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Kings still searching for formula ‘to win the games that matter’

April 30, 2026

EL SEGUNDO — In what has become an annual tradition, the Kings gathered at their practice facility on Wednesday to discuss their season after being bounced from the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“We’ve got to find ways to win the games that matter. It’s great to get in, but year after year, we can’t find a way to win when we need to win,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said.

Wednesday also marked the beginning of life after Anže Kopitar, who retired following two decades, two Stanley Cup titles, two Selke trophies and countless memories. Expected to drive the team, at least offensively, next season will be midseason acquisition Artemi Panarin. The virtuosic winger expressed no regrets about choosing the Kings as his landing spot after a clean breakup with the messy New York Rangers.

“It was a real struggle in the O-zone all year it seemed like, but when I showed up here I saw that the guys could play hockey, it was actually better than I thought,” Panarin said of a club that finished in the bottom five in both goals per game and power-play percentage before scoring just five goals in four playoff games.

Veteran winger Trevor Moore, who has been part of all five of the consecutive Round 1 vanishing acts that are part of a longer string of seven straight dating to 2016, was asked if the Kings still considered themselves potential Stanley Cup contenders after being swept by the Colorado Avalanche.

“It’s hard for me to say. Obviously, we got swept. But those games were close. Maybe that’s loser talk, but I felt like in the first three games we really had a chance,” Moore said. “I don’t know where we’re at, in terms of (contention), but I know we’re competitive.”

The Kings played in a record number of overtime games and had an unusually low number of regulation wins for a playoff qualifier, in fact only one team in the entire league had fewer, bottom-dwelling Vancouver. While some players were able to weather that storm – defenseman Joel Edmundson played all 82 games for the first time in a career often fettered by injuries – others paid a price.

Leading scorer Adrian Kempe said he was dealing with a foot injury late in the season that kept him out of several practices (and one game) in addition to hindering him in about half a dozen contests.

Center Quinton Byfield, who finished the season with 13 goals and 19 points in his final 24 games while carrying a heavy defensive load during his best stretch of the campaign, played through pain at various points. He tore an oblique muscle on the right side of his body and, after it healed, tore one on the left side, causing him discomfort with a vast array of movements and bodily functions.

From the players who persisted through injuries to play to the ones with decisions to go or stay, Brandt Clarke, Drew Doughty, Andrei Kuzmenko and Scott Laughton all discussed their futures.

Laughton, an unrestricted free agent to be, said “the interest level is high for me, for sure” when asked if there had been discussions about him returning after being acquired from Toronto in the final ticks before the trade deadline.

Conversely, fellow pending UFA Kuzmenko looked down and said “we’ll see.” Similarly ominous was the absence of interim coach D.J. Smith at the availability, and he is not scheduled to join General Manager Ken Holland on Friday either for his news conference.

The 36-year-old Doughty, who just completed his 18th NHL campaign, said he wanted “to stay in L.A. for the rest of my career until I retire, but I understand that my performance this season (five goals, 18 assists, in 72 games) wasn’t as good as it needs to be.”

Doughty, who is going into the final season of the eight-year, $88 million contract he signed in July 2018, said there were no conversations with management about an extension, and even said he would be open to a slight reduction in ice time if it were in the best interest of the team.

Clarke, a restricted free agent who Holland has said he would ideally like to get signed before July 1, was asked about both his contract status and his role with the team. Though he was voted the team’s best defenseman, he was not deployed in a No. 1 role and was sheltered in some situations.

He said his preference would be a long-term pact – “I want to lock myself down; I want to be part of this core” – and was asked if it was time that his responsibility matched that of the Ducks’ Jackson LaCombe, Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson and Montreal’s Lane Hutson, players in his age group who were unconstrained top blue-liners.

“Yeah, I do, honestly. That’s what I want. That’s what I feel like I’ve been being molded into since I got here,” said Clarke, who had eight goals and 32 assists in 82 games in his second full NHL season. “My two-way play has grown immensely since I got here. I give credit to them for being on me and showing me the way, and they give credit to me for listening and doing what it takes, so it’s a two-way street.”

Holland will address the media on Friday afternoon, with his remarks and SCNG’s analysis to follow.

Orange County Register

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Kings still searching for formula ‘to win the games that matter’

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