How The Kings Were Built: 2022-23 Edition

In the summer of 2022, the LA Kings said goodbye to a franchise legend while welcoming in a new star. After returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2018, GM Rob Blake continued his work in building the Kings into a team that can continue to make postseason appearances and do damage in the playoffs.

Here’s a look at how the 2022-23 LA Kings were built.

INHERITED PLAYERS
While there are a handful of players the Kings acquired before naming Rob Blake General Manager in 2017, only Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick are playing on contracts that predated his hire.

Drew Doughty signed his current contract in the summer of 2018, as he committed his long-term future to Los Angeles. Matt Roy was drafted in 2015 but signed a three-year extension in 2021. Jacob Moverare is the only player left from the 2016 draft and just signed a two-year contract extension this summer after making his NHL debut in the 2021-22 season.

Drafted in 2014, Adrian Kempe scored 35 goals and was named to the Pacific Division All-Star team in Las Vegas and was rewarded with a four-year contract.

YEAR ONE (2017-18)
Rob Blake made a priority of keeping his draft picks as GM and found a late-round gem in his first attempt. Mikey Anderson, selected in the fourth round in 2017, signed a team-friendly, one-year contract extension with an AAV of $1,000,000, after establishing himself as one of the top defensive defensemen in the NHL, a stabilizing presence on the blueline.

While a few other players from the later rounds of the 2017 draft class have moved on, the players taken in the first (Gabriel Vilardi), second (Jaret Anderson Dolan) and third (Matthew Villalta) rounds have all signed contract extensions this summer. Those players will be given every opportunity to play significant roles within the organization in the 2022-23 season.

Keeping draft picks and prospects wasn’t the only avenue Blake used to construct the Kings. He also made expert use of the free agent market, signing Cal Petersen (Notre Dame) and Alex Iafallo (University of Minnesota-Duluth) in the summer of 2017.

YEAR TWO (2018-19)
The 2016 and 2017 draft classes weren’t the only ones making an impact for the Kings in 2021-22. Rasmus Kupari, drafted in the first round in 2018, appeared in 57 regular season games for the Kings and five playoff games as well. The Kings made seven total selections in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and with David Hrenak signing his entry-level contract, five of those seven are currently under contract with LA.

Blake Lizotte, signed as an undrafted free agent in April of 2019, more than earned his ice time during the 2021-22 season and is expected to be a regular in the lineup. Sean Walker, signed in the summer of 2018, will seek to rebound from injuries that left him unavailable for much of the last two seasons. When healthy, Walker is a speedy option on the backend with the ability to provide an offensive punch from the blueline.

Two players acquired by trade also played large roles for the Kings in 2021-22. Sean Durzi and Carl Grundstrom were acquired (along with the first round pick that was used to select Tobias Bjornfot) in a high-profile trade ahead of the deadline in 2019. Both players saw their roles and responsibilities elevated due to injuries, both exceeded expectations and presumably both figure into the team’s immediate plans because of their strong showing.

YEAR THREE (2019-20)
The LA Kings made nine selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and the Kings still retain the rights to all nine players. Four of the players the Kings selected were defensemen and two of them are already contributing at a professional level. Tobias Bjornfot, drafted in the 1st round, has played over 100 games in the NHL and Jordan Spence, taken in the 4th round in 2019, made his NHL debut during the 2021-22 season and earned First Team All-Star honors in the AHL. Kim Nousiainen will play his first full season of professional hockey in North America this season.

Arthur Kaliyev, taken in the secnd round, combined with Blake Lizotte and Brendan Lemieux to form an effective bottom-six line during his rookie season. Alex Turcotte and Samuel Fagemo both saw NHL action in the 2021-22 season but spent the bulk of the year in Ontario, where they were joined late in the season by Andre Lee.

Thousand Oaks Native Trevor Moore was acquired in February of 2020 and had a breakout season for the Kings in 2021-22 combining with Danault and Arvidsson to form a nice second line for the Kings.

YEAR FOUR (2021)
The 2019-20 season was cut short, but Rob Blake continued to build the Kings through the draft. The Kings drafted nine players for the second year in a row and received high marks for their draft picks and the prospect pool they had amassed. Quinton Byfield was injured during training camp prior to the 2021-22 season and missed half the season but looks to bounce back and recapture the form that saw him drafted second overall at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Originally drafted in 2017, Lias Andersson was acquired via trade at the 2020 draft and signed a contract extension in the summer of 2022. Andersson will join 2020 draft picks Martin Chromiak and Helge Grans at the upcoming training camp.

During the 2021 season, Rob Blake addressed a team need by acquiring Brendan Lemieux from the New York Rangers. Lemieux proved to be effective in his role, as he combined with Blake Lizotte and Arthur Kaliyev to form one of Todd McClellan’s most frequently used line combinations.

YEAR FIVE (2021-22)
At the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the Kings employed a different strategy than in the past. Using later round picks to move up to select players they felt would better compliment the organization, the Kings wound up adding just four players to their already crowded list of prospects.

Solid scouting and savvy drafting are needed to build the foundation of a winning franchise but drafting alone isn’t enough to raise the Stanley Cup. To that end, in the summer of 2021, the Kings made a high-profile trade acquiring Viktor Arvidsson from the Nashville Predators for a pair of draft picks. The Kings also dipped into the free agent market signing highly sought-after center Philip Danault and veteran defender Alex Edler.

2020-21 AHL MVP TJ Tynan signed as a free agent in July and delivered an encore performance for Ontario earning himself a two-year contract extension from Rob Blake.

YEAR SIX (2022-23) and BEYOND
Despite a truly staggering number of man games lost to injury, the LA Kings finished the 2021-22 season with 99 points and a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Without Drew Doughty and Viktor Arvidsson, the Kings ultimately fell to the Edmonton Oilers in a hard fought seven game series that clearly demonstrated the identity Blake had created through his moves during his tenure.

As a follow up, management pivoted from previous years and traded away a first-round pick and a highly touted prospect to acquire Kevin Fiala from the Minnesota Wild before the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and immediately signing him to a long-term extension. Fiala scored 85 points for the Wild during the 2021-22 season and is considered a dynamic playmaker who can also create his own scoring chances. The price to acquire the prolific forward was the 19th overall pick in the 2022 draft and defensive prospect Brock Faber. Faber, a Minnesota native, is a right-shot defenseman and with the emergence of Sean Durzi and Jordan Spence, as well as the looming potential of Brandt Clarke, was an asset the Kings presumably felt they could sacrifice for the chance to add a player of Fiala’s caliber.

Additionally, Blake added goaltender Pheonix Copley and defenseman Tobie Bisson, who will likely start at the AHL level but have professional experience to their names.

With the acquisition of Fiala and contributions up and down the lineup from veterans and rookies alike, the Kings head into the 2022-23 season with plenty of reasons for optimism.