In 2014, the Kings won their second Stanley Cup in three seasons, and were supplanting the Chicago Blackhawks as the NHL's dominant team.
Since then, they have made the playoffs once, where they were eliminated in the first round, and are currently fifth in the Pacific Division, with a precarious grip on the West's last wild-card spot.
Despite this bleak description, a deeper dive into the numbers reveals that Los Angeles could come on strong in 2017, as suggested by its 9-4-1 record since Nov. 15.
In particular, there are five reasons to not write off the Kings.