The Kings had surprisingly few forwards who played the majority of the season, but we’re rounding that group out today with a look at Joel Armia’s first season with the organization. Armia felt like a revelation early in the season and scored several big goals to help earn points. His impact waned as the season went along, largely due to injuries, but overall, his first campaign in Los Angeles was a successful one. A look at his season below.
Joel Armia
LAK Statline – 67 games played, 13 goals, 12 assists, +1 rating, 30 penalty minutes
LAK Playoff Statline – 3 games played, 0 goals, 0 assists, -1 rating, 6 penalty minutes
NHL Possession Metrics (Relative To Kings) – CF% – 49.1% (-3.9%), SCF% – 48.8% (-4.2%), HDCF% – 45.1% (-7.7%)
Trending Up – I think Armia delivered a pretty effective season in the first year of a two-year contract. Up until the Olympic break, Armia ranked fifth on the Kings in goals per/60 and seventh in points per/60 and he did so playing largely on the fourth line, with sporadic usage higher in the lineup. If you take power-play points out of the equation, Armia ranked fifth among Kings forwards in points through the Olympic break. Not to suggest that anything here was a staggering total but for a player who was signed at a very modest cap hit, brought in specifically to fill a fourth-line role, Armia exceeded those expectations, especially with his early-season play.
One big reason as to why – Armia was one of the NHL’s most productive penalty killers this season. His four shorthanded goals were one shy of Buffalo’s Ryan McLeod for the most in the league this season and his five shorthanded points were tied for the fifth-most in the NHL. Playing on the penalty kill, Armia was on the ice for 3.22 goals for per/60, which was the seventh best clip in the NHL among players with at least 50 minutes shorthanded. He was also a Top-10 player in goal share and expected goals for per/60. All in all, one of the most effective shorthanded players in the NHL, as was the book on him coming in.
This isn’t Kings related, but Armia was also one of the best forwards at the 2026 Winter Olympics, as Team Finland won a bronze medal. Armia was tied for fourth in the tournament in scoring, with eight points (3-5-8) in six games played, a total which led his team in points. He was also a +7, which was tied for the third-best rating at the tournament, only trailing Jack Hughes and Zach Werenski. Armia was a dynamic player at the Olympics and earned a medal for his performance.
Trending Down – While Armia did a lot of good things, his possession metrics, as shown above, were arguably the worst on the team. His relative ratings, meaning Kings on-ice metrics with Armia on the ice versus without Armia on the ice, were all in the negative range. Armia was a bottom-two forward in relative metrics across the board and was below 50 percent in shot attempts, scoring chances and high-danger chances alike. His numbers aren’t concerning, but they aren’t encouraging either. Sometimes, these metrics can forecast what is to come, more so than assess what was. It’s one to keep an eye on, especially as he gets older.
I used the Olympic break as a barrier for Armia above because it really felt like his impact waned in the second half of the season. Lots of that was outside of his control. Armia sustained a back injury at the Olympics and while he played in the first two games coming out of the break, he missed some time in March as he worked his way back. From that point on, while he was in the lineup, Armia’s impact was not the same as it was before the break. He had five points (3-2-5) in his final 16 games of the season which isn’t that far off his early-season totals but it didn’t feel like he was at 100 percent when he came back, especially with how much he impacted games earlier in the season.
Then came the playoffs and Armia was a healthy scratch in Game 4. After the season, he didn’t take the injury excuse and said it was a healthy scratch and that he was healthy enough to play. In Games 1 – 3, Armia’s underlying numbers were among the worst in the postseason. Armia’s 23.9 percent expected goal share was the lowest among all skaters with at least 25 minutes at 5-on-5, not just on the Kings but around the NHL. He was in the bottom ten in multiple other categories as well. It’s a short sample size – just three games – but Armia was one of many players who was overmatched in the series with Colorado. Certainly didn’t make a difference, as he often did in the regular season.
2026-27 Status – Armia has one season remaining on the two-year contract he signed with the Kings last summer. The biggest question, for me at least, is will he begin next season on the third line or the fourth line? Armia is a solid player who is an effective bottom-six forward. As of today, I think he’s sixth on the depth chart on the wings, but with free agency still to come, trades likely to be in play as well, there are lots of things that could change. He’s a good guy to have around, though, and if he can find the level he did in the first half of last season, returning to full health, it’s a good thing for the Kings.
