LA Kings: Martin Frk says he’ll score 30 goals next season

On a recent podcast, Martin Frk said that he expects to score between 25 and 30 goals for the LA Kings in the 2020-2021 season.

There’s no question that Martin Frk has a lethal shot. The LA Kings forward is reminiscent of Fulton in the Mighty Ducks with his knuckle puck, with defenders jumping out of the way in fear of their lives. Frk registered the hardest shot at the 2020 AHL All-Star game, breaking Zdeno Chara’s previous record.

But the problem has been the accuracy of his shot. What good is it to have the hardest shot if it’s not on net? In the 2019-2020 campaign, the 26-year-old logged 17 games with the Kings, scoring six goals with two assists for eight points.

The majority of his time came at the AHL level for Ontario, where he registered 23 goals with 13 assists for 37 points. The former Red Wings second-round pick of the 2012 NHL Draft is entering a critical year in his career, with the organization’s prospect pool coming.

He is expected to play the right wing on the second line, alongside his AHL centerman Gabriel Vilardi. The duo played quite well together in Ontario, so it only makes sense to put them on the same line. And Frk recently joined the guys on the Kings of the Podcast, saying that his goal for the 2020-2021 season is to score 30 goals.

“If I can bring what I can do in the AHL over to the NHL, I had a really good thing going there,” Frk said. “Hopefully, I can do around 15, 20, 30 goals. I can put up those numbers. For me, I just need a good center. Day-by-day, he can find me, and I can just put it in.”

Wow. Ok then.

I like the confidence, and obviously the Kings would benefit tremendously from a guy who scores 30 goals. For reference, Anze Kopitar was the closest on the team last season to score 30 goals, coming up nine short of that total. The last time the Kings had a player score 30 or more goals came during the 2017-2018 season, with Kopitar tallying 35 goals.

Given how much Frk puts the puck on net – 23.1 shot percentage last season – it’s entirely plausible that he achieves his goal. It doesn’t seem realistic right now, given the sample we have seen. Frk scored a career-high 11 goals for Detroit in 68 games during the 2017-2018 season, and I’d comfortably peg him between 10-15 goals next year.

Still, I like the confidence from a guy who has the capabilities of being a big-time contributor. But that’s assuming he can make his shot more accurate. Let’s see if he can comprise some shot velocity for shot accuracy next season.