Kings in West playoff mix thanks to accelerated rebuild

The Los Angeles Kings are in contention for their first Stanley Cup Playoff berth in three seasons, thanks to an accelerated rebuild fueled by young players and veterans who have adjusted to the coaching of Todd McLellan.

The Kings have qualified for the playoffs once since 2015-16 and were 14th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference last season.
This season, the Kings (13-12-6) are fifth in the Honda West Division, five points behind the fourth-place St. Louis Blues, heading into their "Wednesday Night Hockey" game at the San Jose Sharks (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SNE, SNO, SNW).
The top four teams in each of the four division qualify for the playoffs.
The contributions are coming from veterans and younger players, including Drew Doughty, who is averaging 26:34 of ice time per game, tied for the NHL lead with Sharks defenseman Brent Burns. The 31-year-old is tied for fifth among defensemen with 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 31 games.
"It's super exciting," said Doughty, who won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2012 and 2014. "We have a great coaching staff; they've implemented a great system for us, they're really good at encouraging us and at the same time getting honest when we need a little whipping, and the players are responding to it.
"We may not dominate teams or anything like that, but we can always stay in games because we play hard defensively and never give up."

Los Angeles is 5-1-1 against St. Louis this season.
"They're tight checking, they play that 1-3-1 system, they have guys back all the time. You have to work," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "You have to get pucks in behind them and go forecheck. There are always numbers on their side. They do a good job of that and you have to work to get your chances."
Last season, the Kings were adapting to changes under McLellan, who was hired April 16, 2019. Doughty said his biggest adjustment came in the neutral zone, where the Kings played a 1-2-2 system his previous 12 seasons.
"I was used to gapping up on guys, trying to get them at the red or blue line and making big hits," he said. "Now I'm sitting back in our zone around the blue line, waiting for guys to get chipped and I'm basically [the] breakout man. Now I'm getting better at it and better at it and I'm enjoying doing it. But at first it was hard for me because I wasn't used to it."
Changes also came on the penalty kill, breakouts on the power play, and on the forecheck. Forward Adrian Kempe, who's in his fifth season with the Kings, said players were feeling more comfortable with the changes at the end of last season; Los Angeles won its final seven games before the season was paused due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus March 12, 2020.
Los Angeles was 3-2-2 in its first seven games this season after it was 2-0-5 in its first seven last season.
"Going into this year, we had a way better start right from the start because everyone knew the game plan we wanted, and nothing was really new," Kempe said. "Most of the guys knew how we wanted to play, and I think that's shown so far in the season, that we can play against good teams and when we play our game, we can win against any team as well. It's just small details going from game to game that we have to get better at."
Other veterans are also making major contributions; center Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with 37 points (eight goals, 29 assists) in 31 games, and forward Dustin Brown leads them with 14 goals in 29 games after he scored 17 in 66 last season. Kempe has scored 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) in 31 games.

Doughty is more than halfway past his point total last season, when he scored 35 (seven goals, 28 assists) in 67 games. His offensive production dipped from 60 points in 2017-18 to 45 the following season.
"Maybe I didn't have best couple of years and this year it seems I'm playing great because I'm getting points and I am playing well, but it's the guys around me and the team being better and guys putting the puck in the net when I pass them the puck," Doughty said. "I know everyone thinks I had a bunch of [lousy] years there, but I was still playing at a high level. I was still playing as hard as I possibly could. Maybe the numbers weren't showing up, but unfortunately if you're in the bottom of the standings and not scoring a lot of goals, your points aren't going to show up."
Younger players have accepted increased roles. Mikey Anderson has played on the top defense pair with Doughty most of this season, and the 21-year-old has scored six assists in 29 games and is averaging 21:05 of ice time per game, third behind Doughty and Kopitar (21:31).
Center Gabriel Vilardi has been playing on the second line with forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Jeff Carter, and the 21-year-old rookie has scored 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 31 games.
"We're going in the direction where we're on the uprise of a rebuild, so we need every one of them," Kopitar said. "They've been good, and hopefully they continue developing and playing good for us and scoring goals and putting up points. I think we can all be pretty pleased with how the young guys have played this year, but we're going to need them to continue playing like that and raise the bar again."
Goalie Calvin Petersen is 6-6-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in 17 games (16 starts) sharing time with veteran Jonathan Quick (6-6-2, 2.91, .898 in 14 starts).
"I think starts with our vets, they're having success, pushing the pace with this team, and then I think we have a lot of young guys, including myself, who are hungry to have a foothold, have a permanent spot and make a difference," the 26-year-old said. "It's a good combination in that regard. It's great opportunities all around for guys to have success and we're happy to be in the mix here, and hopefully our best hockey is yet to come."
Vegas Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said the Kings' turnaround has been noticeable.
"They're a dangerous team, hard to play against, they're better than their record and their goalie (Petersen) gives them a chance every night," DeBoer said. "They have a nice blend of veterans who know how to win, who have won Cups, with Doughty, Kopitar, Brown and a wave of young guys will skill coming up underneath."
The competition for a playoff berth is fierce in the West, and it will be a grind the rest of the way. But the Kings are feeling better about their game and are finding success as they rebuild.
"The most important thing right now is we're in the mix," McLellan said. "We're there, we're swinging with the big boys, we've earned the right to be respected around the League. … I think individuals are growing as we move forward and there's still a lot of learning to do."