2025-26 Team Awards

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You're listening to all the Kingsmen, the official podcast of the LA Kings.

Now, here's your host, Jesse Cohen.

Welcome back KingsFans, another episode of all the Kingsmen.

I'm Jesse Cohen, joining me today is actually our junior days act.

Jesse, I'm doing great.

How are you?

You're being featured.

You look great.

Yeah, while I finally gave up on the growing out there, everything.

So we're doing the season-long awards that they do every year, the team awards.

We're not going to talk about the rest of the league.

This might be the hardest one you and I have done together, just because this year has

been so confounding.

And I think if you asked any of the management or players, they would say disappointing.

There's not over yet the Kings, we're recording this the morning after the victory over Nashville.

So nothing is decided.

But even if they do qualify for a playoff spot, I think this season would, I mean, it's

a regression from last year.

I mean, even if they win out, they make the playoffs.

The regular season would be at best, I think, a double-digit point regression.

So yeah, I would say the regular season for sure has been disappointing.

If they get in, I mean, they're at the same spot they've been for four years, which would

be in the first round and with an opportunity to win.

So you never know, certainly as a whole, this is not net expectations.

So yeah, I think that everyone involved would use that word for that.

As of this morning, Tuesday, April 7th, the most points they can win is 93.

93.

Last year they had 105.

So yeah, you're right, double-digit.

So at that instance, it's a 12-point drop.

But nonetheless, awards exist and are to be awarded.

So let's just dive into the four.

We'll start out with the four that the media vote on.

And I guess we'll start with the MVP.

I think that'll be the broadest conversation.

So who have you got for MVP?

I have Adrian Kempe.

I also have Adrian Kempe.

We might as well just talk about Adrian Kempe.

Now, so I went in and did a very deep dive to support, I think, the most obvious vote.

Right.

That's available.

He wins the award because he's been the best player on the team over the course of the

season.

And I don't think it's even been all that close.

Yeah.

However, Adrian Kempe's offensive production this year has contributed to so many points

directly.

And I just went down the list.

At Minnesota in October, third-period game time goal lost an overtime one point.

St. Louis, the King's one, two to one, he had the game winning goal and an assist, Dallas

game winning goal over time win at San Jose game time goal in the third period over time

loss versus Vancouver game winning goal over time.

Win versus Calgary, the only goal on a two to one overtime loss at Tampa Bay two goals

in a two to one regulation win at Anaheim one goal on a two to one overtime loss at Philadelphia

two goals and an assist in a three to overtime win at Columbus game winning goal in overtime

versus St. Louis a goal in a two to one overtime win.

That right there is 14 points in the standings that do not happen without.

I'm going to do you on better because they wouldn't have shown up on that.

The goal that he scored in the shootout last night against natural doesn't show up

in his stats, but it's a game to side or any any had plenty of shootout goals.

Yes.

It just don't count.

And you just look at like where would the Kings be without Adrian Hempey?

Frankly, they'd probably be in the draft lottery.

Probably.

I mean, he leads the team in goals and points and an assist.

I think there's not in a season where the team has struggled to score.

Yes.

And he's a 30 goal score again and the season's not done yet.

I mean, he would finish with 35 or possibly more.

Yeah.

I mean, he is, and he signs the contract where there's a letter like, you know, to know

the parts and he takes on presumably a larger role in the leadership group.

Yeah.

There's all sorts of reasons for Ken Bay to be the winner of this award.

I just wanted to say that all that I just wanted to do that.

I think it's so obvious why he would win it, but I was just thinking about the other

day of like, man, like this guy just scores in overtime all the time.

And he scores these big goals in low scoring games and he does it on a team that hasn't

scored very much all year.

He just, I mean, he's having another really strong year.

He's going to have 30 and 70, most likely assuming he doesn't create it down the stretch.

Just a really good year in a tough season for the team.

And there have been a number of games also where early in the season or late in the season

where the Kings had to overcome deficits, you know, early, you know, early in the season

it was like three nothing leads and they were coming back and getting those points.

That's that Minnesota game.

Yeah.

Or then recently there was the Toronto and the first national game.

He is frequently the guy that scores the first goal of the comeback or the guy that scores

the goal that ties the game and then more goals or scored.

So I guess he is, I mean, obviously he scores the most goals.

So he's bound to be involved in these conversations.

But yeah, Adrian Kempe, I think unanimously, if it's not unanimous, this should be the

most unanimous of the four awards.

I don't know how you can really make all that many cases for other guys.

If you want to go sentimental for Andre Cobotar, who's having a nice year and a really

nice finish in his last year, he said, okay, he's the most valuable because of how inspirational

or whatever it is fine.

But Adrian Kempe, I think, is I have a hard time seeing him not being unanimous for the MVP.

Cobotar, we'll talk about him later.

Yeah.

You know, it would be like you said, it would be a nice sentimental pick to give him an

award.

But fewer than half the goals Adrian Kempe has half the points.

He missed time with injuries, not his fault, but it did happen.

And he does lead the team in plus minus like him, but yeah, okay.

So Adrian Kempe is the MVP and that one's pretty clear.

Let's move on to newcomer then.

And so I had some conversations with other members of the media who remembered a day when

there was a games limit put on who you could vote for.

We're not respecting any games limits on this one.

I think you and I have the same players who will start with you for best newcomer.

I'm going to go with our Tammy Pinaran.

I am also going with our Tammy Pinaran.

I think that there were three legitimate options here, one of whom got traded at Tampa Bay

at the deadline.

So he's probably out, which means it's either Joel Armia or our Tammy Pinaran for me at least.

And Joel Armia is having an excellent year.

We might even talk about him maybe a little later in the program.

To be a guy who joined the team in February, it is voted best newcomer for entire season.

You have to be transformational.

And your individual play has to transform in my opinion how the team has played.

And our Tammy Pinaran I think has done that.

The power play with Pinaran versus the power play without Pinaran looks like two completely

separate teams.

The team's offensive play with Pinaran versus without two completely separate teams.

Things games are averaging more than a full goal, more per game, both for and against

since Pinaran joined that for that is unbelievable.

Like how much higher event the Kings have been with Pinaran.

He's deadly and over time.

He's lethal in the shootout like he does.

He impacts every element of the game.

And he's producing at a clip that we haven't seen from a Kings player in a long time, right?

He's well over a point per game.

Kempays numbers are up and they were already good since Pinaran has joined the two of them

are going to be a dynamic combination next year as they already have been this year.

He has just been, I think, so good.

And I'm excited to see what he can do over 82 games.

I agree with everything you just said.

Two things.

One Pinaran makes other players more dynamic, 100% like Brandt Park on the ice with our

Tammy Pinaran.

Brandt Clark is never not dangerous, but with our Tammy Pinaran, you're just exponentially

increasing your options.

Actually last year, I was making a bunch of comments about, you know, Andre Kuzmenko.

If you remove the playoff runs from the Jeff Carter and Marion Gabrik acquisitions,

if you're just looking at regular season impact, last year, I was like, I don't know.

Andre Kuzmenko might be the best trade deadline pickup that I can remember.

Usually Kings, historically, Kings trade deadline pickups have not fared terribly well.

Carter and Gabrik obviously led to cup runs, but Kuzmenko came in and scored 17 points

in 22 games.

Well, our Tammy Pinaran, as if I can find it here real quickly, 23 points in 21 games.

So I don't think you can argue that our Tammy Pinaran has been a more effective, more potent

offensively pickup than Andre Kuzmenko was last year.

And it's kind of stunning that two years in a row, the Kings have gone out and got a Russian

right shooting winger who have become, I mean, honestly, two of the best trade deadline

pickups.

And yeah, when I think of best newcomer, usually in my mind, the award goes to a guy who

is acquired in the free agency, totally, or a trade in the summer or something like that.

Who comes in in the summer and plays a full season, but our Tammy Pinaran's been just

that good.

And Cory Perry's gone.

And Armia, like you said, is then having a great season, but Pinaran's already got,

I think he has a little voice to them, right?

It's probably close.

It's very close.

Yeah.

It has 24 points.

Pinaran has 21 or 23, so they're neck and neck, but yeah, I had Pinaran's, and I will

continue to say this, I just think he's the best winger they've had.

It may be in my lifetime, or if not best, just, just most dynamic.

He's the only player like him they've had at wing in my lifetime as a Kingsman.

It's so much fun to watch.

100%.

Yeah.

I mean, if nothing else, the team has been so much more enjoyable to watch play in a large

part of that, I think has been Pinaran's impact, like I, he just, he's just that good.

Yeah.

Prior to his arrival for the last five or six years, maybe once in a while, you'd get

a goal where you were like, wow, Tic Tac Toe, I like real.

That's going at the end of the year, Montage or whatever.

But mostly it was grinded out, net front, you know, the Denomore, Arvitz and Gold.

It's a simple style to be a little bit bad, deflected screens.

Yeah.

But then, you know, you see Pinaran campaign co-opatar, and I mean, he's only, he's only

got five goals, but his assists, his goals, they, they are more aesthetically pleasing.

Not to mention, I think the best shoot out goal I've ever seen since I've worked here.

Yes.

Yeah.

Which, I was sort of stunned at how many people didn't immediately think of Pavel Dotsu.

That's exactly what I thought.

That's the same.

That's what I mean.

Yeah.

And then I saw a bunch of reactions like, oh my God, can you do that?

And I was like, yeah, Pavel, I've been doing that for 30 years.

It's rare.

It's hard.

Because it is so different.

Yeah.

But it's definitely been done.

Yeah.

It was unbelievable.

Yeah.

No, he's, he's amazing.

All right.

So we're two for two on agreements, MVP and newcomer.

Let's go to best defenseman.

So I, I selected Brent Clark.

I also have Brent Clarks worth three for three.

I think this is one where maybe the eye test just kind of speaks for itself.

But I'm going to offer two stats that do not include the Nashville game where Brent

Clark had, I think, seven block shots.

But I'm going to give the numbers I had before the Nashville game, which is that Brent

Clark is ninth in the NHL and block shot among all defensemen in the league.

And the LA Kings control 55% of shots on goal when Clark is on the ice.

I hate how block shots gets used in certain contexts to describe a good defenseman.

Sure.

Um, because a lot of times the block shot leaders are simply in their own zone for 65%

of the game.

So they better be blocking shots because they're not, they're always in the defensive zone.

Yeah.

Clark is blocking shots while spending more time in the offensive zone.

He's making things happen.

He has 39 points.

Um, he is among the team leaders in percentage of shots on goal and chances controlled while

he is on the ice.

So he's doing all these good things, but he still rates so highly in block shots.

And in that context, to me, block shots is a positive set because he's not getting caved

in.

He's just, what did you see?

It was ninth.

Ninth in the league.

Yeah.

So I stumbled on to this stat a few weeks ago.

Among defensemen only.

And, and, and went, took it another step.

And I just looked it up now to see if, because I haven't been tracking it from, I stumbled

onto it a few weeks ago.

Most of the names on that list, one through eight are guys that kill penalties.

Correct.

Brand Clark does not kill them.

And so at five on five, Brand Clark is first in the league.

That's a great pull.

Yeah.

In fact, not only defenseman, or no, it is defenseman.

Sorry.

Correct is my list.

Um, but like that's psychotic for a guy.

Yeah.

Now he doesn't have, you know, I was looking at who leads the league and points recently

into among defensemen.

Yeah.

And there are some, some staggering.

Yeah.

There's a huge.

And like, from names that I would not, it's like Evan Bouchard.

I had heard people talk about whether or not he should win the Norris.

And I rolled my eyes and was like, okay, how many points can he have?

And then I looked at it.

Like holy crap.

Yeah, it was like 87 or something.

Yeah.

Oh my god.

Okay.

That's insane.

So Brand Clark obviously isn't having that kind of an offensive number season.

But for the Kings, he is leading the team in scoring among defensemen.

He is not leading the team in plus minus among defensemen.

That's Edmondson, his partner.

Yeah.

But the block shots, the points, the added responsibility on the power play.

Yeah.

Um, and just really, it's more about the growth in his game.

100%.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, they're not going to put them on the penalty kill.

I think they probably could.

They wouldn't understand why for the last two months, they haven't wanted to, you know,

interject any sort of new variables when they're trying so hard to get this playoffs.

But I would not be surprised if next year we start to see him getting penalty kill time.

Um, he is six foot two.

People complain about his size, but I don't think it's really that big a deal.

And he's getting better with a stick.

He's getting better with his gap control.

You've pointed out a number of times this year.

He's got his ability to break up two on ones and on and rushes.

I mean, he's just getting a lot better.

And I don't think there's any argument that right now, he is the most versatile defenseman

on the king's blue line.

100%.

I mean, you just look at all the different ways he impacts games.

I think for sure he has that.

And I don't think we've seen the best of them either.

I think there's a lot more to come.

Um, he produced, he talked about the point totals and he produced those numbers on a team

that plays defense, right?

That for 60 games, they were winning to one.

So how many points are you going to get when you win to one or lose to one every now?

So I may be in a different system with more chances to activate.

You play as a full year with Pinaran.

Like when that line and that pair on the ice, the kings are always buzzing around the ozone.

I think there's a higher point total to come for him.

I think there's more defensive responsibility to come for him.

And he's being utilized way more this year.

No doubt about that.

But I, they haven't even fully, I don't think leaned into him in what he is capable of handling.

He's one of those players that causes me to.

So as a fan, I have these emotional reactions to what I think should or what I want to see happen.

He's one of those players that makes me go, uh, that may be your wrong.

Because like as a fan, I'm like, oh, Frank Clark, amazing.

He should be playing 30 minutes a night.

Get him out there, turn him into Eric Carlson, like incredible.

Then I look at him and I go, oh, he's 22.

And my entire life, I have heard and repeated and believed the idea of the defenseman develops

lower than forwards.

And 22, generally speaking, I would expect a defensive prospect to start cracking the lineup.

Yeah.

Like there are guys in Ontario who are older than him, who I'm like, oh, they're going

to be something.

Yeah.

You know, any day now.

Just give him a couple more years.

Fantastic.

He's smooth and grill care son of and like all these guys.

And then I look at Clark and I'm like, oh, he's only 22.

And I get it.

That's sooner than later.

That's not young anymore.

Yeah.

So before you know it, you're 24, you're 25 and you're not young.

Your career is now the average length of a career.

But yeah, 22.

I'm like, oh, there actually is more to him and he is young enough that we actually might

see that ceiling reached.

And so I have to like calm myself down and remind myself that, you know, occasionally

my emotions might override my senses.

If the Kings were still playing him 13 minutes of game, it would be a problem.

He's getting 20 most nights.

And even if we might say, okay, I think he's capable of 25 most nights or maybe it's

okay, he should be on the ice more with a minute 30 left up a goal or he should be

killing penalties or he should be XYZ, like his role has taken a big step forward.

And I would agree.

I think there's even more to come.

And it's not like he never, never plays 25 a night.

It happens.

Sometimes he does.

And he's averaging 20.

He'll take 1938.

I think or 19.

When the Kings are down, he's going to play, he might leave the team in minutes when the

Kings are up or someone's hurt or someone's hurt.

He's played more.

Yeah.

All right.

That brings us in.

This may be the one.

Now, given that we've gone through the last three, I think we're probably going to

create on this one too.

And that is best defensive player.

Yeah.

I guess you're going with Armiah.

I'm going to pick Armiah.

I also picked Armiah.

And as I said to you before we hit records, sorry to jump right now, you're good.

For me, the pick is more about just getting his name in the conversation and needing somebody,

needing a way to talk about him and needing a way to talk about a fourth person rather

than just repeating one of the guys we've already talked about.

And honestly, a little bit of it is in a different year, I don't even consider him.

Yeah.

And like, it's not Frank Clark's fault that he doesn't kill penalties, but he doesn't.

I looked at Anjay Kopitar here because his goals against is the best on the team by far.

And it could have been a way to mention him as well.

But I picked Armiah.

I think it's mostly because of his shorthanded prowess, if not exclusively like he's second

in the league in shorthand of goals, which is a cheap reason to pick a guy, but it's

what I'm leaning.

But like, that is a defensive play in my opinion.

Like if you score, he's been on the ice for five shorthand and goals scored for them.

Like, that is defense.

Like if you're flipping the script while you're shorthanded and scoring that often, like

I expected him to be a good PK guy, a good fourth line player.

He's just been so much more than that, right?

If you look at the guys who kill penalties for the Kings, Armiah's second on the team

in PK goals against per six, the only player better is Brian Dumolin.

Right.

He scored the four shorthanded goals tied for second in the league.

He's only been on the ice for eight against.

His shorthanded goal share second in the league behind only Seth Jarvis, who is an elite

player, fifth and expected goal share while shorthanded.

So it's not like he just gets these and he's shipping out goals while he's on the ice.

Like he's the best forward in the team goals against, he's obviously the best forward in

the team goals for in PK situations for a team that has not been very good on the penalty

kill this year.

They'd be, they'd be that much worse if he wasn't here.

I just think that that merits something on a year where no one else has like really

stood out as being like, you know, among the D in the goal tenders, like the obvious pick.

My only gripe with his penalty killing and it is not his fault is that he's not used

more.

Yeah.

He's not the first guy over the boards, which I think is psychotic because even in the

midst of a season where he was having a very good penalty killing year after being one

of the preeminent penalty killers for the last few years, then he goes to the Olympics.

Yeah.

And what does he do?

He scores four shorthanded goal in the Olympics.

So we're recording this the morning after the Nashville, the shootout win against Nashville.

The goal he scored against Nashville in theory is not a defensive play because it happened

in the offensive zone and was a goal.

And yet it was the move that he made in the neutral zone.

Yes.

Just north of the blue line is that what we're calling it?

Just on the, you know, in the neutral zone on the other side of the blue line to stick

to pokecheck that puck off of the national play.

I don't even know who it was.

And just create an entire zone's worth of space for himself to operate while having

the awareness to delay his entry till both to get on sides.

That is a defensive.

Like that.

And I think that's why it is important to differentiate best defense from the best defensive

player because the neutral zone, yes, the defensive zone is where most of the defense

happens.

But it is a three zone sport as much as some people would like to ignore that.

And the neutral zone is a huge part of defending.

And that was an incredible neutral zone play by you know, or Mia, and he does it all

the time.

And that's honestly, it might be his neutral zone play that makes him so incredible.

Yeah.

Panely kill and otherwise, he's just constantly making turnovers.

And yeah.

And really this was just an excuse to talk about it because we'll pick up.

Joel, are we a man?

Good player.

One of the best value signings I think in the, in the summer.

I mean, he's under $3 million to give you that kind of play.

He's been really good.

He probably he would have been the best newcomer in which case I might have had to have

come up with someone else to talk about because like last year, they had photo.

Yeah.

This year they have our Mia.

Yeah.

Last year they had Kuzmanko this year, they had Penaren and the seasons have gone so

completely completely differently.

Yeah.

So those are the four awards that the media vote on.

The ones we don't have any say in, but I think would be an interesting conversation.

Most inspirational.

I can almost guarantee that Andre Cobotar will win this year.

Yeah.

I think, you know, his last year, it's a rallying cry for the guys, right?

Like the team is underperformed, but they have this storyline to get Cobotar into the

playoffs, you know, kind of give him the, the meaningful games he deserves at the end

of his career.

I'd be shocked if he didn't win it.

Yeah.

Considering the circumstances and it'll be deserved.

Like that's, that's clearly the, that storyline that's like you can't quantify it, but like

it's something helping to drive it.

And I think that's probably it.

The audio captured on his, the celebration when he passed Marcel Dionne as the leading

score in franchise history, yeah, you could hear Brent Clark.

And just the excitement in his voice assures me that that will be the winner, like that's

probably right.

Yeah.

Here's a weird one.

And I'm not sure, like this one is sort of almost as difficult as the MVP without having

an obvious choice.

And that's unsung hero.

Yeah.

Because this year feels like a year where the heroes are the guys that are generally unsung.

So I don't, do you have a thought on unsung hero to, if I were voting, I would select Alex

the fairier.

Okay.

I think he has been other than Kempe, the team's most consistent player from game one through

game, whatever we're at now, 77.

He's tied his career high in goals, likely we'll set it if he can bury one more in the final

five games in a season of inconsistency.

He has been so consistent in my opinion.

He's rarely taken a night off.

He played center when guys were out.

He improved his face off.

He's killed penalties, which he didn't do last year.

He just keeps taking on more and more the night he played like 24 minutes.

I don't want to say no one's talking about him, but no one is talking about him as

taken a step forward in his play the way that they have with other players.

And I think that they should be talking about that because I just think he has been such

an impact player this year with a ceiling that I think is even higher.

I think he's going to be a 30 goal score in the NHL at least once.

I think he's had a really nice year.

And people have acknowledged that he's had a nice year, but I don't think that he's

gotten enough credit for the situation he's been put in.

Like every time the lines didn't work, he was the guy who got moved to a different line

because he didn't play anywhere else.

And he did all of these things and still produce the same way he did last year on a team

that underperformed.

So I liked him there.

And the other name I would think about would be like Jeff Malat.

Good training camp story.

Cracked the team with a good camp.

He's going to play my play 60 games in his first real NHL season.

He's not a goal score, but he's a good teammate.

He works hard.

He's a better skater than he gets credit for with his size.

I would vote for Laferriere, but if you told me Jeff Malata, I wouldn't be upset with

that.

The only pushback I have on Laferriere and it's probably 100% a function of being around

and in the media conversations is that I don't know how many fans or players you're talking

about Alex Laferriere.

Yeah.

I feel like Alex Laferriere might be the number one most talked about person in my sphere.

In your sphere?

I just hear people talk about him all the time.

That's fair.

Hard to think of him as unsung.

It's not always praise.

It's a lot of like, is he a center?

Is he not a center?

Yeah.

What you, you know, blah, blah, blah.

But it's like, but I'm still hearing his name.

I was thinking of Sammy Heleneus, which is funny to me that you mentioned Jeff Malata.

And part of the reason is is that there's a stat and I believe the team is undefeated

when he scores a goal.

They have one OT loss and it's only five times.

So it's not like it's overwhelming.

Oh, you mean like career?

Yes.

Yeah.

So it's not like this overwhelming thing, but for a guy who started, it's a similar path

as Malata.

For a guy who started the season being told, okay, you finished last year as the fourth

line center.

You're not going to start the season as the fourth line center.

Then he winds up.

I don't know how many games he's played, but I feel like it's a lot closer, it's close

to 50.

48 games.

48 games.

48 games.

So I mean, he has come in and a lot of those games too were the games where Jim Hiller

said, hey, you're going to play two minutes here like he really didn't get the opportunity

maybe he should have.

Yeah, he has five games of playing less than five minutes and a lot of playing less

than 10 minutes, 35 games of playing less than 10 minutes.

But recently, you know, he's scoring, yeah, again, not a ton, but when he scores, it's

a moment.

Huge goal against Toronto, right?

And is the sort of linchpin of that line?

You know, I was looking at lines the other day on MoneyPuck because it just tracks what

total minutes each of the lines play.

And I was, this just, I think this is just a perfect way to encapsulate what kind of

Euro was.

And this is not about awards.

But if I asked you to hide my laptop from you, to name the, which lines have had the

most minutes together for the entire season?

The entire season probably more to no fogal and fiola by feel the ferry air.

So more to no and fogal is third.

What was the other one you said?

Y'all a by feel the ferry air.

That is sixth.

Okay.

This is the psychotic part to me.

The number one line in terms of minutes played together is penair and copatarian campaign.

That's insane.

That's right.

The second one is more by feel the ferry air.

Wow.

And the fourth or excuse me, the fifth is Malata Laney some more.

That's insane.

Like three of the top five lines.

Most of the guys weren't even are basically DJ Smith lines.

Yeah.

I mean, that's just that is insane.

That's crazy to me.

But again, that line has, and I thought last night against Nashville might have been

the most consistent line, maybe not the best line, but you know, and they played differently

than everybody else.

So I listened.

It's up to the players who picked.

Yeah.

The other name that you mentioned him earlier, maybe Joel Eddinson, yeah, he gets dumped

on a lot.

I think by fans and look, he has his games where he hasn't, yeah, where he hasn't played

his best.

I feel like he doesn't get talked about at all.

He talked about his, he's leading the team in plus minus.

Among D, career, high and assists and points, kind of out of nowhere, yeah.

And I, I don't know, I think he, he's clearly well respected in the room, he's a part of

that pair with Clark that, you know, gets offensive zone time and seems to play at that

end of the ice, maybe another one that might get some consideration.

You know what, just based on the fact that that I don't hear anybody talking about him

at all.

Here he was one of those good stories, right?

Yeah.

Fogel Eddinson.

A guy that if it wasn't for a couple of might, yeah.

So yeah, I think, yeah, Eddinson's a good, it's a solid pick there.

I would not, because like I said, I just don't hear people talk about him.

I, you know, Dumolin and CC obviously dominate a lot of conversation.

Right.

Doudy and Anderson, Clark's having a great year.

And then Joel Eddinson is sort of like the, the, the other guy.

The other guy.

Yeah.

All right.

Then that, so that's the awards, um, might as well at this point talk about Anjie

Coppatar.

Yeah.

Um, as if we haven't talked about.

Yeah.

But he will be the King's nominee for the Masterton.

And the Masterton, I mean, it's kind of a joke, but it's a joke because it's kind of

true.

Generally has been the guy that got hurt or overcame adversity award.

Yeah.

But that's not what the award is for.

Right.

It's for dedication.

Right.

And it's hard to imagine a guy on the team who is, you know, it comes to play 20 years.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, I saw there was a thing on social media where they're asking some of the guys, how

many signatures they've signed over the years.

Yeah.

I don't even want to, I mean, I think he said a million.

Yeah.

That's probably low.

Yeah.

Um, the numbers of appearances he's made, you know, pictures he's taken, autographs he's signed,

times this season that he shook hands with other guys on the team, like, yeah, I mean,

he's, it really, I'm starting to now wrap my mind around because we're getting so close

to the end of the season.

I knew at the beginning of the year, okay, it's going to be weird.

Having Ajay Koper, they're not around, you know, and I just had a very long conversation

with Nick Nixon about it.

I just talked to Rich Hammond about it.

But it is going to be weird.

It's going to be weird.

It's going to be really weird.

And he's well deserving of the nominee.

As one who's the last person that wanted that didn't have an adversity to come to overcome?

I don't know, actually, in his case, it's kind of a lifetime achieve 100% award.

It would be cool to see him win it.

Um, I looked back, um, Dave Taylor won the award as back, so the guy who drafted him

won it.

And that would be a cool thing if, you know, obviously two of the best centers in franchise

history, both won that award with the connections the two of them have together.

Um, if you on Wikipedia, it actually gives like a bio of why a player was, um, I was just

looking at the NHL, but yeah, it says like, hey, they won and here's why they won in terms

of like an actual just like longevity type award.

I mean, you're probably going back to, you're going back to Yarmour Yager, right?

Which is a while ago, just kept playing, yeah, he just, he was old, yeah, he had 66 points

at age 44, which is ridiculous.

But then you look at, you know, family member with cancer, had cancer, um, bipolar disorder,

PTSD, um, multiple.

Cancer, concussions, fraction of vertebrae, post concussion syndrome.

Yeah, we're just reading down the list.

Like, yeah, that's typically what it's become.

And those are awesome.

And those are awesome stories of people who are able to overcome those kinds of things.

Um, there's a lot of cancer on this list.

Yeah, legally blind in one eye, yeah, she's a lot of, you know, really bacterial meningitis.

It's like an episode of house.

It's crazy.

Um, but it also can go to someone who has just done it for that long at such a high level.

And I don't know how it could be anyone else on the king side at least.

It's just, uh, it's awesome to see him add one more notch, you know, yeah.

And I was, so I was trying to, my dad about his career the other day.

And he sort of summed it up in a way that I had not really thought about previously.

And I, and I was like, oh, wow, that's right.

So not that it necessarily matters, but he was named to the young stars game in 2007.

Five all-star game appearances, two-time Stanley Cup champion, two-time,

silky trophy award winner, three-time lady being award winner, one-time Mark Messier leadership

award winner, and imagine if he had been given the MVP award that he should have gotten

in 2018.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's an impress, it's an incredibly impressive career without that.

Let a country do its first to lend us to, you know, if they had actually given him that

award that he deserved.

And now if you, if, for whatever reason, he wins the Masterton, what an unbelievable.

Yeah.

And I was thinking, like, what would somebody have to do to ever eclipse his career in a

King's uniform?

Yeah.

I mean, it would have to be a really, really special player.

You need to land, like, a generational talent who was rackin' up, you know, 150, you need

the economic David type player.

Yeah, they'd have to come in at 18 or 18 years old, maybe immediately for a young, like,

that kind of young player to come in and just do that for 15 years.

It's gonna be very, very hard to ever surpass this.

I think.

Yeah.

I mean, I genuinely don't think we'll see it in my lifetime, which is hard to think about

because...

You got a lot of years left.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, knock on wood.

But yeah.

It's tough.

But yeah.

So congratulations to Andre Kopitar for being nominated for the Masterton.

And I expect the, on the four awards that the media vote on, I expect Clark and Kempay

to be the winners.

Yeah.

And newcomer, I'm not sure, because some people might not feel comfortable.

Have you think it'll be Armia or Pinaran?

Yes.

And then defensive player, I could see it go a lot of different ways, because defensive

player, you can do forward defense or, you know, defensemen or goal center.

Yeah.

Some people might pick Clark because he's the best defenseman.

Yeah.

Some people might pick Forsberg, just throw him a bone.

Yeah.

Some people might pick Hope with some Kopitar.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So it'll be very interesting to see those ballots go out today, I believe.

And I'm sure we'll be announced what at the home, the final home game, right?

Isn't that usually how they do it?

They might be or they might be the last, because the team ends on the roads.

It might be on a non-game day where it's, you know, a day off announcement somewhere

there.

But seasons not over yet, the playoff hunt is not over yet.

The awards have not been voted on.

So still, even though there's only five games left, there's still a lot of things to

be decided.

And even if a playoff spot is earned, that still doesn't settle the seeding issue.

I mean, they're likely going to be wildcard two.

Or do you mean like the debate over whether it should be like one?

No, I mean like where they finish like like wild card two is most likely.

Sure, but, but it's not the only is not out of the question in play, which is, which

is frankly unbelievable.

Yeah.

Like, there's no other way to describe it.

Like the fact that the LA Kings are here with 83 points with five games left and have

a low, but somewhat realistic shot of playing game.

One of the playoffs at home with a couple of wins here and there is unbelievable.

There are four points out of first place in the Pacific.

They are one point out of missing the playoffs.

I haven't sat down and done the math yet in the last couple of days, but I genuinely think

they are just as close to the first overall pick as they are to a Western conference final

run.

Yeah.

You can't say that about too many others.

Yeah.

That's the kind of year it is.

It's just, so weird, weird year.

Anyways, actually, thank you so much for joining me.

King's fans, thanks for watching and producer Tyler.

Thanks for producing and we'll talk to you soon.