EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Before he covered a round of questions during an availability one-quarter of the way into the NHL season, Los Angeles Kings general manager Ken Holland had taken note of the rampant parity that has been an early storyline.
The standings at the beginning of Wednesday had seven of the eight teams in the Pacific Division separated by just five points. Set aside the Colorado Avalanche at the top of the Western Conference and three teams at the bottom – the Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues – and the other 12 teams were separated by seven points. Twelve teams, including his, had between 24 and 27 points. Nine others were right behind with either 22 or 23 points.
“When I looked today, there’s five teams in the league under .500,” Holland said. “I think there’s the highest percentage of the games going to overtime since they implemented the overtime. It all adds up to a really close league.”
The .500 is points percentage and not a clear-cut division of wins and losses, given the added points for reaching overtime and regulation losses not being the same as defeats in extra time, but Holland’s point is sound. The Kings are in the thick of things within the Pacific, even with a minus-1 goal differential, thanks to eight overtime or shootout affairs in their first 20 games, winning four of those. Continued struggles by the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers haven’t allowed either to pull away. And the somewhat unexpected (or shocking) rise of the Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks have pulled them into a tightly bunched group.
“I think that the last few years there were some teams that were in rebuild mode that were trying to build for the future, and the future is now,” he said. “So, I think you’ve got pretty well all the teams in the league that are pushing, trying to get in.
“It’s a great league. It’s really close. I think it’s going to go this way all year. Maybe a couple teams will get away at one end and the other end, but I think there’s lots of teams really close. I just look at the scores every night and the games every night. … Lots of one-goal games. It’s a really, really close league.”
IT’S OFFICIAL 🧃
We have signed Adrian Kempe to an eight-year contract extension worth an AAV of $10.625M.
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— LA Kings (@LAKings) November 17, 2025
There is an opportunity for the Kings to grasp as to being a real threat. A 9-2-2 road record built on the strength of two successful lengthy trips is propping them up. Once they’re done with Thursday’s game at San Jose, they’ll have played 14 of their first 21 games away from Crypto.com Arena. Friday’s game opens a stretch of seven games in Southern California, with all but a Black Friday contest at Anaheim on home ice.
Unlike last season, the friendly surroundings haven’t been beneficial. The Kings are 1-4-2 at Crypto after winning a club-record 31 games in 2024-25, a big part of a 105-point season. The home record has to change for them not to lose the ground they’ve gained. “We want to get going at home,” Holland said.
There were other takeaways from the first-year Kings GM as he dug into a smorgasbord of topics.
The summer roster additions
By no means is Holland embattled after just six months on the job, but his signings of defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci to multiyear contracts as free-agent solutions to replace the holes left by the departures of Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence were battered. It was hard to find anyone outside the team offices calling those moves a net positive.
The opening of the season only affirmed the perception as Dumoulin and Ceci struggled mightily as the Kings’ third pairing. Splitting them up seemed to help both as Dumoulin played with Drew Doughty and Ceci was put with Mikey Anderson. Dumoulin and Ceci were back together until Doughty got hurt Saturday and have delivered better results in L.A.’s defensive system. When asked his thoughts of their play, Holland said, “I’m happy.”
The succinct answer with zero elaboration gave the vibe of a GM well aware of the Dumoulin-Ceci narrative. Holland was far more expansive on Corey Perry and noted how the 40-year-old and Joel Armia, 32, have given the Kings additional depth offense. Both were signed to upgrade the fourth line, and both have played up in the lineup at times.
“He’s a pro,” Holland said of Perry, who has 12 points in his 14 games (including seven goals to rank second on the Kings). “On and off the ice. He goes to the hard areas. He’s got a lot of poise with the puck. I’m not sure that we planned (him playing a lot of minutes) but he’s earned it. He’s a Hall of Famer. He’s still driven to be important.”
Brandt Clarke’s development and next contract
With Doughty sidelined for what Holland hopes will be no more than two or three weeks after he was struck in the left foot by a shot Saturday in Ottawa, Clarke’s value as the only true offensive presence on the blue line figures to grow. Clarke played a season-high 22:53 on Monday in Washington. Some of the extra ice time was necessary as the Kings trailed most of the game and needed a tying goal.
“Him and Eddy have been a good pair,” Holland said, referencing Joel Edmundson. “I think that he’s an important part of the future. He’s also an important part of the present. He’s one of six guys. He plays on the second power play. … That’s what he was as a junior player. That’s what we’re hoping he can grow into. Again, he’s still pretty young. He’s in a great spot.”
This is a year where Clarke can build his value as he is finishing off his rookie-level contract. He’ll be a restricted free agent without any salary arbitration rights, so that curtails his leverage. Holland didn’t offer any clarity as to whether the Kings would seek to lock up their 22-year-old long term or go the bridge route as they did with Alex Laferriere (three years, $4.1 million AAV).
“I’ve talked to his agent a little bit,” Holland said. “Nothing’s going on right now. Obviously, he’s a restricted free agent. We have until summertime. We’ll watch.”
More offense requested
Explosive wouldn’t be a term associated with the Kings’ attack, but they essentially have all their leading scorers back from last season. They’ve regressed so far in 2025-26, falling from 14th (3.04) to tied for 25th (2.75) entering Wednesday. An inefficient 25th-ranked power play is part of the downturn but there have been individuals who have yet to get going on the scoresheet.
The third line that flourished last season in a two-way role isn’t scoring. Phillip Danault had a tough-luck eight-goal year in 2024-25 after scoring 62 goals over his first three Los Angeles seasons, but he is without one this year. Warren Foegele had a career-high 24 last season but has just three, two coming on the Kings’ recent trip after returning from injury. Trevor Moore had 18 goals last season and a career-best 31 before that. He’s got three.
The lack of goal scoring also runs down the middle. Their four centers have only seven goals, all coming between Quinton Byfield and Anže Kopitar. Both combined for 44 goals last season. Fourth-line center Alex Turcotte, who scored nine times across different lines last season, also hasn’t scored. Holland said he’s expecting some players throughout his lineup to contribute more.
“Our team is built that we’re going to need some offense by committee,” he said. “Obviously we’ve got some people there on that lineup that historically have scored better but we need a bunch of people to pitch in. That’s going to be the key to our success.”
A scratched winger gets another shot
Andrei Kuzmenko was a late-season spark as he had 17 points in 22 games after coming to the Kings from the Philadelphia Flyers. His effectiveness waned as the playoff series against Edmonton went on, but the power play revved up when he joined the first unit. And the positive experience for him and the Kings led to a one-year, $4.3 million extension.
Kuzmenko hasn’t had the same impact. He’s got three goals and seven points in 17 games but he’s often been invisible during five-on-five play and had been pulled from the power play. Holland and coach Jim Hiller said the winger would be back in the lineup Thursday against the Sharks after three healthy scratches that followed two games of fewer than eight minutes of action.
“He obviously was a big (move) at the trade deadline,” Holland said. “He was a big piece on making the power play go and scoring offense. He’s a guy that can provide offense. Hopefully this reset gets him going the way he was at the end of last year.”
Kuzmenko will be part of wholesale changes Thursday. He’ll play with Kopitar and Moore as the Kings will load up the top line with Adrian Kempe skating with the usual pair of Byfield and Kevin Fiala. Danault will center Foegele and Laferriere, and Turcotte will have Armia and Perry on the fourth line, which had been projected from the start.