The season is quickly approaching for the Los Angeles Kings.
After last season some changes needed to be made, and there were. Do these changes make them a playoff team? They do if these 3 keys to success occur.
1) Cal Peterson
The young goaltender opened some eyes last season with his play. Petersen was the starter and led the Kings goalies in GAA (2.88) and save % (.911). The future is now for Petersen, who has the potential to take this team to the playoffs this year.
With contract talks now over, all he has to do is play his game. He should play better this season with the adjustments made in front of him.
2) Defense
The defense as a whole did not play poorly last season but changes needed to be made. The Kings picked up some reinforcements in the likes of experienced blueliner Alex Edler and forward Phillip Danault.
These two additions alone should improve the defense as a whole. This, along with Matt Roy and Sean Walker with another year of experience, will help improve the play from the blue line back to Petersen.
3) More Scoring
Along with the addition of Danault, the Kings also brought in Viktor Arvidsson via trade and re-signed Andreas Athanasiou. Danault is a solid two-way player who is capable of 50 points, while Arvidsson and Athanasiou are both in the area of 30-40 goals each. Couple that with the young guys and their offensive production, and this team looks scary.
The Kings are primed and ready for a long playoff run. They needed to make changes and did so.
Those changes made this team look completely different and scary for the opposition.
The Kings look to make people realize that they are contenders and not to sleep on them.
The Kings are ready for postseason play once again.
Featured Image: Rich Howe/NHL.com
