"On paper, this is a team that should be taking a clear step into a new era: Anže Kopitar is nearing retirement after a successful career, Brandt Clarke and Quinton Byfield are emerging, and the front office has invested heavily in a core that's supposed to push them forward."
"Instead, the on‑ice product has been messy, directionless at times, and out of sync with what fans expected from a franchise that used to be defined by structure, discipline, and a clear sense of who it was. At the core of the identity crisis is the fact that the Kings are caught between two timelines. They still lean on franchise icons like Kopitar and Drew Doughty for leadership and stability,"
"The result has been a style that doesn't fully commit to either the heavy, suffocating defensive identity that won Cups a decade ago or the fast‑paced, high‑skill game today's NHL demands. This shows up in their night‑to‑night inconsistency. Some games, they look like a modern, aggressive team pushing the pace and creating quality chances. Other nights, they revert to slow, cautious play, getting pinned in their own zone and taking low‑percentage shots from the outside."
The Los Angeles Kings face an identity crisis as veterans like Anže Kopitar and Drew Doughty remain central while younger players such as Brandt Clarke and Quinton Byfield are being given more responsibility. The team alternates between a heavy, defensive approach and a fast, high-skill style, resulting in no reliable default game and frequent night-to-night inconsistency. The on-ice product has been messy and out of sync with historical franchise expectations of structure and discipline. The season features many overtime games, reflected in a 22-16-13 record through 51 games, suggesting issues closing games or slow starts.
Read at The Hockey Writers
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]