If there was one person on the Kings who could carry a selfish approach towards the acquisition of Andrei Kuzmenko, you might think it could be Alex Turcotte.
Kuzmenko, after all, was acquired from Philadelphia and was immediately slotted onto a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, a place Turcotte had been playing for the bulk of the season. It’s fair to wonder how Turcotte, playing in his first full NHL season, would handle the switch.
If you did think that though, rest assured you’d be wrong.
“We all just want to win so bad and I just want to do anything to help the team win,” Turcotte said. “Obviously it’s cliche answer but it’s the truth. Whatever that is. If they want me to play defense, I’ll play defense. It doesn’t matter.”
Turcotte is still in his first lap around the league on a regular basis.
Playing on the top offensive line was a first for him for an extended stretch, after largely featuring lower in the lineup during his first callups over the past couple of seasons. And he recognizes that. It’s his first time doing these things and when a situation like this came about, he approached it the right way.
“It’s my first year in the NHL, so I feel like I’m learning a lot and I’ve got to be open to anything and be versatile,” he added. “It’s been a great experience to be in different situations throughout the year and especially this time of the year so close to playoffs.”
That’s not to say Turcotte doesn’t want to play more or want more responsibility.
He does and he knows what will come with time and experience.
But his current situation is also really important for a Kings team that seems to have found its ideal combination of 12 forwards and six defensemen. If you want to look at it from a different angle, over the last three games, Turcotte has gone from a complimentary piece to a play driver. With Kopitar and Kempe, Turcotte found himself deferring at times. Too regularly for his liking. He is not the first younger player to defer when playing with Kopitar and when you add the team’s leading scorer in Kempe into the mix as well, we certainly saw it happen more than it should have.
“Honestly, probably too much,” he said of deferring to veterans. “I think my goal eventually is to not ever do that when I get older, but it’s hard. It’s your first year and they’re such good players. I think like with anybody, your brain wants to get them the puck, because they make such good plays, they’re superstars and they make great things happen. I probably forced it sometimes with them, even though I know they want me to make plays and hold on to the puck and then try and find them.”
Now, his role is different.
He’s playing on the fourth line and not the first line and yeah, it’s a demotion in that regard. On his line, though, he’s gone from the third wheel to the guy driving the bus. The Kings have gotten a mixed bag of results from the fourth line this season but in each of the last three games, coinciding with Turcotte’s arrival, they’ve made a difference in the game.
In three games together, the fourth line of Turcotte on the right with Tanner Jeannot on the left and Samuel Helenius at center has held a 10-7 advantage in scoring chances and a 6-1 advantage in high-danger chances. They haven’t scored but they’re a line that can make a difference in the game without scoring. Too often this season, the fourth line has been hemmed into their own end. Not lately.
That line has tilted the ice the other way, creating chances off of a physical and effective forecheck. Over the last three games, Turcotte leads the Kings in loose-puck recoveries in the offensive zone on a per/60 basis, accounting for the disparity in ice time. Turcotte’s linemate, Jeannot, leads the Kings in loose-puck recoveries in all areas of the ice. Turcotte and Jeannot rank 1 and 2 on the Kings in dump-ins recovered in the offensive zone as well since being paired together on a line.
Sounds to me like a pretty simple yet effective formula. Helenius and Jeannot are bruisers who play to their size. Turcotte is a high-energy player with a relentless motor. He’s looked free on that line, ready and willing to let the engine run.
It’s not the sexiest style of hockey. But man has it been effective.
“We’re creating a lot of chances and I know we’re a fourth line, so our role is to try to keep it out of our zone and keep it even out there, but I think we’re controlling the play,” Turcotte said. “We’re getting good looks and making plays, holding on to the puck. It’s only a matter of time, I think, until we score a couple.”
There’s merit to Turcotte’s assessment of a fourth-line instruction. In the 11 games preceding the trade deadline, the fourth line was on the ice for a goal against in eight of them. Jim Hiller has talked about his desire for a fourth line that breaks even every night and it wasn’t where it needed to be in that regard. The Kings do not was a fourth line that doesn’t do anything, but they do want a fourth line that isn’t giving anything back. Over the last three games, Hiller has gotten more than that.
While they have not conceded a goal, which is great, they’ve also helped flip momentum in the right direction as well. Their first shift of the game last night against the Islanders was a perfect example. They got the puck in, went to work and created a number of chances in the offensive zone, setting the tone for what was a good first period for the Kings. Penalties limited their minutes overall, with Hiller talking post game about how well the line played and his disappointment in not being able to use them more, with eight minor penalties screwing things up.
There’s a lot to like, for a line that’s making things happen.
“The three games that we’ve been together, we’ve been in the o-zone a ton, we’re trying to make plays and we’d like to score a couple goals,” Turcotte added. “I think our mindset is, we’re having fun and we’re trying to make plays still and not just take up time, like we want to be difference makers. I think that’s a great mindset to have and we just want to win our minutes.”
If the three of them keep doing what they’ve done in early showings, they’ll continue to win their minutes.
For me, that’s how you improve the team.
Kuzmenko is a guy who benefits the first line and the power play but his addition bumping Turcotte to the fourth line made that line better as well, without adding another player into the mix. Turcotte is not a fourth-line player, but that’s where the Kings have him right now. When you have players who are in roles their ability perhaps exceeds, that’s when you know you’ve got something.
Right now, feels like the Kings have something. Here’s to hoping it continues.
Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
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