Los Angeles Kings coach Todd McLellan made an extraordinarily lucid statement to reporters after his team was eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers over the weekend.
“This club, which we have just faced two years in a row in the playoffs, is not going anywhere. He will remain in our association, in our division. You’ll probably have to face them again, and again, and again. We’ll have to find a way to beat them.
“We have closed the gap. I really believe it. We were superior this year. We have more experience. We have added elements that make us better. But that’s still not enough. »
McLellan’s assertion is fascinating in the context that the first-round clash between Edmonton and Los Angeles pitted a club, the Oilers, in the process of rebuilding for a long time, perhaps too long, but whose efforts finally seem to be paying off. and another, the Kings, who put the brakes on a short three-year rebuild to hasten his chances of success.
The question is not to denigrate the strategy of Kings GM Rob Blake, but whether his recipe will eventually allow him to defeat the Oilers and win the Stanley Cup again, after two consecutive eliminations in the first round at the hands of the Alberta team.
None of the big Oilers stalwarts are over 28. Connor McDavid, 26, Leon Draisaitl, 27, Darnell Nurse, 28, Evan Bouchard, 23, and even goaltender Stuart Skinner, 24, will be in Edmonton for several more seasons. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman are 30 years old and are under contract for at least another five years.
On what basis can the Kings hope to improve in the coming seasons? Their captain and first centre, Anze Kopitar, will be 36 at the dawn of the next season. They likely won’t be able to keep defender Vladislav Gavrikov, a solid addition to their top four at the trade deadline, due to salary cap constraints.
The question of the guardian remains to be settled. Joonas Korpisalo, acquired in the same trade with Gavrikov for a first-round pick in 2023 and a third-round pick in 2024, will also become an unrestricted free agent. Following the Kings’ elimination, this first-round pick now owned by the Columbus Blue Jackets sits at No. 23.
Brilliant late in the regular season, Korpisalo fell short in the playoffs with a 3.77 GAA and .892 save percentage. Regardless of the identity of the number one goaltender next year, we will also have to settle the situation of Cal Petersen, 28, under contract for two more seasons at 5 million per year. Petersen was demoted to the American League this season and spent most of the winter there. He wasn’t even the auxiliary in the playoffs.
The acquisition of Kevin Fiala last summer remains a symbolic example of Blake’s strategy. He got a 26-year-old first-line striker in Fiala. And the Swiss has lived up to expectations, amassing 72 points in 69 games this season.
To get it, Los Angeles gave up a 2022 first-round pick (19th overall) and young right-handed defenseman Brock Faber. You never know how the draft picks will develop and Faber, despite his great potential, was still playing in the NCAA at the time of the trade.
Fiala was a safe bet and he improved the Kings in the short term, without entering an age category where a decline would be foreseeable soon.
But ironically, Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin agreed to make the trade even though his team had amassed 14 more points than the Kings the previous season and his short-term aspirations were as high as Los Angeles’.
The Wild were one point behind the Kings in the regular season and lost in the first round in six games, like Los Angeles. In contrast, Minnesota was able to draft Swedish striker Liam Öhgren – a postseason-smoldering Sweden with Djurgardens – in the first round last year and Faber, 20, joined the Wild late in the season and played in all six games. in series.
Guerin also allowed himself salary flexibility since Fiala would be able to enjoy full autonomy from July 2023. He instead signed a seven-year contract extension with the Kings, at an annual average of 7.875 million per season. .
Time will tell if Rob Blake’s plan will eventually allow the Kings to become Stanley Cup contenders or if the team will remain competitive for the next few years without being able to beat the best.
With no first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, the Kings must hope for the hatching of youngsters Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke.
Byfield, 20, a 6-foot-5 forward, second overall pick in 2020, is coming off an encouraging season with 22 points in 53 games and four points in six playoff games. He’s obviously not on the level of Tim Stützle, drafted one tier after him, or even Lucas Raymond, but being born on August 19, he’s one of the youngest players in his crop and not all develop at the same pace.
Clarke, also 20, the eighth overall pick in 2021, a 6-foot-2 right-handed defenseman, is coming off a stellar end to his junior career with 61 points in 31 games in Barrie, HLJ. Ontario, and he also impressed at the World Junior Championship with Canada with eight points in seven games.
Another first-round pick, Gabriel Vilardi, 23, is coming off a 41-point season, including 23 goals, in 61 games, after struggling with serious health issues between 2018 and 2020.
Without forgetting, of course, Adrian Kempe, who had his big break this winter at 26 with 41 goals and eight points in five games in the series against the Oilers.
Great teams usually see their core grow together. At the Kings, the two pillars, Kopitar and Doughty, are 35 and 33 years old, the two best prospects are 20 years old, and a slew of players aged between 26 and 30 years old.
Blake’s next decisions will be important. And could define his reign.
Playoff predictions would be much easier if specialists had access to the infirmary. Thus, the center of the Lightning, Brayden Point, was playing despite fractured ribs against the Maple Leafs and Victor Hedman had a mortgaged hip since the first game, revealed general manager Julien BriseBois, Tuesday morning.
Hedman’s partner, Erik Cernak, fell in the fight in the first game, victim of a concussion following a vicious check from Michael Bunting, suspended for three games in the wake of his gesture. Cernak’s absence left a huge void in defence.
Power forward Tanner Jeannot, secured at the trade deadline for first-round picks in 2025, second-round picks in 2024 and third, fourth and fifth-round picks in 2023, had a fractured ankle.
1- Alexandre Pratt agrees with Marc Bergevin this morning.
2- Here are our team’s predictions for the second round. The opinions are rather unanimous…
3- The Rangers are eliminated. Richard Labbé analyzed their last game of the season.
