LOS ANGELES -- The loss lingers for the Los Angeles Kings. They held a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference First Round -- and a 4-3 lead in the third period of Game 3 -- only to lose to the Edmonton Oilers in six games in the best-of-7 series. For the fourth straight season, they lost to the same team in the first round.
“We were very disappointed,” Kings president Luc Robitaille said after the NHL Board of Governors meeting here Wednesday. “We’re still disappointed to lose that series, because you could almost taste it and then -- whoop -- one little thing. It’s amazing how things can turn around real quickly. It was the ultimate disappointment, but at the same time, guys have to take this and learn from it.”
The focus is on the future now. Los Angeles is hosting the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater. The first round is Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS); rounds 2-7 are Saturday (noon ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, SN1). The Kings have the No. 24 pick and a new general manager.
Ken Holland was hired May 14 after Rob Blake and the Kings mutually agreed to part ways May 5.
Robitaille said Blake left the Kings in “really good shape.” They finished second in the Pacific Division last season with 105 points, tied for the highest total in their history with the 1974-75 team. They have room to maneuver with salary cap space and a stockpile of draft picks.
Holland won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008, and helped the Oilers come within a win of the Stanley Cup last season, losing Game 7 to the Florida Panthers.
“As an organization, you’re trying to get the next step,” said Robitaille, who played for the Red Wings in 2002, winning the Cup for the only time in his Hockey Hall of Fame career. “It’s not about winning a round and beating a team. It’s about trying to get way further in the playoffs.
“So, I think what Ken brings in is right away some legitimacy. He’s been around for so long. He’s got the experience. He knows what it takes to build a team and [has] an extreme amount of respect around the League, so for us, it was the right choice to have someone to lead our team after the job that Rob Blake has done.”
One pressing issue: defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who can become an unrestricted free agent Tuesday. The 29-year-old was plus-26 and averaged 23:05 of ice time over 82 games this season. Holland said in a press conference Tuesday he has offered more than Blake did.
“I’d like to re-sign Gavrikov,” Holland said. “If I don’t, then I’ve got to go out and get a defenseman or two.”
Forward Andrei Kuzmenko also can become an unrestricted free agent Tuesday. The 29-year-old had 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 22 games after the Kings acquired him from the Philadelphia Flyers on March 7. Holland said he would like to keep him if he can.
“We have a lot of cap space,” Holland said. “But it doesn’t take much, and it’s gone.”
Robitaille said the Kings are looking for a top-nine winger, would like to add a good defenseman and need a second goalie. They want to build their lineup with an eye toward the postseason.
“You want to make sure you’re ready in our league to play the 82 games but at the same time to be ready for the playoffs, so we’ve got some little tweaks here and there,” Robitaille said. “I think Ken’s talked about maybe adding a little bit more grit the bottom of our lineup and see where that will take us.”
Los Angeles has long-term building blocks, starting with 22-year-old forward Quinton Byfield, who they selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He scored a career-best 23 goals in 81 games this season.
But is there an urgency to get the most out of the rest of the careers of Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, who hoisted the Cup with the Kings in 2012 and 2014?
Kopitar, the captain, is 37 and has one season left on his contract. He had 67 points (21 goals, 46 assists) in 81 games this season and won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and playing ability for the third time. He has won the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward twice and the Mark Messier Leadership Award once.
Doughty, a winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman, is 35 and has two seasons left on his contract. He had 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 30 games this season after missing the first 52 games with a broken ankle.
“The urgency as an organization is to win,” Robitaille said. “They want to win one more, and they’re trying the best they can to get us there. I think it’s important for us to help build around them or with them.
“I think ‘Kopi’ understood last year [when] Byfield started playing more minutes and so forth. That gives him one more chance to win the Cup. Drew too was giving up some minutes, and these guys, they’re very highly competitive athletes, but at the same time, they want to win. They understand what it takes to win.”
