Angeles Analysis – Heading Into The Break + Englund on Waivers

At the break, the LA Kings are exactly where I thought they would be, personally.

It’s a familiar spot. The Kings have qualified for the postseason over each of the past three seasons in the Pacific 3 spot in the standings. With 29 games to go in the regular season, the Kings sit in their usual spot, inside the bracket on the Pacific Division side, though not in a position to get home-ice advantage.

The Kings sit behind the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights, though within reasonable striking distance, with multiple games in hand. Coming into the season, those felt like the top two teams in the division and I don’t think that’s exactly a hot take. Last season’s cup finalists and the champions from 2023. The Kings sit just ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, teams that are pushing for a postseason berth themselves. Both teams have won the division over the last three seasons but both teams have also missed the playoffs twice in that span.

The Kings haven’t had the high of the one seed since re-entering the playoff conversation but they have been nothing if not consistent overall. The last six weeks or so have been anything but, though it’s amounted to a pretty good-looking record overall. Coming out of the holiday break in late-December, the Kings won five straight games. Then they went 2-7-1 over their worst 10 game stretch of the season. Then it was three straight wins and points in four straight heading into the 4 Nations break.

Certainly some staggering ups and downs and perhaps the biggest piece of adversity the Kings have faced this season. I liked this quote from Jim Hiller about the Kings coming out of January on the other side –

“The word I would use would be adversity and we hadn’t hit a whole bunch of adversity this year. I guess you can say when Drew went out, well that was September. I don’t think it was adversity when we lost in San Jose, but we really played good for two months and then we had a tough stretch in the second half of January, that has been our adversity and we went a long time without getting a lot of adversity. I hope that galvanized us a little bit, going through that and then getting out on the other side of it and now just getting calm and just understanding we’re a good team, somebody will get it done, not every night, but most nights.”

The Kings are a good team. Can they be more than that? Yes. But probably not until April. Qualifying for the playoffs in three straight seasons, while in a position to make that four in a row, is the mark of a good team. The mark of a great team, though, ultimately lies in Game 83 and beyond. So far, this iteration of the Kings hasn’t gotten over that hump. The deep team we’ve seen over the last few games, with offensive threats throughout the lineup, winning in ways that could be defined as uncomfortable is a team that can get the job done at that time of the year. Fewer than 30 games left until this group gets a chance to prove it.

That time will resume in a couple of weeks.

For a team that’s played 31 road games already, the most in the NHL this season to this point, a little bit of time of is not just deserved but needed. We’ve seen a team that’s locked in and focused this week on home ice, but this is clearly a fatigued group. January was grueling, with 10 of 12 games and 20 of 24 days on the road. Felt like more, honestly. Sometimes, it felt like three straight weeks away from home. To get home and right the ship was important. To mentally and physically meet a difficult challenge was important as well. Last night against Anaheim, you could tell the group had very little in the tank. Still, they came from behind to find a game-tying goal and earn a point in the standing, number 65 on the season.

Now it’s time for a break. The Kings will have next week completely off. Imagine vacations will be taken, family time spent and batteries recharged. The group will reconvene early the following week back in El Segundo to ramp things back up for the stretch run. The stretch run for the Kings will be packed in terms of games played, but certainly lighter in terms of travel. With 29 games remaining, 19 will be at home. Nothing longer than a three-game trip on the road. It will be 29 games in 56 days which is quite compact. But with travel reduced, it shouldn’t be quite as taxing.

As Hiller has pointed out numerous times, having the home games is great, but it’s only an advantage if you win your games. In Los Angeles this season, the Kings have been dominant, with a 17-3-2 record on home ice, the best mark in the entire league. Over the last 10 years, 12 teams have finished a season with a home winning percentage over .800. So it’s possible, as the Kings sit at .818 as of entering this time off. But even if the home form dips ever so slightly, the Kings have been every strong in their own building and in making up games, you’d certainly prefer them at home as opposed to on the road.

Coming out of the break, the Kings will have that chance. If they can take advantage of it, they’ll set themselves up nicely to return to the postseason and challenge for perhaps a different seed than they’ve had in past seasons. But that’s for down the road.

For today, on Super Bowl Sunday, it’s a day to relax and recover. It’s been a long road until this point. Sometimes it feels like we were just in Quebec City. Others, it feels like Drew Doughty’s ankle injury was 3 years ago. Such is the grind of an NHL season. Some well-deserved time off for us all.

The content won’t stop, though! Adrian Kempe is set to represent Team Sweden at the 4 Nations Faceoff while it Drew Doughty has joined Team Canada. More on those storylines to come here over the next couple weeks, with previews, recaps and some on-site check-ins to come!

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Additionally, defenseman Andreas Englund was placed on waivers earlier today. Will learn his fate tomorrow at 11 AM. Should he clear, the Kings would be free to assign him to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. If not, he would head to another NHL club. More on that front to come.