The Los Angeles Kings enter this season with a glaring question right in the middle of the ice, and The Athletic’s latest offseason center-duo rankings only sharpened the spotlight.
In its breakdown of the NHL’s top-six center pairings, The Athletic placed the Kings in the seventh tier, grouping them with teams that have a “major weakness” at that spot. For a club trying to sort out its No. 1 center situation, that’s a rough label to carry into training camp.
The timing makes the issue even more pronounced. After the retirement of franchise icon Anze Kopitar this offseason, general manager Ken Holland and the Kings front office are left trying to fill a massive void at center. The expectation now is that young forward Quinton Byfield will move into the No. 1 role this fall.
That shift brings opportunity, but it also brings pressure. Byfield should get a bigger chance to grow his offensive game this season, yet the demands on him are changing too. He’ll be asked to score at a higher level than he has in recent years with the Kings.
Still, the ranking doesn’t tell the whole story. Byfield has already flashed the tools that make him intriguing as a potential first-line center - size, skating, a quick release and real playmaking ability. The question is whether he can put all of that together over the course of a full season instead of in stretches.
The Kings drafted Byfield second overall in the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft for a reason, and the organization still believes he can live up to that billing. If he takes the expected step forward, the conversation around this group could change fast.
There’s also the matter of depth behind him. Even if Byfield hits the level the Kings are hoping for, there are still concerns about whether the middle of the lineup is sturdy enough.
Veterans Scott Laughton and Erik Haula bring proven two-way value, the kind of reliability that can help with tough defensive matchups and key faceoff situations. But the uncertainty around the rest of the group is exactly what makes the center picture so hard to read right now.
That’s why Holland’s offseason focus has leaned toward adding scoring on the wing while the center issue remains unsettled. The Kings may have improved in other areas, but the middle still hangs over everything.
For now, The Athletic’s ranking reflects where Los Angeles stands today, not where it might end up. If Byfield makes the leap and one of the veteran centers outperforms expectations, the Kings could climb out of that major-weakness tier before long. Until then, the biggest question mark on an otherwise improved roster sits at center.
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