Of course, I’m talking about the Los Angeles Kings. Yes, I can also see why I can make the same argument for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that’s a different post and reserved for The Wiseguys Sports Show.
Even after the shortened 2020-21 NHL season, the Kings have more wins before the All Star break (23) than all of last season (21). After Wednesday’s game in Detroit against the Red Wings, the Kings are off until February 15. The NHL is still giving teams “bye weeks” like the past few seasons to give their players a rest. However, the Kings, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens are all off for at least eight days as the calendar changes over.
Drew Doughty (32), Dustin Brown (37), Anze Kopitar (34) and Jonathan Quick (36) still remain from the Kings’ last Stanley Cup squad in 2014, where Quick won a Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. Normally when a club has that many players over 30 on their everyday roster, the reasoning is either bloated contracts they could not dump, or building for the future.
The Kings have just north of $500 million in cap space, with the four I just mentioned taking up 40.1% of the current payroll.
Bringing in Andreas Athanasiou, Brendan Lemieux and Victor Arviddson is the perfect bridge between the old guard and the new blood in Los Angeles.
Lemieux has been involved in quite a few interesting events this season, has he not?! The 25-year-old was sprayed with water from the Minnesota Wild bench after scoring a goal last month, in addition to nearly getting whacked by a stray stick.
Then there was that part about him snacking on Matthew Tkachuk just after Thanksgiving (ours, not Canada’s). On November 27, Tkachuk and Lemieux were involved in a post-whistle scrum where Tkachuk was sitting on top of Lemieux, which ended up with Lemieux biting Tkachuk’s finger twice while lying on the ice. Sportsnet YouTube sensation Steve Dangle said Lemieux was "eating" Tkachuk, but you have to snack before you can feast, right?!
As that was the worst of the Kings’ season to this point, having a team this young and this good is nothing but promising. The Kings have an average age of 26 years 2 months, sixth youngest in the NHL. A large part of the Kings’ youth is 19-year-old center Quinton Byfield.
Drafted second overall in 2020, Byfield only appeared in a handful of games last season after spending most of the season with the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario (CA) Reign. Byfield, the highest-drafted player of color in league history--being of Jamaican descent--just returned to the lineup two weeks ago after fracturing his ankle just out of training camp, but is likely to be the franchise’s focalpoint over the next decade.
Remember that with the Buffalo Sabres looking to move franchise center Jack Eichel before the start of the season, the Kings were one of the teams heavily involved in trade rumors. The linchpin--and eventual breaking point--was the Kings refusing to part with Byfield. At 6’5” 220 pounds, Byfield has the capability to be the next Joe Thornton, a massive center who can make the San Jose Sharks’ lives a living hell, instead of what Thornton did against the Kings for 15 years.
If Los Angeles is going to make any type of noise in the spring, their special teams must improve and immediately. The Kings rank 27th on the power play (15.9%) and 28th (74.0%) on the penalty kill. The best way to help Quick as the second half commences would be to stay out of the “sin bin.”
I just hope as a casual fan that the black and purple jerseys make their return at some point in the next year or two.
-JC24