Even after struggling on a five-game road trip, the Los Angeles Kings still remain well in the hunt for the Pacific Division. For most of the season, the Kings have been one of the best 5v5 teams in the NHL and should only get better with Drew Doughty's return right around the corner.
The NHL Trade Deadline is only a few weeks away and for general manager Rob Blake, there is one part of the team that desperately needs help and should be the focus for the Los Angeles Kings.
Los Angeles Kings needs to get more production from their power play
The Kings rank near the bottom of the league any way fans want to look at their power play unit. They currently are 29th in the league in power play percentage (16.0%) and 30th in power play goals (17). According to MoneyPuck, the Kings have the fourth worst xGoals % of 85.88% with the fifth worst shooting percentage of 5.52%.
It certainly has been a noticeable decline year over year for the Kings as they were not necessarily great but were average last season with a power play percentage of 22.6%. While the return of Doughty should help the Kings, who has had 15 power play goals over the past three seasons, it likely won't be enough to make a significant difference in this part of the Kings' game.
The Kings struggles on the power play haven't cost them too many wins to this point but come playoff time it will be a different story. The margin of error is so small and if they hope to get out of the first round for the first time since the 2013-14 season, it very well could come down to the power play unit for the Los Angeles Kings.