NHL Betting: Can The Los Angeles Kings Repeat?

The Los Angeles Kings had a magical run through the 2012 postseason and captured the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. And while they prepare to rejoice, celebrate and embrace this moment, us bettors are already looking ahead: can the Kings do it again?

The Kings are listed as 11/1 by NHL odds makers to repeat, and the consensus right now is that they could have a dynasty in the making. Given the amount of parity there has been in the NHL in recent years, that’s unlikely, but let’s take a closer look at the Kings and see if they’ll have a shot to repeat. 

The Offseason 

Similar to the Boston Bruins after they won the Stanley Cup, the Kings hit the offseason with very minimal work to do. They don’t have a lot of key unrestricted free agents and, given their salary cap situation, they probably have the option to bring a number of them back. 

Veterans Dustin Penner, Jarret Stoll and Colin Frasor are all unrestricted. The Kings might consider bringing Penner back at a cheaper price tag than his $4.25 million, but he’ll probably get more than that as a free agent. He was largely a disappointment until the second half of this season and playoffs, so they probably feel they can replace him. 

Stoll is an excellent faceoff man, and he made $3.6 million last season. He’s still just 30 years old and is clearly a valuable asset, so the Kings would be smart to bring him back as long as it’s around $4M a year. 

Frasor is a plugger, who can be brought back or replaced; doesn't much matter either way. Lastly, the Kings will have to deal with Dwight King, but he’s a restricted free agent, so he’s likely to be back. 

As for the blue line, it’s entirely signed and should return intact. 

The Kings do have one asset that they can move to help upgrade the team and that’s backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier. Teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning might be interested in the young goalie, and the Kings might be enticed into getting a contributer for him. The thing is, the Kings have over $15 million in cap space this offseason, so they have plenty of flexibility to make the decisions they want. 

The 2012-13 Season 

Darryl Sutter will clearly return as the head coach of the Kings; whatever buttons he pressed in the second half of this season, they clearly worked. The lazy, sloppy, low-scoring Kings that underachieved under Terry Murray were awesome under Sutter. There’s no question that this unit should be more cohesive and confident next season, which likely means a shot at the Presidents’ Trophy. 

Goaltender Jonathan Quick is among the best – if not the best – in the NHL. The blue line is only getting stronger. The offensive units will get a full season with Jeff Carter and, considering they already have Mike Richards, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Simon Gagne and Justin Williams, they appear to be in great shape. 

So what’s going to stop the Kings from winning the Cup again? Parity. 

The NHL is so wide open nowadays that it almost seems crazy to trust any futures right now. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks are again among the favorites, but let me remind you that both teams exited the playoffs in the first round. The St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers came out of nowhere to shoot up to the top of their respective conference standings while the reigning Cup champs, the Boston Bruins, meekly left the playoffs after just three wins. The Washington Capitals were supposed to be a wrecking ball crew, but they fell off the map, while the Florida Panthers won their division and the New Jersey Devils won the Eastern Conference. 

On top of that, the No. 8 seeded Los Angeles Kings not only won the Stanley Cup but did so in such dominant fashion that reminisced of the olden days of the dominant Edmonton Oilers. 

The only thing stopping the Kings from repeating is parity. Just as when watching the Super Bowl, we see a champ emerge and think: “Who’s going to stop the Green Bay Packers over the next five years?” and the answer is always parity. Walking around with a bigger bulls-eye, dealing with more injuries and having to be a favorite compared to being an underdog typically hampers the champs. 

If the Kings can handle those and catch all the breaks again, they can surely repeat. Otherwise, expect parity to present us with a new Stanley Cup champion in 2012-13. 

Odds courtesy Bovada:

Pittsburgh Penguins     7/1

Los Angeles Kings       11/1                 

Chicago Blackhawks  12/1                 

Detroit Red Wings       12/1                 

New York Rangers      12/1                 

St. Louis Blues             12/1                 

Vancouver Canucks     12/1                 

Boston Bruins              14/1                 

Philadelphia Flyers       14/1                 

Nashville Predators      18/1                 

San Jose Sharks            22/1                 

Anaheim Ducks           25/1                 

Buffalo Sabres             25/1                 

Tampa Bay Lightning 25/1                 

Washington Capitals    25/1                 

New Jersey Devils       30/1                 

Florida Panthers           35/1                 

Toronto Maple Leafs  35/1                 

Colorado Avalanche    40/1                 

Dallas Stars                 40/1                  

Ottawa Senators          40/1                 

Phoenix Coyotes          40/1                 

Winnipeg Jets             40/1                  

Calgary Flames            50/1                 

Carolina Hurricanes     50/1               

Edmonton Oilers          60/1                 

Montreal Canadiens     60/1                 

Columbus Blue Jackets            75/1                 

Minnesota Wild           75/1