NHL Power Rankings: Pre-Training Camp Edition

Apr 6, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar (11) awaits the start of play against the Vancouver Canucks during the first period at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 2-1 in a shoot out. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
13. Los Angeles Kings
The 2014 champions are a tough team to project after falling flat and missing the postseason entirely last year. It was clear the Kings had run out of gas after playing deep into the postseason the last few seasons.
There were a few offseason incidents that might have served as a major distraction for the Kings. The Mike Richards and Slava Voynov situations may have been enough to derail a season. Plus, there were rumors that the team wasn’t meshing well with head coach Darryl Sutter.
More from Blackhawks News
- Blackhawks vs Flames: Date, Time, Lineup, Betting Odds, More
- Three Takeaways from the Blackhawks’ Win vs Vancouver
- Blackhawks: Why Derek King is the Right Coach moving forward
- Marc-Andre Fleury Carries the Blackhawks to a 4-2 Win vs Seattle
- Instant Reaction: Blackhawks top Kraken for first time in history
The Kings return stars in Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick and made a big trade by dealing for Milan Lucic. The Kings also parted ways with Mr. Game 7 Justin Williams, and Andrej Sekera.
Los Angeles should get back to the postseason with the brunt of last season’s distractions behind it. However, Lucic could be regressing and the Kings didn’t do much else to improve the roster.
Next: Next: No. 12
More from Blackhawk Up
- Blackhawks: Grading Connor Murphy and a position comparison
- Blackhawks: Shuffling the lines to try and spark offense at 5 on 5
- These Lineup Changes could Solve the Blackhawks’ Scoring Problem
- Blackhawks: List Of Things To Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving
- The perfect holiday gifts for the Chicago Blackhawks fan