Breaking Down the Los Angeles Kings’ Complicated Relationship with Analytics

The Los Angeles Kings are, somewhat famously, a team that loves and is loved by analytics.

Way back in 2006, general manager Dean Lombardi was quoted by the Kings blog Surly & Scribe as saying:

I was thinking about a lot of this [analytics] stuff even before ‘Moneyball’ came out. It requires almost a cultural change, to get your staff thinking a certain way, and that’s what we’re working toward. ... This is one of those things where we’re going to end up going down paths that don’t work. But we’re going to find the right one, and we’re not going to get frustrated along the way.

Most would agree that L.A. has largely done things correctly. NHL.com’s Corey Masisak describes the team as “the best example of why analytics matter in the NHL.” James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail concurs. CBS Sports’ Adam Gretz wrote a piece a year ago entitled “How the Los Angeles Kings Corsi'd their way to the NHL's elite.”

There is a good deal of truth to these analyses. The Kings have made no secret about their love for a puck-possession game, and they excel at it to a degree which few teams in recent history can match.

But it’s important to remember that things aren’t just that simple. Lombardi’s team frequently makes decisions that mainstream analytical thinking frowns upon.



Particularly notable this summer was the decision to sign Matt Greene. Greene has generally done fairly well over his career in terms of analytics, but he’s slipped a little over the last few seasons and in 2013-14, Darryl Sutter decided to stop giving him a pile of defensive zone starts. That’s a troublesome development, particularly for a primarily defensive defenceman, but it’s secondary to a pair of related concerns: age and injury.

Greene is 31 years old, an age which even the most relaxed ...

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