netted veteran goalie Darcy Kuemper, and so is Roy, who signed there as a free agent, leaving the Kings with nothing to show for him. They actually ended up with negative value for Sean Durzi, Sean Walker and Helge Grans, all of whom are right-handed shots, the sort they could use now with Drew Doughty facing a long recovery from ankle surgery. Beyond the blue line, the Dubois deal also cost the Kings two-way standout Gabriel Vilardi along with the versatile Alex Iafallo and 2019 first-rounder Rasmus Kupari.
Over the summer, center Phillip Danault told TVA Sports in French that it was clear that all the moves to acquire Dubois had hurt the Kings and that the upcoming campaign was make-or-break for the club.
“When I came in, three years ago, I think it was in the system to be pretty much a contender at this point. I had that in my vision as well, I believed in it, too,” Danault said at training camp. “Last year we had a little step sideways, and now we have to get back on the right track again, and take it to the next level as well.”
Will Quinton Byfield emerge as the team’s best player?
In the preseason, Byfield answered this question affirmatively, pouring in a hat trick against Boston and producing a spectacular assist against Florida in consecutive games played in Quebec City. The question represents a significant step forward for the Kings, who once had to field less flattering queries about Byfield. They will be banking on Byfield as well as the full-time presence of two other former lottery picks, Brandt Clarke and Alex Turcotte, to help elevate their profile.
Byfield surmounted significant setbacks in the form of a broken ankle and a viral illness that robbed him of significant development to emerge as a force for the Kings last season. His stretch of 40 points in 48 games, as well as the speed and physical dominance he showed at times, were alluring enough to secure him a five-year, $31.25 million extension over the summer as well as the confidence to carry a line, which he did at various points last season.
He’ll do so from the middle, not the wing, now that Dubois is in the East and the Kings’ confidence in 2020’s No. 2 overall pick has been restored, apparently. He’s been centering a line with Kevin Fiala and Warren Foegele primarily. So can he succeed as an impact center?
“Why not? He’s big, he’s fast, he’s willing to compete on both sides of the ice and I cannot tell you why not,” Fiala said.
Is change a good thing?
The Kings hung onto their interim coaches (coach Jim Hiller and assistant D.J. Smith) but ditched the 1-3-1 neutral-zone forecheck and lost players in free agency that had been central to their identity.
Out are Roy, Arvidsson, Dubois, Blake Lizotte, Cam Talbot and Carl Grundstrom; in are Joel Edmundson, Foegele, Tanner Jeannot, Kyle Burroughs, Kuemper and a handful of promoted prospects, possibly including camp’s big surprise, Andre Lee.
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In effect, the Kings subtracted a bit of skill and added some grit up front, while tweaking both a defense corps and core system component that made getting up ice a labored endeavor at times last season. Those personnel and structural changes come against a backdrop of attitudinal emphasis from management and coaching alike in the hopes of icing a more rugged and resilient lineup.
“It’s about not letting each other down in this locker room, and making sure that everybody’s pulling their weight and pulling in the same direction,” team captain Anze Kopitar said. “With a few additions this summer, I think Blakey did a good job bringing in, I guess, a different variety of guys.”
