32 Teams In 32 Days: Los Angeles Kings

They are building something special, but a lot rests on their young players.

• In Today’s 32 Team outlook we examine the Los Angeles Kings and how they have patiently rebuilt their roster without completely tanking it.

• Be sure to check out yesterday’s look at the Ottawa Senators and their efforts to actually try to build a competitive team this offseason.

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Even though the Los Angeles Kings’ run at the top of the NHL did not last all that long, they definitely made the most of it. There was a three-year stretch between 2012 and 2014 where they went on deep playoff runs that resulted in two Stanley Cups (the first two in franchise history) and another trip to the Western Conference Final. They had a couple of other playoff appearances with first round exits sandwiched around that run, but those were clearly their peak years.

Following that second Stanley Cup win in 2014 the team sort of fell off a cliff as some key players got older, some other players regressed, and they did not really have a healthy pipeline of talent churning through the farm system to replenish it.

Finally, in 2018, they started to rebuild things a little.

They are starting to see the results of the process now, and it has been a very interesting path that a lot of teams around the league could learn from.