Los Angeles Kings plan at goalie is clear for this season and beyond

Cam Talbot was a pleasant surprise last season for the Los Angeles Kings as he bounced back from a down year with the Ottawa Senators to finish the year with 27 wins on 52 starts with a save percentage of .913% and a goals against average of 2.50.

Talbot would parlay that strong performance into a new contract in free agency with the Detroit Red Wings. It left the Kings with a big hole to fill and they appeared to address it with a questionable trade for Darcy Kuemper that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Capitals.

Kuemper will likely be the starter and rotating with David Rittich on the NHL roster but on Sunday the Kings made a move that solidifies the goalie rotation for the Ontario Reign. This move should also help the Kings at this position past this upcoming season.

The Kings were able to sign Erik Portillo, who was a restricted free agent, to a three-year contract. He is entering his second season in the AHL and will likely share the goalie duties with veteran Pheonix Copley.

Will the plan work out for the Los Angeles Kings this season?

While the plan is clear, the biggest question is whether or not it will work out this season. Portillo showed enough in his first season in the AHL to give the Kings hope he can be the goalie of the future.

However, the pressure appears to be on Kuemper to bridge the gap from the present to the future. He is coming off the worst season of his career with a save percentage of only .80% and a goals against average of 3.31.

If Kuemper can't bounce back then the pressure is on David Rittich to step in. The good news is that he finished the year pretty strong as he won four of his final six starts, including two shutouts.

As has been the case for a few seasons now, the days of Jonathan Quick are long gone and the Los Angeles Kings are unfortunately going to be entering the season with questions at goalie. Hopefully that won't be the case very long if Erik Portillo can develop into the player many envision him as.