Of late, the Kings have been performing a familiar dance: one step forward, one step back.
And if it weren’t for Artemi Panarin, they might be off holding up the wall and still awaiting their first celebratory shuffle of the campaign.
They’ve alternated results in their last eight decisions and have yet to string together more than two wins. They’ve only earned consecutive victories once, though they started the year with six winless forays.
Their opponent on Tuesday, the Nashville Predators, is in the midst of a four-game ascent that’s seen them topple last year’s best team by record, the Colorado Avalanche, as well as the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes and fifth-ranked Tampa Bay Lightning.
In each of the Kings’ five total wins and one of their two overtime losses, Panarin turned in a multipoint effort, and he had the Kings’ lone goal in their other OT loss, a 2-1 defeat in Vegas. In six games during which he failed to record a point, the Kings were winless and pointless, 0-6-0.
“He’s one of the most skilled guys I’ve ever played with,” linemate Adrian Kempe said. “He’s unbelievable, he’s such a talented and offensively skilled guy, he’s very fun to play with, obviously.”
The rudderless rhythm of their 2026-27 is not unlike that of their 2025-26 season, which Panarin also saved after his arrival in February via trade. They won more than two straight games just three times all year and made a bumpy landing into a 16-team playoff with the NHL’s 20th-best record and second-fewest regulation wins before being swept.
This season, their three regulation wins sit in a three-way tie for 28th out of 32 franchises. They’ve lost to both teams with whom they are tied, Pittsburgh and Chicago, and they’ve split two bouts with the only squad they’ve faced with fewer regulation wins, San Jose.
No one truly knows how that tracks with the expectations of Kings management. Team president Luc Robitaille, who’d previously assessed the Kings as being “right there” and “there” among 10 or 12 contending teams in previous years, has been entirely absent from the media, including when Drew Doughty was named captain.
Then, General Manager Ken Holland spoke, but provided nothing in the way of goals or expectations, nor was he asked to do so. That robbed the public of any ringing endorsements like last season’s “sure, why not?” when he was asked if the Kings could be a final-four club.
What was known was that new coach Peter Laviolette was to instill a more offensive-oriented system, albeit with almost entirely the same defensemen that the Kings employed to play much stodgier hockey.
That’s seen Erik Gustafsson, a 34-year-old who spent all but two games last season in the minors for Detroit, catapult up the Kings’ depth chart despite any deficiencies or liabilities. He’s been in the lineup for all five Kings wins, including his two highest-usage games in black and silver and his highest-scoring game as well. The Kings are 3-1-1 when he records a point.
Gustafsson, unfortunately, is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, per multiple reports from Monday’s practice. That could mean the return of Cody Ceci, with whom the Kings haven’t won a game yet this season (0-5-2).
Kevin Fiala has been ramping up his participation in practice, but he still isn’t ready for game action after two surgeries to repair the multiple leg fractures he sustained in February. His former Minnesota Wild teammate Mats Zuccarello also remains sidelined.
Alex Turcotte returned in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh but his line with Andre Lee and Scott Laughton gave an atrocious performance. In just 10:55 of ice time, Turcotte finished with a -3 rating and one shot on goal.
Another top-five pick turned reclamation project will be in Nashville’s travel party after they acquired Shane Wright from the Seattle Kraken. Since he switched divisions, the Preds haven’t lost, taking the win before the trade and stretching it into an active four-game streak.
While Wright hasn’t picked up a point, mainstays like captain Roman Josi have buoyed the Preds offensively and two stellar showings from Juuse Saros earned him the NHL’s third star of the week on Monday.