Joe Patarino

With Anze Kopitar‘s retirement, among the biggest needs for the LA Kings this upcoming offseason is a top-six centerman. As we sit today, the only centers under contract in Los Angeles are Quinton Byfield, Samuel Helenius, and Alex Turcotte. While the hope is that Byfield takes the next step and becomes a true 1C, that is still a question mark. Undoubtedly, Ken Holland is going to have to find a center that is at least of Byfield’s caliber to share the top two spots down the middle.

LA Kings General Manager Ken Holland met the media on Friday, and in terms of one-liners, he didn’t disappoint. While he played the hits, making references to how close the team was and how many points LA had in the 2024-25 season, Holland also brought some new material that was just as jaw-dropping. After the 105-point season, Holland was asked about the regression this season, finishing with just 90 points. “I don’t think I got anything wrong,” Holland said.

“I don’t want to screw it up, because they had a good year, this is a good team, they had 105 points.” That was one of the lines from Ken Holland‘s introductory press conference as the LA Kings General Manager last May. Holland would go on to add, “This is a good hockey team….that was one of the teams that I thought they could go to the final four and beyond, and they didn’t……we want to win the Stanley Cup.” It was at that time that we realized Holland had no idea what he was looking at.