4 takeaways from the start of the Los Angeles Kings 2024-25 season
The Los Angeles Kings 2024-25 season is already five games in and it wasn't necessarily an easy start to the season. They began it with five straight road games, and if that includes the two preseason games before the season, they have been away from home for 18 days.
While they still have two more road games coming up before their first home game of the season on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks, they are at least back in Los Angeles as their next two road games are quick trips to Anaheim and Las Vegas.
There is still plenty of season left for the Los Angeles Kings but these are four early takeaways from their performance to begin the season.
LA Kings secured points in four of the first five games but should have had more
Let's start with the standing as the Kings did secure points in four of their first five games and are 2-1-2 on the season. In total they have six points but it felt like they should have more returning to Los Angeles.
The one game in particular that stands out is against the Ottawa Senators as they had two-goal leads on two separate occasions. However, they let the Senators hang around and they would come back to win in overtime.
A positive from this is that even though they didn't play well, teams that have had six points after five games have made the playoffs almost 60% of the time since the 2005-06 season. It doesn't guarantee the Kings will be going back for a fourth straight season but it is a good indicator.
Goaltender is going to be a concern moving forward
One of the biggest concerns from the start of the season for the Los Angeles Kings has to be goaltending. The Kings lost Cam Talbot in the offseason, who was excellent for this team last season and entered the year with Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich.
Through the first two games, it looked like the Kings once again found something with Kuemper in the net as he allowed only three goals. However, it all fell apart against the Senators with him giving up eight goals.
He would then miss the last two games due to an injury that isn't fully recovered as he was placed on injured reserve today. Meanwhile, Rittich has a goals against average of 3.25 but looked better against the Canadiens than he did against the Maple Leafs.
The Kings are going to need that trend from Rittich to continue because it remains to be seen when Kuemper will be back.
Defense really needs Drew Doughty back
The struggles from the goaltender position can't fall entirely on Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich because they haven't gotten the same production from the players in front of them. Last season, the Kings gave up the fourth fewest shots in the NHL, an average of 28 shots per game.
This season, the Kings have already allowed the seventh most shots in the league at 153, an increase of two shots per game over last season. Meanwhile, four teams ahead of them have played six or more games.
There is no question that the defense hasn't been nearly as consistent and there is a few reasons for that. There is none bigger than the absence of Drew Doughty, who is one of the best defensemen in the NHL. He suffered an ankle injury during the preseason that will keep him out a few months so this is a problem that will persist for a while.
In addition to Doughty not being available, Joel Edmundson missed the last two games as he returned to Los Angeles for the birth of his child. This has required some shuffling and even seen players like Jordan Spence get benched for a game, who hasn't gotten off to a great start this season.
Hopefully the return of Edmundson can help bring some stability to the defense but it might be on these younger players like Spence and Brandt Clarke to step up in the interim.
Alex Turcotte needs more ice time
It hasn't been all bad for the Los Angeles Kings and one bright spot has been Alex Turcotte, who has one goal and two assists through five games. He has been able to do all that while ranking near the bottom of the team in average ice time at only 10:04 per game.
The only two players who currently are averaging less on the team right now is Trevor Lewis and Andre Lee.
Even when diving into the advanced stats, Turcotte ranks among the best on the Los Angeles Kings with the second best Corsi For % at 59.5% and the second highest Goals For Per 60 minutes at 6.1, with only Adrian Kempe ahead of him at 6.5.
In their last game against the Montreal Canadiens, the Kings decided to move Alex Laferriere back to the line with Alex Turcotte and with Warren Foegele, these three looked really good. It will be interesting to see if Jim Hiller decides to continue with that line moving forward if Laferriere is moved back to the top line with Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar.
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