The Los Angeles Kings hoisted the Stanley Cup on Friday, and are now back-to-back full season champions. Just as a fan of trash talk generally, I believe the Chicago Blackhawks should get more guff for their asterisk 2013 Stanley Cup. I mean, they would if Phil Jackson were a hockey coach… 

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By now you know how the story goes: three times in the Stanley Cup Final the Kings clawed back from a third period deficit against the New York Rangers, and then managed to win all three games in overtime. Ultimately Alec Martinez, who had scored the overtime winner in eerily similar circumstances against the Blackhawks in Game 7 of the Western Conference final, ended Game 5 in double overtime.

The Kings were my cup pick, and there’s an argument to be made that this was one of the best teams we’ve seen in a long time. I mean, it’s not often that a team can withstand the goaltending issues that plagued Jonathan Quick at times this postseason. Quick was excellent in the final and at times throughout the playoffs – but the hiccups he had in the first and second rounds would’ve done in most contenders.

Like, when Marian Gaborik – who was just spectacular all postseason – scored in Game 5 to tie it, it was as if the Rangers had just been taken off life support. There was a “now nature will just take its course” type inevitability to the whole thing.

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As the shot attempt chart from extraskater.com makes plain, the Kings” edge in the run of play just continued to increase throughout the time frame following regulation.

I mean, with Drew Doughty on the ice at even-strength – and he led all Kings in ice-time – the Kings outshot the Rangers 12-1. His primary matchup? The Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Rick Nash line.

Doughty clearly misjudged the situation and got posterized a bit on Brian Boyle’s second period shorthanded goal, but a top of the lineup player who is that dominant? How are you going to generate enough at evens to win a seven game series? 

The Rangers did well to take three games to overtime. With a bit of luck, they’d have made this series truly interesting. But they were too outclassed for puck luck to matter ultimately, there was just no doubt in this Final: New York was the inferior side.

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For much of the postseason, I thought Rick Nash was unfairly maligned for his goal scoring issues. He was crushing it at evens in that, the Rangers were controlling play and outscoring opponents with him on the ice. Also his deployment – toughs at even-strength, limited power-play ice-time – wasn’t exactly the sort you expect a “leading goal scorer” to receive. Basically I thought he was being used in more of a two-way role, and was generally knocking it out of the park despite a run of poor luck in the offensive end.

I think the finals was a bit of a different story, and Game 5 in particular. Nash, in my view, started the series pretty well, but he was brutal in Game 5 and spent a lot of time getting knocked down or contributing nothing touches. Then, obviously, he couldn’t finish it on a glorious overtime chance that Slava Voynov blocked.

Anyway, Nash generated a tonne of shots and got some unlucky bounces this postseason and remains a fringe elite talent. He probably doesn’t quite deserve the “over-rated” scrutiny he’s generating at the moment. That said, he was far from his best with New York’s season on the line on Friday, and that’s going to impact how hockey fans and media view you if you’re paid like a superstar.

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It’s scary to think that the Kings might just be getting started.

Anze Kopitar hasn’t quite left his prime yet and Doughty likely hasn’t entered his. Jeff Carter should still be nearly elite for a year or two yet and Slava Voynov could play on most teams top pairing. Young players like Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson, Jake Muzzin and Kyle Clifford are likely to keep improving, and some of them (Toffoli and Muzzin) might be legitimate top of the lineup players.

The Kings also have a lot of cap-space, few core pieces due a significant raise this summer, and zero no-trade clauses on the books. They’re the only team in the league that can claim that (and they won’t be able to claim it for long, because Kopitar’s contract is going to be up soon).

Now some of that no NTC thing is just quirky – the deals Mike Richards and Carter originally signed included no-trade clauses but they’re no longer in effect as a result of the trades (multiple trades in Carter’s case). It also attests to the flexibility Dean Lombardi has managed to create for his organization though. If the Kings want to retain Marian Gaborik AND take a run at a Matt Niskanen, or a Paul Statsny, or Jonathan Quick’s brother in law Matt Moulson, they’ll very likely be able to do so.

Also, what’s an easier pitch for free-agents than this: “come play in a major city that’s always warm, where the fan support is great but you won’t be in the top-250 celebrities in town, and where you can be certain that we can compete for a championship for the next few seasons (at least).” 

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Of course, if the Kings are going to do something like take a run at a major unrestricted free-agent, it would likely behoove them to use a compliance buyout (they have two) on Mike Richards’ bloated contract. Or find a team willing to acquire him without needing to give you salary back.

Richards is still a good player, but he was often a fourth-liner for the Kings. Actually one might credibly argue that their postseason success was built, to some extent, by Carter replacing Richards as a top-six centerman.

If Carter’s move to pivot is permanent – and watch L.A.’s offseason/preseason closely for this if you’re a Carter owner or interested in being one, especially if you’re in a league that counts face-off wins – then all of a sudden Richards is an extremely expensive third-line center. A “third-line center” whom, based on Darryl Sutters playoff deployments, the Kings coaching staff trusts less than Jarrett Stoll (so really a fourth-line center).

It’s crazy to think about because of Richards’ winning reputation, his power-play utility, and his ability to make critical defensive plays. Looking at the fundamentals though, and the opportunities available to the Kings this summer if they want to avail themselves of the UFA market, I kind of suspect that it’s unlikely that Richards plays another game in a Kings uniform…. I guess we’ll see.

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If you’re interested, I wrote up a quick primer on the NHL’s first buyout window, the last window during which teams can excercise a compliance buyout on a standard player contract.

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Jason Spezza’s no-trade list reportedly includes Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Edmonton. Like Ryan Kesler before him, Spezza isn’t keen on playing in Canada any longer it would seem.

Bruce Garrioch also reports that the Calgary Flames have offered a package that may inclues Dennis Wideman, Jiri Hudler, Mikael Backlund and a bunch of picks. The Senators aren’t inerested in that though, probably because there aren’t a lot of cheap pieces…

The final big nugget from Garrioch’s report: the St. Louis Blues and the Vancouver Canucks are apparently in talks about a potential Ryan Kesler trade. I think most NHL teams rate Kesler above Spezza and that’s mostly for good reason, but in the Blues’ case I think Spezza’s legitimately the better fit.

The Blues have the two-way horses to hide Spezza defensively a bit, and though Kesler is the better shooter, Spezza is the better overall offensive player by a fair bit. Maybe the Blues figure Spezza’s flagging two-way effectiveness might get exposed in the West. They might not be wrong. They very likely need a pure point producer like Spezza more than they need another play driver though.