'Bold Move' Proposed for LA Kings After Being Swept From Playoffs

Death. Taxes. And the Los Angeles Kings getting bounced in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's a remarkable seven straight seasons of one-and-done for the Kings, this time in a sweep at the hands of the heavily-favored Colorado Avalanche. 

So what now? 

Kings beat writer Eric Stephens writes in The Athletic that it's time for a 'bold move'.

One bold move that some might suggest, he says, could take the form of trying to swing a blockbuster trade to bring in a big-name player like Robert Thomas, Elias Pettersson or even Auston Matthews (if he decides he wants out of Toronto).  

But Stephens insists that's not the strategy he'd take. His audacious initiative would be to ignore those shiny new toys and undertake a complete rebuild. 

The boldest move — and maybe the necessary one, even in a world with an increasing salary cap — is to start over.

Stephens says they need to unload big contracts and "embrace a rebuild for the chance to draft a new franchise-level player — and build an enviable prospect pool around him." 

The Kings' brass doesn't have to look far to see the payoff that that kind of strategy can have: Pacific Division rivals like the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks have shown that you really can emerge from a long rebuild and have a strong future to show for it. 

L.A. isn't coming up with a Macklin Celebrini or a Leo Carlsson drafting from the so-called 'mushy middle' every year.  

At 12 years and running since they last won a postseason series, "It’s time to revamp how they do things," Stephens says. 

The Anze Kopitar era is now over. Is it time for a 'bold', fresh new course to take hold in Los Angeles? 

Photo: © William Liang-Imagn Images