When the Los Angeles Kings played on Wednesday, they were without four of their regular forwards. That was fitting given the year they’ve had. Every time they appear to turn a corner, seemingly ready to put a lengthy winning period together, there has been a setback.

Most of those setbacks have been self-inflicted because of uneven play. This one has been injury-related, as it forced them to dip into their American Hockey League team for reinforcements. Embattled-yet-resolute coach Jim Hiller has remained dogged in his belief that his team is capable of a second-half surge. There have been many obstacles, most of which they’ve put up themselves.

“The only thing that I believe is we’re in a better frame of mind right now than we have been all season,” Hiller said this week. “We’ve faced a number of hurdles apart because we just haven’t been able to get it done. This is a different one, but I just have this feeling. You never know if you’re just going to win or lose, but you have the feeling that we’re ready to fight together.”

The Kings are still in the playoff picture and the Pacific Division race, even with a season that screams mediocrity. Now they are without Anže Kopitar, Corey Perry, Joel Armia and Trevor Moore.

Let’s look at what has gotten the Kings to this midseason inflection point, and where they can go from here.

The good

Clarke is growing into a front-line defender

Is it time for Drew Doughty to move aside as the Kings’ No. 1 defenseman? Brandt Clarke is presenting an argument. The question about Clarke has always been whether he can defend at an NHL level to complement his gifted offensive instincts. If anything, the 22-year-old has swung decidedly in the other direction. He is a good defender, almost to the point that the Kings don’t take full advantage of his offensive acumen. The proof is unassailable.

Clarke’s advanced metrics are outstanding. Entering Friday, per Natural Stat Trick, he was on the ice for a team-leading 30 goals in five-on-five play and had a 62.50 GF percentage to lead the defense. A 56.37 Corsi-for rating shows he’s an excellent play driver. He’s benefitted from good goaltending, but a strong 2.28 expected goals against per 60 five-on-five minutes shows he is also doing his part. Now he is starting to hop over the boards first when the Kings go on the power play. The future is bright for someone the Kings desperately needed to step up.

Kuemper shows last season was no fluke

The trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois won’t be fondly remembered, but some good came out of it. Darcy Kuemper’s second turn in Los Angeles – this time as the Kings’ No. 1 goalie – has provided more than they could have hoped. After a season in which he was a deserving Vezina Trophy finalist, Kuemper has kept up a high level of play.

Kuemper is the chief reason L.A. has stayed in the playoff picture despite erratic play. The 35-year-old hasn’t been at the same Vezina level, but he’s making 7.3 saves above expected, even after being pulled from Friday’s loss in Winnipeg. He also sits just outside the top 10 in goals-against average and save percentage among goalies with at least 18 games. In a year when few Kings have excelled, Kuemper is doing so.

Armia, Perry have been good additions

General manager Ken Holland took a beating after his moves to reshape the Kings in his first offseason. Some of them still haven’t aged well, but his signings of Perry and Armia have paid off positively. While both are out, as Perry tends to a family member back home in London, Ontario and Armia deals with an upper-body injury, they’ve been able to play up the lineup at different times. Perry, 40, remains a factor at the net and still has great hands, as evidenced by his nine goals and 21 points.

Armia, 32, has been better in a well-rounded sense. Long an effective penalty-killer, the Finnish winger has been a force when the Kings are short-handed, as he has an NHL-best four tallies.

“We didn’t maybe know that he was going to be this dangerous short-handed,” Hiller said, adding that Armia has brought value in even-strength and power-play situations. “Smart player, strong player, trusted player.”

Laferriere responds well after rough start

Looking like a mixture of Dustin Brown and Justin Williams when he’s at his best, Alex Laferriere has been one of the Kings’ best forwards for several weeks now. The season didn’t begin that way. He didn’t score a point in his first six games while being a minus-5. He was dropped to the fourth line for a brief spell. Little seemed to go right when he was on the ice.

Perhaps there was some pressure after signing a new contract that moved him into the $4 million AAV bracket. Or maybe it was the initial lineup demotion. Either way, Laferriere has returned to the max-effort, north-and-south presence with offensive touch that made for his breakout 2024-25 season. He got his first career hat trick on Dec. 27 against the Anaheim Ducks and is third on the Kings in goals and tied for fourth in points. Moreover, Laferriere has provided versatility in giving L.A. some key minutes at center out of necessity.

The bad

Byfield hasn’t ascended to stardom

With the combination of great skating and a 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame, Quinton Byfield also has enough skill to occasionally make plays that will bring fans out of their seats. Given his offensive talent, he should be the kind of leading performer the Kings need. However, the 23-year-old still runs into deep goal-scoring droughts, and his overall play has been more pedestrian than powerful.

Byfield is producing at a 47-point pace, which is a big disappointment. The hope was that he could build on seasons of 55 and 54 points. With a goal Friday, he does have three goals and six points in his last seven games but this surge comes after a 10-game pointless streak and a 17-game goalless stretch. That’s not good enough for someone who is the Kings’ top forward as far as ice time.

Kopitar’s age is noticeably impacting his play

In the end, Father Time always wins. High-quality play and amazing consistency have helped define Kopitar in his 20 seasons. They’re what will make for an eventual enshrinement in the Hockey Hall of Fame and the retiring of his No. 11 jersey. This final season, though, in which he’s missed time twice, has looked more like a franchise legend knowing he’s near the end.

Kopitar is still a stellar defensive presence. Although his 2.52 expected goals against per 60 minutes isn’t the team’s best, his 1.22 actual GA/60 is near the top of the league among everyday players. He’s still a faceoff monster who takes the critical draws. The offensive side of his game is on a noticeable downslide, though. He likely won’t come close to 20 goals after three straight years and 14 times total. He may not put 100 shots on net for the second straight season, and his impact on the power play is diminishing.

The Kings expected more from Adrian Kempe this season. (Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)

All-around play from top scorers is lacking

Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe are one-two on the team in goals. That’s hardly surprising, since the two scored 35 goals each last season to pace the club. They’re not quite at a similar pace, but 30 goals remain very possible for both. As two of the highest-paid forwards on the team, the offense they have brought is at — or slightly below — what the Kings expect.

Fiala has never been known for outstanding two-way play, but he has been consistent with his production, never more than two games without a point, and has been connecting with recent linemates Alex Turcotte and Andrei Kuzmenko. More perplexing is Kempe, who got the eight-year, $85-million max-term extension he sought. He’s become a terrific defensive forward over time as well, but has been guilty of more lapses and bad penalties this season.

The ugly

Lack of consistent secondary scoring

The Kings are one of four teams with three or fewer players scoring at least 10 goals. That will change when Armia, Perry and Kuzmenko each score their next goals, with Kuzmenko’s recent hot streak providing an added boost. Six of his nine goals have come in the last 13 games. Meanwhile, third-line staples Warren Foegele and Moore have just 11 goals between them after accounting for 42 last season. It isn’t good for a team that requires production throughout the lineup.

Also, Phillip Danault had zero goals before being shipped out just ahead of the holiday trade freeze. You wonder if Moore may be headed in the same direction now that the Fiala-Turcotte-Kuzmenko line has come to life. He hasn’t played since Dec. 29. The Kings first classified the 30-year-old SoCal native as dealing with illness, then said he was day to day with an upper-body injury and have now put him on injured reserve. Sidelined players typically don’t move, but Moore doesn’t have a no-trade clause.

Brian Dumoulin, Cody Ceci haven’t been good additions

Take a deep breath, Kings faithful, before reading. Let’s start this by saying that the two free agent signings, who were attention-grabbing in the worst way, haven’t been outright nightmarish. Have they been surprisingly good in a Joel Edmundson kind of way? No. But the Kings still drive play when Dumoulin and Ceci are on the ice in five-on-five play — admittedly to a lesser extent than other defensemen. They also win their minutes with both … OK, well, just with Dumoulin.

The fault lies more in the philosophy of adding both. Holland traded Jordan Spence and responded to losing Vladislav Gavrikov in free agency by tripling down on the same kind of player as Edmundson. For the lack of size Spence has, he gave the Kings another puck-moving option from the back end. Clarke is now their only blue-line offensive threat, since Doughty’s puck-handling skills are eroding. Holland not only gave Dumoulin a three-year contract but also dished out four years to Ceci.

Lack of faith in their younger players

Hiller’s coaching has been under great scrutiny, especially since losing the Edmonton Oilers playoff series last May. He drew heavy criticism for his lack of trust in Clarke, Turcotte and Spence in terms of ice time.

Clarke deserves more minutes, and it’s very slowly starting to come, even after Doughty returned from his foot fracture. Turcotte wins faceoffs and is starting to collect points. Once used for less than 10 minutes per game regularly, he’s taken over Danault’s 3C spot, and he logged a season-high 17 minutes, 22 seconds, on Wednesday. Bumping up Turcotte opened the door for Samuel Helenius at 4C. Hiller played him only 1:10 and 3:03 in consecutive games on Dec. 22-23, but has given him 10 or more shifts in five of the last seven games.