After another ugly season for the Los Angeles Kings, veteran defender Drew Doughty sounded off in his exit interview about how the team needed to get better.

That’s quite a blunt statement to make and you don’t often see players come out and explicitly say to the media that their team’s front office needs to improve the roster. But Kings general manager Rob Blake heard Doughty’s request and answered it with some major off-season additions.

This is a group with an interesting blend of young talent and quality veterans that could surprise in the Pacific Division. Are the Kings ready to take a step forward and return to the playoffs?

Record: 21-28-7 (6th in West Division) / Goals For: 143 (27th of 31), Goals Against: 170 (19th of 31).

The Kings lost their first three games of the season and were never really competitive in the West Division. They managed to pull themselves over .500 in late January with a 3-2-2 but they promptly went on a five-game losing streak and never made it back above water. They finished the season with a 21-28-7 record, 14 points back of the St. Louis blues for the last playoff spot in the West.

Despite the poor season, there were some positives from L.A.’s season worth mentioning.

Anze Kopitar, who’s now into his mid-30s, continued to be a force as the Kings’ top center, racking up 50 points over the course of 56 games. Kopitar also broke even in terms of even-strength on-ice goal differential, impressive given the Kings were outscored 119-to-95 at evens on the season.

Cal Petersen also officially took the net from Jonathan Quick. Coming into the season, Petersen had been very good in the NHL over a small sample size of 19 games, but he made a big point in proving he could be a legitimate starter when he posted a .911 save percentage over the course of 35 games in 2021.

The best of L.A.’s season came in the minors, though, as a handful of prospects they’ve been stockpiling over their rebuild performed well in the AHL.

Due to COVID-19 basically wiping the CHL season, North American players under the age of 20 were able to play in the AHL. The Kings had three underage players (Arthur Kaliyev, Alex Turcotte, and Quinton Byfield) play for the Ontario Reign and they finished first, fourth, and fifth on the team in scoring respectively.

Notable Additions: @Philip Danault, @Viktor Arvidsson, @Alexander Edler, Vladimir Tkachev.

Notable Subtractions: @Kurtis MacDermid.

The Kings missed the playoffs in 2021 for the third consecutive season, their longest such drought since the mid-2000s. During that stretch, L.A. used high draft picks on the likes of Kopitar, Doughty, and Brayden Schenn and found gems like Quick, Wayne Simmonds, Alec Martinez, and Tyler Toffoli outside the first round.

The hope for L.A. is that these three seasons of focusing on drafting and developing will allow them to again internally put together a strong core that can make the team competitive for years to come. But, as Doughty said in that quote earlier, the Kings can’t just wait around forever for the kids to develop as he and Kopitar get old.

As a result, Rob Blake leaned into the present and made additions that can help the Kings get better right now.

L.A. traded a pair of draft picks for underrated winger @Viktor Arvidsson, a player who the Nashville Predators felt they couldn’t fit into their Expansion Draft protection scheme. In free agency, they made a splash by signing an excellent two-way center in @Phillip Danault and a grizzled veteran in @Alex Edler for the blueline.

The Kings also didn’t have any major subtractions, as the only notable player who won’t be back next season is depth defender @Kurtis MacDermid. He played in 28 games and logged an average of 13:21 per night so this isn’t much of a loss.

While the Kings did get better over the summer, the team taking a big step forward will ultimately come down to how their young talent performs. They need Petersen to continue to be good in net and they need players like Byfield, Kaliyev, and Turcotte to hit the ground running if they want to be in the mix for a playoff spot.

The future is bright for Los Angeles but development is always that simple. This will be a playoff team soon, but I wouldn’t expect that to happen in 2021-22.