With NHL training camp a couple weeks away, the Los Angeles Kings are looking forward to seeing how their offseason changes will impact on-ice play. Following their fifth straight first-round exit, LA hopes a revamped forward group and new coaching staff will provide a punch to help move the needle.
Here are my five bold takes on how this Kings season will play out, barring any alterations to the roster or injuries before the regular season begins.
- Kings become known for their offense after years of defense-first reputation
For the last many seasons, the LA Kings have garnered a reputation of being boring, defensively stout, and offensively quiet. That will completely change this year.
New Head coach Peter Laviolette is known for his dynamic offensive schemes, and that will pair well with the Kings’ talented forward corps.
LA boasts one of the deepest groups of Wingers in the NHL this season, as they hope names like Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin, Kevin Fiala, and Alex Laferriere lead their offense to new heights.
Also, acquiring veteran Winger Mats Zuccarello was one of the most underrated offseason additions in the entire league, as Zuccarello has bona fide 60+ point upside in an offensive system.
- Head coach Peter Laviolette unlocks Quinton Byfield
The LA Kings have been patiently, and desperately, waiting for Quinton Byfield to take his step towards being an elite center in the NHL. He has certainly shown flashes down the stretch in both 2025 and 2026, but with Anze Kopitar gone, Los Angeles needs Byfield at the top of his game for a full 84-game season.
I believe that breakout will finally happen this year, more or less. Byfield has spent his first few seasons mired in a defense-first system, but with new bench boss Peter Laviolette at the helm, the time is now for QB to arrive.
Another aspect of the Kopitar retirement means Byfield will take over as the full-time first-line center, which likely means he will anchor a line alongside playmakers like Panarin and Kempe.
The scheme change and new linemates set the stage for a Byfield breakout, and I believe the improvement will be obvious and fast.
- Goaltending is Kings biggest question mark, despite being strong the last couple of seasons
The Kings have not had to worry much about goaltending the past two years, but I think it will become a head-scratcher pretty quickly into the season.
Anton Forsberg was terrific at the end of last year, but whether he can keep that level of play up for a full 84 is unknown. Darcy Kuemper, who was a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2024-25 and was phenomenal for the first half of 2025-26, looked completely lost down the stretch last season, and I worry his best days are well behind him.
There is a chance the goalie tandem figures itself out, but as of right now I think it is the Kings position group with the cloudiest outlook.
- Brandt Clarke will establish himself as Kings No 1 D-man
One main gripe Kings fans had with former Head Coach Jim Hiller and Co, was his reluctant distribution of ice time to Brandt Clarke. That changed slightly when DJ Smith took over as the Interim Head Coach, and should change even more with Peter Laviolette behind the bench.
Laviolette loves deploying his offense-first D-Men, and has plenty of experience coaching elite players in that category like Adam Fox and John Carlson. Clarke should reap the benefits of Laviolette’s scheme, and I believe his talent and offensive repertoire will help him produce at team-leading levels.
Especially with longtime blueline stalwart Drew Doughty aging, Clarke is set to receive even more responsibility, and along with Byfield, seems ready to reap the benefits of an offense-first system.
- Kevin Fiala has a slow, frustrating start, but leads team in second-half scoring
When the Kings acquired Artemi Panarin last February, he was supposed to upgrade a squad in desperate need of scoring talent. However, the Kings’ top goal scorer, Kevin Fiala, suffered a gruesome leg injury at the Olympics before Panarin even suited up for Los Angeles.
Even throughout much of the offseason, Kevin Fiala’s name has not been mentioned much when it comes to discussing LA’s top scorers. While Fiala will likely get off to a sluggish start since coming off his severe injury, I predict he will heat up in February, like he often does, and lead the Kings in goal-scoring during the season’s second half.
Fiala is one of LA’s most talented, speedy, and effective wingers, and I believe once he is fully recovered, people will begin to see him again as a perennial 30-goal scorer with point-per-game upside.
The Kings’ first regular-season game is in Denver, Colorado, on September 30th, against the Colorado Avalanche: the same team that knocked Los Angeles out of the playoffs last season. We will have to wait until far after then to see if these predictions come true, but I am confident the Kings will have a much different look as we head into Training Camp.