The Los Angeles Kings came into the season as one of the few very elite teams throughout the league, and a favorite to capture a third Stanley Cup title in a span of just four seasons. Not bad for a team that didn’t even have one just a few years ago. Nonetheless, the Kings have discovered the formula for building up a franchise that can demonstrate sustained success, and they’ve have executed it to the fullest.
Not only do the Kings have a strong core in place, and locked up for the foreseeable future, their role players throughout the roster are made up of up-and-coming youngsters, which made a sizable impact last year, and continue to see their respective roles increase. The most notable players when discussing the young stable of players for the Kings are, of course, two-thirds of That 70’s Line: Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli.
When each was in the system for the Kings, they each represented one of the premier prospects right out of the draft. Toffoli was selected in the second round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, and was an absolute scoring machine in the OHL, while Pearson was the Kings’ first round pick, 30th overall, the summer after they took home the Stanley Cup. After getting their legs underneath them last year, they each look like they could be in for breakout campaigns.
Toffoli appeared in 62 games for the Kings last year, finishing the year with 29 points, including a dozen goals. He reached almost half of that amount in only 26 tilts during the postseason, where his line with Pearson and Jeff Carter was a threat each and every time out on the ice. Pearson didn’t see quite as much regular season time, with only 25 games on the books, with just seven points included. Again, though, he was a weapon in the playoffs, with 12 points in 24 games.
To start the year, as small as the sample is, each of Pearson, Toffoli, and Carter represent the top point-getters for the Kings to this point. Pearson has six points, including four goals, and Toffoli has five points, including a pair of scores. Carter has added five points as well, with a trio of goals, and continues to be completely revitalized in playing with the two, just as he was last spring.
The Kings have made it a habit of developing their own players and watching them transform into stars. Much of the core of their roster is homegrown talent. Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, in running either side of That 70’s Line, are the next wave that represents that commitment to prospect development. Each of them is becoming a supreme offensive weapon for the Kings, and as they try and chase down yet another Stanley Cup banner to hang in the rafters, the young pair is going to be right in the middle of every thing.
