The Kings made the playoffs after signing Phil Danault last summer, then followed it up with another strong season, and went out on a whimper in the postseason due to their lack of depth and pathetic special teams.
You don't think what they've added is going to help them address your third point of winning in the playoffs? What is it that they are trying to accomplish now by adding another top line center?
I guess improving year on year isn't upwards trajectory in some jaded eyes. Playing important games must be detrimental to young players.
They have only "improved" once in the last 6 seasons. Last year saw no upper movement, the results were the exact same but with the so-called improvements of Fiala, Gavrikov and Korpisalo - which only goes to help the theory that the roster isn't the biggest problem here.
What "improvements" have been made this off-season? A net loss of goals, a loss of depth, worse goaltending (on paper) than what they ended the season with, and a stretched out cap that will prevent them from moving forwards.
Honestly, do you think Dubois is going to make that big of a difference? He is a career middle ground scorer with long lapses in top effort.
I do think he will mesh well with Fiala, but Fiala is a bit of a paper tiger whom the Kings had a better record and played better hockey without last year.
The Kings are paying extended, high-dollar contracts to players that have never been top level performers or trusted to be first liners on their previous squads. There is an awful lot of hope there, which very well could pan out. They are over-stuffing the middle of their roster while their top players are no longer significant forces in their positions. Its not a recipe for success.
Not to mention forcing a 21-man roster to be cap compliant. Get a couple guys hurt but not qualified for LTIR, and you will have shorter benches.
Looking forward to those 19 man benches with players in their mid 30s playing bigger minutes, because it's not like Kopitar and Doughty weren't completely gassed in the FIRST ROUND last year.