During Ken Holland's press conference as the new general manager of the Los Angeles Kings, he reiterated multiple times that the focus is to not "screw up" what they have but add to it. Certainly, that makes sense for a team that is coming off a franchise-best 105 points regular season and has made the playoffs now four straight seasons (although with disappointing results).
The question now is, what does Ken Holland view as the core of this team? Who are the players that he plans to build around, for this upcoming season, but beyond that? In terms of this season, there are three players that immediately come to mind in Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, and Darcy Kuemper.
However, these are older veterans that potentially have only one more season in Los Angeles. The focus is certainly on a Stanley Cup this coming season but Holland will also need to keep in mind past this season.
These are some of the players that not only will be expected to contribute this season as part of the franchise core but are the building blocks for the foreseeable future that the Kings should build around.