The Kings’ season barely made it to May last year and general manager Rob Blake was perhaps the most reclusive executive in the NHL over the summer, but a new campaign is upon them and hours before it began Blake broke his silence.
So, will it all be worth the wait?
“It’s the same, we are going to do what we can to get into the playoffs, and then we want to see how we’re equipped for that,” Blake said.
What isn’t the same at all is the Kings’ lineup, which features seven outright additions and three promotions at the outset of the season, which Blake said would challenge the team to adjust early in the year after an encouraging training camp.
Another key difference will be the Kings’ neutral-zone forecheck, drifting away from the 1-3-1 configuration and implementing a 1-2-2 formation for both set and fluid situations, albeit with varying degrees of aggressiveness.
“The overall philosophy with the change in the coaching staff and some new players and different things, they wanted to address that style or that system of play. That’s where the 1-2-2 came in,” Blake said.
He added: “I think depth, and the ability to play a little quicker based off of some positioning on turnovers and that and where they want to get to, I think it fits the style of this team that (Coach) Jim (Hiller) has in front of him here to start the season.”
Among the new additions to the club are its freshest face, rookie Andre Lee, as well as Stanley Cup winners like new No. 1 goalie Darcy Kuemper and big-bodied defenseman Joel Edmundson. Drew Doughty described Edmundson as replacing much of what the Kings lost with Matt Roy – Blake said they had pursued Roy “right up ‘til free agency” though “circumstances went the other way” as he signed with Washington – but with Doughty set to miss multiple months with a broken ankle, Blake said the approach on defense would be very much by committee.
“[In the absence of Roy and Doughty], it’s going to be a combination of all six, I think all of them will have to contribute there,” Blake said.
Lee, who joined lottery pick-turned-restoration project Alex Turcotte and veteran Trevor Lewis on the fourth line, “flat-out outplayed other players” in camp and “kept earning the trust of the coaches,” Blake said. A native of Karlstad, Sweden, Lee’s parents traveled to Buffalo for his debut Thursday.
With Hiller in place for a full season (he took the helm from Todd McLellan on an interim basis in February), a new system and a multitude of new roster components, part of this season will also be about emerging from the long shadow of the costly and abjectly miserable Pierre-Luc Dubois acquisition last year, which ended in his being sent to Washington after just one of the eight seasons on his $68 million contract.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Blake had strapped on all his equipment and skated with Dubois in an effort to motivate him. Friedman said he couldn’t recall a similar episode between an executive and player, but Blake downplayed the significance and perceived unprecedented nature of the incident.
“I don’t think it’s anything un-normal that I haven’t done in the past years with different players, it’s more of a development-type role … we went on just to work on some fundamentals,” Blake said.
Without Dubois in the middle of the third line, a significant role opened for Quinton Byfield. The second pick of the 2020 draft, along with Kevin Fiala and Warren Foegele, could restore the overall line balance and mismatch potential of the third line to the levels they were at in 2022-23 before the Kings set their sights on a move that cost them dearly in their build.
While Brandt Clarke will certainly be a player to watch on the back end, all eyes will be on Byfield as he seeks to emerge as a three-zone force and consistent producer.
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“He’s much more mature than he was a few years ago, physically. We saw his ability to play (at center) last year and we expect him to continue to grow there,” Blake said. “I think it’s that leadership role of taking over your own line, but also being a very good young leader on this team.”
The Kings kicked off their longest road trip of 2024-25 on Thursday, and will next travel to Boston to face the Bruins on Saturday.
