3 questions facing Los Angeles Kings

NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, three important questions facing the Los Angeles Kings.

1. What’s the Jim Hiller effect now?

Hiller was named the 30th coach in Kings history on May 22 after being interim coach since Feb. 2, when coach Todd McLellan was fired.

Now it’s Hiller’s team and he can implement his ideas and systems more. One thing Hiller discussed on May 23 was finding more offense while not losing the Kings’ great defensive play.

The Kings allowed 2.56 goals per game last season (third in the League). They scored 3.10 goals per game (16th in NHL) during the regular season but that dropped to 2.60 goals per game in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers, who eliminated them in five games.

Hiller said, “There’ll be areas we look at that may be subtle, that might be obvious. But there will be some changes within that that we’ll have to put in place.”

2. How will the goaltending look?

The Kings are expecting David Rittich and Darcy Kuemper to be a tandem for them this season.

Rittich was 13-6-3 with a .921 save percentage, 2.15 goals-against average and three shutouts in 24 games (22 starts) last season. Kuemper, who was acquired in a trade with the Washington Capitals for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois on June 19, has some familiarity with the Kings, having played for them in 2017-18. He’s excited to be back in the hopes of rekindling his game.

Kuemper had a 3.31 GAA and .890 save percentage last season in 33 games (30 starts) with the Capitals, both numbers being career worsts for him. But that could be considered an anomaly. The 34-year-old put up good numbers prior to last season, including when he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22. In the 2022 playoffs he was 10-4 with a 2.57 GAA, .902 save percentage and one shutout in 16 starts.

How their starts are broken up remains to be seen, but the Kings have two veteran goalies and a strong defense in front of them. Speaking of defense …

3. How does the defense stack up?

The top pair of Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty should remain intact. Doughty continues to be a machine; the 34-year-old logging 25:48 of ice time per game last season, second in the NHL to Washington defenseman John Carlson at 25:54.

After that, there are changes. Jordan Spence, who finished the postseason playing on the third pair with Andreas Englund, will probably move up to the second pair with Vladislav Gavrikov.

Joel Edmundson, who the Kings signed to a four-year, $15.4 million contract ($3.85 million average annual value) on July 1, is likely on the third pair. The 31-year-old brings a lot of experience, having played 530 career games with the St. Louis Blues, Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens, Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs.

That experience should help his expected third-pair partner, Brandt Clarke, who played 16 games with the Kings last season and is ready for a bigger role.