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LOS ANGELES -- With a victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, the Los Angeles Kings move one step closer to securing home ice advantage for the first time since their return to the playoffs in the 2021-22 season.
Home ice will be a big factor in their upcoming matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, but arguably more important is the balance this team has achieved this season.
After a tough 2023-24 season, Rob Blake put together an impressive summer and has built a team that looks more prepared for the playoffs than any of the teams we've seen over the last three seasons.
The emergence of Quinton Byfield, the addition of Andrei Kuzmenko at the trade deadline and the bounce-back season we're seeing from Darcy Kuemper are key for this team's success, but it's about more than just a few players.
Players like Byfield, Kuzmenko, Kevin Fiala, Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar give the Kings a top end of their roster that they've desperately lacked in previous seasons and while they can't match the Connor McDavid's and Leon Draisaitl's of the league, they're much closer than they've been.
Crucially, they also have a playable and effective fourth line. In the last few seasons, the Kings' fourth line has desperately lacked any identity, not being a speedy skill line some teams deploy, but also lacking a size and physical edge that you want from the bottom of your lineup.
With Alex Turcotte back from injury, the Kings now have a good mix of size and physicality with a little bit of skill to make plays happen. Your fourth line won't win you a series, but having one you can trust is huge.
The back end has also improved. Whatever your opinions are on Joel Edmundson, he's a massive upgrade on Andreas Englund and gives the Kings another big, bruising option on the backend.
The last few seasons, it's felt like the Kings have been pushed around by Edmonton physically and lacked the offensive firepower to match them; there was no clear path to victory.
Now, they've closed the gap in both departments and have one of the league's best defenses to fall back on.
We'll have to wait and see if the Kings can flip the script in round one this season, but this is the most well balanced Kings team we've seen in this matchup.
