No one is wishing for Connor McDavid to leave the Edmonton Oilers more than the Los Angeles Kings. It has been four consecutive years that the world's best player has beaten the Kings in the first round, and the team is slowly running out of answers. As their core gets older, the mountain has never seemed more insurmountable. Nevertheless, let's make some predictions for the Kings' 2025-26 season.
LA took a step towards being harder to play against by signing Corey Perry and Joel Armia in the offseason. Perry brings veteran leadership and extensive experience in making a lengthy playoff run. Meanwhile, Armia has also seen his share of big-game success and brings some penalty-killing intangibles that will be an asset against inter-division rivals like the Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights.
The Kings' main question is whether they have enough scoring punch to go goal-for-goal with some of those teams, which they'll soon find out when the season opens in a month.
The fifth time's the charm?
Not everyone likes the Stanley Cup Playoff format, and the Los Angeles Kings might have the biggest gripe. Gary Bettman's playoff seeding idea promotes inter-division rivalry and exciting first-round matchups, but the Kings and their fans wish there were some way to avoid the Oilers.
The Kings and Oilers faced off in the first round for the fourth consecutive time this past Spring. It started in the 2021-22 season when Edmonton won in seven games, and it has progressively worsened for Los Angeles. The following year, the Oilers finished the job in six games, and then in five during the 2023-24 season. The Kings made it a bit more interesting last year by stretching it to six.
Regardless, the only thing that matters is finally winning a playoff series, and the Kings must find a way to overcome the roadblock. It seems like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl play their best against Los Angeles, and defeating two of the best players in the world over a seven-game stretch isn't an easy task.
It won't be easy for the Oilers to replicate their success for a third straight season. They have gone as far as they can in two consecutive years without winning the Stanley Cup, and the extended seasons must be taking a toll on their players. There are also plenty of questions surrounding the team, with some of their veterans finding new homes, and McDavid's contract situation is sure to create some distractions.
This prediction may be about to make the same mistake people have been making for the last couple of seasons, but you must believe one series is finally going to go Los Angeles' way. If the playoff format continues to create this matchup, 2025-26 will be the year the Oilers finally fall to the Kings.
Adrian Kempe re-signs with Kings before season starts
McDavid's possible unrestricted free agency is taking all the headlines, but some other centers could hit the market. Adrian Kempe would be a nice consolation prize for a team if they miss out on McDavid or Jack Eichel.
Some of the league's top insiders believe it is a foregone conclusion that the 2026 free agency class will have plenty of big names. The belief is that it's the reason some teams are keeping their salary cap situations flexible heading into next year. It would have been a shame to give out an unwarranted contract in this past free agency and not have the money to send McDavid or Eichel an offer.
The Kings have nearly $18 million in cap space coming off the books with the expirations of Kempe, Anze Kopitar, and Andrei Kuzmenko's contracts. Rumors are that this season could be Kopitar's last, which means the Kings won't have to choose between their captain and Kempe, and they won't want to lose both of their top-six centers.
The only reason the Kings could opt to keep their salary cap open is if they believe McDavid might follow the path of Wayne Gretzky and leave Oil Country for Hollywood. However, they'll face a lot of competition from the Oilers themselves and other teams, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers.
It'd be a tough risk to take to let Kempe and Kopitar walk and also miss out on McDavid. It'd be the end of the Kings' contending window as they know it, which is why new general manager Ken Holland can't take the chance. If the front office is smart, they'll lock up Kempe before other teams have the opportunity to woo him, and figure out the rest after.
