Trevor Moore was injured against the New Jersey Devils during the Los Angeles Kings’ second seven-game road trip of the year. Before the injury, Moore was seeing regular action on the Kings top forward line. While on the top line, Moore wasn’t explosive offensively but was still effective. Changes needed to be made, and Head Coach Jim Hiller reshuffled his forward deck. Moore’s spot was filled by Alex Turcotte, a top draft pick who has faced many injuries but is improving after years of health issues.
Turcotte recorded four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in his first three games alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. The short sample gave room for positive speculation that he could be the next breakout candidate on the top line. However, since then, he has managed only two points (both assists) in six games. His ice time has also started to decrease upon the team’s return home: 15:58 against Edmonton, 12:02 against Philadelphia, 13:46 against New Jersey, and 13:38 against Tampa Bay.
Alex Turcotte is a name that sounds familiar to NHL draft enthusiasts. At 23 he’s in danger of going from “prospect” to “suspect,” but I think he’s about to break out playing alongside Kopitar and Kempe in LA.
Elusive skater who works extremely hard. Great fit on that line. pic.twitter.com/YA8z7alsfe
— Jack Han (@JhanHky) December 16, 2024
The Kopitar-Turcotte-Kempe line was excellent early on when they were first fused together but has since been less effective than on the road trip. According to NaturalStatTrick, in their 162:46 minutes together, their Corsi percentage is still strong at 53.29%, and their Fenwick is solid at 53.22%. They have started to even out in shots (75 for, 73 against) while maintaining a favorable goals-for vs. goals-against ratio of 11-5. Scoring chances also favor them, with 82 for and 66 against, and high-danger chances at 33 for and 26 against.
Their performance against the Lightning raised red flags and watered their overall analytics. The sole bright spot happened in a span of less than ten seconds. Turcotte recorded a primary assist on a remarkable individual effort, feeding Kempe a one timer go-ahead goal in a game where the Kings blatantly struggled. Beyond that one-line goal, they were overwhelmed. In just 10:13 of ice time, their Corsi was a brutal 39.13%, and their Fenwick was 41.18%. They were outshot 8-3 while even on scoring chances at 4-4. This was with the Quinton Byfield line seeing the majority of Nikita Kucherov/Brayden Point.
The…