{"id":240430,"date":"2025-10-12T21:10:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T21:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/240430\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T21:10:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T21:10:49","slug":"la-kings-observations-from-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/240430\/","title":{"rendered":"LA Kings: Observations from Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025-26 season is underway and the LA Kings<\/a> started their first week with a 1-2 record against some of the top teams in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

After an opening night 4-1 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the Kings brought a much better effort the next night, winning a thriller in Vegas 6-5 in a shootout. Opening week ended with a 3-2 loss in Winnipeg on Saturday which featured a couple of defensive errors that allowed the Jets to tie the game and eventually score the winner.<\/p>\n

As with everything this time of year,\u00a0it\u2019s early, so whatever happened in Week 1 \u2013 good or bad \u2013 isn\u2019t necessarily going to continue for the rest of the season. With that caveat, here are some observations from the past week.<\/p>\n

Average Joes<\/p>\n

The LA Kings have been one of the league\u2019s top shot-share (CF%) and shot-quality (xGF%) teams in the league for years. This has largely been on the back of their strong, structured and stingy defense. After three games, the Kings sit 15th in CF% (50.2%) and 19th in xGF% (48.6%) at 5-on-5. Now, this is heavily skewed by the game in Vegas in which they were badly out attempted so yes, the sample size isn\u2019t anywhere near big enough.<\/p>\n

But, while I don\u2019t expect the Kings to be in the lower-half of these categories all season, a big concern for me heading into it was how much worse Ken Holland<\/a> made the team\u2019s defense group, so I am skeptical that they will be the dominant possession 5-on-5 team that we\u2019ve seen in recent years.<\/p>\n

If they are going to be spending more time in their defensive zone this season, it\u2019s going to put more pressure on the goaltenders as well. We\u2019ll see how this goes as the season goes on.<\/p>\n

Improved fourth line<\/p>\n

A big speaking point from the offseason was the upgrades to the LA Kings\u2019 fourth line with the additions of Joel Armia<\/a> and Corey Perry<\/a>. Unfortunately Perry\u2019s pre-season injury has him sidelined to start the season, but boy has Armia looked the part so far.<\/p>\n

On a per-60 minute basis, Armia is second on the team in shot attempts and in tracking scoring chances this season, his four chances are second only to Anze Kopitar<\/a>. He\u2019s been excellent at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill through three games. His impressive play even saw him get some time next to Quinton Byfield<\/a> and Kevin Fiala<\/a> against Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

Armia\u2019s willingness to shoot and intelligence to get himself into higher danger scoring areas is a perfect fit next to Alex Turcotte<\/a>. Whenever Turcotte has been healthy, he\u2019s been a contributor to the offense. Right now, he\u2019s healthy and he\u2019s doing just that. He leads the team in Chance Assists and is second (again only to Kopitar) in shot assists per-60. He\u2019s a creative player who, in fourth line matchups, should give LA a significant advantage.<\/p>\n

Jeff Malott has served a role nicely, dropping the gloves sticking up for his teammates. I don\u2019t know that he\u2019s long for the roster spot once Perry returns, but he\u2019s holding his own.<\/p>\n

So far, so good for the fourth line.<\/p>\n

One more year?<\/p>\n

Or how about another ten for captain Anze Kopitar? The ageless Slovenian is off to a strong start, leading the team in points (3) while also continuing to be the key cog on the top line, leading the team in Shot Assists.<\/p>\n

Still can\u2019t get over this sequence. Kempe creates a lot of space by driving hard to the net. #GoKingsGo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Xm7GOXJMGK<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Hockey 411 (@TheHockey411) October 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

At 5-on-5 the line of Kopitar, Andrei Kuzmenko<\/a> and Adrian Kempe<\/a> are outshooting opponents 17-11, outscoring them 2-0 and have maintained 56.1% of the expected goal share. They\u2019ve been great and Kopitar is a big reason why.<\/p>\n

Dumoulin \u2013 Ceci<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t going to talk about the new-look LA Kings\u2019 bottom defense pair because, well, what else is there to say that hasn\u2019t already been said?<\/p>\n

Through three games, in 41:25 of 5v5 play with Cody Ceci on the ice, the Kings have been out-attempted 49-27, out-shot 23-10, and out-scored 5-0, per NST.<\/p>\n

What are we doing here?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Russell Morgan (@NHLRussell) October 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin (signed for a combined $8.5M on July 1) have played 37 minutes together so far at 5v5 for the #GoKingsGo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They are:<\/p>\n

Down 0-5 in goals
Down 0.6 to 1.8 in xGoals
Down 8 to 23 in shots on goal
Down 21 to 44 in shot attempts<\/p>\n

\u2014 JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have too much to add to that. They\u2019ve been as bad as everyone (not named Ken Holland and Jim Hiller<\/a>) expected. The problem is what does the team do about it? Thanks to Holland, they have cushy contracts and the only other options are to break up the other two pairs.<\/p>\n

Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty<\/a> have looked very average to start the season while Joel Edmundson<\/a> and Brandt Clarke<\/a> have been one of the better defense pairs in the league from an expected goals standpoint. Hiller has done a nice job of keeping Edmundson and Clarke away from opponents\u2019 top lines, allowing Clarke to get up in the play and be effective in the offensive zone. I\u2019ll still be surprised if we see Anderson and Doughty split up, but will Hiller really split up what\u2019s been his best pair, especially when Edmundson was signed\u00a0specifically to play with Clarke?<\/p>\n

While I\u2019d like to see Brian Dumoulin<\/a> play with Clarke, that won\u2019t solve the bottom pairing issue. Neither Edmundson nor Dumoulin are good enough to survive minutes next to Cody Ceci<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Could Mikey Anderson make Ceci playable? We\u2019ll see how Hiller approaches this next week because they cannot continue with a bottom pairing that is\u00a0this bad.<\/p>\n

For better or for worse, LA Kings hockey is back! Hey, at least we get to listen to John Kelly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

5-on-5 Corsi and Expected Goal stats via Natural Stat Trick.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Steve Marcus<\/p>\n

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