2023 Kings Seasons In Review – Mikey Anderson

After a look at the team’s second and third pairing right-handed defensemen over the last few days, we now move on over to the left side for a look at one of the organization’s most promising younger players in Mikey Anderson.

Mikey Anderson
LAK Statline – 77 games played, 5 goals, 15 assists, +20 rating, 40 penalty minutes
Playoff Statline – 6 games played, 0 goals, 1 assist, -4 rating, 2 penalty minutes
Possession Metrics (Relative To Kings) – CF% – 51.9% (-0.9%), SCF% – 52.8% (-0.3%), HDCF% – 51.4% (-4.8%)

Anderson has become the Kings version of a mid-round draft pick success story, moving from a fourth-round selection, to a collegiate national champion, to a promising prospect to a key piece of what this team is building. Anderson’s long-term extension, signed in January, solidifies his progress as a part of this team going forward, a reward for another strong season and tremendous career progression.

On the defensive side, Anderson continues to improve and continues to work his way into discussions of the most underrated blueliners around the NHL in taking care of their own zone. While he’s probably never going to be thought of as an offensive weapon, Anderson set career highs across the board offensively, showcasing offensive instincts to contribute more as a whole throughout the season.

Trending Up – First things first – Eight more years!

The Kings signed Anderson to an eight-year contract extension in mid-February, which committed his future to the Kings. Anderson’s extension was extremely well deserved. From day one, he stepped into the NHL lineup and fit right in. By his tenth career NHL game, he was moved to the team’s top defensive pairing. Outside of injuries to either he or Drew Doughty, he’s never looked back from that role. The Kings believe they know what they have in Anderson and they believe they have a player who will remain at that level for the duration of his extension. That’s a guy worth keeping around.

“I think the best thing is that we have real good understanding of what Mikey is, but he’s risen to a real capable defender against top, top offensive players in the league,” General Manager Rob Blake said. “He’s low maintenance, shows up every day, a big part of the leadership going forward with our group too. We felt that commitment over time, he is the same and he’s going to come in and do his job every day for us.”

Looking at his 2022-23 season on the ice, the defensive totals speak for themselves. Anderson ranked 12th out of the 148 defensemen to play 1,000 or more minutes at 5-on-5 in terms of shot attempts against per/60. With similar criteria, he ranked in the Top 15 and Top 25 in scoring chances and high-danger chances against, respectively. Despite playing on a team that ranked at or near the bottom of the NHL in save percentage, his possession metrics were mirrored in the goals allowed category, coming in at 2.01 per/60, ranking inside the Top 20. From a defensive standpoint, just about every measurable metric that Natural Stat Trick has to offer paints the picture of a top-pairing player. Oh, and he did it all despite starting a lower percentage of his shifts in the offensive zone than any other Kings blueliner.

Trending Down – Chances against metrics, meaning shot attempts, scoring chances, high-danger chances, were nearly identical for Anderson as they were a season ago. Anderson’s on-ice chances for metrics, however, were down across the board from last season though it did not impact the goals the Kings scored with him on the ice. Anderson’s totals saw a 7 – 10 percent decrease from his 2021-22 metrics in terms of chances for. Despite those drops, he set career highs in goals, assists and points, while the Kings on-ice goals scored were nearly identical to his 2021-22 season. Defensively, you’d take Anderson, and the Anderson – Doughty pairing, against any in the NHL. A return to 2021-22 offensive metrics makes their overall contribution that much more interesting.

By his own admission, Anderson wasn’t happy with his playoff performance. At all strengths, his goals against per/60 was the highest amongst Kings defensemen. His primary focus is to defend against the opponent’s top forwards and Edmonton’s top two forwards were both extremely productive. As a prideful, defensive player, Anderson took a lot of that responsibility onto himself after the first-round elimination. It’s hopefully a learning experience for a player who figures to have several opportunities in the future to have a different result.

2023-24 Outlook– If you had to place a life or death bet on any member of the Kings organization being with this team next season, Mikey Anderson would probably be the safest to keep you alive.

With his eight-year contract extension kicking in on July 1, Anderson committed his long-term future to the Kings, as he became the longest contracted player the organization currently has. Anderson will more than likely continue in his role as the team’s top-pairing defenseman on the left side, with hopes of continuing to develop his partnership with Drew Doughty. Anderson’s new cap hit of just over $4 million per season represents a sizable raise over his $1 million salary in 2022-23, but also represents a fair deal that he possibly could have exceeded in the coming seasons.

Mikey Anderson is here to stay, as one of the team’s best draft picks in recent memory continues to become a part of this team’s core moving forward.

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