It’s time to preview the Pacific Division with Pacific Primer. As usual, the Flames will be playing these teams four times in 2024–25 (with the exception of the Oilers who they’ll only play three times). In Pacific Primer, we are going to take a look at the moves made by each team this offseason. Then, we’ll take a look at how they stack up against the Flames.
This Pacific Primer will be focused on the LA Kings. The Kings made some gambles this off-season, namely trading Pierre-Luc Dubois for Darcy Kuemper, in hopes of finally getting past the first round. They’ve gotten stuck, playing and losing to the Edmonton Oilers in round one for the past three straight seasons. They have to take another step.
The Kings – like the Ducks – also have new jerseys for the 2024-25 season, and they’re killer:
Offseason moves:
Trades
- Acquired G Darcy Kuemper from the Washington Capitals in exchange for C Pierre-Luc Dubois.
- Acquired RD Kyle Burroughs from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for LW Carl Grundstrom.
- Acquired LW Tanner Jeannot from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 2025 2nd round draft pick and a 2024 4th round draft pick.
RFAs
- Signed C/LW Quinton Byfield to a five-year, 6.25M AAV deal.
- Signed RD Jordan Spence to a two-year, 1.5M AAV deal.
UFAs
- Signed RW/LW Warren Foegele to a three-year, 3.5M AAV deal.
- Signed LD Joel Edmundson to a four-year, 3.85M AAV deal.
- Re-signed G David Rittich to a one-year, 1M AAV deal.
Mock Lineup
Forwards:
Kevin Fiala – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore – Quinton Byfield – Warren Foegele
Tanner Jeannot – Phillip Danault – Alex Laferriere
Alex Turcotte – Trevor Lewis – Akil Thomas
Arthur Kaliyev
Defence:
Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov – Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson – Brandt Clarke
Kyle Burroughs
Goalie:
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
Cap space: 2.15M
How the Flames stack up against the Kings
The Kings stack up great at centre, assuming Quinton Byfield shifts to the middle after the Dubois departure. Byfield took a big step last year and needs to take another one this year. The Kings have a lot of interesting pieces up front, including the always underrated Adrian Kempe. The Kings are supposedly moving away from the ‘defensive’ system they’ve played over the last few seasons. That might mean more offensive spark and creativity appears in 2024-25. The Kings have some solid middle-six wingers. If one of Alex Turcotte or Akil Thomas cements themselves as an NHL contributor, they’ll look even better. I’ll give the edge to the Kings on offence because their high-end guys beat Calgary’s, but it’s not that far off.
On the defensive end, the addition of Joel Edmundson gives the Kings lots of options. They have the ability to match a good veteran defender with the two young defenders in Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke on the roster. Doughty is a machine, and the Kings should be able to give him a break on the offensive side to limit his minutes a bit. The Kings defence is much better than the Flames, so they get the win here.
Goaltending is the biggest unknown. Darcy Kuemper was well below average last year in Washington. He’s not getting any younger, either. But, he had five straight seasons with a save percentage above .907% before last year. It’s a gamble, but one that could pay off. David Rittich was quite strong in the games he played last year. Both Kuemper and Rittich are going to be relied on more than they were last year. This is decently close when comparing to Calgary, but I’ll give the Kings the edge with the assumption Kuemper bounces back a bit.
Season series prediction: LA 3-1-0
Last year, Calgary had a record of 2-2-0 against the Kings
Kings predicted division finish: 4th
2024–25 Pacific Primer Series
Anaheim Ducks Edmonton Oilers LA Kings San Jose Sharks Seattle Kraken Vancouver Canucks
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
