With lessons learned, Alex Turcotte is thriving early in the season for the Kings

Between games in Toronto and Montreal, following a 6-2 defeat against the Maple Leafs, the Kings made wholesale changes to all four forward lines and all three defensive pairings.

The blueline is its own conversation, but with regards to the forwards, what made Head Coach Jim Hiller confident in being able to execute those changes, with no practice time in between, and feel confident that the Kings could get more from each of their lines?

“Alex Turcotte’s Play”

For Turcotte, that was obviously a nice thing to hear. For a guy who has put so much in to get to this point, having that level of acknowledgement from Hiller was a step in the right direction.

“Obviously that’s awesome, trying to gain the coach’s trust, so I was pretty pumped, but at the same time, I feel like you’ve just got to keep it going and be consistent,” Turcotte said. “It’s nice to hear that, but I’m not satisfied, and it’s still really early, so my goal is to just to be consistent.”

It was well-deserved praise, though.

Moving Quinton Byfield back with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe was not an issue. Everyone knows that line worked. Performance reasons is not why the Kings broke that line up entering the season. The way this team is built requires three lines capable of playing a big role both offensively and defensively. The hope was for Byfield to drive his own line, which would give the team three trusted and dangerous units. Results were mixed through four games as a team, not just with that third line, but all around. What wasn’t mixed was the play of Turcotte.

Impactful in all four games, Turcotte merited a longer look, higher in the lineup.

Hiller called Turcotte the team’s best forward in the lopsided loss in Toronto and was hopeful that in Montreal, with the increased role, Turcotte would play the same way. He was rewarded with another strong effort.

“The concern was that Turc had done so well in his role, that you get more sometimes, and you try to do a little bit too much,” Hiller said. “He didn’t. I give him some full marks. He played the game like he’d been playing in the four hole, played in the three hole, and was really good, so high marks for him.”

Turcotte attributed his mindset in keeping things the same to a lesson he wished he learned when he was younger.

Whether he’s slotted as the first-line winger, a spot he’s played in, or the fourth-line center, he’s there for a reason. He’s in the NHL for a reason too and he’s there to play his game, not somebody else’s. So, when tasked with a new role, new linemates and additional icetime, he applied that lesson to his play on the ice, not changing what he was doing to fit a different slot in the lineup.

“I wish I knew this when I was younger, but we’re all here for a reason and it’s by playing our game,” he said. “I think that I just want to be consistent, so that’s bringing the same game every night, trying to. Obviously, there’s going to be ups and downs, but I think if you’re reliable and consistent, good things are going to happen the majority of the time.”

Consistency is indeed key. It’s perhaps the number-one way to earn the trust of a coach, is by being consistent.

Hiller spoke about Andre Lee during training camp, praising the way he brought the same game each and every night. There’s obviously his size and the way he played, but doing it one night on and two nights off is a fast track out of the lineup. For Turcotte, he has yet to give anything back.

He’s made an impact on all six games the Kings have played so far this season, even in limited ice time in Buffalo, Boston and Ottawa. His role expanded by quite a bit in Toronto, playing bigger minutes in a game the Kings trailed the entire way, scoring his first goal of the season on a nice play from the slot.

Then came Montreal.

Turcotte shuffled up onto a line with Warren Foegele and Alex Laferriere, two players who seem to think and play the same way as Turcotte does.

It’s early days yet, but returns have been quite good.

The line has scored now in both games, with Laferriere getting the reward both times. Full credit goes to him, for sure, as he leads the team with four goals early in the season, but last night’s goal had Turcotte’s fingerprints on it. Perhaps last season, the Kings would have sat back, but in a 1-0 game, Turcotte forechecked aggressively in the offensive zone and forced a quick decision from an Anaheim defenseman. The result was an errant pass into the slot, which Laferriere picked off and buried for an insurance goal in the eventual 4-1 victory.

“The nice part about Laf’s goal is Turc was hunting their defenseman down, so he was forced to make a play maybe sooner than he wanted to,” Hiller said. That was Turc’s puck pursuit, so there’s two guys in on that. Laf gets the goal and Turc doesn’t get an assist there, but it was equally important.”

That exact play is something Laferriere nearly forecasted a couple days back.

In speaking after his first game played with Turcotte, Laferriere said Turcotte is “always hard on forechecks, winning puck battles.” A play that could have been innocent turned into a deadly one, thanks to Turcotte’s hard work and Laferriere’s awareness. The Kings have made it a point to try and force more turnovers in transition and last night’s second goal was a perfect example, between linemates who are getting more and more comfortable with each other.

The third man on that line, Foegele, brings similar skating ability and a nose for playing North/South hockey. He was equally complementary of his new centerman and his early-season success.

“I think he’s honestly been probably our most consistent forward throughout the season so far,” Foegele said. “He’s tenacious, he’s working hard, he’s making smart plays and I hope it continues for him. He’s playing with a lot of confidence and he’s playing really well.”

Going forward, that confidence, combined with maintaining the tenacious style of play, is what the Kings will continue to expect from Turcotte.

If he can continue to deliver at that level, it will allow the Kings, for now, to keep Byfield on the wing with Kopitar and Kempe on what has been one of the NHL’s best lines. It’s not a forever solution – the Kings will likely move Byfield back to center, with Hiller saying as much.

“This had nothing to do with way QB played, it had more to do with the way Turc played than how QB played,” Hiller added. “Q’s a centerman, you’ll see him back at center at some point this year, for sure and he’ll have a long career at center in the NHL. For now, it’s what’s best for the team and so this is a decision we made that’s best for the team, and he accepts that, he understands it.”

What’s best for the team right now, is for Turcotte to continue playing at the level he’s played at here to start the season.

With Turcotte on the ice, the Kings are controlling more than 71 percent of scoring chances this season, the best clip on the team. Turcotte also leads forwards in the same metric in shot attempts and scoring chances, as well as shots on goal. He’s been among the most regular Kings at getting the puck into the slot and the goal he scored in Toronto was from the slot, an example of a nice give-and-go passing play with Andre Lee.

Lots of good things happening with number 15 on the ice. He’s always had it in him. Been really great to see it on full display here early in the season.

Andre Lee gets his first @NHL point on Turc's goal! pic.twitter.com/9YffURiq03

— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 17, 2024