The Los Angeles Kings are not going to have to wait long to play their first game of 2025 as they will take on the New Jersey Devils on New Year's Day in the only NHL game being played. Entering 2025, the Kings should feel good where they currently are at this point of the season as they are in second place in the Pacific Division with 47 points and slightly ahead of the Edmonton Oilers due to tiebreakers.
After a long road trip in December, the Kings returned home for two games to close out the year and would win both. One of those games was over the Oilers while the other was a come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The reason the Kings were able to finish 2024 so strong was due in large part to these five players that are playing excellent hockey entering the new year.
5 players on the Los Angeles Kings entering 2025 on a high note
Jacob Moverare
One of the unsung heroes as of late has to be defenseman Jacob Moverare, who is often overlooked with defensemen like Vladislav Gavrikov, Mikey Anderson and Brandt Clarke on this team. However, in three of the last five games he has had 12 or more minutes of ice time and has his first two points of the season with an assist on the road against the Flyers as well as an assist in the last game the Kings played the Flyers at home.
Over the past five games, he has a +/- of +6 as well as four blocks and three hits. He has worked well being paired with Jordan Spence and he will need to continue to play well over the next few weeks. Jim Hiller is going to have to make a decision soon with Drew Doughty close to returning and Moverare will need to make the case that he should remain in the Top 6 on defense.