31 Takes: The Kings might already be in trouble

Maybe the worst thing to happen to the Kings was making the playoffs last season.

They had an elite player and a slightly above-average goaltender go off last season — Anze Kopitar was a borderline MVP candidate with 92 points and Jonathan Quick was .921 in 64 appearances — to just barely not-scrape into the postseason, and promptly got swept.

This after an offseason of wholesale changes on the managerial side with a new GM and new coach, but still the same cast of characters that had fomented so much pessimism about the future of the franchise. Ah, but then they made the playoffs, which is (apparently) all you need to do to reassure yourself that you’re a good club rather than a mediocre one that’s trending down.

So instead of selling off just about anyone they could, which they should have been the course of action in summer 2017, the Kings imported Ilya Kovalchuk to bolster the offense that ranked 17th in the league last season, and re-signed Drew Doughty for big money and bigger term ($11-million AAV for eight years) even though he’ll be almost 30 when that deal starts.

Early returns — and it’s only 10 percent of the season gone so far, so these are real early — aren’t good. The Kings have just two wins from eight games (with one OT loss) because they’ve conceded 28 goals and only scored 15.

I have seen people make the argument that it’s hard to judge the team’s offense, and specifically its punchless power play (3 for 28), because Dustin Brown hasn’t played a game yet this season. And it’s like, okay he had 60-plus points last season and certainly scored nine power play goals, but this is still Dustin freaking Brown we’re talking about, right? The guy who, until his linemate put up 92 last year, was widely considered a candidate for the scrap heap? That guy? Okay man.

The problems, you’ll be shocked to find, are much bigger than the absence of Dustin Brown and Jonathan Quick only playing three of the eight games so far. Jack Campbell was actually fine in Quick’s stead (.917) and Quick has been abysmal since returning. Obviously that’s not going to last because he’s not an .851 goalie, but to what extent can he help this club rebound from a horrendous start?

Their long-term cap situation is well-known. And if it sounds familiar in this league, it should. The Red Wings locked in plenty of players (albeit mostly of lower quality) for similar contracts. Chicago may or may not be harvesting similar returns a few years from now. All had the opportunity to sell high on multiple players or let older guys walk instead of tying them around the organization’s legs like anchors for the better part of a decade in a lot of cases. None took that opportunity, trying to wring as much as possible from clubs that won Cups in the increasingly distant past.

The idea that you don’t want to let a player like Kopitar walk for nothing or can’t bear to consider trading Doughty is nice. But if it’s a choice between do that or signing them for a combined $21 million into their late 30s? You gotta do what’s right for the club, not what’s nice for the fans.

Yeah, the Kings won in 2012 and 2014, and you celebrate that forever, but you also keep in mind that those Cups came when Connor McDavid was 15 and 17 years old. A lot has changed in the last few years, y’know? All those concerns that the Kings might not be built for the Fast NHL were well-founded.

They look slow and frankly bad these days, slow to the puck, and getting outshot most nights; they’re only racking up about 47 percent of the expected goals, and much less than that in actual. The latter might change for the better (and with their current PDO it probably will) but the former doesn’t seem likely to.

Even if Dustin Brown is eventually walking through that door.

31 Takes

Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks’ average shot difference *per game* is now *minus-13.9.* Again, that’s per game. Every game, they get outshot by an average of about 13.9 Every game. Twenty-five. I know they have a bunch of guys hurt but jeeeeeez that sucks,

Arizona Coyotes: These guys honestly shouldn’t be this bad but they keep losing and more importantly they keep not-scoring. How do you fix that? I dunno.

Boston Bruins: Turns out if you’re deep in a Western Canada road trip and like half your lineup is out, you’re probably not gonna win. They keep getting points, though, so that’s something.

Buffalo Sabres: How is Jason Pominville on a team’s top line, how is he on that top line in 2018, and how is that top line scoring this much?

Calgary Flames: Yeah Elias Lindholm is good at the dot but the fact that he has eight points in seven games (not including last night against the Rangers) seems like it should be the bigger headline here.

Carolina Hurricanes: Uhhhh, hopefully not “same old Hurricanes“ but also: maybe?

Chicago: Let’s not all look at once but Chicago is 4-1-2 and Corey Crawford looks like he might still be Corey Crawford (.941 in two appearances).

Colorado Avalanche: This goaltending battery has been insanely good so far but why on earth aren’t we putting Nathan MacKinnon anywhere near that “best player in the world” conversation? He’s arguably better than Matthews!

Columbus Blue Jackets: If I’m Jarmo Kekalainen I’m already thinking about trading Bobrovsky and Panarin.

Dallas Stars: The Stars got clubbed on Friday night by………. Minnesota? Oh that seems bad then.

Detroit Red Wings: What’s the latest a team has gotten its first win of the season? Feels like Oct. 20 has to be way up there. And by the way, they’re still waiting for their first regulation win.

Edmonton Oilers: The Edmonton media have moved the goalposts so much since the start of the season that now we’re at, “Things could be a lot worse than 3-3.” Incredible market.

Florida Panthers: Mmm, humiliating.

Los Angeles Kings: Helene’s going in, folks: “This isn’t what they want but it’s what they’ve got because team executives overestimated the ability of an aging core to win another Stanley Cup championship in a league that has become younger and faster.”

Minnesota Wild: Is this team… putting it together?

Montreal Canadiens: When these two teams play, someone’s gotta win. Neither of these teams are good!

Nashville Predators: To be honest, this feels like the Wally Pipp moment.

New Jersey Devils: What if the answer is: “The roster isn’t that good?” Just something to consider.

New York Islanders: Well, RIP Charles Wang.

New York Rangers: Yeah, no kidding.

Ottawa Senators: All the people chalking the winning up to its changing identity, especially in the media, need to go to the brain doctor to see if they’ve still got anything rattling around in there. All-situations PDO of 104 and minus-60 in shots on goal. Mystery solved.

Philadelphia Flyers: Did….. did people not think this was the case before last week?

Pittsburgh Penguins: I dunno man, the math checks out.

San Jose Sharks: The Sharks put up at least 39 shots a game in each of their last five, in which they’re 3-1-1. They’ve also given up fewer than 27 in three of those games. They haven’t been outshot all year. Damn they’re good.

St. Louis Blues: The most reasonable take here is: Mike Yeo shouldn’t have been their coach in the first place.

Tampa Bay Lightning: These guys continue to look impressive but you probably also don’t wanna go around blowing two-goal leads to Minnesota.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Sometimes your best player doesn’t shoot 50 percent forever. I dunno, man.

Vancouver Canucks: Hmm this seems bad.

Vegas Golden Knights: Yeah we’re really not gonna be saying “first-place Ducks“ much longer.

Washington Capitals: Maybe the reason these guys look so uninspiring is because they’re missing Tom Wilson. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Winnipeg Jets: Maybe this’ll be the week I get a better read on these guys.

Gold Star Award

I’m so glad Corey Crawford looks and feels good. Plenty of reason to be really worried but so far it seems like he came out the other side on this one.

Minus of the Weekend

Oh sure, next you’re gonna tell me Keith Kinkaid ISN’T one of the best goalies in the world. Come on!

Play of the Weekend

This is a pretty good 170-foot effort from Jake Voracek, huh?

Perfect HFBoards Trade Proposal of the Week

User “jonlin” wants to grab some headlines.

Signoff

Primero, un ataque por un gran wudpequero loco.

Ryan Lambert is a Yahoo! Sports hockey columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All stats via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)