The Los Angeles Kings were expected to be a great hockey team in 2023-24 after trading for Pierre-Luc Dubois and bringing in goaltending help on the free agent market. The Kings lost back-to-back first rounds to the Edmonton Oilers, but the margins in both series were razor thin, and both could have gone the other way. This team looks motivated from last year's loss; LA is 15-4-3 through 22 games, and remarkably has not lost a single game on the road. That's a perfect 10-0 record away from Crypto.com Arena.
Through the first quarter of the NHL regular season, the Kings have been arguably the best team in the Western Conference. Just four points back of the Vegas Golden Knights with as many games in hand, it seems like only a matter of time before LA reaches the pinnacle of the conference.
Things are going great at both ends of the rink; the Kings are second in goals for, averaging 3.86 tallies per game. They're also giving up just 2.32, which is good enough for second as well. This team as currently constructed has blossomed into a bonafide Stanley Cup contender in front of our very eyes, and should be in the running for the President's Trophy all season long.
How can the Kings improve?
The question becomes, how do you take an elite hockey team and turn it into one that can have significant success come April? That's the question general manager Rob Blake is surely thinking to himself with mere months to go until the NHL Trade Deadline. At first glance, there isn't too much that needs to be tweaked for one of the most dominant teams of the first quarter in 2023-24.
The Kings don't even have Viktor Arvidsson, who has been a key piece in the middle-six the last two years but remains on long-term injured reserve. But Kevin Fiala is playing great, Quinton Byfield continues his breakout, and the duo of Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe remains elite. The defense is in excellent shape, with Drew Doughty turning back the clock, Vladislav Gavrikov providing a steady presence after coming over from the Blue Jackets, and youngsters Matt Roy and Mikey Anderson taking the next step in their development.
Of course, Cam Talbot has been a revelation in the crease this season, shaking off a few tough campaigns and putting together a Vezina Trophy-caliber start in California. Phoenix Copley has been lights out himself in a short sample size lately, and the two have created one of the most effective — and unlikely — tandems in the game of hockey.
One place Blake could look to improve is the third defensive pairing. Jordan Spence, a former No. 95 overall pick by the Kings in the 2019 NHL Draft, has broken onto the scene and looked great in sheltered minutes. Andreas Englund has been playing the left side, and the front office could look to upgrade the position by bringing in a defensive stalwart. An option for the team to look into would be Calgary Flames shutdown defenseman Chris Tanev.
Chris Tanev the missing piece in Los Angeles?
The Calgary Flames are likely to conduct a fire sale in the coming months (if not weeks) to offload a few of their UFAs. The first domino has already dropped, with Nikita Zadorov being traded to the Vancouver Canucks last week. The hulking blue liner made his Canucks' debut against his old team on Saturday night.
Tanev, Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin are likely to be the next players traded. Craig Conroy can't afford to lose any of them for nothing — like what happened with Johnny Gaudreau two summers ago — and it seems impossible the trio aren't signed or dealt ahead of the deadline.
Tanev could be the most attractive option for the Kings, both in terms of his defensive style and price. He's making $4.5 million in 2023-24, and LA could make that work. Here's what The Athletic insider Chris Johnston had to say about the shutdown D-man, while ranking him No. 3 on his first trade board of the season:
“Considered a team-first warrior who still profiles as an effective shutdown defender, Tanev will be in demand among those looking to upgrade their blue lines. He has some say in his next destination courtesy of a 10-team no-trade list. A right shot with penalty-killing chops, he’s garnered a reputation of playing the game the right way over 12 NHL seasons. That means finishing checks, blocking shots or keeping opponents to the outside — whatever it takes to give his team the best chance at success.”
If LA can swing a deal with Calgary to obtain Chris Tanev, they could also look to sign him, as they did with Dubois. With under $2 million in cap space, it won't be easy. But the Kings could make something work, and Tanev could be the missing piece for a team looking to make some noise in the Pacific Division next spring.
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