Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a team that in my opinion is stuck in the middle, they can't quite seem to get over the hump of the playoffs. Now it is fairly bad luck for them that they have faced the Edmonton Oilers in the first round for the last couple of seasons, and the Oilers are no doubt a better team than the Kings, but the Kings are honestly no better than many of the teams that make the playoffs.
This year's team is no exception to that, the Kings this year are once again going to be a bubble team in the playoffs. Plus, the injury to Drew Doughty is only going to make things worse. A team that was once known for its high-end defensive play is no longer that. With Jim Hiller taking over as the head coach of this team, he has vowed to change the way this team plays. Whether or not this will help the Kings or not has yet to be seen.
The Kings did improve in one area this past offseason though and that is in net. Acquiring Darcy Kuemper was a good move by the Kings, as that was an area of weakness for them in the past couple of seasons. Having a goalie that has in the past proven to be a number one will be a major improvement for them. Unfortunately, a goalie can't score goals for you, and I think that is the area the Kings will struggle the most.
Prediction
At this point, I do not know if the Kings will make the playoffs. I think right now it will be a battle for them to get a Wild Card spot. The bad news for the Kings is if they do make the playoffs and land in a wild card spot, I do not think they will make it out of the first round once again. They are missing quite a few pieces if they do indeed hope to make a deep playoff run and they aren't really in a spot where they can take a risk and make a bunch of moves at the deadline to bring in those missing pieces. Cause as I mentioned above they are a bubble team and bubble teams can't sell the future to have a chance to make the playoffs just to get knocked out in the first round.