Joel Edmundson kept doing the job the Kings brought him in to do.
In his second season in Los Angeles, the veteran defenseman stayed planted in the top four and continued working next to Brandt Clarke, giving the young blueliner the kind of steady support the Kings wanted when they signed Edmundson. That pairing remained a meaningful part of the Kings’ blue line all season, with Edmundson’s game helping Clarke play to his strengths.
The numbers backed up a solid year. Edmundson finished the 2025-26 regular season with two goals, 21 assists and 23 points while appearing in all 82 games.
He added one goal in four postseason games against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round. It was the first time in his NHL career that he topped 20 assists in a season, and it marked the second straight year he scored multiple goals for the Kings.
Durability was part of the story, too. Even with a lingering injury issue in the final months of the season, Edmundson never missed a game.
Still, his best stretch came before a hip injury in late January. By that point, he had already collected 16 of his 21 points and both of his goals.
Los Angeles wasn’t asking Edmundson to be a puck-moving force or a high-end offensive defenseman. The Kings wanted a dependable, physical presence who could settle things down in his own end and handle penalty-killing work.
That’s exactly where he made his mark. He finished among the team’s top three in plus/minus at plus-14 and led the Kings in time on ice on the penalty kill.
His style also fit cleanly with Clarke. Edmundson’s stay-at-home approach gave Clarke room to attack in the offensive zone and push the pace in transition through the neutral zone. That kind of balance is a big reason the Kings have kept the duo together.
When Los Angeles signed Edmundson in the 2024 offseason, nobody expected a 40-point defenseman. The Kings wanted stability and physicality on the back end, and that’s what they’ve gotten. His overall impact on the blue line group may be limited, but he has delivered the role the team had in mind.
If he had been fully healthy all year, the grade likely would have been higher.
2025-26 Season Grade: B
Looking ahead to 2026-27, Edmundson enters Year 3 of the four-year deal he signed with the Kings in the 2024 offseason. For now, he still looks like the likely partner for Clarke when training camp and preseason open this fall. And with general manager Ken Holland and the Kings not making the expected changes to the top six on defense early this offseason, that role may not change much heading into next season, though it still could.
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