Los Angeles Kings: 5 Things to Improve

Training camp is right around the corner for the Los Angeles Kings. The camp roster is set and will slowly be dwindled down to the regulars. As we get closer to the season, the Kings management has got to be addressing areas of improvement for this season. They’re making game plans to fix the fixable issues to get the team to the playoffs.

Here are 5 areas of improvement for the Los Angeles Kings:

1. Jonathan Quick’s Stats

In 2011-2012, Jonathan Quick had a remarkable save percentage and GAA…almost miraculous. In 69 regular season games, he had a .929 save percentage and 1.95 GAA. That playoff year, he was even better with a .946 save percentage and 1.41 GAA. When your goalie stands on his head like that, success follows.

I realize a goalies statistics are not up to just him…simply take a look at Devyn Dubnyk’s stats in Edmonton versus joining the Wild last season. The defense in front of you makes a big difference. But I think if the Kings are going to be a playoff team, Quick needs to move back towards those kinds of numbers. His regular season numbers just haven’t been as good since that run in 2012 and the Kings need that to make a deeper impact.

2. Top scorers scoring more

Dec 20, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) greets center Jeff Carter (77) after a goal against the Arizona Coyotes in the first period of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Kings have been led by Kopitar and Carter in points over the past 2 seasons. Barring any injury, I think this will be the case again this season. But the Kings need each of them to be on the score sheet a little more. Kopi took a dip by hitting only 64 points in 79 games. That’s his worse PPG since 2008-2009. The Kings need Kopitar to hit 70 points. Period.

Carter has had a steady increase ever since joining the Kings as he grows in confidence as a player. That being said, he still hasn’t hit the kinds of numbers he put up in Philadelphia. His best being 46 goals and 84 points in 82 games in 2008-2009. The Kings need Carter to continue his steady increase.

3. Ice-time outside of Doughty

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Management has told Drew Doughty that they want his time on ice to go from 29 minutes to 25 minutes on average. Last season, Doughty was a workhorse much due to Voynov’s off-ice issues. The reality is that they Kings need to spread out the ice time among their many skilled defenseman. With the addition of Christian Ehrhoff, I think this is possible.

And even more so, with the departure of Voynov the Kings have cap space to pick-up a 2nd line defenseman. We’ll see what they do with that. They could either get some help for Doughty or throw that money towards Kopitar. Only time will tell.

4. Off-ice morale and activity

The Kings are taking off-ice activity seriously. It shows in their hiring of Brantt Myhres to help develop character in the young roster. The Kings can’t afford to have anymore off-ice incidents creating drama surrounding the team. Each player who was involved last season is off the roster (Voynov, Stoll, Richards) so they’re getting a fresh start with some added intentionality from Dean Lombardi and staff. This ought to help them keep clean this year.

5. Overtime and Shootout Performance

As noted before, the Kings could benefit from the change to a 3 on 3 overtime period after regulation in a tie game. They had the worst record in the league last season in overtime and shootouts – 3-15. This cannot happen if the Kings are going to be contenders this season. They either need to get the job done after 60 minutes or make some drastic improvements to their strategy in overtime and shootouts.

Next: Los Angeles Kings: The Robyn Regehr Effect

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