Here’s one problematic aspect of promoting a great player to a key management position with the team for which he starred: When he screws up, his retired number suddenly looks awfully dingy. Right now, Rob Blake’s No. 4 in the Crypto.com Arena rafters is a reminder less of his days as the Kings’ rock-solid defenseman than of a flurry of executive mistakes – including one big whopper – that has set his franchise back significantly and for a while appeared to put his own job as general manager in jeopardy. For a few days this week, it seemed a matter of time before Blake and interim head coach J ..read more

EL SEGUNDO –– Of the myriad quandaries the Kings will confront this summer, the most significant might be their decision regarding underperforming pivot Pierre-Luc Dubois. That conundrum joins calls about the coaching staff, team management and on-ice system, but a determination on Dubois carries temporal urgency as well as weighty long-term impact. Dubois signed an eight-year, $68 million contract last June amid trade negotiations that sent him to the Kings from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for three players and a draft pick. Dubois had scored 60 or more points during his prior two seas ..read more

EL SEGUNDO — On some alternate plane of reality, the Kings would have had a skate before Game 6 of their first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday morning. In the here and now, they were taking physicals while soaking in the gloom of being eliminated by the same opponent for a third straight season, leaving them adrift in a sea of uncertainty. “I fully expected to be playing in a game today again, and we’re not. Now I’m going to go home, my kids are at school, and I basically have nothing to do,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “It’s crap, I hate it and I don’t want this f ..read more

Fresh promise and auspicious beginnings gave way to stale results from a season of tumult for the Kings, who were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers, again, on Wednesday night. Edmonton has become more efficient in its disposal of its black-and-silver-clad warmup act, shortening the series and improving the performance of its lethal power play with each passing postseason meeting since 2022. This Kings’ campaign was a zero-gravity roller coaster fit for a Six Flags property. Its early-season ascent saw the Kings set a record for the most consecutive road wins to start a campaign and reach the t ..read more

The Kings’ Matt Roy (3) chases the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (97) as goalie David Rittich, right, poke checks the puck during the second period of Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday night in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP) The Kings’ Pierre-Luc Dubois skates the puck against the Edmonton Oilers’ Corey Perry, right, during the first period of Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday night in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images) The Kings’ Carl Grundstrom (91) collides with the Edmonton Oilers ..read more

Through peaks and valleys, the Kings have repeated the same maxim: “Check for chances.” But last they checked, they were all but out of chances, facing elimination on Wednesday night in Edmonton. There, the Oilers could continue their countdown after having ejected the Kings in seven, six and now potentially five games across three consecutive seasons. Their adjustments in this first-round playoff series have been mostly futile, with Edmonton requiring all of two minutes to counter their recalibrations of a penalty kill that has turned into the plumpest pumpkin of the playoffs. It has negated ..read more

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, right, takes the puck as Edmonton Oilers left wing Evander Kane reaches in during the first period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Los Angeles Kings right wing Viktor Arvidsson, center, tries to get a shot past Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, left, as center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins defends during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. T ..read more

Edmonton Oilers right wing Corey Perry, center, tries to get a shot by Los Angeles Kings goaltender David Rittich, right, as defenseman Matt Roy defends during the first period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, right, takes the puck as Edmonton Oilers left wing Evander Kane reaches in during the first period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Edm ..read more

Trevor Moore and Zach Hyman entered the first-round grudge match between the Kings and Edmonton Oilers as the leading goal-scorers for their clubs, but when they broke into the league with the Toronto Maple Leafs, expectations were much lower. Hyman, 31, was a fifth-round draft pick while Moore, 29, was not selected at all. This season, Hyman’s 54 goals led a roster with three Hart Trophy winners among its ranks and Moore’s 31 tallies paced a Kings ensemble brimming with bigger-ticket talent. Hyman leaped from 27 to 36 goals last season and catapulted his total with another 18 markers this sea ..read more

Entering the year, promise abounded for the Kings, but now their next home game could be their last. They face a 2-1 series deficit against the Oilers and, as of now, are only certain of a Game 5 in Edmonton beyond Sunday’s Game 4. A hyped offseason and auspicious beginning to the campaign gave way to a sinewy season that now teeters two losses from ending the same way it did in each of the past two springs, by being bounced by Edmonton. The Oilers were rude guests on Friday in a 6-1 stomping of the Kings. Edmonton captain Connor McDavid emphasized that it was just one win, and the Kings had n ..read more