Alec Martinez's goal with 5:17 remaining in the second overtime period of game five won the Stanley Cup for the Los Angeles Kings. It's their second championship in the last three seasons and there is no reason not to believe they can do it again next year.
To begin, the Kings are in fantastic shape to retain essentially the same roster that won them the Cup this season. Only Marion Gaborik, Willie Mitchell and Matt Greene are unrestricted free agents, with Dwight King the team's lone restricted free agent.
As the NHL projected the salary cap will rise to $71.1 million, the locked-in roster assists the Kings financially as well. If the projected cap for next year is true, L.A. will have more than $13 million in cap space according to capgeek.com. That should give them room to sign one of Mitchell or Green and keep King in the fold.
If they need money for Gaborik, who showed great chemistry with long-time centre Anze Kopitar after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Columbus Blue Jackets, there are rumours already floating that they will use a compliance buyout on centre Mike Richards. While there would be a fraction of Richards' $5.75 million cap hit on the ledger, the move would create breathing room to keep Gaborik on the roster.
Richards, who is regarded as a strong defensive presence and playoff performer, had just three goals in 26 playoff games played. Usually strong on defence, he was a -6 for the post-season. Granted, it's a small sample size, but he had similar production during the regular season. Either he was hurt for most of the season, or Richards has lost a step. The Kings might find the money spent better elsewhere.
Yes, the Kings are in good shape to repeat. Though they might find the stiffer competition in the Western Conference playoffs as opposed to the Stanley Cup final.
Right on the heels of the Kings are the 2013 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, who pushed L.A. to overtime in game seven of this year's conference final.
The Blackhawks, like the Kings, have their core locked up for next season. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are entering the final year of their respective contracts, but should sign extensions to remain in Chicago. They also have their top two defenceman under contract for at least two more years. With more than $4.5 million in cap space available this off-season, they shouldn't be after any of the big fish available. The money would be best used to secure depth for another long run into the playoffs.
If Toews and Kane resign in the Windy City, the Blackhawks and Kings could be in the Western Conference finals for years to come. And would that really be such a bad thing? They've met in the conference finals two straight years, with this series being even better than the first. Some people, myself included, thought of that as the real Stanley Cup final this season.
Led by the Kings and Blackhawks at the top of the conference, the West is poised to continue their run as the dominant conference in the NHL. With the Kings' win, the West has won the last three Stanley Cups and six of the eight held since 2007.
The depth of the Western Conference goes well beyond Chicago and L.A. Anaheim demonstrated their strength by finishing first in the conference with 116 points. They did so platooning goaltenders Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth. After trading Fasth to the Oilers, rookie netminder Frederik Anderson stepped up and stole starts away from Hiller, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, in the post-season. When Anderson failed, they called upon John Gibson to carry the load. The Ducks have two of the best forwards in the league in Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf signed past the 2020-21 season.
Also in the West, the St. Louis Blues had a strong season before struggling heading into the playoffs. Led by Ken Hitchcock behind the bench, the Blues are a strong defensive team. The question mark for the team going forward is who will be between the pipes. They acquired Ryan Miller to spark a deep run into the playoffs, but he looked average when up against the Blackhawks' firepower in the opening round. Other questions can arise with young players like Vladimir Sobotka becoming an unrestricted free agent. If they can hang on to their younger players to build a core with Alex Pietrangelo, David Backes and T.J. Oshie, St. Louis will continue to be dangerous.
Those are just the top tier teams in the West. Despite winning the Stanley Cup, the Kings were one game away from being swept in the first round by the San Jose Sharks. Now, after blowing the series, there is no telling what the Sharks will look like in the fall. They could stay as Stanley Cup contenders, or blow up the team and start rebuilding if they believe their current core can't win the big games. With the track record of players like Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, it's hard to see them not blowing it up.
Elsewhere, young teams like the Colorado Avalanche proved the difference a year can make. Their talent, like Gabriel Landeskog and Mat Duchene, has developed and looks to be a threat in the Central Division for years to come. That isn't even including last year's first overall pick Nathan MacKinnon, who had a couple of highlight reel plays in the Avalanche's first round loss to the Minnesota Wild. It should be a scary sight for teams in the Central that this young Avalanche team just won the division and is still developing.
In the shadow of the Kings' Stanley Cup win, it's hard-pressed to see the Western Conference losing a Stanley Cup for the foreseeable future. The balance of power in the NHL strongly belongs in the West.
So, to the teams in the Eastern Conference, enjoy being the runner up.
