All We Want For The New Year Is …

Emily Redenbach

All I Want for the New Year is…a Healthy Kings’ Team.

(photo credit to usatoday.com)

Is it too much to ask? Sure, this isn’t the first time we’ve been riddled with injuries but when those out of the lineup are significant contributors, it hasn’t ended well in the past, and isn’t doing the Kings any favors this season. By the end of 2016, the Kings will have lost 120 games to injury: Andy Andreoff (15), Dustin Brown (2), Marian Gaborik (21), Anze Kopitar (5), Brayden McNabb (26), Jonathan Quick (35), Jeff Zatkoff (11) and Tyler Toffoli (5). Now Andreoff, I’m not going to complain about at all. Gaborik was a blow (especially considering we lost him before the season even started), and continues to be an issue as he seems slow to ramp back up to his NHL caliber. Kopitar, I’m not sure should have come back so soon as he still seems snake bitten and banged up. McNabb’s return was a surprise to me, how much the Kings needed his ‘McSmash‘ attitude, as his replacements never seemed to fill his role quite adequately enough. Toffoli being out remains a concern as his return is undefined and without him Jeff Carter is the only one producing offense and the other teams’ defenses have figured that out. 

And the biggest loss (though I don’t want to discount Peter Budaj’s contributions in net of late) is, of course, star goaltender Quick. He bails the Kings out in so many ways you don’t even notice until he’s gone. But the Kings are a defensive first system and without their number one defenseman, scraping into the playoffs will be difficult. Depending on Quick’s return should they make it in, having him ramped up to be playoff- ready is also a concern. They say it’s better to have your injuries stacked up at the beginning rather than the end of the season, so for the new year my wish for the Kings is that they’re just about done with the injuries plaguing their season.