Early look at top contenders to lead LA Kings in goals in 2024-25 season
Last year, the Los Angeles Kings finished in the middle of the NHL with an average of 3.10 goals per game, which was lower than the year prior at 3.42 goals. It was a team effort to score goals and didn't fall on just one player as none had more than 35 goals but five had 20 or more goals.
If the Kings want to improve, they are going to need someone to step up and establish themselves as the top goal-scoring threat. When looking at the roster, these are the five players most likely to lead the Kings in 2024-25.
5 Los Angeles Kings most likely to lead the team in goals in 2024-25
Quinton Byfield
Quinton Byfield had a career season this past year with 20 goals, after only eight goals in the 83 games over the prior two seasons. He clearly benefitted from playing on the line with Anze Kopitar. The question is if he can continue that production being the center on the second line and replacing Pierre-Luc Dubious.
The Kings believe that the best is yet to come with Byfield and he will be a big part of this offense after giving him a five-year contract this offseason. However, on the second line, he may find himself being more of a facilitator than a goal-scorer.
Trevor Moore
Another player who made a major jump in this category was Trevor Moore, who never had more than 20 goals in a season prior to last year, but would end up leading the Kings in the category with 31. He joined the Kings in an in-season trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2021-22 season.
This was one of the better trades made by Rob Blake as general manager of the Los Angeles Kings. It will be interesting to see if Moore can build off that breakout season he had last year and lead the team for a second straight year in the category.
Warren Foegele
In terms of free agent signings this offseason, the biggest for the Los Angeles Kings was forward Warren Foegele. He has improved year over year in the three years he was with the Edmonton Oilers and had career highs in goals (20), assists (21), and points (41) this past season.
The Kings are hoping that trend can continue but the question is how much realistically he can add to that total. There is no question that the offensive talent isn't on the same level as the Oilers but this could create an opportunity for Foegele to create more shots and hopefully end up with more goals.
Kevin Fiala
Kevin Fiala finished second on the Los Angeles Kings in goals last season with 29, a six-goal improvement over the prior season. However, he still hasn't matched his career-high 33 goals, which he set in his final season with the Minnesota Wild before the Wild traded him to the Kings.
Among all the players on this list, Fiala had the best shooting percentage at 12.9% and if he can keep this percentage with an extra 50 shots on the season he would finish with over 35 goals. That might be enough to lead the Kings in that category this season.
Adrian Kempe
While Adrian Kempe led the Kings in points (45) and assists (47) he saw his total in goals drop significantly from the previous season. In 2021-22, he set a career high of 35 goals and surpassed that total in 2022-23 with 41 but this past season he had only 28 goals.
The drop in goals shouldn't be too much of a concern as he was great setting up his teammates with those 47 assists, almost 20 higher than his previous career-high. He also showed in the playoffs that he can still find the back of the net with four goals in five playoff games.
At this point, if I had to pick anyone in this group to be the favorite I would probably have to say Kempe being on that first line playing alongside Anze Kopitar.
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