Los Angeles Kings 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Los Angeles Kings 2017 Season Preview

Drew Doughty led the Los Angeles Kings to two Stanley Cups. Can he lead the Kings to a third Stanley Cup with a new regime?

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/7/2017.

Los Angeles Kings Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Tanner Pearson	Left Wing	80	6-foot-1-inches	204-pounds	20	24	44
Anze Kopitar	Center	76	6-foot-3-inches	224-pounds	12	40	52
Dustin Brown	Right Wing	80	6-foot-1-inches	216-pounds	14	22	36

Los Angeles Kings Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Michael Cammalleri	Left Wing	61	5-foot-9-inches	185-pounds	10	21	31
Jeff Carter	Center	82	6-foot-4-inches	213-pounds	32	34	66
Tyler Toffoli	Right Wing	63	6-foot-1-inches	196-pounds	16	18	34

Los Angeles Kings Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Adrian Kempe	Left Wing	25	6-foot-2-inches	202-pounds	2	4	6
Nic Dowd	Center	70	6-foot-2-inches	196-pounds	6	16	22
Marian Gaborik	Right Wing	56	6-foot-1-inches	205-pounds	10	11	21

Los Angeles Kings Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Kyle Clifford	Left Wing	73	6-foot-2-inches	211-pounds	6	6	12
Nick Shore	Center	70	6-foot-1-inches	204-pounds	6	11	17
Trevor Lewis	Right Wing	82	6-foot-1-inches	201-pounds	12	12	24

Los Angeles Kings Forwards Review: Los Angeles has a great forward group in my opinion. I believe this is the Los Angeles Kings best group of forwards since 2014 when they won the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals.

The Kings lost a lot of players to injuries last season and can easily get more goals if guys stay healthy this season. The top two lines with Koptiar and Carter playing center are excellent and third and fourth lines are effective as well.

The Los Angeles Kings finished 24th in goals scored and 15th on the power play in 2016-2017. The offense wasn't as good as usual that should change this season though.

Los Angeles Kings Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Drew Doughty	Line 1	82	6-foot-1-inches	213-pounds	12	32	44
Jake Muzzin	Line 1	82	6-foot-3-inches	214-pounds	9	19	28
Alec Martinez	Line 2	82	6-foot-1-inches	209-pounds	9	30	39
Derek Forbort	Line 2	82	6-foot-4-inches	216-pounds	2	16	18
Christian Folin	Line 3	51	6-foot-3-inches	204-pounds	2	6	8
Kevin Gravel	Line 3	49	6-foot-4-inches	212-pounds	1	6	7

Los Angeles Kings Defensemen Review The Los Angeles Kings have two good lines of defense with each of their top 4 defensemen playing all 82 regular season games last year. Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin is an elite line 1 blue line. Alec Martinez and Derek Forbort can anchor the second line. They brought in Christian Folin from the Minnesota Wild to anchor the third line and Kevin Gravel will compliment him.

The Kings have an excellent defense. All of their defensemen are 204 lbs are bigger. This team can play physical with anyone.

Los Angeles ranked 6th in goals allowed and 5th in penalty killing in 2016-2017. The Kings' defense will keep them in more games this year and that will allow them to potentially make a playoff run.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Jonathan Quick	Los Angeles Kings	17	8-5-2	2 Shutouts	.917	2.26 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Darcy Keumper	Los Angeles Kings	17	8-5-3	0 Shutouts	.902	3.13 GAA

Los Angeles Kings Goaltender Review Its amazing that the Kings did as well as they did when Jonathan Quick got injured. They had Jonathan Bernier and Ben Bishop rotating when Quick was injured. This year you got Jeff Zatkoff, Darcy Keumper, and Jack Campbell battling for the backup goalie spot. The two goalies that don't win the backup job on the Los Angeles Kings will be sent back to Ontario. The Kings don't have the goalie depth like last year, so its paramount for Quick to stay healthy in 2017-2017.

Los Angeles Kings Prospect Pool: Los Angeles has Gabe Vilardi their 2017 first round pick currently in the juniors where he plays for the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL. Vilardi will continue to develop the rest of his game in Windsor as he provides a future piece for the Los Angeles Kings. They will also have the two goalies in Ontario as prospects if one does not win the backup job to Jonathan Quick.

Los Angeles Kings 2017-2018 Prediction

The Kings have the forwards, defense, and goalie to be one of the top 8 teams in the Western Conference this season. Right now the Philadelphia Flyers are the only team in the Eastern Conference that I like as a playoff team through 11 teams. The Kings are the second team in the Western Conference that I like after the Dallas Stars.

The only thing keeping the Kings from returning to the playoffs is if Quick got injured again. Rob Blake and John Stevens are taking over a very competitive Los Angeles Kings team that may not be lethal during the regular season. When they make the Western Conference Playoffs, this team takes off and becomes a force to be reckoned with. I don't expect anything different if the Kings get in this year.