Line 2B
It is nice to have so much to write about finally. When things are bad, it gets old bringing up the same depressing realities. The Kings are far from the best team in the league, but, now, they are playing good hockey, and watching the talented young players develop is exciting. The future looks bright.
One of the best parts of this team, is the level of play of our bottom six group of forwards. In fact, we don't even really have a bottom six anymore, it's more like a bottom three, and they aren't a weakness. Our third line (if one can call them that) Grundstrom, Moore, and Anderson-Dolan, appear ready to take the NHL by storm.
Moore is a local boy that has speed, and some Iaffaloesque qualities. Moore brings speed, energy, and positioning much like Iaffalo. He seems to find his way into passing lanes and is generally disruptive. (Maybe together they should be known as Professor Chaos and General Dissaray.). Originally he hails from Thousand Oaks. Moore is an example of the increased performance of local hockey products like Matt Nieto (San Jose Sharks) of Long Beach.
I have to be honest, Trevor Moore snuck up on me, although his current success shouldn't be a huge surprise. The University of Denver is one of the top collegiate programs in the country. Moore's success there as well as with the Toronto Marlies should have been signal enough that he had something to contribute. While loosing Clifford and Campbell (soupy) was a bit gut wrenching, it was the right move for a team committed to the youth movement. Moore is showing us that the Kings are doing a good job of evaluating prospects.
Loosing Jake Muzzin wasn't awesome, even if he was -30 (Not completely his fault). At the time, I was thinking that Sean Durzi might have been the gem in that transaction, but now, I'm forced to rethink my stance on that. On first glance, I liked Grundstrom, but he hardly gave the impression that he could ever be a top six forward. This is no longer true. We knew he was an intelligent player that didn't make big mistakes often. We knew he was strong and could play physically. What I didn't know was how much skill and speed he hides in his workman like approach to the game. Toronto fans are always ticked off at the Maple Leaf front office. If anyone in Toronto ever gets a clue, and figures out what is going on here in L.A., they are going to be even less happy. At some point Toronto is going to realize what we poached from them. Grundstrom can flat out play.
Then there is Anderson-Dolan. Despite seemingly being ignored by everyone in the media except me (haha, I'm not really part of the media), Anderson-Dolan has done nothing but produce wherever he has played. He routinely lit it up while playing for the Spokane Chiefs. However, at the beginning of the season, I honestly wasn't sure how much playing time he would get this year. It appears that this young man has developed into the engine that is making this line a nightmare matchup for other teams. Barring injury, he isn't coming out of this lineup, and if Lucky or Blakey let him escape via trade or free agency, it should cost them their jobs. AD flies around the ice, uses his body, creates opportunities for others, finishes, and is seemingly always in the right place. He is definitely a top six center; something, even as a fan of his, I never thought I'd say.
Few lines elicit the idea of "More than the sum of their parts" as much as this one does. Together, they are exciting, dynamic, and actually bring a genuine smile to my face, even when they aren't scoring. There are some really talented players in the Kings' organization sitting out right now, all of whom thought they might have a shot at the third or fourth line. Sorry boys, this team doesn't even have a third line anymore. It's more like line 1, 2A, and 2B. That puts a ton of extra pressure on other teams to try to match up. As people get healthy, the fourth line might just disappear in favor of the 2C line. What a difference a year makes.
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