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The Hall of Fame career of Larry Murphy began in Los Angeles, the organization that made him the Fourth Overall Pick in 1980.
Murphy made the Kings immediately, scoring 76 Points, and was the runner-up for the Calder, as well as finishing seventh for the Norris. He never had a higher scoring season for Los Angeles, but was still a potent performer from the blueline. He had over 60 Points in the next two seasons and might have had another, but he was traded six Games into the 1983/84 campaign to the Washington Capitals. As a King, Murphy had 254 Points with a .86 PPG.
He went on to have three Second Team All-Star campaigns and win four Stanley Cups (two with Pittsburgh and two with Detroit). He entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.
Tomas Sandstrom played the first five-and-a-half years of his NHL career with the New York Rangers before a trade brought him to Los Angeles, a team that was looking for his combination of grit and scoring prowess.
In the early 90s, Scandinavians were not known for their physicality, but Sandstrom could both grind and score. The Swedish Right Wing was often injured in L.A., but when he did play, he averaged over a Point per Game. His best year as a King was in 1988-89, where he had a career-high 89 Points, and he was electric in the 1993 run to the Stanley Cup Finals, where he scored 25 Points.
Los Angeles traded Sandstrom to Pittsburgh during the 1993-94 Season, and as a King, he would compile 254 Points in 235 Games.
When the Edmonton Oilers made the biggest trade in hockey, the transaction that sent Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles, the “Great One” insisted that Marty McSorley would be part of the deal. It was a necessary request, and McSorely was not just his friend but his enforcer and the man who cleared the ice for McSorley's magic.
McSorley was one of hockey’s best pugilists, and he amassed a whopping 1,864 Penalty Minutes in his 472 Games as a King. Gretzky continued to flourish with McSorley watching his back, but McSorley was a decent hockey player in his own right. McSorley averaged .50 Points per Game with Los Angeles and was better on the defensive side than he got credit for. He even led the NHL in Plus/Minus (+48) in 1990-91.
McSorley had two runs in L.A. He was traded to Pittsburgh in the 1993/94 season but was dealt back to the Kings before the next season began. His Kings' career ended for good when he was traded to the Rangers in March of 1996.
Sadly, McSorley is best known for swinging his hockey stick at Donald Brashear's head in a game in 2000. Brashear fell and hit his head on the ice, rendering him unconscious. McSorely was suspended for the rest of that year and the entire following year and never played again.
Tyler Toffoli debuted in the NHL for the team that drafted him, Los Angeles, during the 2012/13 season, playing 10 games. This experience allowed him to adapt to the speed of the NHL. Toffoli never went back to the minors, and he was capable Center on a second or third line for the Kings for years.
A member of the 2014 Stanley Cup Championship Team, Toffoli led the NHL in Short-Handed Goals with five, and in 2015-16, he led the NHL in Plus/Minus with +35. That season, Toffoli had his best numbers as a King, with 31 Goals and 58 Points. Toffoli had two other years with Los Angeles, where he had at least 47 Points.
Toffoli was traded to Vancouver during the 2020-21 Season, which was his last year under his contract. As a King, he had 290 Points.