When it comes to the Pacific Division, the Los Angeles Kings have to be considered the favorites to win it. Los Angeles won a Stanley Cup in 2012 and followed up with an impressive campaign in 2013, taking another long run to the Conference Final before being knocked out by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks.
Los Angeles also has nearly the same identical team that won the Stanley Cup intact, including a core of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Drew Doughty, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter. This is one of the deepest teams in hockey and should be considered one of the top favorites to take home the hardware again.
There has not been a whole lot of movement this offseason in Los Angeles, and that is probably a good thing. Dustin Penner, a decent but inconsistent left winger with a big contract, bolted for crosstown rival Anaheim, and the Kings gave up Jonathan Bernier and received Ben Scrivens and Matt Frattin in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bernier is a great goaltender, but it was not fair to keep him waiting in Quick’s shadow. Scrivens can be a reliable backup and Frattin is a depth forward.
The Kings also acqured Daniel Carcillo, a stereotypical agitator who will work wonders alongside Kyle Clifford to get underneath the skin of opponents. Jeff Schultz was added as a depth defenseman as well.
The key player to watch on Los Angeles is young defenseman Slava Voynov. Voynov made a name for himself in the 2013 playoffs, and has the potential to overtake even Doughty as the team’s top defenseman.
If Voynov can play like he did in the 2013 playoffs and the rest of the team can play like it did in the 2012 playoffs, the Kings will be extremely hard to beat.
Another thing to watch for with the Kings this year is their newly-formed rivalries caused by the realignment.
Vancouver has always been somewhat of a rival with Los Angeles, and they both combined for some pretty entertaining playoff series in recent years. The most recent was in 2012, when the eighth-seeded Kings knocked out the top-seeded Canucks out of the playoffs in the first round.
The Edmonton Oilers are another new rival for Los Angeles. The teams have always been linked due to the famous Wayne Gretzky trade that happened 25 years ago, but the quality of play on the ice this season should cause the games between these two should take this rivalry to the next level.
The Kings are a young but experienced team with a Cup already under their belt, and the Oilers are an up-and-coming team ready to make an impact.
Los Angeles was stopped short of back-to-back Stanley Cup titles for two reasons in 2013: a lack of scoring from top forwards and a formidable opponent.
In their third round series with Chicago, the Kings did not get much production at all from both Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. Instead, Chicago’s offense was good enough to put enough goals past Jonathan Quick to advance to the Final.
This was not the case in 2012, as everyone on the Kings roster was making contributions: something needed in order to win a championship.
Not all the fault falls on the Kings’ shoulders, though. They had to face the best team in hockey in the Chicago Blackhawks, and were simply beaten by the better team.
This year, the Kings will try to prove that they are the best team, and it is definitely possible that a Stanley Cup could come to Hollywood for the second time in three years.