The Long Angeles Kings are in the midst of an interesting phase. On one hand, remnants of two Stanley Cup-winning rosters from 2012 and 2014 remain entrenched in the roster — albeit older with their best playing days behind them. At the same time, the franchise is on the cusp of hitting the reset button.
That rebuild has already begun to take shape as head coach John Stevens was fired early in the 2018 season, only one year removed from taking the job.
A new coach, Willie Desjardins, has done little to revitalize the team. The next logical step is to purge the roster of savvy veterans, which will be easier said than done. Such players either have trade protections or little value due to their age and salaries.
This dichotomy creates a tricky situation, not only for the Kings franchise but bettors, too. Los Angeles isn’t exactly playoff caliber, but you can’t completely discredit a roster that’s won two championships in recent memory. Think of the Kings as Jekyll and Hyde — you just never who which one you’re getting on a given basis.
A lack of consistency usually wreaks havoc for sports bettors, but we’re here to help! This all-encompassing guide should be your starting point before wagering on Los Angeles. Our litany of stats, standings, and tips is the perfect antidote for a volatile team like the Kings.
Los Angeles Kings Next Game
Below you’ll find odds for Los Angeles’ next matchup. There’s a lot of variables when it comes to bettings lines — home or road games, injuries, and recent trends. The more you understand why the Kings are favored or underdog on a given night, the more informed you’ll be when wagering. Perhaps Los Angeles is in the midst of a three-game losing skid. It’s on you to decipher whether this streak is overblown or a sign of real problems.
Los Angeles Kings Regular Season Schedule
An NHL regular season isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s 82 games long, stretching from October to April. With such a grueling schedule, fatigue becomes a very real problem. Bettors need to keep this mind when wagering. Say the Kings are on the final leg of a multiple-game road trip, it might be a good idea to bet against them. By then, the team is worn out and already looking ahead to a trip back home.
Los Angeles Kings Standings
The Kings play in the always-competitive Western Conference as part of the Pacific division. Due to proximity, this creates a natural rivalry with division counterpart San Jose Sharks. The two’s games are dubbed “Battle of California.” Such matchups, along with most divisional battles, bring out the best of the Kings due to increased importance on the standings. Keep close tabs on the below widget to gauge how important a given game is to the Kings. Do they have a lead in standings that allows them to coast? Or is it a must-win scenario to make up ground? Players will never admit it, but some games due in fact matter more than others. Understanding this will pay dividends when betting.
How To Bet Los Angeles Kings
Earlier we mentioned the Kings are teetering into rebuild mode, therefore, you'll want to avoid Kings future bets at all costs. There's just too much uncertainty at the moment to warrant any long-term wagers.
The only person safe in the franchise is general manager Rob Blake. After a successful playing career with the Kings, he's ascended into an executive position, taking reigns of player personnel decisions in 2017. The rest of the team? Who knows if they'll be on the roster next year, or even before the season ends for that matter.
This makes Los Angeles nothing more than a day-to-day betting option. Who the Kings' opponent is matters more than anything.
The franchise is so far away from Stanley Cup contention, that they have little chance against top contenders like Nashville, Calgary, and Minnesota. It's in your best interest to wager against the Kings when you see these mismatches, no matter what the spread or moneyline is.
Now, if Kings are paired with another NHL dweller, then Los Angeles becomes a more attractive option to bet on. This roster isn't what it used to be, but it's no chopped liver, either. It takes a certain kind of mettle to win not one, but two Stanley Cups. That grittiness can overcome age and a subpar team.
Moreover, the NHL, like other sports leagues, is becoming more data-heavy by the day. Front offices across the league are using advanced metrics to build and tear down rosters. Likewise, bettors need to leverage the abundance of stats out there to make informed wagering decisions.
If there's one end-all, be-all metric it's Corsi rating. This figure measures possession time during games. What makes possession time so critical? Well, intuitively, whichever team holds the puck longer has more opportunities and therefore, a higher probability of winning.
A Corsi For rating illustrates how many shot attempts a team got off, while a Corsi Against highlights how much shots they surrendered. Dividing both numbers together results in the ever-important Corsi percentage. By and large, the teams with a high Corsi percentage — think over 51 percent — perform better.
Bettors sometimes fall into the trap of making picks based off of season records and point totals. That's fine, but it's nearly as all-encompassing as Corsi and other advanced analytics. Sportsbook uses similar data when setting lines. If you want to bet them in the long run, you'll need to beat them at their own game and become data experts.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
