LA Kings: Three players who disappointed in 2019-2020 season
By Ryan Sikes
We previously looked at several players who were bright spots on the LA Kings last year. Today, we look at a few that had a disappointing year.
The last time we discussed a topic of this nature, we focused on three players who exceeded expectations. Now, we are looking at the reverse of that for the LA Kings during the 2019-2020 season. This past season was difficult for the franchise, as they nearly completed trading off valuable contracts that they could receive assets for.
As a result, the team only put up 64 points in a COVID-19 shortened season. Let’s look at three players who disappointed this past season.
1. Jeff Carter
We’ll see if Jeff Carter‘s injuries played a bigger role than led to believe on, but the fact of the matter is that the former Philadelphia Flyer had a lousy 2019-2020 season. Actually, last year marked back-to-back disappointing seasons for the now 35-year-old. During his glory days with the Kings, Carter was shooting the puck a ridiculous 19.5 percent of the time.
Now that number has dropped to 9.3 percent this past season and 7.5 the year before. He continues to see approximately the same amount of ice time, and while he tallied 17 goals, his assists dropped to only 10. Three years ago, Carter was a 30-30 player, playing in all 82 games during the 2016-2017 campaign.
Carter recorded a 53.3 CorsiFor percentage but had a -1.0 CorsiRel value, meaning the Kings controlled the puck when he was on the ice, but he didn’t carry his fair share of putting pucks on net. His average point totals were reminiscent of those seen during his rookie year in the 2005-2006 season.
He’s clearly in the twilight of his career, under contract through the 2021-2022 season. Is there a chance that Seattle takes him in the expansion draft?