The Los Angeles Kings will be without their top point producer on Saturday night, and they’ll need to find a way to halt a three-game skid without him.
Artemi Panarin is out against the Calgary Flames because of family reasons, leaving Los Angeles to fill a major hole in its lineup. Alex Turcotte is expected to draw in for Panarin. Turcotte has one assist and no goals in four games with the Kings this season.
Panarin has been the Kings’ most productive player so far, piling up eight goals, 11 assists and 19 points. The 35-year-old has been a key piece since Los Angeles brought him in during February of last season from the New York Rangers in a deal that sent forward prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round draft pick the other way. The Kings then locked him up on a two-year, $22 million extension that began this season.
Last year, Panarin put together 84 points in 78 games between New York and Los Angeles, finishing with 28 goals and 56 assists. His NHL path has been a long one since going undrafted, beginning with a two-year, entry-level deal from the Chicago Blackhawks in April of 2015. He wasted no time making an impact, producing 30 goals and 47 assists for 77 points in 80 games as a rookie and winning the Calder Trophy.
After two seasons in Chicago, Panarin moved on to the Columbus Blue Jackets in June of 2017 and spent two more seasons there before landing with the Rangers on a seven-year, $81.5 million contract in July of 2019. His best season came in 2023-24, when he scored 49 goals and added 71 assists for 120 points in 82 games.
Los Angeles enters the night with 12 points through 17 games and sits seventh in the Pacific Division.
In Other News...
Kings Home-Ice Slide Feels Worse After Another Frustrating Loss
The Kings home-ice problems took another hit with a 5-2 loss to the Islanders, a result that added to the frustration around a team trying to find any kind of traction in its own building. New York struck first and kept control from there, while Los Angeles had to chase the game after goals from Trevor Moore and Quinton Byfield briefly gave the crowd something to latch onto.
Victor Eklund and Simon Holmstrom answered for the Islanders, and the late empty-netter put the finishing touch on a night the Kings would rather forget. Even with a couple of decent moments offensively, the bigger issue was the lack of sustained push at home, where every setback seems to carry a little more weight as the losses keep piling up. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Are Drifting Toward A Decision Fans Wont Want To Face
The early-season picture around Los Angeles has grown increasingly uneasy, with the Kings sitting at 5-10-2 and hovering near the bottom of the Western Conference. Injuries have played a role, the roster has some aging pieces, and the overall look has been more survival mode than steady climb, even as the club waits for key players to work back into the lineup and for the goaltending to settle down.
What makes the situation tricky is that the Kings are not just fighting for points right now, they are also drifting toward a midseason crossroads. If the results do not improve and the health picture does not brighten, the front office may have to start weighing whether this group can still make a real push, or whether the season has already reached the point where uncomfortable roster decisions become part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Frustration Is Growing For One Reason They Still Havent Fixed
Kevin Fiala was back in the Los Angeles lineup after nine months away because of injury, and he made an immediate impact with an assist in a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders. Even with that boost, the Kings came away with their third straight defeat, a slide that has left them 5-10-2 and searching for answers as the early-season frustration keeps building.
The bigger concern is not just the losses themselves, but the way they keep happening. Players and coach Peter Laviolette have pointed to execution mistakes and inconsistency as the common thread, and until those issues start getting cleaned up, the return of a key forward can only do so much to steady things. [Read more 🡒]