Joe Patarino 
A check-in at the halfway point of the season to who on the LA Kings is leading in shot contributions.
The last time we looked at these numbers, the LA Kings were 12-9-4 through the first 25 games. Heading into Thursday’s game against Boston, the Kings are 22-13-6 and sit in second place in the Pacific Division.
A reminder that the numbers mentioned in this will be at 5-on-5. Per Natural Stat Trick, the LA offense is a top-ten team in total goals scored, shots on goal per 60 minutes, CF/60, and SCF/60. It’s been a much more offensive Kings team than we’ve seen in recent years.
Here, we’ll see which players are driving the action for the LA Kings in the offensive zone.
*While Shot Assists are manually tracked, the Goals, Primary Assists, and Shot Attempts are courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
Overall Leaders
Shot Contributions
The leaders in raw shot contributions are Kevin Fiala, Adrian Kempe, and Anze Kopitar. Kempe (150) and Fiala (143) also lead in Shot Attempts and Shot Assists, respectively.
Gabriel Vilardi leads the team with 11 goals at 5-on-5, while Fiala leads in primary assists (13) and primary points (18).
Defenseman Leaders
This was a topic of conversation on the latest Hockey Royalty Podcast, but it might surprise you who is atop the Kings’ blueline when it comes to 5-on-5 goals, primary assists, and primary points.
Of course, Sean Durzi and Drew Doughty are significant contributors to the power play, but Sean Walker is quietly having himself a nice offensive season.
When it comes to overall shot contributions from the defensemen, Doughty does top this list.
Per 60-Minute Leaders
Where we start to learn a lot more is who is doing the most when factoring in for ice time.
If you’ve followed me at all, you know I’m one to pump up Blake Lizotte. This is one of the reasons why:
That’s right, Lizotte leads the team in primary points per 60 minutes through the first 41 games. He has really established himself as an effective fourth-line center, and that might be underselling it.
Fiala doesn’t just lead in overall shot contributions; he leads in shot contributions per 60 minutes as well:
A couple of other players worth noting are Trevor Moore, who leads the team in shot attempts per 60 minutes, and Lizotte, who is second to Fiala in shot assists per 60.
Defenseman Per 60-Minute Leaders
Here are the leaders in goals, primary assists, and primary points among defensemen (for defensemen who have played at least nine games, a totally random number, of course…):
Walker shows up again. He leads the blueline in goals per 60 and primary points per 60. Brandt Clarke made the most of his nine games, leading the team in primary assists per 60 and second in primary points per 60.
When it comes to shot contributions per 60 minutes, it’s Walker and Clarke who lead the way again.
The duo is in the top two in overall shot contributions per 60, while Walker leads in shot attempts per 60 and Clarke in shot assists per 60.
He’s only played four games, but I’m going to mention Tobias Bjornfot as well. In those four games, he has compiled 12 shot attempts and 12 shot assists in just over 51 minutes of ice time. Those rates would lead all defensemen in shot attempts per 60, shot assists per 60, and shot contributions per 60.
While some of this is “fun with numbers” (particularly Clarke and Bjornfot), I continue to find it interesting to see players that are perhaps more involved than we may think. When you look at what players like Moore, Lizotte, and Walker are bringing to the table while they are on the ice, they’re far more instrumental to the offense than could meet the eye.
I’ll end this with some thoughts on Drew Doughty. He hasn’t been able to find the scoresheet at 5-on-5 as much as we’re used to seeing, but I’d argue that could change the second half of the season. He has yet to score a goal at 5-on-5, and there have only been two seasons in his career where he has not scored a goal at 5-on-5. He has also registered seven primary assists in the last two seasons; so far, he only has one.
Yet, when we look at his shot contributions, he is fifth on the team in overall shot attempts and shot assists. Because of the minutes he logs, his per 60 rates aren’t impressive, but he puts pucks toward the net and sets his teammates up for shot attempts.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a more productive Drew Doughty in the second half of the season.
(Main Photo Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)