The Kings have been eliminated by the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the last four seasons and were expected to make changes this summer as they try to get past the first round. Newly hired general manager Ken Holland moved quickly to address concerns with the defensive unit, making several early summer moves to revamp the group.
Holland has moved on from a couple of twenty-something defensemen to acquire defensively minded veterans in their 30s, which will bring a different dynamic to the back end. However, since the Oilers’ speed exposed the Kings’ slower, heavier parts of the defense, the changes the Kings have made are unlikely to push them past Edmonton if they face each other in the playoffs again.
Los Angeles struggled to deal with the Oilers’ transition game in the playoffs, as well as their puck movement and speed. The faster Oilers were able to expose the Kings, leading to some head-scratching decisions.
They were unable to keep Vladislav Gavrikov, one of the few Kings defenders who could use his active stick and gap control to stop transition plays and zone entries. Gavrikov’s size helped him disrupt the Oilers, allowing him to stay on the right side of the puck and make his presence felt.
Although he didn’t control the puck often, it didn’t matter much when he was playing a shutdown role. Los Angeles will feel the loss of Gavrikov, especially if they face teams with speed in the playoffs next season.
Another move that wasn’t ideal was trading right-shot defenseman Jordan Spence to the Senators for a third and sixth-round pick. Spence was dependable for the Kings in sheltered minutes, but at just 24 years old, he was looking for an elevated role and was blocked by fellow right-shot defenseman Brandt Clarke.
Spence has a lot of potential and could have been a key part of Los Angeles for many years, but the Kings made the decision to send him to Ottawa for an underwhelming return. The trade handcuffed the Kings and forced them into a state of desperation when free agency opened on July 1. The Kings were down two defenders, and that was where their biggest mistake was made.
It wasn’t long into free agency before the Kings made a couple of defensive signings that left many in the hockey world scratching their heads. Los Angeles signed 33-year-old Brian Dumoulin and 31-year-old Cody Ceci to lucrative multi-year deals with AAVs above $4MM.
One of these signings alone wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it’s free agency, and almost everyone overpays, so most would have shrugged it off as part of the business. However, overpaying for two older, slower defenseman who are collectively a downgrade in talent from Gavrikov and Spence could be a problem that haunts the Kings for years.
The main criticism of the deals is that if Los Angeles had kept Gavrikov for the same money he received with the New York Rangers ($7MM annually on a seven-year deal), then the combined salary for him and Spence would have matched what Los Angeles is paying Dumoulin ($4MM annually) and Ceci ($4.5MM annually).
Dumoulin can still disrupt plays in the defensive zone and prevent teams from getting the puck into dangerous areas with his stick, but he doesn’t excel at much else anymore and often takes penalties. His foot speed has slowed down in recent seasons, which isn’t ideal if the Kings face the Oilers again in the playoffs.
For Ceci, he doesn’t excel at much but always manages to persuade coaches to give him plenty of ice time. His performance became an issue for Dallas in the playoffs, especially against Edmonton, where he finished with a -5 rating in five games and recorded a disappointing 46.75% expected goals share at five-on-five.
Combine Ceci and Dumoulin with Joel Edmundson and Drew Doughty, and Los Angeles has the makings of a defense core that is old, slow, and likely to struggle in transition. All these factors could be disastrous if the Kings face the Oilers in the playoffs again or another team with good speed. Doughty remains a solid defenseman, but with an $11MM cap hit and an aging defensive group around him, he will be asked to do too much, which could reduce his productivity.
Edmundson will likely be asked to perform beyond his usual capabilities, which could cause issues if that means placing him in the top two defensive pairs. Although Edmundson is large, physical, and tough to play against near the net, he isn’t well-suited for the transition game or facing opponents with speed and skill. Some might argue that the 32-year-old helps keep the front of the Kings’ net clear, but he certainly allows many scoring chances around it.
Los Angeles entered the offseason with a chance to do something special with their defensive core, but unfortunately, they missed out on the opportunity to improve. The losses of Gavrikov and Spence will sting, but replacing them with Dumoulin and Ceci for essentially the same money will probably be fans’ biggest frustration. The Kings are set to spend $30MM on a defensive core that is much older, slower, and likely not built to take down the Oilers or any other team with a quick forward group.
Photo by Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images
Well written, well said, and bluntly to the point. Will the Kings make the playoffs at all? Is their window finally closed? If so, the rebuild will be longer than necessary due to the two new albatross contracts for Dumoulin and Ceci.
this should be one of the PHR mailbag questions!
You can certainly criticize some of the Kings’ moves, and rightfully so. But this article is off-base. For one, the ‘transition game and speed’ is not why they lost. For anyone that actually watched the series, the Kings small and weak defense got pushed around by players like Perry and Kane. Spence and Gavrikov are two such players.
That being said, the Kings did not just decide not to sign Gavi. They actually offered more than what he got from NY; for whatever reason, that’s where he wanted to go and that’s where he went. Nothing you can do about that, so Holland pivots and adds the best he can. Overpay? Probably. But what else can you do? Both of those guys are upgrades on Spence, take it from a guy who watches every Kings’ game every year.
I get it, on paper the Kings are worse. But many on here, myself included, were roasting the Kings last year and they had their best regular season ever and really should have swept the Oilers, with better coaching. So let’s just wait and see, eh?
Time will tell but I’ll respectfully disagree but will concede I didn’t watch much of the EDM series this year. My bigger concern is the team got a good deal older with their moves. Conceptually I like adding Perry and Armia as their 4th line was a black hole last year. But these guys plus the D additions are all north of 30. I don’t think that’s typically a recipe for success in this league.
While they didn’t go deep in the playoffs I’d argue a team like the Caps have done well in this sense. While some individual deals I don’t love the fact that most of the guys they’ve signed / traded for the last couple years were 30 and under and have helped that team remain competitive.
I do like their forward group for next year but we’ll see how the team does as a whole.
They did get older but they were also like the seventh youngest team in the league last year with guys like Byfield, Laffy, Clarke, etc.
You just spit straight facts. I can’t believe someone actually understands what I felt too! I like this team and think they can run it back. Go Kings Go!
It’s certainly fair to critique these defense moves, no argument here. The pipeline is bare of D prospects too so not sure how they dig out of it.
However, Kings should be significantly better on offense and with the forward group in general. Young guys maturing, 4th line far better, and Kuz all year.
Hope they can make up for the defensive liabilities.
For the offense i think you are on point. But 4 of 6 d Being older Then 30 is a huge gamble.
The sharks went from dominant to bad real Quick with That recipe with Vlasic Burns ans Kalrsson in the same group of âge.
Let’s see if Misa Celebrini Smith ans Eklund van can feast on That in the near future.
4/6 guys are old and slow. The only thing keeping the Kings from collapsing is praying Holland doesn’t do any more damage and Dvorak, Bruzstewitz, Booth and Wooley are ready in 3 years
Would have been better served to have offered NY the same package for K’Miller. Foot speed may not be an issue with Utah, Seattle, Anaheim & Vancouver looking to overtake them for a playoff spot… you can’t count on Kopitar carrying the Kings forever…
Ken Holland and Lou Lamorillo, two great GMs that just struggled to adjust to the cap era
As a life long fan and 17 year season ticket holder. I am not upset with the moves but not over the moon either. We rolled 3 lines and 5 defenders in the playoffs we did not trust the 4th line or third pairing The odd man out was Spence Now we can roll 6. I respectfully agree about the speed but the Kings are so defensively solid in the forward ranks that it should not be a problem. My concern is the age of two of our centers. I love the new 4th line with Armia and Perry. I think Turcott would get first shot at centering them and Armia can kill penalties and Perry can play the PP. I don’t think they would do it but if there was a way to the kid blue liner out of Buffalo that would help so much. I would be willing to sacrifice one of the stud kid keepers to make that happen. Also I am excited to see what Kuzmenko will do with a full year with Kopi and Kempe. What we did do is add potential 50goals and 100 points combined with a full season from Kuz and Armia and Perry. My big concern is there is absolutely no depth if anyone gets hurt for a significant amount of time
Better up front. Weaker on the blue line. We do have a structure that Cici and Dums will fit well in. The forward moves were brilliant. We have a high level GK prospect to dangle in trade too. I just do not think this roster is done. Something else is brewing.
Also. On the blue line. Who skates with who?
I would put Anderson with Dumes I would put CiCi with Doughty and Clarke and Edmondson
These moves were to be expected as soon as they hired Holland. The guy is done. He couldn’t build around the transcendent duo of McDavid and Draisatl, and he’s shown he can’t navigate the salary cap era well, nor draft good talent. Sure, his teams were usually good enough to make the playoffs, but he has ran teams that included Zetterberg/Datsyuk and McDavid/Draisatl. As good of a player as Kopitar/Doughty are, at this point in time, they are not in the same league as those 2 duos are. It’s gonna be a rough next few years for Kings fans.