If the playoffs were to start today, the Los Angeles Kings would face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round for the fourth year in a row.
The Kings took the Oilers to a Game 7 in 2022 but were shutout 2-0 in that final contest.
In the two years that followed, LA won one-less game each consecutive meeting, 4-2 in 2023 and 4-1 in 2024. If that trend were to continue, Edmonton would sweep the 2025 series.
Beyond geographical adversaries (like the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks), you’ll often hear how rivalries are established in the playoffs. In that regard, the Kings’ biggest rival has been the Oilers who they’ve faced ten times in the postseason – the most of any opponent – Edmonton leading the all-time series 8-2. Over those ten series matchups, the Oilers have won 66.66% of the fifty-four games played (36-18).
LA’s two defeats over Edmonton came in 1982 and 1989, both in the first round of the playoffs.
The Kings and Oilers will forever be linked to one another via the Wayne Gretzky trade which changed the face of hockey in Los Angeles.
In his tenure with the Oilers, Gretzky faced the Kings three times in the playoffs with a 2-1 series record. After the trade to LA, Gretzky faced the Oilers four times (in the playoffs) with a 1-3 series record.
During Gretzky’s era in the black and silver, Marty McSorley, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, and Grant Fuhr were brought in to recreate the success they found in Edmonton. Later, Matt Greene, Jarret Stoll, Dustin Penner, and Ryan Smyth made their way to LA, three aiding in the franchise’s first Stanley Cup victory. This past offseason, Viktor Arvidsson and Warren Foegele swapped cities, the former to Edmonton and the latter to LA.
From May 19th, 2015 to February 2nd, 2024, recently named Head Coach of the Detroit Red Wings Todd McLellan, manned the bench for both the Oilers and the Kings. With Edmonton, McLellan was able to defeat San Jose (who he coached from 2008 to 2015) in a playoff matchup, a narrative he was unable to retell in LA, losing to the Oilers in both the 2022 and 2023 NHL playoffs.
Presently, the Kings are without one of their star players, Defenseman Drew Doughty. In his absence, the team has rallied around the likes of Mikey Anderson, Joel Edmundson, and Vladislav Gavrikov who have more than held down the fort. What was once a tragedy turned out to be a blessing in disguise, everyone elevating their game in preparation for bigger challenges ahead.
Oxford Languages describes the word “history” as: the study of past events, particularly in human affairs. For the Kings, the keyword to focus on in that description is “past.” What’s done is done.
The funny thing about history is that it’s always being written. LA’s fate is not sealed. They can either add another chapter to the ongoing saga or rewrite the book entirely.
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