With playoffs dead ahead, Joel Edmundson’s impact continues to be welcomed by the Kings

If Game 1 of the playoffs was last week, we would have seen defenseman Joel Edmundson in the lineup for the Kings.

“At this time of the year, you play through injuries and you do whatever you can to help your teammates,” Edmundson said. “I definitely would have found a way to play, for sure.”

It wasn’t last week, however.

While he was managing an upper-body injury in the latter stages of the regular season, Edmundson was able to use the schedule a bit to his advantage. With the postseason secured on April 5, Edmundson was out of the lineup for five games, as the Kings relied elsewhere on the backend to help secure home-ice advantage in Round 1, winning four of the five games he missed, while the veteran blueliner got himself closer to 100 percent.

The time off was beneficial for him. Edmundson was on the ice regularly in that time, away from the group, as he “took care of the body” heading into Game 1. Now, with that time in the bank, he returned to the lineup last night against Calgary and is where he needs to be heading into Monday’s playoff opener against the Oilers.

“He’s been through it, he understands, he’s had long playoff runs, he knows where his body needs to be, so he’s the one making the decision on if he’s ready to go or not,” Head Coach Jim Hiller said of Edmundson. “It’s always good for a player, if he can get back and have a game [first], but you’ve got to make sure that you’re in good shape to do that. We would have took it either way, but he says he’s ready.”

If you look back at the sentiment surrounding the Edmundson signing in the summer, you might wonder if Kings fans would want him in the lineup for the postseason. While you don’t judge a four-year contract in Year 1, I think it’s safe to say that Edmundson has exceed just about all expectations, as he’s provided exactly what the Kings were in search of when they brought him into the fold on July 1.

In some ways, I actually think it’s gone better than expected.

No Kings player has been on the ice for more 5-on-5 goals scored this season than Edmundson has. He’s not an offensively-motivated player by any stretch, but he collected 20 points for the second time in his NHL career, while his chance and goals against numbers have fallen right around his median metrics for his career. All in all, he’s been pretty solid in a number of different ways.

“He’s huge, he does a lot of great things,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “He can defend really hard, he’s huge on the penalty kill, heavy shot from the point. We’re very thankful for Eddy, especially on the backend.”

Where Edmundson has really excelled, as Anderson mentioned, is as a penalty killer.

Among the 107 defensemen with at least 100 minutes played in shorthanded situations this season, Edmundson ranks ninth in terms of goals against per/60, with a nearly identical total to Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman. While playing on the penalty kill, the puck is in his own zone at a substantially lower rate than the league average, with Edmundson placing in the 92nd percentile in that area.

A big part of that number has been his ability to deny controlled zone entries by the opposing power play. Among those same 107 defensemen, Edmundson ranks seven in the NHL in defensive-zone denials with control, on a per/60 basis. Anderson ranks fourth in that metric. Leads to a simple principle of shutting things down early, leading to defensive success in keeping the puck out of the Kings’ zone, and ultimately their net.

Simple principles, yet principles that tend to lead towards victories.

“He’s a gamer and he’ll do what it takes to win,” Hiller added of Edmundson. “You’d like to think that everybody does that, but he’s won and he knows that if it takes that, he’ll do it.”

There was one more sentence on that quote from Hiller as well.

“He’s been a really good influence on Clarkie, too.”

Photo by Gary A. Vasquez/NHLI via Getty Images

That’s other part of Edmundson’s game that has been important this season. But it’s harder to quantify. It’s not as much about goals in and goals out. It’s more about the experience and leadership he’s brought to the team and into the locker room.

Over the summer, Edmundson made clear that a part of his job would be to help mentor and develop younger players. His most common partner this season has been 22-year-old Brandt Clarke, a player with a very different skillset to Edmundson’s and a player with an extremely high ceiling and a very bright future ahead of him.

When Edmundson spoke about that part of his job, it wasn’t that he was assigned that role. It’s that he embraced that role. From Clarke’s perspective, the mentee if you will, it’s a role that’s been extremely important in his own process of navigating his first full season in the NHL.

“He’s just cool headed and this is a time when things get high and low really quickly, it can get emotional, but he’s just one of the most level-headed guys I’ve ever met in my life,” Clarke said. “It’s been nice to have him on the bench, talking to me, and he’s been great to me all year……I’m lucky to have him, but our team, collectively, is really lucky to have him.”

A developing and improving Clarke is huge for the Kings.

Hiller believes that over the past month or so, Clarke has played his best defensive hockey of the season. Recently, Clarke spoke about recognizing the right times to take a chance, balancing the risk/reward factor of when to pursue a 50/50 puck or when to use his skill versus when to back off. It’s been evident in watching his play that he’s made some serious strides in those areas. While most of that credit goes to Clarke, Edmundson has certainly helped.

And Clarke isn’t the only player who has received a bit of guidance.

While defenseman Jordan Spence has played in the playoffs before, he’s still relatively early in his career and is still elevating himself and his game. Consider Edmundson a learning tool for him as well.

“He has a lot of experience, he’s won a Stanley Cup before and to have him with our d-core, to be there if there’s things that we want to learn, he’s always there [for us],” Spence said. “He really fits with us really well and I think that’s one of the biggest things that we need as a team and he’s right there with us.”

Come the postseason, when the emotions escalate and the games mean that much more, a player like Edmundson’s value grows.

Whether it’s his own game or the influence and impact he’s made on younger defensemen like Clarke and Spence, that’s a guy I think most coaches want to have around in a playoff series.

“Let’s not forget that Eddy’s a champion too, so there’s a certain amount of internal confidence, you might call it swagger and not arrogance, I think those who have all won have,” Hiller added. “That’s what I see from him.”

Edmundson is now vying for his third trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and his second championship, after he won in St. Louis in 2019 and reached the final series with Montreal in 2021.

Back in July, Edmundson said that he loves the playoffs because the crosschecks go uncalled on a more regular basis. He was kidding……I think.

But it kind of encompasses the essence of what he brings. He has the mean and nasty game, with a crosscheck that typically goes unseen while clearing the front of his own net. But he does so with a calm and collected demeanor in his own game, working with teammates to find their balance and keeping the team stable when things feel like they’re about to go over the edge.

When the going gets tough, it’s nice to be able to rely on guys who have been there before and come out the other side still standing.

“Nothing phases him, nothing rattles him, he’s been through it and he’s been on the other side,” Hiller added. “It’s tough to get back there and do those things, but there’s just a composure to him.”

Come Game 1 on Monday, it’ll be nice to have another one of those players in Los Angeles. Composure, when composure is needed most. Good to have that player back at this time of the season.

Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images