LA Kings Goaltending Problems Exposed in Losses; What Could be Coming Next?

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by Dan Adkisson

The LA Kings have had a simultaneously promising and frustrating season. Their 27-17-6 record for 60 points has them second in the Pacific Division and in a playoff position. It is a quite tenuous hold, however. The Seattle Kraken are one point behind in third place and have four games in hand; plus the Edmonton Oilers sit just three points back in fourth place – which is also first in the Wild Card spot. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild are six points back, but with four games in hand. All of those teams, plus Calgary with 55 points and two games in hand, would have to pass the Kings to knock them out. Sure, that is a lot of teams, but not very many points and all have played fewer games.

On the optimistic side, the Kings 5-on-5 level of play ranks high among the best in the league. They have taken 53.6% of the unblocked shot attempts in their games, good for fourth in the league. Thanks mostly to that, they project to score 53.2% of the goals in 5-on-5 situations, the eighth-best expectation. Unfortunately, they have only actually scored 49.3% of the goals, a very mediocre 21st in the league.

That leads to the pessimistic side. Relatively poor goaltending explains the disparity between the strong overall team numbers and the mediocre results. Goalie Jonathan Quick has had a fantastic career for the Kings, leading them to Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014, making three All Star teams and winning the William Jennings Trophy twice, along with the 2012 Conn Smythe trophy. Unfortunately, he is 37 now and began the season as the Kings starting goalie, yet just does not have his earlier career form any more – which is natural for all players at this point in their careers. He has an .884 Save %, only 64th in the league among goalies who have played at least 10 games this season. He has -15.08 Goals Saved above average (GSAA), meaning that he has conceded more than half an extra goal than expected in each of his 26 starts.

Career minor league goalie Pheonix Copley was called up to replace Cal Peterson, who was holding an even worse .868 save percentage on December 1. He improved the Kings netminding somewhat, winning 12 of his first 14 starts, but he too has leveled off recently. Still, he has the best numbers of the Kings troika with a .897 save %, and -3.97 GSAA.

The Kings goaltending woes have been particularly pronounced in their losses. They give up 4.82 goals per game when they fall, third worst in the NHL.

Going forward, it looks like Copley will serve as the primary starter with Quick getting in the action every so often. Despite LA’s shakiness in net, the Kings are at least in the mix for postseason glory on the futures markets. Caesars Sportsbook has the Kings +2800 to win the Stanley Cup and +1000 to take the West. Oddly, they are only +800 to win the Pacific Division, the fifth lowest odds even though they are right in the middle of a five-team scrum.

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The Kings face a big question coming up, as the NHL Trade Deadline looms on March 3. Do they trust that Copley can maintain his good (not great) level of play, or do they go out and try to find a new goalie? There are a few goalies thought to be available. Besides Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko, who will likely be linked to several trade rumors soon, here are some of the more common names floating around:

Craig Anderson

The Buffalo Sabres netminder is now 41, so he would purely be a stopgap rental. He has not played that frequently, but he has played well, sporting a .918 save percentage, 2.73 goals against per game and 7.32 GSAA in 17 total games, 16 of which were starts. The downside is that he really only profiles as a part-timer, so he would replace Quick, which is likely not appealing to the Kings. Anderson has not played over 40 games in any season since 2018-19. The odds of him being a good match for LA are extremely slim.

Joonas Korpisalo

The 28-year-old Columbus Blue Jacket is a pending free agent on an injury wrecked team heading for this year’s Draft Lottery. He has a .910 save percentage, 3.22 GAA and 3.21 GSAA. He makes a little more sense to a team like the Kings, as he could step in and start, though his contract status makes him a rental as well. Still, he is at least a statistical upgrade.

James Reimer

This is a player who has been linked to the Kings recently by those just trying to connect some dots, but does he make the most sense? At 34 years old, the San Jose Sharks will most likely be looking to trade him away during their ongoing rebuild. For some, a move down the coast seems to make sense. He has had a nice career on multiple teams. Digging deeper, though, his .896 save percentage — should it hold — would mark the first time he dipped below .900 for a full season. Plus, his 3.25 GAA and -7.78 GSAA would not be improvements over Copley. A move like this could simply come down to whether the Kings believe Reimer will pick up his play a bit in a better situation and if they think they’ve gotten all the mileage they can out of Copley.

The Kings have several games left until the All Star break, then 10 more after that until the Trade Deadline. They will surely use that time to get the best read they can on what they have in Copley and whether it makes sense to make a move for another goalie.