A look back at the East Coast swing

The team has yet to find a consistent bumper threat and has long relied on shots from the perimeter. Usually, that’s been Drew Doughty, but in his absence, we’re seeing shots from the left circle come from Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar. They haven’t yet connected on any plays to the bumper and the cross-seam play hasn’t been a threat either.

After one of the league’s best penalty kills last season, the Kings have killed just 76% of opportunities, good for 21st in the league. In terms of expected goals, the penalty kill has performed better this season than last according to Hockey Viz.

Last year’s penalty kill was always overrated in my opinion (Edmonton seemed to think so as well). The performance was buoyed by a league-best PK save percentage. Shift to this season, that PK save percentage ranks 25th. If they start getting more saves, the penalty kill efficiency will magically improve.

Individual Performances

Thanks to his opening night hat trick, Captain Anze Kopitar leads the team in goals (three), assists (four), and points (seven) overall. Ho-hum.

Alex Laferriere is tied with Kopitar in goals, the difference being each of the Harvard product’s tallies have come at 5-on-5. Laferriere has played most of the young season alongside Kopitar and Adrian Kempe but found himself on a line with Warren Foegele and Alex Turcotte on Thursday.

Speaking of Turcotte, his play has earned him more looks and more time from head coach Jim Hiller. He leads all LA Kings forwards at xGF% and leads the team in shot assists per 60 minutes.

If Turcotte can become a reliable player, and one that can contribute, that’ll be a welcome surprise for a player who started the season as the fourth-line center.

Top prospect defenseman Brandt Clarke has had a solid start to his season as well. One of the biggest areas he was expected to contribute, particularly after Doughty’s injury, is on the power play and he’s done just that. His three power play assists lead the team and his four helpers overall are tied with Kopitar for the team lead.

At 5-on-5, things have been a little inconsistent for Clarke. However, we’ve seen a stark difference depending on who his defensive partner is. With Joel Edmundson, the defenseman signed to a four-year, $3.85M AAV deal specifically to play with Clarke, things have gone predictably poor. However, when with another free-agent left-shot defenseman, the on-ice results have been much better.

Caleb Jones was signed to a tidy one-year deal at just $775k, and has quietly put together good results in his two games played thus far.

The sample is, of course, incredibly small and I’d be lying if I said I had confidence that Jones would be able to maintain positive results throughout a season. That said, what I can confidently say is he’ll put up better numbers and be a better partner for Clarke than Edmundson would be. Jones stepped in due to Edmundson traveling to be with his wife who is expecting their first child. Assuming Edmundson slots back in next to Clarke when he returns, it remains to be seen if Jones will have any role beyond a depth fill-in.

Other players of note include Jordan Spence, who was given the opportunity alongside Mikey Anderson on the team’s top pair. It hasn’t gone well. Spence has struggled early individually and the pair has been among the team’s worst (31.0% CF% and 28.3% xGF%). The 23-year-old blueliner was scratched in Toronto but returned to the lineup in Montreal, though he was paired with Andreas Englund rather than Anderson.

Expectations are sky-high this season for Quinton Byfield. While he hasn’t played poorly, he isn’t driving play like we saw most of last season and in the preseason. He has yet to find the back of the net but has picked up three assists.

The bigger story around Byfield is that he was yet again moved off of the center position. Starting as the team’s third-line center – with hopes that he’d elevate into the LA Kings top pivot – he was back on the wing with Kopitar and Kempe on Montreal. Whether or not this is a permanent change remains to be seen. The play of Turcotte and his ascent up the lineup surely played a factor in this, but if Byfield was playing as the dominant play-driving center we expected, he’d still be a center. It’s a situation worth monitoring.

As the LA Kings return West, there are still plenty of questions surrounding the team. But so far, the results have been passable.

Main Photo Credit: Jeffrey T. Barnes, AP Photo