Kings Look to Go Further in Their Return to the Playoffs

The biggest surprise playoff team from the 2021-22 season has to be the Los Angeles Kings. Their appearance came just two years after they were one of the seven teams who missed out on the modified 2020 playoffs, which was the second of a three-year playoff drought that the team had suffered. I don't think anyone had the Kings being one of the NHL's Sweet 16 teams so quickly after being one of what I called the "Not-So-Magnificent Seven," but the 2021-22 season truly surprised a number of fans, myself included.

I honestly think that the Kings were happy to be there, but despite that, they gave the Edmonton Oilers quite a scare, winning Game One and even going up 3-2 in the series, but the Oilers took Game Six in LA and blanked the Kings in Game Seven. Even so, the Kings had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. They exceeded expectations. They were back to being a playoff contender. I had the Kings making it back this season, and sure enough, they did just that. LA was one of five teams who had a chance to clinch a spot on April 1, but the outside help didn't come prior to their victory over the Seattle Kraken. The following day saw the Kings needing only one more point in the standings to clinch, but they decided to get both points and defeat a Vancouver Canucks team who became eliminated while they were playing. LA reached 100 points, and became the third West team to clinch a spot in the playoffs.

Kevin Fiala is having an absolute dream season with the Kings, and it's his first with the team. I watched Fiala with the Nashville Predators (including his run to the Cup Final in 2017) and the Minnesota Wild, and it was his last season with the latter that he had a career high 85 points (33 G/52 A). This season, Fiala is leading the team in points with 72, with 49 of them being assists (also first on the team). As a result, Fiala became an All-Star for the first time in his career, representing the Kings as part of the Pacific Division squad. The goal scoring leader on the team is Adrian Kempe, who has netted 36 this season, though I still remember his OT winner in Game Five last year against the Oilers.

With the shocking trade of Jonathan Quick to the Columbus Blue Jackets (who had him for about five seconds before they dealt him to the Vegas Golden Knights), Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty are the only remaining remnants from LA's Cup years in 2012 and 2014. As teams who have won championships often do, the Kings gave Kopitar and Doughty some handsome new deals, a "thank you" for contributing to those Cups. Kopitar received an eight-year deal worth $80M; signing the contract in January of 2016. This season is the seventh of that deal, and Kopitar's earning his payday. He's second on the team in points with 68 (26 G/42 A), and as for Doughty, he signed an eight-year deal worth $88M in 2018, and that deal began in the 2019-20 season. He leads LA blueliners with 48 points (8 G/40 A), and all of this shows that while both deals were quite risky, evidence shows that they are helping the team.

I just want to point this out. Nine teams clinched playoff spots at this point--three from the Atlantic, three from the Metropolitan, three from the Pacific with the Kings in, but none from the Central. Very interesting. Speaking of the Pacific, the Kings are in a tight race with the Golden Knights and Oilers, meaning that we could see LA atop the Pacific at season's end. The expectations have rased abit with their performance this season, and if they end up finishing first in the Pacific, we could see a long run from the Kings in 2023.

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