The Los Angeles Kings have built a strong roster of talented young players and experienced veterans, and since most of the team's core is signed long-term, the defending Stanley Cup champions are capable of beginning an NHL dynasty.
Repeating as Stanley Cup champions is a great challenge, which is why no team has done it successfully in nearly 15 years, but if there's one team poised for a lengthy run of impressive playoff successes, it's the Kings.
Take a look at their most important players, and how long they are signed for. (All salary information courtesy Capgeek).
Player Position Age Years Signed For
Salary Cap Hit Jonathan Quick G 26 11
$5.8 million Anze Kopitar C 25 4 $6.8 million Mike Richards C 27 8 $5.75 million Jeff Carter C 27 10 $5.272 million Drew Doughty D 22 7 $7 million Dustin Brown RW 28 2 $3.175 million Willie Mitchell D 35 2 $3.5 million Justin Williams RW 31 3 $3.65 million This list does not include good young players such as forwards Dwight King and Tyler Taffoli, as well as defenseman Slava Voynov, who will not be eligible for unrestricted free agency for quite some time.
The Kings have tremendous depth and established young stars in nearly every part of their team. Kopitar, Richards and Carter are all No. 1 centers, Doughty is a franchise building defenseman and Quick is the best young goaltender in the NHL and the reigning playoff MVP.
Any team with this much talent and depth is going to be a contender for a long time. General manager Dean Lombardi has also done a nice job of managing the salary cap. Sure, the Kings do have some very long contracts, but they have very few, if any, horrible cap hits that are hurting the team's salary cap flexibility in a major way.
Depending on what the new CBA includes, the Kings' long contracts (Richards, Carter & Quick) might not hurt them if these players retire prior to their deal...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
