There is no question that the Kings’ season has been a head scratcher so far. However, they are in remarkably good shape record-wise to start the year. They are a curious 6-3-2, standing one win away from taking the lead back in the division from the Vegas Golden Knights.
Speaking of the Knights, the Kings jumped on them early in their second meeting this season despite their trend of getting lit up by elite NHL teams this season. The first meeting was a thumping. Vegas cruised to 3-0 first period, never looking back, finishing the game 6-1. The tides turned as the Kings were the ones who put six this time to continue bolstering the best home-ice record in the league since Jim Hiller took over.
During the Vegas game and in reality this season, the biggest takeaway is the continued stellar play from Alex Turcotte.
The spotlight should be on Turcotte. He has been everything and more this year to this franchise. The Kings have been spotty at best since their post-fallout in 2017-18, an entire cycle of drafting, preparing, and implementing young centers into the lineup to stay. Recall that the spotlight was not on Turcotte to start off this season but reserved for young Quinton Byfield to start his pathway to becoming the 1C.
Byfield has not completely grabbed onto the center role and found himself back at wing next to Kopitar, where he found tremendous production last season.
Turcotte’s breakthrough so far at center afforded that option. It has even pushed that option open to the extent that he was moved to Byfield’s spot on the top wing and Byfield back to center against Vegas, where both players looked back at home despite a turnover by Byfield that led to the first goal for Vegas.
His on-ice goal differential is +7, behind only the other Alex Laferriere for the team lead. He also trails Vladislav Gavrikov for the team lead in on-ice expected goal differential with 3.6.
In 11 games, Turcotte has one goal and three assists, a sterling +7, and an average just north of 12 minutes a night in TOI. His faceoff percentage is a dismal 39.4%, but that’s expected from a young player establishing himself as a center in this tough league. If Turcotte can sustain this type of impact, the player the Kings first envisioned when they took him fifth overall in 2019 may come to fruition.
Turcotte’s strong start isn’t just a hot topic in LA. Recently, on The Daily Faceoff, Turcotte was discussed at length by Prospect Analyst Steven Ellis:
“But from there, all the injuries, last year I believe was the first time he’s played 50 games since his junior career. That’s a long time ago at this point when you look at a guy that’s 23 years old. I think this year he’s healthy, he’s looking good, he’s getting those opportunities. He’s not playing a ton of ice-time right now but he’s going out there and getting pretty favorable matchups and the points are starting to show. This is kind of a make it or break it year, but the way he’s playing right now, we’re looking at someone who could go out there and get 50 points this year, which would be huge for both him, and the LA Kings.”
Alex Turcotte is having a solid start y’all! 🦡
– 5th in 5v5 Points/60 on LA (1.86)
– 1st in 5v5 xGF/60 on LA (3.61)
– 5th in 5v5 xGA/60 on LA (1.89)Only playing 11:55 a game, but after all the injuries, great to see him making the most of it. #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/DiEGlIJInk
— Nathan “Grav” Murdock (@NathanGraviteh) October 30, 2024
Turcotte has overcome some incredible health barriers upon entry into the NHL and is looking as sharp as ever. His early returns are excellent, even if small sample-sized, in what is becoming an incredibly odd start to the season for the Kings.