With the men’s Olympic Hockey tournament just days away from kicking off, we have a very relevant guest for this week’s episode of The Insider Show in Eddie Olczyk. My conversation with Olczyk, who will be working his fifth Olympics as a television analyst, features an overview of the upcoming tournament and a look at the Kings after the acquisition of Artermi Panarin last week.

Olczyk can be seen and heard on NBC Sports telecasts throughout the Olympics, and works for both TNT and the Seattle Kraken during the rest of the NHL season.

He also formerly played with the Kings during the 1996-97 season, and will be in the building at Cyrpto.com Arena with TNT for LA’s first game out of the break when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. That game is expected to be newly acquired winger Artemi Panarin’s first with the Kings.

A few of Olczyk’s thoughts on Kings-related topics are shared below. The full episode can be viewed now on the Kings YouTube channel and listened to below or via any podcast platform.

On the recent acquisition of Artemi Panarin
I think a really good fit for Kenny Holland and the Kings. They do definitely need a facilitator and a generator of offense, and the Bread Man, who I got a chance to know very well in his days in Chicago, he had unbelievable chemistry with Patrick Kane, and was a little bit older when he came into the National Hockey League, and then the Hawks, for some reason, traded him to Columbus, which I still don’t understand why they did that, and then eventually goes to New York. He’s a point per game guy for sure. You have to scheme for him. And what that will do is that will open up ice for everybody else, regardless of even strength or 4-on-4, or at 5-on-5. So I think he just has that ability to make the next right play the majority of the time. He’s highly skilled, Kings fans. I mean, I’m sure the diehards know of Artemi Panarin, but he is as elite as there is in the entire National Hockey League, and he held all the cards. In New York he had the no-movement, and he pretty much dictated where he wants to go so I think that’s a great sign for Kings fans that he signed his extension and it was a pretty darn good deal money-wise, too, so that maybe Kenny could go ahead and do something after the summertime and into next year.

Regarding which center Panarin will play with in the Kings’ lineup
There is no doubt about it, [Panarin] will be able to generate and create, it’s whether or not the guys can finish or not, down the road. And just thinking about it down the road, I don’t know what the plan is on who he’s going to play with, but the interesting thing is going to be who is going to be that guy that he plays with next year, and then the following year, like, who is going to be that center? Could he play with a guy like Byfield and is Byfield cerebral enough and instinctive enough to play with a guy like that? A lot of people think, oh, it’s easy to play with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin or Patrick Kane or Connor McDavid. No, it’s not easy. Like you got to be able to think along the same lines, not necessarily be on the same level as them, but I think psychologically, you have to be on that level. Look at Zach Hyman in Edmonton. He was in Toronto with Austin Matthews. Then he goes to Edmonton and he’s with Conor McDavid. Now he’s a smart guy. He goes with two of the better centers we have in the National Hockey League, but in order to play and get those guys the puck and do the things that need to be done in order to open up space for those guys. So what I’m saying is, is Quinton Byfield, the guy that the Bread Man can be paired with moving forward? I’m sure he’ll get every opportunity, but I think that will be a huge question mark because he needs somebody there that can really play a give and go type of game. It’s easy to go, but when do you give it? And that would be the biggest question mark for me, when I look at the slow development of Quinton Byfield is, can he get to that level? And they might not have a choice, so it might be some growing pains.

On his affiliation with USA Hockey and Team USA’s expectations at the Olympics
Full disclosure, I’m an alum of Team USA. I played the Olympics in 1984. I mean, I bleed red, white and blue when we get to this time of year. On the inside, I am pulling for Team USA. And when I get on NBC and I’m working with Kenny Albert, Brian Boucher and Kathryn Tappen there for us in Milan, we got to call it the way we see it and we can’t have our pom poms out, and I can’t be wearing my 1984 Olympic sweater on the air, but on the inside, certainly would love to see our first gold medal at the Olympics since the Miracle on Ice in 1980. To me, it is Canada and the US, but it’s single elimination. But I think if both Canada and the U.S. play to their ability, which, there are questions on both sides, but I think those are the two teams for sure. I would say Canada is the team to beat until you take them out. USA Hockey has closed the gap on the talent level and the depth, and that’s why it was so hard with so many players that got left off the roster. We, as USA Hockey, could put another team together, just like Canada could, and that team would be really, really competitive. But my expectations for Team USA is absolutely the Gold Medal Game. Anything less than that would be a disappointment because I would argue, and I know it’s different than the Miracle team from 1980 where it’s all amateurs and before that, this is the best men’s Olympic Hockey team that we’ve ever put together. Doesn’t mean they’re the best and it doesn’t mean they’re going to win, it just means that when you look at it from top to bottom, it has everything.

On Anze Kopitar, who is playing in his 20th and final NHL season with the Kings
I’ve been doing this a long time as a broadcaster. I retired back in 2000. I coached in Pittsburgh for a couple of years. I’ve been around a lot of people in this game, players, executives, coaches, media. I would honestly say that on my Mount Rushmore of people that I’ve come across in this game, Anze Kopitar is as pure and as classy and respectful as any person I’ve been around in the National Hockey League. And I played for a long time too, I played from 1984 2000 so the NHL has been a part of my life for over 42 years, if I’m doing the math, right. I mean, just, the way he’s carried himself, what he has done, what he has brought to the LA Kings,  I wish him well. I got a chance to see him really early in the year, I was in there with TNT and I’m looking forward to seeing him, hopefully, a couple of more times here before the season ends. I hope Kings nation realizes the type of player and person, most importantly, that you’ve had representing your city and your team for all those years. So a tip of the hockey helmet to a guy that I really, really respect and has done an unbelievable job selling the game and carrying himself in a way that you’d hope that you could bottle it and give it to all your players throughout the National Hockey League. I wish Kopi all the best in his endeavors and I thank him for what he has done for the game and how he has treated me as a former player and a current broadcaster.

The Insider Show – Episode 104