LA Kings: Forget the lottery and go for the playoffs
Another lottery pick or make the playoffs. Here’s why the LA Kings should go for the playoffs, especially riding this five-game win streak.
Going into the 2021 season, not a lot of hockey pundits were expecting much out of the LA Kings. After finishing with the fourth-worst point total in the NHL and without any big trades or free-agent signings, it looked like it was going to be status quo for at least one more season.
Another trip to the draft lottery looked inevitable. With the best prospect pool in the NHL, the Kings could now be looking at the possibility of adding one of Owen Power, Luke Hughes, or Brandt Clarke. Not a bad consolation prize indeed.
With the world slowly getting back to normal after being in the grips of a global pandemic, this NHL season has been anything but normal. A shortened season, divisional re-alignment, division-only play, and a new (actually old) playoff format where the top four teams make the playoffs are among the major changes for this season.
With the Pacific Division being re-aligned into the West Division, it was assumed the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and St. Louis Blues would claim three of the four available playoff spots. That leaves the fourth playoff spot up for grabs between five teams – including the LA Kings.
Even with this increased chance at earning a playoff spot, some still think the Kings should “tank” to improve their chances at a high pick in the draft lottery. As loaded as the team’s pipeline is, many feel they are missing that true “blue-chip” defensive prospect. It just so happens the top end of the 2021 draft is filled with “blue chip” defensive prospects. This is supposed to be the “transition” season with no expectations. Why not get as high a lottery pick as possible?
Others feel that making the playoffs would, in the long term, be detrimental to the Kings. Should they get in, they will most likely be playing the division winner in the first round, and the chances of winning that round will not be good. Why get beat in the first round and miss out on the lottery, they say, when the team can “make sure” they don’t make the playoffs, thus improving their lottery chances.
Here’s why both of those theories are wrong.
Let’s start with the idea the LA Kings need to be in the lottery for this draft. Sure, they could use a highly touted defense prospect. Who couldn’t? While enticing, even the most highly touted prospects are not a guarantee for a team’s success.
Connor McDavid is the perfect example of this. Leading up to the 2015 draft, teams that had minimal playoff chances went into “tank mode” in the hopes of landing the chance to draft McDavid. Edmonton won the lottery even though Buffalo was the worst team in the league – the Sabres were able to draft Jack Eichel with the number two pick.
Since the Oilers were able to draft the most highly coveted prospect since Eric Lindros, they should be perennial cup contenders, right? They’re not. In the time McDavid has been in Edmonton, the Oilers have made it as far as the second round just once and have missed the playoffs three times.
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This isn’t to say that someday the Oilers won’t turn it around, and certainly, every team in the league would want to have Connor McDavid on their team – but so far, the tank has not translated into playoff success.
Fun fact: The last number one overall pick to win the Stanley Cup? Steven Stamkos was the number one overall pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008. The number two pick from that year has won a couple as well.
Of course, some excellent defensemen are playing in the NHL today that were lottery picks. Names like Victor Hedman, Alex Pietrangelo, and Cale Makar, among others, come to mind. A sure-fire number one defenseman does not have to come from the lottery, however, as the top two vote-getters for the 2020 Norris Trophy Roman Josi and John Carlson were drafted 38th and 27th overall in 2008.
Ok, so why make the playoffs then if the LA Kings are only going to get beat in the first round?
This LA Kings team certainly has flaws and might not even make the playoffs, but even just getting in would be good for this organization on so many levels. To start, the experience of being in the playoffs would be the ultimate development tool for the team’s many young players.
Sure the Kings veteran core is no stranger to it, but players like Vilardi, Roy, Anderson, Bjornfot, and the rest of the “young guns” would greatly benefit from the experience. This Kings team is expected to be a playoff contender as early as next season, so any playoff experience the “kids” can get before expectations kick in will only help advance their development and help the team long term.
To illustrate just how a team can build off a playoff experience, look no further than this year’s Chicago Blackhawks. Like the Kings, Chicago still has a veteran championship core that is incorporating several young players. Last season the Hawks shocked the hockey world by upending the heavily favored Edmonton Oilers to get into the playoffs.
Had Chicago lost this series, they might have had a chance at a top-three lottery pick. Instead, they still ended up with a very good first-round pick in Lukas Reichel, and the team has built on that playoff appearance to get off to an unexpectedly good start this season.
Besides, who says if the LA Kings make the playoffs, they will lose? When they won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014, they were the number 8 and number 6 seeds, respectively. When this team is playing their game and up to their potential. The LA Kings have a puncher’s chance against anyone they face.
Finally, the reason the LA Kings should be pushing to make the playoffs this season instead of playing for another lottery draft pick is this coming offseason. The Kings will enter this offseason with an abundance of salary cap space and will need to bring in players from outside the organization to complete the rebuild.
Should they make the playoffs, it would make Los Angeles that much more of an attractive destination for free agents, as they would now be a “playoff team” as opposed to a “team with the potential.” Bring in the right free agent(s), and the Kings could be Stanley Cup contenders again sooner rather than later.
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Talk of tanking for a chance at a high lottery pick has tailed off lately, as the Kings are on a five-game winning streak and playing their best hockey of the season. Are the Kings really a playoff team and are just now finally showing it? Time will tell. Whether they are a playoff team or not, the Kings are now at a point where losing should no longer be tolerated. For that, and the reasons listed above, the LA Kings should forget about the lottery and go for the playoffs.