# @puckempire on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DboJNZsFMk_
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68858848-puckempire-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/861ce829ce.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-04T17:52:26.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Puck Empire 👑 (@puckempire) — https://gondola.cc/puckempire

## Caption

Continuing on with our 2026-27 NHL standing projections, we've got the Los Angeles Kings at #23.

LA's not in the spot they were hoping to be at this point 5 years ago. Prospects didn't develop, bad moves were made, and now they're left with a middling team.

Could this team sneak into a WC? Yes. Is it changing the fact that their ceiling is a first-round exit? Nope. And I just don't think this team has the juice to beat out the younger Ducks & Sharks or the stardom Oilers & Knights in a Pacific race for a playoff spot.

One thing I love about this team is the first line. I truly think a Panarin/Byfield/Kempe line has the potential to be one of the top first lines in the NHL this year, and I think Byfield having a clear range as the 1C will give him the breakout year we've been waiting for from him.

My issue is the rest of the team. Fiala is great, but coming off of a brutal injury, and Zuccarello is a good pickup, but old and now has to learn an entirely new system with new players, doesn't always work out. Not to mention the pure midness down the middle. Haula is ideally a 3C, as is Laughton. Byfield, while I think has a breakout year, is still a risky 1C. Losing Kopitar really hurts this squad.

Defensively, I think Brandt Clarke takes a step forward, but guys like Edmundson, Dumoulin, Ceci and especially Doughty are only going to get worse as they continue to age. It's a really old D-core with not a lot of talented puck movers outside of Clarke. And not really any high-quality shutdown guys outside of Anderson either.

In net, Kuemper & Forsberg are a mid tandem. Forsberg likely comes back down to earth after last season, and Kuemper gets better... but behind the D-core, I don't think the results will be great for these two.

I think if LA had a legitimately good 2C (like a Trocheck, or especially a Larkin who is a fine 1C), they move up and are probably closer to a WC spot for me, but it's really hard to see them higher than this without that... and honestly, if the first-line doesn't pan out the way I'm hoping it will, this team will be much worse.

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