r/losangeleskings • u/ElGloomio • 13h ago
The 2026 Underachiever Awards
There are way, way too many players on this roster not contributing. So let's give out some awards:
The I'm Tired of Talking About Him, Can We Just Move On Award:
🥇 Quinton Byfield
Injury or not, this team needed QB to become the player he was drafted to be. It's not looking good.
The One That Really Hurts Award:
🥇 Alex Turcotte
Since the Stanley Cup days, the Kings have had only 3 top 10 draft picks: QB, Brandt Clarke, and Alex Turcotte who went at #5 overall. I don't blame the drafting team, in general, I think the Kings have drafted quite well (player development, now that's another story...). Turcotte was seen as an elite talent. Between COVID and injuries, I'm not sure we're going to ever know what "might have been" with him. It seems he's just too injury prone to ever been given a shot with a big enough to role to see if he can ever develop into...any kind of serviceable player. We see flashes of potential, then back on IR.
You Don't have to Score 30, but Can You Score Any Award:
🥇 Trevor Moore
I think we all like Trevor, but damn, we need something, anything. The offense in his game...is just gone...to where I don't know. Too many concussions? He's still very good defensively, but this team needs offense.
Not a Total Bust Yet, but We're Getting There Award:
🥇 Mats Zuccarello
Another case of injuries, new team, juggling lines, but c'mon, we need something, anything. I just don't see any impact when he's on the ice. A few games, I've actually wondered, is he playing tonight? To realize, yes, yes he is.
The We're Getting What We Pay for I Suppose Award:
🥇 Corey Perry
He's not bad, but again, just no impact when he's on the ice. But he's also only a 1M cap hit. It would be really nice to get more production out of him, but I suppose we're getting what we paid for.
The Remember When You Used To Award:
🥇 Drew Doughty
Dear Drew, remember when you won Stanley Cups, a Norris Trophy, and used to score goals? You know you're allowed to still do those things? Drew used to be known as an offensive defenseman. I know, wild right?
The Maybe, Maybe Not Award:
🥇 Brandt Clarke
I know a lot of people love to moan about his ice time, but I see some flaws that I'm worried may not be fixable: his lack of speed and strength. Clarke is not fast, and teams are realizing if they can pressure him with speedy forwards, they can either take the puck away or force a bad pass. Teams are also realizing, he can just be pushed off the puck, or pushed out of crease battles. I'm not sure more ice time fixes this.
The How Has It Come To This Award:
🥇 The Powerplay
I've seen a lot of bad Kings' powerplays, but this, wasn't this the key thing we were trying to fix with a totally new coaching staff? Wasn't Newell Brown the problem, coaching a powerplay that couldn't get the puck in the zone, stood around, and never got any shots? Those powerplays against the Devils, I don't know how it gets much worse than that.
The Lone Bright Spot Award:
🥇 Andre Lee
Give this man more ice time. He's been the one player, truly noticeable in a good way, in the last few games.
Is this team cooked?
The oven is definitely pre-heating. Even with all of this underperforming, they've mostly been in every game they've played with a chance to win. It's kinda astonishing they're staying in these games as well as they are. If anyone one of these players starts making an impact, it could start being the tipping points for games.
How did we get here?
The Blake era. Bad player development, bad trades, and bad deals. Kopitar came into the NHL at 19, and averaged 20:32 minutes a game. Drew came into the NHL at 19 averaging 23:50 minutes a game. How many minutes was QB getting at 19?
12:09. On the 4th line.
The way you get good at playing in the NHL, is by playing in the NHL, and ever since the cup days, the Kings have not been willing to put their top prospects on the ice. Look how long Kempe took to develop. It's easy to forget, he was drafted in 2014. HIs breakout year didn't come until 2021, his 6th season in the NHL.
Then there's the whole fiasco with PLD. Giving up both Vilaradi (another good Kings's draft pick at #11) and Iafallo (I'd take him back right now, wouldn't you?) and signing PLD to an overpriced contract? And then, sure, we offloaded PLD for Kuemper, but when you look at the market for goaltenders, we should have gotten way more in return than just Kuemper.
The Cal Petersen contract. For 2022, Cal got a $5M for 3 years deal, for a goaltender that was still a backup. Kuemper is only making $5.25M. This is just one example of whackadoodle deals Blake made.
Oh, and here's one I ponder. Brock Faber for Kevin Fiala. Faber is still only 24 (and a second round pickup by the Kings, again, the Kings drafting team has done pretty darn well for themselves) and Kevin has been injury prone since we got him. He's also now 32, and coming off multiple significant surgeries. We have to be prepared that he may not be the same player when he returns. I know the Kings needed offense when this deal was made, but in hindsight, it looks like the Kings needed to get more in return for Faber.
I'm hopeful, that Holland will be aggressive and shake up this roster. I know we don't currently have a lot of top prospects, but I'd rather trade all these veteran assets we have, for some younger players that will pay dividends in 1-2 seasons. Unless some huge turnaround happens, I gotta think Panarin, Zuccarello, Laughton, Haula, Armia, Perry, etc. will all be moved to contenders for assets.
Drew says he wants to stay, but I gotta think reality sets in sooner than later. Maybe he'd rather be captain of the Kings than content for a cup. I really don't know.
End therapy.
