The Los Angeles Kings haven’t won a playoff series in two years and have only one playoff win in that time. Weird to say out loud, isn’t it?
After missing the playoffs in 2015, Los Angeles was ousted in five games by the San Jose Sharks in 2016. On Friday, GM Dean Lombardi talked with the media and made it clear that something needed to change in the organization to get them back to the top — and it started with how they go about their business.
“You can’t approach things saying, ‘this worked in the past, and all we’ve got to do is go back and do it this way again and we’ll recapture it,’ and I think what this season clearly demonstrated, that’s clearly not the case, and there’s a reason why.” Lombardi said. “Your players are different. Your economics are different. Your spiritual chemistry’s different, and you stop striving to take the next step. So all the innovation and spark that we had when we were building this, there’s a tendency to flatline because ‘we figured it out, we don’t have to do anything different, anything better, and we know it all,’ and it stagnates.”
The Kings have a number of tough personnel decisions to make this summer as they aim to get back on top, while also dealing with a salary cap crunch. Milan Lucic has a stated desire to return, but the pending UFA is also in line for a healthy pay increase and the Kings already have committed $66.3 million to 19 players on next year’s roster (although Vincent Lecavalier is expected to retire). Meanwhile, the team has committed hefty contracts to Dustin Brown ($5.875 million), Marian Gaborik ($4.875 million), and Jeff Carter ($5.27 million) who will all be in their late-30s when those deals expire.
Plus, after next season, key RFAs Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson will need to be extended. So if the Kings are going to realign, adjust and “change” to any degree, there is no easy or obvious way to that goal.
Which brings us to Darryl Sutter. Head coach of the Kings since 2011, Sutter has led the franchise to its greatest success. The Kings want him back behind the bench next season, but his contract is set to expire.
“The coaches, Darryl certainly has an offer on the table,” Lombardi said. “But I don’t think this is about money. I think this is ‘OK, are we ready to do this?’ Because there’s going to be a lot of work, and just like building it in the past, you have to stick with some tough times. Like I said, we’re not going back to there, but make no mistake, for us to get this back on track, there are going to be some minor punches in the gut, too, as we fight our way through.
“I think he’s comfortable with what’s there. I think it’s very fair, but just like when he came here, and just like when his last contract was up, you and everybody else (asked), ‘does he really want to do it?’ But I think it’s a little different now because of where we’re at. It’s a different challenge, just like I said that I have to adapt. Players have to adapt. Coaches have got to adapt. Scouts have got to adapt. It’s a smart thing.”
Lombardi went on to say that he “was not concerned” because he believed Sutter wanted to return to the team. It’s just a matter of recognizing that, despite all their recent success, the Kings are at a point in their history where the rest of the league has caught up, so they need to change and adapt, or else get passed and left behind.
Between the cap crunch, a group of impressive young players who will be seeking raises in the coming years, and a core that is quickly ageing and expensive, the Kings acknowledge they have to do business differently to get back that leg up on the competition they’ve had for the past few seasons.
But make no mistake — a blow up and a rebuild are not options. This is still a team with undeniable Stanley Cup aspirations.
“We’re not going backwards by any stretch of the imagination here,” Lombardi said. “But in order to recreate it, it’s creating a new foundation. The guys that are gone, whatever, the chemistry of your team is different, and they can handle it. The beauty of those kids is they know how to win, but now you have to take that experience, look yourself in the mirror, and say, ‘OK, we’ve got to recreate our version of winning.’
“I think part of the problem is, like I said, the safety in doing things the same way after you’ve won, and this is a little – it’s not scary, but you see now what’s happened. We know we’re not where we want to be.”
So will Sutter stay or become a free agent? Although he hasn’t signed a deal yet, it still seems like the odds are favourable that he’ll return. If not, he’ll either join Bruce Boudreau as a popular head coaching candidate on the free agent market, or quietly return to the farm in Alberta.
