Recapping 2024 – By The Numbers, Individual Leaders, Interesting Stats

It’s funny to see how calendar years fit into the NHL schedule. I’m regularly guilty of using season and year synonymously, but they aren’t. A season has 82 games, every single time. Sometimes, those seasons have schedules that are either frontloaded or backloaded. Going back to 2022, the Kings played 90 games. 2021-22 was backloaded, especially with COVID cancellations in the 2021 portion, while 2022-23 was frontloaded and 2023-24 was backloaded, so the 2023 calendar season wound up having just 75 games played. 2024? Ten more games, with the Kings playing a total of 85.

The 2023 totals wound up being among the best in the NHL in a number of different areas. The Kings started so well last season, coming after a strong finish in 2023, as they found their stride as a group in the second half of the season. The 2024 Kings own January, which certainly doesn’t help. They own an up-and-down start in October as well, picking up the pace immensely as of late. Still, January wound up with 12 defeats from 15 games played. Hard to climb over that one.

It was certainly an eventful year for the Kings. They hired a new Head Coach. They rebranded the logo and jerseys over the summer. A first-round exit, for the third straight season against the same team, led to an overhaul of the roster and a focus on bringing in a certain type of player. That saw several players depart and others added in. One third of the lineup from Game 5 is on longer with the organization. Of the 20 players suited up for the first game of 2024, a 3-0 loss against Toronto, only 10 player in the final game of 2024, Sunday’s 5-4 win over Philadelphia.

2024 By The Numbers – Team
Games Played: 85 (T-3rd)
Wins: 45 (T-12th)
Points: 101 (T-11th)
Winning Percentage: .594 (13th)
Goals Scored: 252 (T-15th)
Goals Scored, Per Game: 2.96 (T-17th)
Goals Against: 227 (7th)
Goals Against, Per Game: 2.67 (4th)
Power Play: 21.9% (14th)
Penalty Kill: 82.4% (5th)
Faceoff Percentage: 50.5% (18th)
Corsi For Percentage: 53.8% (4th)

All-in-all, 2023 saw the Kings profiling as close to a Top-5 team in the NHL. 2024 more of a team in the 10-15 range, towards the bottom of the playoff bubble.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Using an arbitrary cutoff being today, the final day of 2024, to assess a calendar year. The Kings amassed 101 points in 2024 with a winning percentage slightly under the .600 mark. They were, unsurprisingly, one of the NHL’s best defensive teams, both at even strength and on the penalty kill, as well as one of the league’s top possession groups, as they’ve been now over the past four seasons.

What I found interesting was that the Kings ranked no lower than 18th in any individual metric. The only categories outside the top half of the league were goals scored on a per-game basis and then faceoff percentage. The Kings were not a high-scoring team especially at the end of last season, although the faceoff one is a bit surprising. Otherwise, they ranked somewhere between 10th and 15th in a number of different categories.

2024 By The Numbers – Individual
Goals
1. Kevin Fiala – 35
2. Adrian Kempe – 33
3. Anze Kopitar – 24

Assists
1. Anze Kopitar – 51
2. Adrian Kempe – 44
3. Phillip Danault – 33

Points
1. Adrian Kempe – 77
2. Anze Kopitar – 75
3. Kevin Fiala – 64

Power-Play Points
1. Kevin Fiala – 29
2. Adrian Kempe – 25
3. Anze Kopitar – 24

Points By Defensemen
1. Drew Doughty – 31
2. Vladislav Gavrikov – 29
3. Brandt Clarke – 27

Plus/Minus
1. Mikey Anderson – +19
2. Warren Foegele – +17
3. Alex Turcotte – +16

A lot of these categories simply felt like swapping Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe from there they were last year. Or even just changing out their totals. Unsurprisingly, Kopitar and Kempe are first and second in several of these categories, with Kevin Fiala typically the third member most times. Perhaps it was a bit surprising that Kevin Fiala led the Kings in goals scored over the calendar year, burying 35 in total from 84 games played. Fiala often is thought of more as a playmaker than a goalscorer, but he’s put the puck in the net at a pretty good rate, with his calendar year being only two games more than a full season.

One other outlier would be the presence of Warren Foegele in the +/- category. I think a lot of guys saw their numbers impacted by the January struggles the Kings had last season, but Foegele obviously wasn’t here for that. +17 in his 36 games with the Kings, averaging almost a full plus every other game. Impactful start here with the Kings and hope to see that total even continue to grow as the Kings move along into 2025.

Leaguewide Honors
Mikey Anderson
T-9th in +/- by a defenseman (+23)

Drew Doughty
1st in the NHL in TOI per/game (25:39)
T-5th in power-play goals by a defenseman (6)

Kevin Fiala
T-12th in power-play goals (12)

Vladislav Gavrikov
6th in shorthanded time on ice (251:07)
T-6th in total games played (85)

Adrian Kempe
1st in the NHL in first goals scored (13)
T-5th in the NHL in shorthanded goals (3)
T-10th in the NHL in shorthanded points (4)

Anze Kopitar
4th in faceoffs won (877) and faceoffs taken (1,618)
T-12th in the NHL in game-winning goals (8)

Alex Laferriere
T-6th in total games played (85)
T-10th in even-strength goals by a rookie (7)
T-10th in shots on goal by a rookie (82)

Trevor Moore
T-12th in the NHL in shorthanded goals (2)

Stretching out a couple of these, for sure, but good to see Kings players listed in a couple of these different categories on more of a leaguewide basis.

The Kings have played 85 games in the 2024 calendar year and it was interesting to see that only Vladislav Gavrikov and Alex Laferriere skated in each of them. Despite only part of this time coming as a rookie, Laferriere was still in the Top 10 in even-strength goals and shots on goal, while Gavrikov was among the league leaders in shorthanded time on ice.

The most interesting stat to me, that really doesn’t mean a lot, was that Adrian Kempe led the NHL in first goals. Unless you win 1-0, I guess first goals doesn’t mean a ton, but Kempe scored the first goal of the game 13 times in 2024, more than any other player in the NHL. Guess he’s a good guy to get the momentum started.

Drew Doughty’s presence here in power-play goals is also interesting. Doughty buried six power-play goals in 2024 alone and he hasn’t played a game this season. Perhaps an element missing from the Kings on the PP this season has been Doughty’s shot, which took a step forward last season for sure. He’s working his way back and whether it’s the first or second unit, I think it could help.

As note earlier, full-team practice day today, with updates provided HERE on Drew Doughty, Trevor Lewis, Trevor Moore and Arthur Kaliyev. Not expecting that quartet to feature tomorrow against New Jersey, but varying degrees of progress for all four over the last couple of days. Game preview to follow tomorrow, as the Kings get another shot at one of the league’s top teams in New Jersey!