Top 50 Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings were part of the first wave of NHL expansion in 1967, but despite being in the second-largest market in the United States, Hockey took decades to gain traction in the area.
The Kings did have stars, such as Marcel Dionne, but the trade for Wayne Gretzky made the Kings the must-watch team of the late 80s and early 90s. The Kings made the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, losing to Montreal, but the sport was cemented in Southern California.
In the early 2010s, the Kings were a far more complete team, winning it all in 2012 and 2014 with squads full of future Hall of Famers and role players.
This list is up to the end of the 2024/25 season.
Note: Hockey lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and postseason accolades.
Bob Murdoch first signed with the Montreal Canadiens in 1970. Although he was traded to Minnesota, he was reclaimed by the Habs in the 1971 Intra-League Draft. The deep defensive corps that Montreal had prevented Murdoch from being a potential star for that team. As Murdoch was expendable, Montreal traded him…
After two years in St. Louis and a year-and-a-half with the New York Rangers, Mike Murphy was traded to Los Angeles, where he played ten years and had the best run of his career. Playing at Right Wing, Murphy had back-to-back 68 Point years (1974-75 & 1975-76) and was one…
Alec Martinez played his college hockey in the MAC with Miami (of Ohio), doing well enough to transfer his skills to the Los Angeles Kings early in the 4th Round of the 2007 Draft. Martinez first made the Kings in 2009-10, and in the following year, his AHL days were permanently…
Jake Muzzin had a unique path to the NHL, as despite being drafted by Pittsburgh in 2007, the OHL Defenseman was not signed. Muzzin reentered the draft in 2009, but this time, no NHL team took him. Muzzin was eligible to play one more year in the OHL, and he maximized the…
A First Round Pick from Moscow, Alex Frolov, debuted with the Kings two years after he was drafted. The Left Wing had a promising rookie year, finishing eighth in Calder voting with 31 Points, but the Kings brass were hoping for a lot more from the Russian. That is what they got.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
One of the better scorers for the Kings in the 1980s, Jim Fox, is also one of their most forgotten contributors. The Right Wing had 43 Points as a rookie, which he followed up with back-to-back 68 Point seasons. Fox had 30 Goals in 1981-82 and duplicated that in both 1983-84…
The talent-laden Montreal Canadiens had no spot for Bob Berry, a Left Wing who was already in his mid-20s but unable to appear in more than 2 Games for the Habs. Montreal sold his contract to Los Angeles, allowing Berry an opportunity to play in the NHL. He responded well to…
Mark Hardy was one of the better offensive Defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings in the 1980s, debuting for them in 1979-80, the year he was taken in the Second Round. From 1981-82 to 1984-85, Hardy had at least 39 Points, peaking with a 53-Point performance in the last year…
Mario Lessard was a late-round pick in 1974, and the Goalie would make the Los Angeles Kings roster four years later, where he would become their primary netminder. The Quebecer held that role for four years, one of which was particularly good, so good that it is primarily responsible for…
Jaroslav Modry was traded to Los Angeles late in the 1995/96 season, which was the third team in his young career. As he did with his previous squads (New Jersey and Ottawa), Modry bounced back and forth between the parent club and the minors, but in 2000, the Czech Defenseman…
Mattias Norstrom was traded from the New York Rangers to Los Angeles during his third NHL season as part of an eight-player trade, and the Defenseman would remain with the Kings for 780 Games, making him one of the more tenured players in franchise history. Norstrom had far more ice…
Jari Kurri was one of the legends in Edmonton in the 1980s, winning five Stanley Cups with the Oilers and earning five postseason All-Star Selections. Kurri returned to Europe after the fifth Cup win. However, on May 30, 1991, his rights were traded twice: first to Philadelphia, who then dealt him…
Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall felt that Bernie Nicholls could score, but they already had players who could put the puck in the net. McNall wanted grit, and he got that when he engineered a trade with the New York Rangers that sent Tony Granato to the Kings. Granato did…
Jozef Stumpel was coming into his own as a playmaker with the Boston Bruins, and after a 76-Point year, he was traded to Los Angeles, who needed his abilities. In Stumpel’s first season as a King, he had a career-high 58 Assists, a number that was good enough to land…
Glen Murray began and ended his career with the Boston Bruins, but in between, he had a stint with Pittsburgh and a run with Los Angeles, which lasted six years and started late in the 1996-97 Season. Murray received more ice time in L.A., and he was also beginning the…
As the 70s bled into the 80s, stay-at-home Defensemen were not in vogue but were (and are) a necessary part of Hockey. This made Los Angeles' 1979 First Round selection of Jay Wells unsexy, but his toughness was essential and became a significant part of who the Kings were in the…