LA Kings: Reviewing the Kings season through analytics

Apr 12, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Kings coach Todd McLellan wears a face mask in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Staples Center. Vegas won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 12, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Kings coach Todd McLellan wears a face mask in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Staples Center. Vegas won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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LA Kings Drew Doughty
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The back end

Last year, the Kings had six of seven defensemen who played 20+ games post a SAT% (shot attempts percentage) above 50%. This year only one posted above that total, Drew Doughty at 50.3%.

Screen Shot 2021-05-17 at 7.23.28 AM
Screen Shot 2021-05-17 at 7.23.28 AM

This isn’t to point out that the Kings’ defense is bad by any stretch. They’re just young. When Mikey Anderson and Tobias Bjornfot, two rookies who came into the season with a total of nine games played combined, are playing top-four minutes on the back end, struggles are bound to continue.

Talking about the rookies, I thought Mikey Anderson had a real solid rookie campaign. His TOI/G of 21:11 would be good enough to lead all rookies in the NHL and is the highest amount of playing time for a Kings’ rookie since Drew Doughty’s rookie season in 2008-09.

It wasn’t just good to see him hold his own throughout the season.

More importantly, his play seemed to revitalize Drew Doughty as well. Drew echoed that sentiment during his end-of-season presser, “I love playing with Mikey Anderson. We’ve developed quite a partnership. I don’t know if you necessarily need to bring anyone in on defense.”

Promising words from the two-time Stanley Cup winner on his rookie partner.

In order for the LA Kings to become a playoff team, they’ll need Drew Doughty, their anchor on defense, to elevate his to play to what it was during their cup years, and this year he did.

An elite player, like Doughty, who takes up 15% of the team’s cap, must produce. So I’m sure the improved play this year compared to recent years for the former Norris Trophy winner had to be a welcomed sight for Todd McLellan and the rest of Kings management.

Going into next season, barring any real player movement on the defensive side, the coaching staff will need more offense from their young defenseman, and it all starts with clean breakouts. Far too many times during the season, defensemen were left with no outlet in their zone.

To improve, they’ll need their forwards to come down closer to the red line and be that outlet. When playing a 1-3-1 neutral zone trap strategy, LA will be forcing more dump-ins, so that clean breakout will be a key piece to watch at the start of next year.

Schedule