Defensemen

Mikey Anderson: Long known as a modern shutdown defenseman that defended positionally and denied entries, Anderson has embraced the physical side of his role more and also made more offensive forays while Drew Doughty was injured for most of this campaign. A-

Vladislav Gavrikov: He has largely recaptured the form of his first 40 games as a King, and he’s done so while playing his off-side overwhelmingly. He’s also been stalwart near the net, clearing rebounds and boxing out bodies with aplomb. A-

Brandt Clarke: He has joined Kempe, Fiala and occasionally Byfield among the Kings capable of making a result-determining play. His creativity and vision may be the best on the team, but it remains to be seen if the Kings will trust him enough to take full advantage of those qualities. B+

Joel Edmundson: Like Jeannot, Edmundson has been mostly as advertised, giving the Kings selflessness, size and penalty killing in ways he hasn’t since his time in St. Louis. Also like Jeannot, there have been times where he’s dragged the pace of attacks and otherwise killed plays. B-

Jordan Spence: He started the year with an expanded role that led to a plethora of giveaways and rocky rides. Since settling into a role lower in the lineup, Spence has been much steadier. B-

Jacob Moverare: He is as steady as they come and while he might have less value in some other systems, he’s embraced the Kings’ philosophy with open arms. A popular figure in the room and stands alike, he may finally be a regular. B

Goalies

Darcy Kuemper: Both Kuemper and the man he was traded for, Washington Capitals center P.L. Dubois, have enjoyed resurgences in their new locales. Kuemper, 34, is having one of the best seasons of his career, giving the Kings the sort of consistency in net they hadn’t had since 2018. A-

David Rittich: With Kuemper twice sustaining injuries, Rittich has more than earned his modest $1 million salary. His rebound control remains a vulnerability on many nights, but in two seasons with the Kings, Rittich has elevated himself from No. 3 goalie to a fairly firm NHL netminder once more. B-

Coaching

Hiller has been reminiscent of Barry Melrose in 1992-93, thriving on vibes, trusting his veteran players to lead and managing a difficult injury situation with ostensible ease (it’s been Doughty this year; in 92-93 it was Wayne Gretzky). Despite his total lack of previous pro head coaching experience, he’s largely buoyed a ship that was taking on water when he arrived. B

Management

General manager Rob Blake and his staff watched the team lose offensive pop year-over-year — in two 2024 playoff home games, they squeezed out a solitary goal — but opted to respond with the rhetoric of “getting uncomfortable” and “becoming harder to play against.” Predictably, their scoring continued to decline and their power-play prowess plummeted. The Dubois debacle stripped them of numerous assets through associated trades, waiver-claim losses and free-agent departures. Overall, they’ve run in place in the regular season so far, and similar stagnation in the playoffs would be a vast disappointment. D+