If you want to talk about the Los Angeles Kings’ biggest rival, the easy answers usually come fast. Some fans will point to the Anaheim Ducks because of the Southern California connection.
Others will say the Vegas Golden Knights. And with four straight playoff meetings, plenty of people would make a case for the Edmonton Oilers as the Kings’ biggest current postseason problem.
But if the question is about the Kings’ true division and geographic rival, the one rooted in years of history rather than just the present-day standings, the San Jose Sharks still belong at the top of the list.
That rivalry was built the hard way. Los Angeles and San Jose have spent decades meeting in meaningful regular-season games and memorable playoff series in the Pacific Division, with the Northern California vs.
Southern California angle giving the matchup an edge that goes beyond the ice. The two teams have faced each other in the playoffs four times, and every one of those series came in the 2010s.
They split those postseason battles 2-2, and the 2014 series remains the one that still stands out.
That year, the Kings pulled off one of the most dramatic comebacks in playoff history by erasing a 3-0 deficit against San Jose on their way to winning the Stanley Cup Finals. For Los Angeles, it was a franchise-defining reverse sweep.
For the Sharks, it became one of the most painful collapses in team history. That kind of moment doesn’t fade, and it only sharpened the tension between the two sides.
Of course, the landscape has shifted in recent years. Edmonton has become the Kings’ biggest playoff obstacle, while Anaheim and Vegas have each carved out their own place in the division picture. Anaheim’s rise has come more recently in the last year or so in the Pacific Division.
Still, rivalries aren’t only about who’s winning right now. They survive rebuilding stretches, just like the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rivalries with the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants have endured through different eras. The same idea applies here.
And there’s reason to think this one could heat up again soon. San Jose’s young core, including Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Michael Misa, gives the Sharks a path back to being a consistent Pacific Division threat. If that happens, this rivalry has the ingredients to matter again in a big way.
In the NHL, the biggest rival isn’t always the team causing the most trouble this season. Sometimes it’s the one that’s been there through the years, in the biggest games, in the biggest moments. For the Kings, that still sounds a lot like the Sharks.
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A recent ranking from The Athletic underscored just how uneasy that picture looks right now, slotting Los Angeles top-six center group into a tier reserved for a major weakness. The caveat, of course, is that such evaluations do not fully capture Byfields upside, and the Kings still have veteran options like Scott Laughton and Erik Haula who could help steady the position if the season starts to tilt in the wrong direction. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Face A Difficult Drew Doughty Decision In Post-Kopitar Era
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The timing only adds to the intrigue. Doughty is expected to be eligible for unrestricted free agency in the 2027 offseason, and with his play having been affected in recent seasons by age and nagging injuries, the Kings also have to weigh the rise of Brandt Clarke on the blue line. However this unfolds, it is shaping up to be one of the defining personnel decisions of the next chapter in Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]