MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
The Kings already knew Anze Kopitar was valuable, but they had it confirmed when Kopitar suffered a season-ending ankle injury on March 26. Without Kopitar, the Kings went 3-4-0 in their final seven regular-season games, then lost in six games to San Jose in the first round of the playoffs. Kopitar was the Kings' leading scorer and arguably their top all-around defensive player, who who contributed hugely on both the power play and penalty kill.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER
Expectations were high at the end of the 2009-10 season, when Wayne Simmonds finished with 16 goals and 40 points and was one of the Kings' top defensive forwards? Where was Simmonds' ceiling? Could he score 20 goals? Maybe even 25? Instead, Simmonds regressed to 14 goals and 30 points and, perhaps more troubling to the Kings, Simmonds did not always show the same intensity in terms of forechecking and being an effective hitter and irritant at both ends of the ice.

BIGGEST NEEDS
The Kings' need is the same as it was 12 months ago.

They need at least one top-six winger. They hoped Dustin Penner, acquired at the Feb. 28 trade deadline, would fill that role, but Penner did very little in the final month of the regular season and in the playoffs and, by the end of the series, had been demoted to the fourth line. The Kings will take long looks at talented forwards on the free-agent and trade markets.

FREE AGENT FOCUS
Michal Handzus, Peter Harrold and Alexei Ponikarovsky are the Kings' three unrestricted free agents, and Handzus is the only one with better than a 50-50 chance of returning, and that assumes he is willing to take a pay cut. The Kings' major work this summer will be in locking up a group of talented restricted free agents, a list topped by Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds but one that also includes contributors such as Trevor Lewis, Alec Martinez, Oscar Moller and Brad Richardson. The Kings must also decide whether to keep untested restricted free agents such as Marc-Andre Cliche, Rich Clune, Corey Elkins, Bud Holloway and Jeff Zatkoff in the fold.

PLAYER NOTES

--C Anze Kopitar has a long summer ahead of him. Kopitar's season ended on March 26, when he suffered a broken ankle in a game against Colorado. Kopitar underwent surgery shortly thereafter and has replaced a hard cast with a soft walking boot on his foot and lower leg, and the hope is that he will be able to return to the ice sometime in the middle of the summer and be ready to play at the start of training camp in mid-September. The Kings will be keeping a close eye on Kopitar, who is their top scorer (a team-high 73 points in 75 games last season) as well as, arguably, their top defensive player.

--G Jonathan Bernier didn't appear in an NHL playoff game but got a taste of tournament action in May when he played for Team Canada for the IIHF World Championships in Slovakia. Bernier joined the team after the Kings were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and ultimately replaced James Reimer as Canada's goalie. Bernier appeared in three games for Canada and stopped 66 of 72 shots. He won his first two games but was in goal when Canada was eliminated from the tournament in a 2-1 quarterfinal loss to Russia. Bernier won a gold medal with Canada at the 2008 World Junior Championships.

--RW Justin Williams is apparently making solid progress in his recovery from shoulder surgery. Williams suffered a dislocated shoulder on March 21 and returned for the start of the playoffs even though the shoulder would likely require offseason surgery. After the Kings were eliminated, Williams elected to have the surgery, which will keep him off the ice for a portion of the summer but isn't expected to impact his availability for the start of training camp. Williams finished the season tied for second on the Kings with 57 points, in 73 games.

MEDICAL WATCH

--C Anze Kopitar (right ankle) is recovering from surgery and is expected to be ready for the start of training camp.

--RW Justin Williams (shoulder surgery) underwent the procedure after the season and should be ready for training camp.

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