For a fourth straight season, the Los Angeles Kings fell in the first round of the playoffs to the Edmonton Oilers. The franchise did not bring back Rob Blake as the general manager, bringing in Ken Holland to attempt to solve the Oilers conundrum. He made some solid offseason moves to help the Kings move past the first round in 2026.
Holland has been a proven winner and part of the Oilers franchise. He was the president of hockey operations and general manager of the team from 2019 until the summer of 2024. He built the core of the franchise that the Kings cannot get past in the playoffs, and now he is in charge of making sure his new club can advance.
The perfect move the Kings made in the 2025 NHL offseason was signing Joel Armia.
Why the Kings cannot beat the Oilers
In 2021-22, the first time the two teams faced off in the playoffs in this recent streak, the issue was simple for the Kings. They struggled to score in losses. In their four losses, they combined for just four goals. In response, the team added Kevin Fiala, who put up six points in the 2023 playoffs.
In that playoff run, scoring was much less of a concern, as the team scored 20 goals in six games. The defense was the major concern that year.
They switched their goaltending room after that season, but once again struggled. The 2024 playoff run was the most the Oilers had dominated them, falling in the series 4-1 and being outscored 22-12. It was back to the drawing board for the franchise.
They seemed to have figured things out in the 2025 playoffs. They took a 2-0 series lead. Newcomer Andrei Kuzmenko was playing great, and the top-two lines were scoring in a dominant fashion. Then, the lack of depth from the forwards began to show. The defense started breaking down. The penalty kill started to become an issue as well.
They allowed seven power-play goals in the last four games as they fell in six games. The power play, which has been solid in the first two games of the series, slowed to a near halt. Once again, the team was left perplexed on how to vanquish the Oilers.
Kings' plan: if you can't beat them, take their players
Holland is attempting to make moves to advance in the 2026 playoffs. One solid transaction was the signing of Corey Perry. The former Oiler signed a one-year deal with the Kings. Perry has spent the past two seasons with Edmonton and is coming off another solid playoff run. In the 2025 playoffs, he scored 10 goals with four assists.
While Perry is 40 years old, he has still shown himself to be a productive player for depth purposes. He has scored 20 or more points in six straight seasons while lighting the lamp 19 times with 11 helpers in 2024-25. He has also been strong on the power play in his career and should help the second power-play unit in 2025-26.
Furthermore, he brings playoff experience to the franchise. He has played in 237 career playoff games with 64 goals and 77 assists. Perry also has a winning pedigree in the playoffs.
His name was placed on Lord Stanley's Cup in 2007, when he was with the Anaheim Ducks. He has also been to the Cup final in five of the past six seasons but has yet to hoist the trophy again. This was an amazing move for both depth and playoff experience, but it does not fully solve the Kings' problem.
Joel Armia helps solve a Kings problem in the perfect move
Joel Armia is also heading to LA. The Fin was the first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres back in 2011. He has since played with the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens. He is not going to be a major offensive threat.
In his 586 career games, he has chipped in just 103 goals while adding 104 assists. His career high is finding the back of the net 17 times in 2023-24. Still, he should add 20 to 25 points as a depth forward.
He was not signed to help the offense, though, but was brought in to be a defensive forward. He has consistently hit well in his career, including three seasons over 100 hits. In 2024-25, he laid the lumber 87 times. Meanwhile, he has regularly created 30 takeaways per year while blocking more than 30 shots per season.
Finally, the former first-rounder will improve the penalty kill. He has been strong on the penalty kill in his career, which was a major issue for the Kings in past playoff runs.
He is expected to be a fourth-line forward for the club while also joining one of the penalty-kill units. Holland knew the issues the Kings had in beating his former employers, and the signing of Armia is perfect to help them move further in the 2026 playoffs.
