The 220-Goal Problem: Can Panarin, Byfield, and Laviolette Change the LA Kings’ Ceiling?
The Los Angeles Kings have spent the past five seasons proving that they can qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The harder question—one that will define 2026-27—is whether they can score enough to matter once they get there.
That question sits at the center of a pivotal summer in Los Angeles. The Kings allowed only 238 goals last season, a total tied for seventh-best in the NHL. Their defensive foundation, goaltending structure, and ability to limit opposing chances have made them difficult to play against. Yet the other side of the ledger was impossible to ignore: Los Angeles scored 220 goals, 29th in the League, and averaged just 2.68 goals per game.
That imbalance goes a long way toward explaining another painful first-round exit. The Kings have now reached the postseason in five consecutive seasons but have not advanced beyond the opening round in any of them. Their most recent playoff loss, against Colorado, reinforced the harshest lesson of their season: disciplined defense can keep a game close, but a contender still needs enough creativity and finishing to seize momentum when the margin is thin.
Ken Holland’s response was not subtle. The general manager leaned into experience and offensive intelligence, keeping Corey Perry and adding Mats Zuccarello and Erik Haula around a core led by Artemi Panarin, Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala, Drew Doughty, and Darcy Kuemper. The coaching change was just as consequential. Peter Laviolette arrives with a direct mandate to make the Kings more dangerous without making them careless.
“This is an attack-oriented game,” Laviolette said in outlining his approach. “You have to be willing to move.”
The phrase is more than a slogan. It is the blueprint for the Kings’ season. Training camp, preseason, and opening night at Colorado will reveal whether Los Angeles can make that blueprint real.
The Review: What Last Season Taught the Kings
The Kings do not need to abandon their identity. In fact, the defensive numbers say the opposite. A club that can finish among the League’s better teams at suppressing goals already has an essential ingredient of playoff hockey. Kuemper has given the group stability in net, while Doughty, Mikey Anderson, and the rest of the blue line understand the value of defending with structure.
The problem was the lack of offensive margin. When a game was tied late, the Kings did not always have a line capable of turning one possession into a goal. When the power play needed a decisive sequence, it too often lacked the speed and unpredictability that separates a good unit from a game-changing one. Those limitations became sharper in the postseason, where each missed chance is magnified and where a team cannot expect to survive solely on defensive discipline.
Laviolette’s arrival acknowledges that reality. His teams are expected to pressure opponents, move through the neutral zone with purpose, and generate secondary chances from an active defense. The goal is not to trade caution for chaos. It is to make defense the starting point of a more assertive game rather than the final destination.
That distinction matters for the current roster. The Kings have veteran forwards who know how to manage a game, but they also have younger players whose best years should still be ahead. The challenge is to combine those two timelines. A slower, lower-event style can protect a lead, but it cannot always manufacture one. Los Angeles needs its best players to create more often, and it needs complementary players to turn pressure into possession and possession into shots.
Panarin Is the Catalyst
No player changes the shape of the conversation more than Panarin. After arriving in Los Angeles last season, he produced 27 points in 26 games and recorded points in 18 of those contests. The sample was short, but the impact was obvious. Panarin supplied the kind of high-end playmaking that can bend a defense and make a skilled teammate even more dangerous.
For 2026-27, the most compelling projected combination is Panarin with Byfield and Kempe. It is a line with three distinct but complementary traits. Panarin can slow the game down, draw coverage toward him, and find passing lanes that most players never see. Kempe is one of the League’s most reliable volume shooters and has become a consistent finisher. Byfield brings size, speed, puck protection, and the chance to become the organization’s most important two-way center.
The upside is substantial. Kempe posted 73 points for a third consecutive 70-point season and scored a career-high 32 even-strength goals last year. After Panarin joined the Kings, Kempe collected 27 points in 25 games. That does not guarantee another leap, but it illustrates why a full season of continuity is so intriguing.
The more consequential bet is on Byfield. With Anze Kopitar retired, Byfield is expected to begin the season as the Kings’ No. 1 center. There is no simple replacement for Kopitar’s two-way mastery, faceoff work, leadership, and calm in high-leverage situations. The Kings are not asking Byfield to become a copy of their former captain. They are asking him to become the best version of himself.
Byfield had 49 points last season, but his production increased after Panarin arrived: 19 points in 24 games, including 13 goals. He also increased his shooting rate. Those are encouraging signs because the next step is not merely about assists or ice time. It is about asserting himself in the middle of the ice, attacking more often, and becoming the player opponents must build their matchup plan around.
The Supporting Cast Has to Make the Attack Sustainable
A top line cannot solve every offensive problem. For Laviolette’s approach to work, the Kings need a credible second wave.
Zuccarello may be a one-year signing, but he carries a specific skill the roster needed: consistent playmaking. He has posted at least 54 points in each of the past five seasons and is projected to receive top-six and first-power-play opportunities. His previous chemistry with Fiala in Minnesota makes that pairing especially worth watching in camp. Fiala’s speed and finishing can complement Zuccarello’s patience with the puck, giving Los Angeles another line capable of creating offense instead of simply surviving difficult minutes.
Perry has a different function. His experience, net-front instincts, and willingness to work in uncomfortable areas should be valuable on the power play. He posted 11 power-play points for Los Angeles before last season’s trade and can give a unit featuring Panarin, Kempe, and Clarke a screen, a deflection option, and a competitive edge around the crease.
Haula adds a stabilizing element at center. He can take on defensive responsibility, move up the lineup if needed, and help create a more balanced distribution of matchups. Alex Laferriere, meanwhile, enters an important developmental season. He has the opportunity to prove that his energy, finishing, and versatility can make him more than a complementary player.
The goal is not for every forward to post a career year. It is for the club to create enough legitimate threats that opponents cannot devote all their attention to Panarin and Kempe. If the Kings have three lines capable of owning a shift, their defensive identity becomes even more potent because opponents spend less time in the offensive zone.
Brandt Clarke’s Power-Play Opportunity
The blue line has a central role in this offensive transformation, and no player illustrates that better than Brandt Clarke. Last season, Clarke established career highs with 40 points, 32 assists, 13 power-play points, 159 shots, 185 blocked shots, and nearly 20 minutes of average ice time per game. He was not simply a young defenseman surviving his first full workload; he was becoming a modern, two-way contributor.
Now comes the larger responsibility. Clarke is expected to handle the first power-play unit, a role that demands more than passing ability. He will need to recognize pressure early, change shooting angles, keep pucks in at the blue line, and distribute the puck quickly enough to prevent penalty killers from setting their box.
The power play should have legitimate answers. Panarin can operate as the creator. Kempe can be the release valve and one-timer threat. Zuccarello can work the half wall. Perry can establish position around the net. Clarke can quarterback the unit from the blue line. The personnel does not guarantee results, but it makes a top-half NHL power play a reasonable standard rather than a distant hope.
The same principle applies at five-on-five. Doughty remains a foundational veteran, while Clarke and other mobile defenders can activate into plays at the right moments. Associate coach Phil Housley has already emphasized a more aggressive approach from the back end. That does not mean defensemen should chase offense recklessly. It means the Kings want a fourth attacker involved in the rush when the situation allows it.
Game Preview: The Preseason Is More Than a Warm-Up
The Kings’ first meaningful test comes on September 19, when the preseason begins. The exhibition schedule is shorter this year, so every game carries additional value. Los Angeles will use the September slate to decide not just who makes the roster, but how its new attack will function under pressure.
The first major item to watch is line chemistry. Does the Panarin–Byfield–Kempe trio look as dynamic in live play as it does on paper? The answer will depend on Byfield’s willingness to drive the middle of the ice, Kempe’s readiness to find shooting lanes, and Panarin’s ability to turn controlled entries into extended-zone pressure.
The second is the power play. Training-camp drills can establish concepts, but preseason opponents reveal whether the group can execute at game speed. Clarke’s poise on the blue line, Zuccarello’s role on the half wall, and Perry’s work near the crease will be immediate storylines.
The third is the center depth behind Byfield. Haula, Scott Laughton, and the rest of the middle-six group will be tested against different matchup assignments. If that depth can absorb hard defensive minutes, Laviolette can deploy his top offensive players more aggressively.
Finally, fans should watch how the Kings react when a play breaks down. An attack-oriented system only works when the forwards support activating defensemen and when everyone can recover quickly after a turnover. The best preseason review will not be measured by the final score alone. It will be measured by whether Los Angeles creates more clean entries, sustains more offensive-zone shifts, and shows a clearer plan with and without the puck.
Opening Night Is the First True Measuring Stick
The regular season begins September 30 in Colorado, a difficult setting for any team and an ideal early assessment of the Kings’ ambitions. The Avalanche will test Los Angeles’ structure, transition defense, and ability to play with pace. It is precisely the kind of matchup that exposes whether a team has merely talked about a new style or actually absorbed it.
The home opener against Florida on October 6 will bring a different form of pressure. It is the first chance for the Crypto.com Arena crowd to judge the post-Kopitar Kings in a regular-season environment. The team will not settle every question in the first week, but it can establish something just as valuable: proof that its offense has enough layers to support its defense.
Los Angeles does not need to become a reckless, run-and-gun team. It needs to become harder to predict and harder to contain. If Panarin elevates the first line, if Byfield makes the leap to top-center status, if Clarke helps unlock the power play, and if Laviolette’s attack produces more than talk, the Kings’ ceiling changes dramatically.
For continuing previews, game reviews, and training-camp analysis, subscribe to the InfanityTV YouTube channel and follow LA Kings Weekly. The countdown to Colorado has started, and every preseason shift will help answer the biggest question in Los Angeles: can this team finally score like a contender?
