Today I’ll be looking at the Western Conference and what it means for the LA Kings.

Los Angeles Kings

The LA Kings are my pick to win the Pacific Division. They added Pierre-Luc Dubois, to give them the most dangerous center depth in the NHL. They also signed Cam Talbot to a one-year contract to be a potential elite tandem with Phoenix Copley. The Kings, to remain near the top of the division, need 2020 2nd overall pick Quinton Byfield to emerge and put up around 50-60 points to continue the projected ceiling he can reach. They also need Arthur Kaliyev to emerge as a 30-goal scorer and he’ll be given every opportunity to do so by playing with Kevin Fiala and Dubois. They also will be depending on one or both of Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke to contribute. If either or both emerge the Kings will be the deepest team in forward Depth and Defensive depth. I believe this will happen and the Kings will go on a deep Playoff run.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks will be a contender to finish last in not only the division but the entire NHL. They will be exciting to watch with the continued development of Mason McTavish and the possibility of the number-two overall pick Leo Carlsson making the roster. However, they will struggle defensively and that will be the downfall. At the deadline, they’ll probably move out Adam Henrique and Jakob Slifverberg due to both being unrestricted Free agents at the end of the year.

Calgary Flames

The Flames are the most interesting team in the Pacific Division. They had a disappointing season last year and look to remain competitive in a very good division. However, they have a major issue. Mikael Backlund, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov all become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. If Calgary gets off to a slow start there is a very good chance they all will be on new teams by the deadline. So, Calgary desperately needs to get off to a great start otherwise they will be major sellers either before or at the deadline.

Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers are many people’s pick to win not only the Pacific or the West but the Stanley Cup as well. They are an absolute juggernaut offensively, led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to go along with their role players in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman, and Evander Kane. Defensively they’ll struggle. Darnell Nurse is slightly overpaid for what he produces and Mattias Ekholm is currently injured and was their best defenseman throughout the playoffs last season. While Bouchard is quite elite offensively, there are questions about his defensive game. In net Stuart Skinner flashed brilliance but also struggled with his confidence as the playoffs rolled on. Jack Campbell, who got paid to stabilize the net for Edmonton, struggled throughout the regular season. If Edmonton will compete they need their defense and goaltending to rise to the occasion.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks are in the same boat as the Anaheim Ducks. They are a contender to finish last in the league. They are a team that will struggle while their prospects develop. By the deadline, all their one-year rentals in Anthony Duclair, Kevin Labanc, Mike Hoffman, and Alexander Barabanov should be dealt and get the assets they desperately need. It’ll be a long season in San Jose.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken were the surprise team of the NHL season last year who almost made the conference finals in their second season. They will continue to improve with the continued rise of Matthew Beniers and Jared McCann. If Shane Wright breaks out, Seattle will have their top 2 centers for a decade plus. Expect Seattle to compete for the division as well.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks are the most confusing team in the division. They should honestly rebuild especially with their cap situation but they’ve decided to both retool and rebuild on the fly which never turns out well. However, they do have absolute Stars in Elias Petterson, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko, who usually is a brick wall against LA. I don’t expect Vancouver to compete for anything but be a team stuck between seller and buyer, so don’t be surprised if Vancouver pulls a move that’ll confuse the entire league

Vegas Golden Knights

The defending Stanley Champions look to repeat their success. They have a solid core intact and will be getting Logan Thompson back from injury. Unfortunately, Robin Lehner has probably played his final NHL game due to injury, so that is a major loss on and off the ice. Expect Vegas to compete for the division with the Kings again.

The Central Division

Arizona Coyotes

The Coyotes begin their second consecutive season playing in their college arena. They have a lot of young and promising players in Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Matias Maccelli, J.J Moser, and of course, one of the most underrated Superstars in the league, Clayton Keller. Arizona will play everyone tough. I believe they may compete for a wild card spot if their core takes that next step.

Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago is in a complete rebuild they’ll be expected to finish close to the bottom of the NHL standings. However, they add a generational talent in Connor Bedard. They’ll be better than last season however it’s going to be a development season in Chicago.

Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche. This is the Kings’ biggest rival in the central. Every game last season was an absolute battle. It’ll continue this season as the Kings play Colorado on opening night. I expect Colorado to be a great team which shouldn’t surprise anyone with the elite talent on the Roster. What is worrisome for the Kings come playoff time is if they do match up with Colorado, their Depth is vastly improved. With the additions of Tomas Tatar, Johnathan Drouin, Miles Wood, Ryan Johansen, and Ross Colton, Colorado will be a great matchup and I’m excited to watch it on opening night!

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are an absolutely scary team to face. They have King killers in Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski and added a great player in Matt Duchene via Free Agency. Dallas will be a problem, especially as their young guys, like Wyatt Johnston, continue their development. Expect every game with Dallas to be a tough 60-minute+ game.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild are the team that is a thorn in the Kings’ side. Every time they play it’s a crazy affair which usually ends up with LA losing in the final minutes of the third period. However, this season even with Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota will be playing against the wall. The cap Crunch from the Zach Praise and Ryan Suter buy-outs forced them to gut the team. As it stands they currently only have $43,079 worth of cap space available. So the current roster will probably be the end-of-season roster. Minnesota has always been a tough team as every game against them will be an absolute battle. Don’t take them lightly!

Nashville Predators

I’m very intrigued to watch Nashville for the sole purpose of seeing if Juuse Saros will be available via trade. I believe Nashville will be competitive however, the inexperienced players they’ll have in their lineup will cause them to falter behind and have new general manager Barry Trotz willing to sell. Saros would be the perfect answer to LA’s goalie situation both Short term and Long term. I’m very excited to watch Nashville just to see how that situation unfolds. Nashville I believe misses the playoffs and sells a lot including Saros.

St Louis Blues

I believe the Blues are a true in-between team that needs to rebuild but due to big contracts they cannot properly rebuild I don’t see them as a big threat to the Kings whatsoever. I expect LA to dominate them every time this season. St Louis will miss the playoffs

Winnipeg Jets

This is a team on the cusp of a major rebuild. We all know Dubois was dealt to LA for Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, and Rasmus Kupari. I think it was a great trade for LA because Vilardi was unfortunately injury-prone and was rumored to want a longer extension to remain in Los Angeles. Winnipeg, however, needs to make a decision quickly with Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele both becoming unrestricted free agents after the season. I believe both will be dealt and Winnipeg won’t be a problem for the Kings at all. Expect the Jets to be a full seller.

Featured image credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

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5 thoughts on “LA Kings: Western Conference Outlook for the 2023-2024 season”

  1. You went all in on everything going right.

    In Australia
    PLD had adjustment issues
    Copley bombed.
    Talbot and Tittich looked beatable.
    BYfield, Englund, Kaliyev, Doughty, Lizotte, Doty, Fagemoand JAD all had rough moments.
    Only 2 games in but questions so far.
    In norht America: Portillo bombed, auaspicious starts for Chromiak, Helenius, Madden, Thomas,

    The Kings are facing potential loss of players on waivers, especially if GM’s announced small roaster plan goes forward.

    Doesn’t really matter all the need to do is get in and win pplayoff series for a change.
    TMac is not yet extended and if they do it soon then the fans will be unhappy especially with a round 1 or sooner exit,

    Kings are facing a lot of potential chop that would slow any trip to top the Pacific

    Reply

    1. Here’s my outtake so far. PLd will adjust it takes time. Copley will bounce back just get him more reps. I honestly thought Talbot and Rittich played well. Byfield Struggled the first game but played good the second game. Kaliyev struggled but I’m banking on his shot to elevate him this season. Doty and Fagemo will be with Ontario to start the season more than likely. Don’t expect a lot from Portillo it’s his first pro season and goalies take time to develop so expect growing pains. Madden and Thomas are coming back from injury so I’d give them time to get back to full speed. But I agree Kings have to win a playoff series otherwise Todd will probably be out

      Reply

  3. I think your assessment of the Kings may be a little high. I hope you are right that they will win the division but i’m not confident about that. I really hope Blake and Luc got this PLD thing right. My guess is he won’t ever be a star here in LA and that all the knocks on him are exactly true. I think he’ll be a good to great player for 2-3 years, followed by average in year 4 &5 and then a total right off ala Mike Richard’s after that.
    That contract was too long and I think the Fiala signing was a way better long term contract who will also outperform PLD ever year they are on the same team. I do think our goaltending will be fine even if we get help from Portillo, Ritchie, Ingram or Berube. Berube looked surprisingly solid last night against Vegas. I think Clarke and Spence are going to be good and maybe great…. but not this year. I think they have their struggles defensively. I don’t think we should have ever got ride of Durzi and we will come to regret that move very much ! i’m predicting Durzi has more points than Doughty this year. Last, I don’t think anyone realizes how much Iafallo did for this team.
    I think we will come to miss him more than Vilardi quite honestly. He did so many things right that didn’t appear on the score sheet. I think he was often the glue to Tmac’s system working well. There is always something failing in Tmac’s system. I thinks it’s too complicated and exhausting to play every game in a long competitive season. Mark my words, if our Penalty Kill improves something like our Power Play will be broken. It seems impossible for all the elements of Tmac’s system to work at the same time. As soon as you improve in something that’s been lacking, suddenly something that was previously working well is then broken. All the cylinders of Tmac’s system never seem to work effectively at the same time. Losing glue guys like Iafallo and Kupari, Vilardi and Durzi who were all committed to Tmac’s system is going to be a problem, because you’ve replaced them with one single player (PLD) who hasn’t ever committed to anything except himself.
    I hope I’m dead wrong, but if this season goes the way I’ve described above…. Blake, Luc and Tmac need to be held accountable and that means fired. Cuz those three can talk a lot and not always have the stats to properly explain their methods and decisions. Again, I hope I’m dead wrong.

    Reply

  4. I think your assessment of the Kings may be a little high. I hope you are right that they will win the division but i’m not confident about that. I really hope Blake and Luc got this PLD thing right. My guess is he won’t ever be a star here in LA and that all the knocks on him are exactly true. I think he’ll be a good to great player for 2-3 years, followed by average in year 4 &5 and then a total right off ala Mike Richard’s after that.
    That contract was too long and I think the Fiala signing was a way better long term contract who will also outperform PLD ever year they are on the same team. I do think our goaltending will be fine even if we get help from Portillo, Ritchie, Ingram or Berube. Berube looked surprisingly solid last night against Vegas. I think Clarke and Spence are going to be good and maybe great…. but not this year. I think they will have their struggles defensively. I don’t think we should have ever got ride of Durzi and we will come to regret that move very much ! i’m predicting Durzi he has more points than Doughty this year. Last, I don’t think anyone realizes how much Iafallo did for this team. I think we will come to miss him more than Vilardi quite honestly. He did so many things right that didn’t appear on the score sheet. I think he was often the glue to Tmac’s system working well.

    Reply

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