Unlike the New York Rangers, the L.A. Kings came into this season with high hopes. They spent big bucks luring Ilya Kovalchuk to La La Land. In their annual pre-season poll, 11 of nhl.com’s 18 writers and editors had the Kings in the post-season with seven believing that they would finish in the top three in the Pacific Division.
It took all of 13 games for the Kings to fire head coach John Stevens, replacing him with former Canucks coach Willie Desjardins, on an interim basis. Since that time they have gone 16-19-3 and on January 28, with the second worst record in the NHL, they traded their best defenseman to the Maple Leafs for prospects and a first round draft pick.