The Los Angeles Kings looked like one of the best teams in the National Hockey League through the first quarter of the 2023-24 season, skating to an excellent 16-4-3 record through 23 games. But it’s been a completely different story ever since.
Todd McLellan’s team is mired in an ugly stretch that has seen the Kings lose 10 of 12 games since Dec. 28, falling out of a top-three spot in the Pacific Division and hanging onto a wildcard berth by just three points.
It’s been a huge turnaround — for all the wrong reasons — in 2024, and LA’s coach could be on the hot seat.
“It’s getting turned up. Certainly never a good sign when you’re the general manager like Rob Blake and you’re asked publicly about whether you’re thinking of firing your coach,” TSN insider Chris Johnston asserted on Friday.
“Blake did tell reporters that that’s not something that’s even remotely crossed his mind, but I think it is a sign of where things are at. That team has won one of its last 10 games, entering play Thursday. There’s not a lot of hope on the horizon, or a lot of help anyway, in terms of trade action, because the Kings do not have much room when it comes to the cap at this point in time.
“But McLellan did sign an extension before the season, he’s signed through next year, had a lot of success. They’re gonna try to keep things as positive as they can and get out of it themselves.”
Can the Kings turn it around?
It truly has been a remarkable fall from grace for a team that at one point was leading the NHL in both goals for and goals against. The 2023-24 Kings are now treading water, and they’re looking like a true toss-up to make the playoffs in April.
Still, Rob Blake has faith in his head coach.
“Like I said, our philosophy here for the past three, four years is on the structure and the system and the design, in the buy-in of the players, and [McLellan has] gotten that from the players,” the general manager explained earlier this week, per NHL.com’s Dan Greenspan. “I’m going to rely on the players and the leadership to get us out of that.”
Reinforcements could be on the way for a floundering Kings team; Viktor Arvidsson, who injured his back during training camp and hasn’t played since, returned to the ice this week and could be an option for the squad in February.
But Cam Talbot, who was lights out early on, has been abysmal. The veteran needs to figure it out, or the Kings might need to look into a goaltender ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline.
Either way, this team needs to start winning some games — and fast — or Todd McLellan’s job might not be safe, regardless of what the GM says.
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