If you looked at the roster picture for the Kings a month ago, you’d have seen a group of 12 forwards who appeared all but locked in to play on October 7, the first game of the regular season.
For the first time in a long time, the Kings came into camp with the same Top-9 as they ended the season before with. After the NHL’s Trade Deadline, when Andrei Kuzmenko completed that group, the Kings led the NHL in total goals scored, ranking second in goals-per-game. As such, there was no interest in juggling that Top-9, nor should there have been.
Over the summer, the team made roster moves designed to deepen the team on the fourth line, adding veterans Corey Perry and Joel Armia into the fold. With Alex Turcotte expected to center that line, the Top-12 felt just about locked into place. Until it wasn’t.
An injury to Perry shortly before training camp not only opened up a spot on the roster, but also a spot in the lineup for Opening Night. And such, a camp of battles that were not shaping up to be all that exciting suddenly got a bit more interesting.
Fighting for those spots were several players up front. Some good showings from different guys, certainly, but as camp progressed on, it became clear who had earned that spot. That player was Jeff Malott.
“This is a guy that showed up and has really taken a step,” Kings Head Coach Jim Hiller said of Malott. “I think he’s the one guy, he’s clearly made it pretty easy for everybody and often times that’s what happens, one guy is just able to separate himself. You hope it’s not like [close] because one, maybe you make a wrong decision, or two, somebody hasn’t taken that opportunity. Well, he clearly took it.”
Malott made his Kings debut late last season, as he stepped up from the AHL’s Ontario Reign following an injury that ultimately ended forward Tanner Jeannot’s season. Malott showed that he could play at the NHL level and dressed in all six playoff games with the Kings against Edmonton. Overall, the pace wasn’t too much for him and he looked to be a composed player on the puck.
While he had good size and was willing to play physically, if there’s one thing we maybe didn’t see enough of in his game, for a player who was filling the spot of a guy like Jeannot, it was the edge.
So, what did Malott do over the summer?
First things first, while he was always one of the best in the organization in terms of strength and conditioning, Malott added 7-8 pounds of muscle over the summer. That was step one, at the instruction of the coaching staff. Hiller said they gave Malott a target weight and he came into camp exactly at that number.
Step two came from another instruction given his way. Hiller wanted to see more of that edge in Malott’s game. In the AHL, Malott is a scorer and while he didn’t score last season with the Kings – a beautiful disallowed goal allowed outstanding – you could tell there was some ability with the puck and that’s not going anywhere. However, at the bottom of the lineup, the Kings need guys who you feel it when you play against. Hiller feels that Malott made those strides as well.
“We asked him to play with a little bit more robustness, consistency, a little more of an edge,” Hiller said. “I think the muscle, the size that he’s put on, hasn’t slowed down his skating and has given him more confidence, maybe has more impact on his physicality, wins more puck battles because of it. He’s done exactly what we’ve asked him to do and then on top of it, anybody watching can go ‘hey that Malott looks pretty good’, he scores every night, he assists every night, he’s all over the scoresheet offensively. So, he did what we asked him to do without the puck, physically, and now he’s getting on the scoresheet. It’s pretty hard to keep a guy like that off the team.”
