from Damien Cox of Sportsnet,

A team that crashes out of the playoffs the year after winning the Stanley Cup should look more broken than the Los Angeles Kings do.

The Kings still have a strong core featuring an elite two-way centre and one of the finest defencemen in the sport. They have superb goaltending. They have an appealing blend of youth and experience. What they lack in footspeed they more than make up for in players ready to play a “heavy” game, and they are the apple of the analytics fraternity’s eye for their strong possession game.

Throw in stability and experience at ownership, the managerial level and coaching, and what’s not to like?

Problem is, 95 points wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs this year, which constituted a disaster for a team that has two Cups, one from 2012 and one from 2014. L.A. had walked this regular season highwire before, however, and this time the Kings took a tumble.

GM Dean Lombardi, one of the best in the game, has said he’s not expecting “major moves” this off-season, which seems sensible. Lombardi says he’s more concerned with players using this extended off-season to enhance their conditioning and be prepared to deliver more for 82 games next season and make sure this early vacation doesn’t re-occur.

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