Los Angeles Kings 2015 Roster Preview

In a month, the pre-season will start. We’ll see the first glimpse at the Los Angeles Kings 2015 roster. Returning players will work to secure their previous position. Some AHL champs will be looking to crack a spot as a regular. And we’ll see a few new faces due to trades and invites to training camp.

I gotta say – I’m pumped for how this year’s roster is shaping up. Some new blood will add a little excitement to the mix! Losing some dead weight and gaining much needed salary space has made it possible for new life for the Kings. That being said, let’s take a look at some roster templates based on what we see right now.

*These templates won’t include Richards and Voynov for obvious reasons.

TEMPLATE A (most likely)

Forwards:
Lucic – Kopitar – Gaborik
Pearson – Carter – Toffoli
King – Shore – Brown
Clifford – Lewis – Nolan
extra: Andreoff, Weal

Defense:
Muzzin – Doughty
Martinez – Greene
McNabb – McBain
extra: Schultz

My thoughts: Meh. Seems incomplete to me. There are definitely some question marks behind that defensive lineup. McNabb is still a little rusty (despite the fact he hits harder than any other LD in the league). He’s prone to giveaways and needs a little more mentorship from a guy like Regehr…too bad he’s retired. And I think McBain will be better suited as a 7th d-man.

Up front? There’s a little bit of skill lacking. Losing Williams will hurt a little bit, but hopefully Lucic will be up for the challenge of replacing him on the stat sheet. And let’s be honest – we’ll barely notice the loss of Stoll…actually, we’ll notice it because less guys on the team will be tempted to embrace hardcore drugs. Too soon?

TEMPLATE B (my preference):

Forwards:
Lucic – Kopitar – Gaborik
Pearson – Carter – Toffoli
King – Weal – Brown
Clifford – Shore – Lewis
extras: Nolan, Andreoff

Defense:
Muzzin – Doughty
Martinez – TBD
McNabb – Greene
extra: McBain

As you can see, there are 2 primary changes: the addition of Jordan Weal as a regular, and a hole in RD. I have very high hopes for Jordan Weal and think the Kings could benefit from a player of his style…as long as they allow him to utilize his strengths as a pure offensive threat. If the staff doesn’t think he fits the Kings system/style, I see him being traded in the first half of the season. He’s just too damn good to be playing in the AHL any longer.

As for the RD position, this is all because of Voynov’s situation. He recently began his 90 day jail time which means he won’t be ready to start the season with the Kings. That is, unless he gets out on good behavior. But I just have a hard time seeing him continue as a King with all this that has gone on. He would turn into that guy in the locker room that everyone has this underlying bitterness toward. And that’s not good for anyone.

So who’s available right now to fill that defensive spot? A couple names I think of are Cody Franson, Yannick Weber, or maybe the return of Tim Gleason would be a good fit. But you can count on the Kings waiting until this mess with Mike Richards gets figured out at the end of this month. They simply can’t make any big moves until they know his salary is off their books.

Next: Thoughts About the Future of Anze Kopitar

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