LOS ANGELES –– Meet the new Kings, (almost) the same as the old Kings.
Ahead of their season-opening, back-to-back set in which they’ll host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, Coach Jim Hiller offered a glimpse of his opening-night lineup.
Save for one injury-related swap, the top nine forwards, top four defenseman and starting goalie were all copied and pasted from the Kings’ fourth straight first-round ouster at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers.
At the outset of 2025-26, the Kings could define insanity or defy the odds, placing their belief in a very similar group that they hope produces a very different result.
Continuity or stagnation?
As leading scorer Adrian Kempe pointed out last season after the Kings’ most impressive offensive displays last year –– 14 goals in one weekend and then eight in a game a week later –– it was hard to tell who the Kings truly were offensively. They were 27th in goals and 30th in power-play efficiency up until the trade deadline, but first and 12th, respectively, in those categories down the stretch.
There are some new names –– backup goalie Anton Forsberg; fourth-line reinforcements Joel Armia and Corey Perry; and the new veteran third pairing of Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci –– but in large measure the Kings have opted to run it back despite again failing to advance in the playoffs (they haven’t done so since 2014). That included Hiller, he of the disastrous challenge, painfully conservative tactics, puzzlingly short bench and multiple blown leads in last year’s 2-0 series advantage turned 4-2 loss against Edmonton.
Did so few tweaks allow the Kings to build into the regular season more fluidly than in previous training camps?
“I would agree with that. We’ve felt that,” said Hiller before Saturday’s preseason finale, a 5-4 overtime win in which the Kings held a 4-0 lead in the third period. “At the same time, it’s been a little bit frustrating at times, because we know that group, how they’ve played and what they can do. We look at it like, ‘you guys know this, we’ve done this, how come we’re not executing this at a high level?’”
BUILT-IN RUNWAY
While most of the Kings’ core is not too far away from orthopedic shoes and reading glasses –– their No. 1 center, most minute-devouring defenseman, and starting goalie will be a combined 110 years old at season’s end –– there are a number of young players with room to grow.
Quinton Byfield put pen to paper on an extension last summer and Alex Laferriere followed suit a year later. Brandt Clarke is in the final season of his entry-level contract and looks to have had the often onerous training wheels removed after the Kings traded Jordan Spence and lost Vladislav Gavrikov unexpectedly in free agency.
Byfield has courted a point-per-game pace for significant swathes of the past two seasons, and last year was his healthiest campaign to date. Captain Anže Kopitar is relying increasingly on his brilliant hockey mind during his 20th and final season. Consequently, Byfield’s robust combination of imposing size, swift skating and evolving skill need to be molded into a more consistent offensive producer while his defensive game continues to coalesce.
Clarke’s skill, relatively unchained, could deodorize the stench of losing Matt Roy and Vladislav Gavrikov in consecutive offseasons as part of a broader mass exodus of talented defensemen for underwhelming return in recent years. There are also potential risers lower in the lineup. General Manager Ken Holland, who took over for Rob Blake after he declined to return to his position, discussed their potential impact during a recent Q&A session with Kings broadcaster Josh Schaefer.
“Young players –– like Byfield, Laferriere, Clarke, (Alex) Turcotte and (Samuel) Helenius –– these are all (players in their early 20s) and they’re playing with veteran people,” Holland said. “They feed off their experience, and the vets have those young players providing energy. It’s balanced, you’ve got the veteran leadership and the youthful exuberance.”
DOUGHTY ON THE MEND
Drew Doughty was blessed with a natural motor that defied traditional fitness, bringing to the ice much of what former Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson brought to the hardwood. But Father Time remains undefeated and the theretofore uber-durable Doughty has endured lengthy absences due to injury during the Kings’ resurgence over the past four years.
Last season, a broken ankle during an exhibition game cost him the bulk of his campaign. It required one in-season surgery and another procedure after the Kings were eliminated in what Doughty told reporters was “one of the lowest moments as a hockey player in my life.”
Yet this year, he has appeared to regain much of his physical and technical form, having made a full recovery after winning gold with Canada at last year’s inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off and playing enormous minutes in the playoffs for the Kings despite clearly being less than 100%.
“I took a hard eight weeks after I got my second procedure on it, just to get it right. I did everything I could to be perfectly healthy. I didn’t drink, I wasn’t golfing, I was just totally focusing on my ankle and getting it better,” Doughty said. “At times, I got lonely, because I wasn’t going out with guys and I wasn’t golfing, which are some of my favorite things to do, but it was well worth it. I feel way better and I’m starting to feel more like myself from a couple years ago.”