Continuing with the Seasons in Review series with forward Trevor Moore. Moore missed some time midway through and saw his production drop from what he has put up in past seasons. He saved his best for the stretch run and the playoffs, showing the kind of player he is capable of being when he’s at his best. It also took awhile to get to that point. A look at Moore’s 2025-26 campaign below.
Trevor Moore
LAK Statline – 67 games played, 13 goals, 19 assists, even rating, eight penalty minutes
LAK Playoff Statline – 4 games played, 1 goal, 1 assist, -1 rating, zero penalty minutes
NHL Possession Metrics (Relative To Kings) – CF% – 54.6% (+3.6%), SCF% – 55.1% (+4.1%), HDCF% – 57.5% (+7.2%)
Trending Up – You might not be able to find someone who responded to the coaching change better than Trevor Moore. In 22 regular-season games with D.J. Smith behind the bench, Moore collected 16 points (6-10-16). His 10 assists were tied for second on the Kings in that span while he was tied for fourth in total points. Nine of those assists came 5-on-5, one behind Artemi Panarin for the most on the team in that span. His 13 points were third most. He had 58 shots on goal, 5-on-5, during those 22 games which led all Kings players and ranked tied for sixth in the NHL with San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini. We saw the best of Moore under Smith and the best of Trevor Moore is a very effective player.
Despite a dip in production this season, Moore’s underlying numbers were among the best on the team and among the best in his career. With Moore on the ice, the Kings controlled just shy of 55 percent of shot attempts, second to only Alex Turcotte among Kings regulars. Same goes for scoring chances and high-danger chances, with only Turcotte clear of Moore in both metrics. On a personal note, Moore’s SCF% and HDCF% were the best metrics of his career over a full season. It was bolstered in some ways by his strong end to the season – he led the team in SCF% and was at 60 percent in terms of high-danger chances after the coaching change. But in a season that saw the team’s overall numbers drop, Moore’s were among the best on the group.
When he’s at his best, it should be noted that Moore has as good of a burst as just about any player in the NHL. His top recorded speed burst, per NHL Edge, ranks in the Top-10 in both the regular season and the playoffs. Moore was one of just nine players in the NHL to record a speed burst of over 24 MPH during the regular season and it came on April 1 versus St. Louis, in overtime, two seconds before he scored the game-winning goal. Doesn’t get much more impactful than that. In the playoffs, his burst in Game 1 was the third-highest recorded around the NHL in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. When he’s on, his short, twitchy stride, with a pinpoint change of direction, is so noticeable. We saw it down the stretch and the numbers show how fast he truly is.
Trending Down – A big reason why Moore’s play under D.J. Smith stood out the way that it did is because it was such a noticeable jump from a disappointing bulk of the season. Moore had more assists, 5-on-5, under D.J. Smith than he did under Jim Hiller, despite playing in 25 more games before the coaching change. Moore is not the only player who did not produce up to expectations throughout the course of the season but he certainly was on that list and among the most notable names on that list. Seven goals through the Olympic break isn’t going to cut it for a player who has produced at over a 20-goal pace over the four preceding seasons and who is under contract for more than $4 million per season. Moore is capable of more than he showed for the bulk of last season and as a veteran player, he is one of many who the Kings needed more from. To have regressed offensively and in terms of overall impact for such a large chunk of last season was a theme for many with the Kings and Moore was included in that group for the bulk of last season.
Some of that factors into availability and effectiveness based on a lack of availability. For the second straight season, Moore missed a fairly substantial block of time, costing him double-digit games. In and around that, he had some nights when he did not look at his best, perhaps as a result of what kept him out of action. As the cliché goes, the best availability is sometimes availability. Moore has missed around a month of game action in two consecutive seasons now and was below his own standard at times as well, perhaps related to missing games due to injury. It’s not a knock on Moore in terms of something that is his fault, but it is something worth mentioning, as it’s now happened in back-to-back seasons, after the only 82-game season of his career in 2023-24.
2026-27 Status – Moore has two seasons remaining on his contract, carrying a cap hit of $4,200,000. By the terms of today’s salary cap, that’s a very reasonable number for what Moore brings when he’s on his game. Moore has been a middle-six forward, either on the second or third line, over the past few seasons. When he’s been on, he’s a second-line player all day. The problem hasn’t been his game when he’s on, it’s how regularly he’s at that place. Personally, I like what Moore brings for the Kings, despite his inconsistencies and time missed. If the level we saw down the stretch can be more of the regular than the outlier, he’s a contributor on this team going forward, especially when he can be the fifth wing on the depth chart.
