![\"Table](\"http:\/\/wp.usatodaysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/95\/2017\/09\/table-b6.jpg\")
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Forwards<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Carter<\/strong> – Great depth center who had a strong season last year but is not necessarily a sustainable performance.<\/p>\n Kopitar<\/strong> – Had a down year, but the play with the puck was just as strong. Like Thornton, an excellent puck-possession center who dominates all levels of competition.<\/p>\n Pearson<\/strong> – Skilled forward who plays well against all levels of competition.<\/p>\n Brown<\/strong> – Offense is descending into 3rd line range, possession play is still strong across the board though suspect this is a result of systems.<\/p>\n Toffoli<\/strong> – Skilled forward who, like Pearson, has strong possession numbers across the board. Good roster redundancy to help Pearson.<\/p>\n Lewis<\/strong> – Offense suggests 4th line role.<\/p>\n Dowd<\/strong> – A slightly better, younger, Trevor Lewis. Damning with faint praise.<\/p>\n Gaborik<\/strong> – A shadow of his former self, the Kings are contractually wedded to the player for the time being. Scoring at a 3rd\/4th line rate and less reliable in possession play.<\/p>\n Shore<\/strong> – Another in a growing list of Kings’ players with duplicate, bottom-tier skill sets.<\/p>\n Clifford<\/strong> – See above.<\/p>\n Cammalleri<\/strong> – Another bet on an ageing skilled forward, Cammalleri is into the 2nd line range of offense.<\/p>\n Nolan<\/strong> – The end of that aforementioned list of 4th line plugs.<\/p>\n Andreoff<\/strong> – An appendix to the above list.<\/p>\n Kempe<\/strong> – More on that appendix.<\/p>\n Defense<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Doughty<\/strong> – Excellent defender deployed as such, against not only the best but the second wave as well.<\/p>\n Muzzin<\/strong> – Posts less offense than Doughty, but has better possession results, demonstrates a very solid pairing with Martinez.<\/p>\n Martinez<\/strong> – He and Muzzin represent a possible 1st pairing replacement duo in the event the Kings move Doughty.<\/p>\n Folin<\/strong> – Insufficient data.<\/p>\n Gravel<\/strong> \u2013 Depth defender.<\/p>\n Forbort<\/strong> – Doughty’s partner last season, the numbers suggest he’s a capable defender but not in Doughty’s class.<\/p>\n LaDue<\/strong> \u2013 Insufficient data.<\/p>\n Quick<\/strong> \u2013 Starting goaltender recovering from serious injury, Quick is good but his reputation benefits from the old Sutter system. Have to see what changes Stevens implements.<\/p>\n Kuemper<\/strong> \u2013 Debatable backup.<\/p>\n Campbell<\/strong> \u2013 Likely the future starter in LA for better or worse (goalies can take a long time to come into their own), will have to take the job from Kuemper but provided Quick remains relatively healthy he shouldn\u2019t be exposed to too high a workload too soon.<\/p>\n Summary<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Kings are still a defense-first team, though partly that is because for the life of me I can\u2019t see where the offense is going to come from on this roster. Carter bailed the team out during Kopitar\u2019s down year last season, and Peter Budaj kept the dream alive while Jon Quick was on the shelf, but it still wasn\u2019t enough to make the playoffs. John Stevens will have this team fighting the good fight, but I doubt it\u2019s enough in a division where Calgary and Edmonton are now relevant, the Ducks are dominant and the Sharks can still find a way to sneak out enough wins over a season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I begin my season projections for the Pacific Division with the LA Kings. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":740040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191955770,1],"tags":[8492,1996],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Goalies.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/wp.usatodaysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/95\/2017\/09\/goalies6.jpg\")
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