Apologies for the late posts for 30-in-30. I have been under the weather the past couple days. Today I’ll get you updated with the L.A. Kings and Minnesota Wild
Outlook:
While the Los Angeles Kings made some improvements during the offseason, they are still not quite there in terms of being a playoff team, but they aren’t too far away either.
During the summer the Kings improved their defense by signing free agent and former Pittsburgh Penguin Rob Scuderi while acquiring forward Ryan Smyth from the Colorado Avalanche. With the additions of those veterans, the Kings did lose some key players.
While the Kings acquired Smyth from the Avs, they also sent defensemen Kyle Quincey and Tom Preissing to Colorado in return. However, with the addition of Scuderi and youngsters Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson on the rise, the Kings blueline is looking very solid. Matt Greene, Peter Harrold and Sean O’Donnell round up the top six.
The top six defensemen will be vitally important this year, especially with some inexperience in goal. However, Jonathan Quick showed signs of brilliance last year as he had four shutouts and was 21-18-2 in 44 games played last season. The former UMass-Amherst netminder is the favorite to get the nod as starter. Erik Ersberg and Jonathan Bernier could also get some time in net this year.
Last season, the Kings leading scorer was Anze Kopitar who registered 66 points. The addition of Smyth should help Kopitar, who again is a youngster on the rise. With 32 goals last year, Alexander Frolov will continue to show consistency in the goal-scoring department.
Kings captain Dustin Brown returns while Jarett Stoll—who is questionable for the start of the year—and Michal Handzus, who along with Smyth, Kopitar and Frolov, will be the top six forwards in L.A.
Looking at the rest of the roster, both Teddy Purcell and Oscar Moller should see more ice time while gritty forward Wayne Simonds and tough guy Raitis Ivanans (try saying that three times fast) help stabilize the checking line.
So what is in store for second year head coach Terry Murray and company this year. They’ve made improvements, but again they still are not quite ready to make the playoffs. With that being said, things could still get interesting at the Staples Center this year.
San Jose is the elite team in the Pacific Division now that Heatley is there, with Anaheim in second. The race for that third spot in the division could be important and that will be between the Dallas Stars and the Kings. Dallas has the edge based on experience, and therefore will edge L.A.
As I said before, the spot for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West could go down to the last week and even the last day of the year. Dallas has the edge now for that spot, while Columbus, Nashville, Minnesota, Edmonton and Los Angeles could all hang around during the last few days of the 2009-10 season. For now, the Kings are on the outside looking in.
Prediction: Fourth in Pacific, 12th in West
Projected Lines:
Alexander Frolov – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown
Ryan Smyth – Jarrett Stoll – Michael Handzus
Teddy Purcell – Oscar Moeller – Wayne Simonds
Raitis Ivanis – Trevor Lewis – Justin Azevedo
Jack Johnson – Drew Doughty
Matt Greene – Rob Scuderi
Sean O’Donnell – Peter Harrold
Jonathan Quick
Erik Ersberg
