LA Kings: Team’s three most improved players in 2021
The LA Kings have been surprising a lot of people with their recent play. The improvement of these players is a big reason why.
After a quiet offseason, the LA Kings‘ hope for the 2021 season was always to see improvement come from within.
Though they struggled early on in the season, lately, they’ve been starting to see that improvement. A six-game winning streak has vaulted LA back into contention in the West Division and made this season a lot more interesting.
As a team, the LA Kings play has gotten much better, but it’s been these three players in particular whose improvement has stood out this year.
1. Dustin Brown
You don’t usually expect to see a 36-year-old show up on any most improved lists, but it’s actually been the veterans who’ve been leading the way for the Kings season, and Dustin Brown‘s resurgence is becoming a great story.
Brown has scored 11 goals in 18 games. No one else on the Kings has scored more than five. His 17 points trail only Anze Kopitar‘s 21 for the team lead. He’s still a physical presence, too, leading the team with 38 hits. If you’re into plus/minus, he leads the team there, too, at +9.
DUSTIN BROWN!
— Rink Royalty (@RinkRoyalty) February 23, 2021
His ninth goal of the year. 2-0 #LAKings at the end of two. pic.twitter.com/YI34U93QKn
Brown already has as many goals this year as he did in 82 games in each of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Brown’s days as a high-level offensive contributor looked like they were over a long time ago, and his contract was looking like a real problem.
Suddenly, LA’s oldest and longest-tenured player is a key member of the team again.
2. Jaret Anderson-Dolan
He’s unfortunately injured now, but in just six games so far this season, Jaret Anderson-Dolan has made a real impression.
Anderson-Dolan didn’t show much offensively over his first two professional seasons. He entered this year with just one assist in nine NHL games in addition to eight goals and 30 points in 55 AHL games.
He looked like a different player the second he was inserted into the lineup this year, though. More assertive and confident with the puck, he had three goals and five points in those six games before getting hurt, even putting together back-to-back multi-point efforts.
JARET ANDERSON-DOLAN!
— Rink Royalty (@RinkRoyalty) February 17, 2021
Somewhere, @LAK_Ryan jumped out of his chair. #JADFanClub pic.twitter.com/Pb55kOjRh9
The Kings will have a lot of young forwards trying to carve out spots on the roster over the next couple of years, so it’s going to be important for players like Anderson-Dolan to take advantage of the opportunities they get. He was certainly opening some eyes with his play and hopefully will pick up where he left off when he returns.
3. Cal Petersen
Cal Petersen showed promise in sporadic playing time over the last two years, but this year he’s really been making the most of his first extended NHL opportunity. Petersen’s .931 save percentage is the third-best among goalies who’ve made at least nine starts this season.
The healthy competition he’s providing seems like it may even be starting to raise Jonathan Quick‘s play. With Quick struggling and Petersen impressing, Petersen was given three straight starts over the veteran earlier this month. Quick has made three starts since then, and he has two shutouts while stopping 79-of-81 shots.