KINGS AT 66: DUST, CORNERS AND THE WRONG GUY

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Over a week removed from the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline, the mood around the Los Angeles Kings has lightened with the dust settling from General Manager’s Rob Blake’s significant deconstruction of what once was a championship roster.

The nervous anticipation of trades that saw long time and well like team members leave combined with a brutal road schedule bottomed out the team as they returned from a winless four game East Coast roadtrip in mid-February. While their spirit may not have been broken, experiencing one of the worst stretches in team history – 10 losses in 11 games (1-9-1) – raised uncertainty about the organization’s plan back to respectability, if not contention.

Coach Todd McLellan admitted this week that those days around the trade deadline were crucial in keeping his team engaged and on point, something he’s been able to do despite their last place standing authored by the numerous close losses in the first 55 games.

“It could have gone either way,” the Toddfather opined this week when discussing his team’s psyche post-trade deadline.

We dehumanize professional athletes – we assume they are immune to the business of sports – but being around this team, you could see the effects of the impending change. Players glued to phones, asking if you’ve heard anything, some playing different, lesser roles while trade targets were elevated to be showcased.

Alec Martinez, who has been a gentleman and an easy chat throughout his over a decade of service in LA, was worn down by the trade speculation that spanned two seasons. Conversations that once flowed easily became tense (understandably so) and shorter as the days counted down to the deadline.

Like his brethren of now-former Kings (Tyler Toffoli, Kyle Clifford, Jack Campbell and Derek Forbort), relief came in the phone call from Blake which ended his time on the corner of 11th and Figueroa. Martinez had a soft landing in Vegas, not far from his LA base and with a team that could capture its second Stanley Cup Final berth in three seasons.

With the dust settled and more roster certainty, the malaise has lifted from this group. Its play is incrementally better, it’s nice to get more than a peek at Gabriel Vilardi and Mikey Anderson, but the success over the past few weeks has been fashioned through strong goaltending and opportunistic scoring. If this level of play continues (and the possibility exists given the team’s crazy March home schedule), they could risk losing their lofty number two perch when they drop the ping pong balls in April.

When the question was raised about lowering LA’s draft lottery odds by winning games down the stretch and if it it’s not the best strategy to close the season, McLellan will have none of it.

“There’s not a human being that walks through that locker room door that thinks that way,” he said. “We are trying to create a culture of competitiveness and moving the needle forward. Our responsibility as a coaching staff is to make sure as many individuals are getting better and improving and collectively, winning games.”

Todd has pointed to the schedule makers more than once this season as an influencer on his team’s record and cited them as a significant factor in the hellacious month of losing. While not using it as an excuse, the road they traveled would have been difficult for Boston or Tampa Bay to navigate and combined with the stress of the trade deadline, a tailspin was a shock to no one.

“Playing 24 of 34 on the road is incredibly stressful and to travel the way we did. The trade deadline has passed, we’ve settled in and we’re getting outstanding goaltending. Special teams are better and while we haven’t scored our way to wins, a lot of night we’ve checked our way to wins. I really think that the stress on the team from the travel, both physically and mentally (was a considerable factor).”

It’s fine to ask fans and media indulgence through this process and a full buy-in isn’t required, but if you don’t have it from the core performers specifically its best two players, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, you can burn the blueprints.

That’s why this stretch of games is more important to management than a team just playing out the string or jockeying for draft lottery position. It’s a test to see if the belief that the team has turned the corner is being grasped by team leadership.

Captain Kopitar points to the on-ice improvements that have created a more positive tone over the last few weeks.

“We’ve managed to score some goals, it’s a bit easier when you put two or three on the board. The special teams have been better, our penalty kill has come a long way and our power play has been one of the better ones in the league since January,” Kopitar said.

And while short-term gains can’t hurt, it’s the big picture view that will be the major influencer in returning this team to contention. As the championship core of players has diminished to a select few, Kopitar and Doughty are the essential ingredients to support the youth movement Blake has initiated. Even with the announced upward move of the salary cap to somewhere between $84-88 million, it appears the organization will not make moves for established talent this summer to supplement next season’s effort.

A rebuild in sports is nothing unusual, the salary cap system prevents dynasties from occurring but there is a hidden cost when you do. Specifically, when it comes to Los Angeles the wait for post-season success has been lengthy and the assumption for next season will be a journey to evaluate where the members of the deep prospect pool fit on the depth chart. The core realizes the NHL talent needed to compete is not present but hopefully will be soon.

The question is – what is Kopitar and Doughty’s tolerance level for additional seasons of non-contention? Will they at some point will they tap out and ask to be moved to a winning organization?

Kopitar believes that the past few weeks signals the franchise’s move into the next stage of the rebuild.

“We’ve turned the corner at the start of 2020. We are trending in the right direction; we just couldn’t put wins together. We have talked about how we’ve played 50 solid minutes and the other 10 minutes kill us. And now it seems those lows aren’t as low, we bend but not break but kudos to (Jonathan) Quick and Cal (Petersen), they’ve bailed us out numerous times and we’ve been able to build on that.”

So, while the captain seems satisfied that his team has turned the corner, the alternate captain sounds like he needs more convincing. Never, ever at loss for words, Doughty gave a lukewarm endorsement on the state of the franchise on Wednesday. Though the 6-2-1 record over the past nine games is welcomed, Doughty credited the goalies for the lion’s share of the short-term gains.

“Honestly, the goalies stood on their heads for three or four of the wins, especially the last game (4-1 win in Vegas, Petersen with 42 saves), could have been tied going into overtime or with them having the lead going into the third period,” he said. “I don’t think we’re doing anything different or playing the system better, the goaltending has been really good in this stretch.”

As for his feeling about the transition that saw friends he won with move on, Doughty needs a larger body of work to be sold on the return of better days.

“We got a lot of picks, I guess (through the trades made), I’m happy to see that, we got some prospects, so I guess (we’ve turned the corner) a little bit. We have had flashes where we seem to be getting better but then we go into a hole and get worse for a little bit. We need to stay consistent. I’m getting there (belief in the rebuild). It’s very hard, I try to stay positive every day and come to the rink trying to have fun and help the kids get better but it’s a difficult process. I have to make the best of it, we have to look forward to finishing strong and have a strong off-season.”

THE WRONG GUY

A report surfaced this week that the Kings were considering actor Will Ferrell as their representative at the April draft lottery. Attempting to change their ping pong ball luck and with Taylor Hall being employed by the Arizona Coyotes, the organization may look to add the entertainment value of the lottery by deploying Ricky Bobby or Ron Burgundy into the process.

Good idea, but definitely the wrong celebrity. And Snoop Dogg isn’t an option unless you want the studio filled with weed smoke as Bill Daly does the Big Reveal.

The right choice is the guy who has maintain his fanaticism about this team through two difficult seasons as does it by routinely showing up through the losses and still holds out hope that the team’s ascent back to its winning ways comes as soon as next season.

That guy is Andy Lassner. You might know him as Average Andy, you might know him as the cat who wears Kings gear on The Ellen Show set or in his recent vintage, the inventor and evangelist behind the slow walking Instagram campaign (and a guest on Kings Of The Podcast, *shameless plug*).

Doughty inadvertently threw a little shade at Ferrell when asks his thoughts: “Maybe, I saw him at the game the other day. He was around quite a bit when we were winning Cups, so maybe he can bring a little luck to the organization.”

If you want a civilian to represent, then reward the consistent celeb, not the occasional one. The one that takes his kids to Ontario Reign games (he fights the traffic on the 10 East, I choose to avoid) not the one that shows up in character for TV broadcasts once a year and a hand full of games.

RISKY BUSINESS

On the TFP front, with no playoffs in the offing come April, it doesn’t mean we’re going golfing. Look for expanded Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage with some additional visibility though other mediums, as well.

Though we did solid work at the trade deadline, an annual rite of winter – stay close to us by visiting the website, listening to our Hot Stove show on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, our Kings of the Podcast project and the various radio and television appearance by Dave Pagnotta’s et moi, 2020 looks like a great year for our organization. Stay tuned.