For the last 21 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 22nd annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

** The 2024-25 Dobber Hockey Fantasy Guide is now available here for purchase! **

Gone: Pierre-Luc Dubois, Viktor Arvidsson, Blake Lizotte, Carl Grundstrom, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Matt Roy, Cam Talbot

Incoming: Warren Foegele, Tanner Jeannot, Jack Studnicka, Joel Edmundson, Kyle Burroughs, Darcy Kuemper

Impact of Changes

The big news was Dubois being shipped out just one season after his acquisition and subsequent signing to an eight-year contract. Relative to expectations, things went poorly for Dubois and the Kings in their one year together, and his exchange leaves a centre position open. They might move someone like Alex Turcotte into that role, but given the team added both Foegele and Jeannot on the wings, it seems like the Dubois trade is a precursor to moving Quinton Byfield to centre. It might be a good move for the team, but it gives them three very capable centres in Byfield, Anze Kopitar, and Phillip Danault. There is only so much ice time to go around, and someone is going to see their role reduced. That is not good news for fantasy.

Bringing in Jeannot and Foegele while letting Arvidsson go indicates the direction this team is taking, and that's adding size over pure skill.

Foegele is a capable producer in his own right – his points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 over the last three seasons is higher than names like Martin Necas, Nick Suzuki, and now-teammate Adrian Kempe – but he's leaving the wings of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He also won't get top power play time in Los Angeles, so his upside should be seen as 20 goals and 40 points. He can provide good peripherals, so he has value in all kinds of fantasy formats, but it's a downgrade for him.

Jeannot finds himself in a spot that plays to his strengths. When both he and the Kings are playing their game, they are creating well off the forecheck. Whether he can rebound after a very poor 2023-24 season on a team that is limited by their offensive creativity is an open debate, but there is a third-line role for him if he can elevate his game. Considering he should cruise past 200 hits and 100 PIMs in a full season, just 15 goals and 25 points brings immense multi-cat fantasy value.

Both Jeannot and Foegele aren't ice-time competitors to the top wingers like Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala, but it does provide competition for names like Trevor Moore and Alex Laferriere. There may be a lot of line shuffling for those latter two names this season.

Both Edmundson and Burroughs are clear downgrades from Roy, but if the team's blue line is healthy, they may both be healthy scratches. Burroughs is ahead because he's a right-handed shot that can chip in, but if he dresses, it may be at the expense of Jordan Spence or Brandt Clarke. It is worth noting that Clarke can be sent to the AHL without waivers, and he's the only Kings defenceman with that ability.

It was a poor season for Kuemper, but had a couple of very solid seasons before that in Colorado and Washington. He will have to perform as well as Talbot did last year, but he's going to a good defensive team that should give him some reprieve. He makes a nice bounce-back candidate.  

Ready for Full Time

Everyone is waiting for Brandt Clarke's breakout, and he has all the skill to do it, but it's a matter of his role with the team. As mentioned, he's the only contract on the blue line that can be sent to the AHL without waivers. The addition of Burroughs also gives them three right-hand shots, along with Spence and Drew Doughty, to put into the lineup. Clarke is ready to go, but he may be yo-yo'd up and down from the AHL this season simply because of his contract status, or a healthy scratch when Burroughs is in the lineup.

Alex Turcotte was extended for three years, but it's a cap hit of just $775K, so it still feels like now or never for him. After spending most of the last four seasons in the AHL, the team has cleared out its bottom-6 forward mix to make room for him. He is assuredly going to get a shot to make the roster out of camp, and should, but it's unlikely to be in a position where he can make a fantasy impact. This team still has Stanley Cup hopes, so unless he turns the corner in a big way, he's destined for third/fourth line duties.

Akil Thomas is in the same place as Turcotte. He has two years on his contract but now has a chance to make the opening night roster. Also, like Turcotte, it's unlikely he earns a role that makes him relevant in almost any fantasy format.

Fantasy Outlook

The Kings were third in the league in goals per 60 minutes through their first 30 games of the 2023-24 season and then things fell off in a big way. They turned their team into the Carolina Hurricanes, in that they focused on a lot of low-quality shots, particularly from the point, for their offence, and it crushed the fantasy values of a lot of players in the second half. If they want to be a true contender in the West, they cannot be a bottom-10 offence. It is up to Jim Hiller to make this team more creative offensively, but there's no guarantee here.

It is a wonder what happens with their power play. Doughty should get the top role out of the gate again, but Spence has shown the ability to be a good puck-mover/facilitator from the back end, and Clarke is one of the top offensive defence prospects in hockey.

Fiala can improve in a small way, Kempe is still the goal-scoring/multi-cat beast he's always been, and Kopitar is still a 60-point guy even if he loses ice time. The game-changer is Byfield; if he takes yet another big step in his progression, he has superstar ability right now. He has 30-goal, point-per-game upside, and has shown consistent, high-end improvements over the last couple of seasons. His 55-point season last year is technically is breakout, but 2024-25 is when he really becomes a fantasy option that fantasy managers salivate over.

Kuemper is the go-to goalie, and even competent goaltending should see him get to 50 starts. This isn't a true split-start situation unless he falls on his face. 

Fantasy Grade: B (last year was B+)