2012 Projections: Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Kings have been the team that has been on the edge of doing some great things over the past couple of seasons and there is no reason why we shouldn't think so again in the 2012 season.

An off-season which saw a dramatic improvement in talent up front, a hard-working cast of defenders and a pretty good starting goaltender (with an equally good back-up) makes for a team that should be looking to contend for the Pacific Division crown and hopefully make for some good hockey pool picks this year.

With the Pacific Division getting much better and tighter, do the Kings have enough on their roster to rise to the top?  Only time will tell, I guess... but I'll provide my best prognostication here.

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Anze Kopitar	80	Jack Johnson	45	Jonathan Quick	80
Mike Richards	70	Alec Martinez	15	Jonathan Bernier	25
Dustin Brown	55	Rob Scuderi	10
Dustin Penner	55	Matt Greene	10
Justin Williams	50	Willie Mitchell	10
Jarret Stoll	50	Davis Drewiske	10
Simon Gagne	45
Brad Richardson	20
Kyle Clifford	20
Scott Parse	20
Trevor Lewis	15
Colin Fraser	5
Kevin Westgarth	5
Andrei Loktionov	15	Jake Muzzin	10
Ethan Moreau	5

Pool Worthy Forwards (Inside the top 160, 40 points)
Anze Kopitar was having a whale of a season in 2011 before succumbing to a broken leg in the last couple weeks of the season, and with the addition of Mike Richards to the mix in Hollywood, both players could be in for a big year.  Even if Kopitar and Richards don't play together, the Kings will have the start of two solid lines with plenty of help to accent their abilities.

I think there is going to be a push from Dustin Penner in the 2012 season.  Penner is potentially going to be an unrestricted free agent next Summer and he'll have to prove to many that he is actually worth the $4.25 million cap hit he's worth at the moment.  Penner will likely get some new linemates to help boost his numbers and he'll either get off to a good start in Los Angeles or get dealt right away.

With some potential on the wings, I like Jarret Stoll to put up some points this year.  He's more than capable of being a productive second line centre and with a variety of talent to put around him, the Kings should have a very dangerous top six.

Pool Worthy Defensemen (Inside the top 80, 25 points)
It's not their full compliment of blueliners up there yet, so the scoring might be a tad weak from the back end.  Jack Johnson currently stands as the only defenseman that I would consider pool worthy from the Kings and he's good enough to be up among the better defenders.  He'll get a big push for minutes this season, which will keep his numbers up.

Pool Worthy Goalies (Inside the top 40, 25 points)
The Kings have two capable keepers to choose from, but Jonathan Quick is the big minute man on the club, having the number one role in his back pocket into the 2012 season.  With the division as tight as it looks, Quick will be in tough to win a lot of games, but I think he should come out with some pretty decent numbers.  He will be challenged a little bit more from his back-up, Jonathan Bernier, so he'll have to stay sharp.

Pool Worthy Rookies
There are a couple of rookies on the table above, but the depth of the Kings will work against them.  Forward Andrei Loktionov and defenseman Jake Muzzin will get their looks, but I cannot see them breaking through without a dominant camp and preseason.  I can see them getting time over the course of the season, possibly getting some points, but I wouldn't be in any rush to pick them up.


Unsigned Players
One of the biggest players still unsigned in this off-season, Drew Doughty, remains off the board without a deal in place.  Doughty had a down year from his Norris Trophy finalist season in 2010, but he has a great case to make a large sum of money in a new deal, so we'll be tuned in to see how this one finishes up.

Key Injuries
The Kings acquired Colin Fraser in the deal that sent Ryan Smyth back to Edmonton and as it turned out, Fraser was still suffering from a foot injury (fracture & cyst), which required surgery back in July.  The rehab from that injury is supposed to be four months, so Fraser is scheduled to miss the first month of the season.