NHL expansion and the "Forum Blue and Gold" years (1967–1975) was the second home of the Kings from 1967 to 1999. When the NHL decided to
expand for the 1967–68 season amid rumblings that the
Western Hockey League (WHL) was proposing to turn itself into a major league and compete for the
Stanley Cup, Canadian entrepreneur
Jack Kent Cooke paid the NHL $2 million to place one of the six expansion teams in Los Angeles. Following a fan contest to name the team, Cooke chose the name Kings because he wanted his club to take on "an air of royalty", and picked the original team colors of purple (or "Forum Blue", as it was later officially called) and gold because they were colors traditionally associated with royalty. This color scheme, first popularized by the
NCAA's
LSU Tigers and later on the
Minnesota Vikings of the
National Football League (NFL), was then adopted by the
Los Angeles Lakers of the
National Basketball Association (NBA), which Cooke also owned. Cooke wanted his new NHL team to play in the
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, home of the Lakers, but the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, which managed the Sports Arena (and still manages the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum today), had already entered into an agreement with the WHL's
Los Angeles Blades (whose owners had also tried to land the NHL expansion franchise in Los Angeles) to play their games at the Sports Arena. Frustrated by his dealings with the Coliseum Commission, Cooke said, "I am going to build my own arena. ... I've had enough of this balderdash." The "Fabulous Forum" finally opened its doors on December 30, 1967, with the Kings being shut out by the Flyers, 2–0. While the first two seasons had the Kings qualifying for the playoffs, afterwards poor management led the Kings into hard times. The general managers established a history of trading away first-round draft picks, usually for veteran players, and attendance suffered during this time. Eventually the Kings made a few key acquisitions to resurge as a contender. By acquiring
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Bob Pulford, who would later become the Kings' head coach, in 1970, Swedish center
Juha Widing in a trade from the New York Rangers, and
Montreal Canadiens goaltender
Rogie Vachon in 1971, the Kings went from being one of the worst defensive teams in the league to one of the best, and in 1974 they returned to the playoffs. Behind Dionne's offensive capabilities, the goaltending of Rogie Vachon, and the speed and scoring touch of forward
Butch Goring, the Kings played two of their best seasons yet, with playoff match ups against the then-
Atlanta Flames in the first round, and the
Boston Bruins in the second round, both times being eliminated by Boston. was paired with
Dave Taylor and
Charlie Simmer. The line, known as the Triple Crown Line, went on to be one of the highest-scoring line combinations in NHL history. Bob Pulford left the Kings after the
1976–77 season after constant feuding with then owner Jack Kent Cooke, and General Manager
Jake Milford decided to leave as well. This led to struggles in the
1977–78 season, where the Kings finished below .500 and were easily swept out of the first round by the Maple Leafs. Afterwards, Vachon became a free agent and sign with the Red Wings. The following season, Kings coach
Bob Berry tried juggling line combinations, and Dionne found himself on a new line with two young, mostly unknown players: second-year right winger
Dave Taylor and left winger
Charlie Simmer, who had been a career minor-leaguer. During the first three seasons of the Triple Crown Line, a period where Dr.
Jerry Buss purchased the Kings, the Lakers, and the Forum for $67.5 million, With two victories in Edmonton and one at the Forum – dubbed "
Miracle on Manchester", where the Kings managed to erase a 5–0 deficit in the third period and eventually win in
overtime – the Kings upset the vaunted Oilers, but they wound up eliminated by eventual finalists
Vancouver Canucks in five games. The 1982 off-season saw the moribund Rockies move to
East Rutherford, New Jersey. To keep the divisions geographically and numerically balanced, the renamed
New Jersey Devils were re-aligned to the Patrick Division while the
Winnipeg Jets took their place in the Smythe Division. It was immediately apparent that the Kings, now the lone American team in the division, would have a much more difficult time staying out of last place since Winnipeg, after struggling for their first two seasons after
moving over from the WHA, had already improved to a .500 record the previous season. Despite Dionne's leadership, the Kings missed the playoffs in the next two seasons. The Kings managed to record a winning record in
1984–85 under coach
Pat Quinn, although it was still only good enough for fourth place. This time, the Kings were quickly swept out of the playoffs by the Oilers on their way to capturing their second-straight Stanley Cup championship. and Dionne left the franchise in March in a trade to the
New York Rangers. Despite these shocks, a young squad that would lead the Kings into the next decade, including star forwards
Bernie Nicholls,
Jimmy Carson,
Luc Robitaille, and defenseman
Steve Duchesne,
The Gretzky era (1988–1995) outside Crypto.com Arena. Gretzky played with the Kings from 1988 to 1996. In 1987, coin collector
Bruce McNall purchased the Kings from Buss and turned the team into a Stanley Cup contender almost overnight. After changing the team colors to silver and black, Gretzky's arrival generated much excitement about hockey and the NHL in Southern California, and the ensuing popularity of the Kings is credited for the arrival of another team in the region (the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, renamed the
Anaheim Ducks in 2006), as well as the arrival of a new team in Northern California (the
San Jose Sharks) and the NHL's expanding or moving into other
Sun Belt cities such as
Dallas,
Phoenix (until 2024),
Tampa,
Miami,
Nashville, and
Las Vegas. In Gretzky's first season with the Kings, he led the team in scoring with 168 points on 54 goals and 114 assists and won his ninth
Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's
Most Valuable Player. The fourth overall Kings eliminated Gretzky's old team, the Oilers, in the first round of the 1989 playoffs before being swept out in the second round by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Flames. and he was replaced by
Tom Webster. The
next season, where Gretzky became the league's all-time leading scorer, was the inverse of its predecessor, with the Kings eliminating the defending champion Flames before falling to the eventual champion Oilers. but the heavily favored Kings lost a close series against Edmonton in the second round that saw four games go into overtime. After a third straight elimination by the Oilers in 1992, Webster was fired. General manager Rogie Vachon was moved to a different position in the organization and named
Nick Beverley as his successor, and Beverley hired
Barry Melrose, then with the
American Hockey League's
Adirondack Red Wings, as head coach. Melrose would help the Kings reach new heights in the
1992–93 season, even if Gretzky missed 39 games with a career-threatening herniated thoracic disk. Led by Luc Robitaille, who served as captain in Gretzky's absence, the Kings finished with a 39–35–10 record (88 points), clinching third place in the Smythe Division. Heavily contested series in the 1993 playoffs had the Kings eliminating the Flames, Canucks and Leafs en route to their first berth in the Stanley Cup Final. In the
1993 Stanley Cup Final, the Kings faced the
Montreal Canadiens. They won the first game 4–1, but late in game 2, with the Kings leading by a score of 2–1, Canadiens coach
Jacques Demers requested a measurement of Kings defenseman
Marty McSorley's stick blade. His suspicions proved to be correct, as the curve of blade was too great, and McSorley was penalized.
Bankruptcy, move to the Staples Center, and rebuild (1995–2009) The years after the 1993 playoff run were tough for the Kings, as a sluggish start in the
1993–94 season cost them a playoff berth, their first absence from the postseason since 1986. However, Gretzky provided a notable highlight during that year on March 23, 1994, when he scored his 802nd career goal to pass
Gordie Howe as the NHL's all-time leading goal-scorer. At the same time, McNall defaulted on a loan from
Bank of America, who threatened to force the Kings into bankruptcy unless he sold the team. After the federal government launched an investigation into his financial practices, McNall finally sold the club to IDB Communications founder Jeffrey Sudikoff and former
Madison Square Garden president Joseph Cohen. It later emerged that McNall's free-spending ways put the Kings in serious financial trouble; at one point, Cohen and Sudikoff were even unable to meet player payroll, and were ultimately forced into bankruptcy in 1995. They were forced to trade many of their stronger players, and the middling results led to Gretzky demanding a trade to a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. He would be dealt to the
St. Louis Blues in 1996. in 1995,
Mattias Norstrom was named as the team captain in 2001 and maintained the position until he was traded in 2007. On October 6, 1995, one day before the
1995–96 season opener, a bankruptcy court approved the purchase of the Kings by
Philip Anschutz and
Edward P. Roski for $113.5 million. The subsequent rebuild saw the Kings only return to the playoffs in
1998, led by captain Rob Blake and players like
Jozef Stumpel and
Glen Murray, where the highly skilled St. Louis Blues swept the team in four games. The Kings suffered through an injury-plagued season in
1998–99 as they finished last in the
Pacific Division and missed the playoffs with a 32–45–5 record, leading to the dismissal of head coach
Larry Robinson. The Kings, along with the Los Angeles Lakers, made an even bigger move in
1999, as they left
The Forum after 32 seasons and moved to the
Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, which was built by Anschutz and Roski. Staples Center was a state-of-the-art arena, complete with luxury suites and all modern amenities. With a new home, a new coach (
Andy Murray), a potential 50-goal scorer in the fold in
Zigmund Palffy, and players such as Blake, Robitaille, Murray, Stumpel,
Donald Audette,
Ian Laperrière, and
Mattias Norstrom, the Kings improved dramatically, finishing the season the 1999–2000 season with a 39–31–12–4 record (94 points), good for second place in the Pacific Division. While Audette would struggle under the Kings' system and was unhappy as the number two right wing, most of the new Kings like
Bryan Smolinski and Palffy would find success under Andy Murray. But in the 2000 playoffs, the Kings were once again dispatched in the first round, this time by the Detroit Red Wings in a four-game sweep. The
2000–01 season was controversial, as fans began to question AEG's commitment to the success of the Kings because they failed to significantly improve the team during the off-season. Adding fuel to the fire was the February 21, 2001, trade of star defenseman and fan favorite Rob Blake to the
Colorado Avalanche. Despite this, two players received in the deal, right wing
Adam Deadmarsh and defenseman
Aaron Miller, became impact players for the Kings, who finished the 2000–01 season with a 38–28–13–3 record (92 points), good for a third-place finish in the Pacific Division and another first-round playoff date with the Detroit Red Wings. The heavily favored Red Wings suffered an upset, losing in six games for the Kings' first playoff series win since 1993. The Kings started off the season with a sluggish October and November, and then found their game again to finish with 95 points. They in fact were tied in points with the second-place Phoenix Coyotes, and only finished third in the Pacific Division and seventh in the West due to a head-to-head record – the Coyotes won the season series, 3–0–2. In the playoffs they met the Colorado Avalanche once again, this time in the first round. The series would prove to be a carbon copy of their previous meeting, with the Kings behind three games to one and bouncing back to tie the series, only to be dominated in the seventh game and eliminated. The next seasons would be major disappointments as the Kings hit another major decline, missing the postseason up until the
2009–10 season. During those mediocre seasons, there would be a few bright spots in the form of draft picks that would attribute to future success for the team, beginning with the
2003 NHL entry draft. Players such as
Dustin Brown (2003),
Anze Kopitar,
Jonathan Quick (both 2005), and
Drew Doughty (2008) were drafted and would help the Kings reach the playoffs once again.
Return to the playoffs (2009–2011) (left) and
Drew Doughty (right) helped the team become playoff contenders in the early 2010s. During the 2009–10 season, the team had built a consistent roster with goaltender
Jonathan Quick, defenseman
Drew Doughty, and forwards
Dustin Brown,
Anze Kopitar and
Justin Williams. Finishing sixth overall in the West with 101 points, just the third 100-plus point season in franchise history, and establishing a franchise record with a nine-game unbeaten streak, the Kings returned to the playoffs, where they lost to a highly skilled third-seeded
Vancouver Canucks team in six games. The Kings entered the
2011 playoffs as the seventh seed in the West and played the second-seeded
San Jose Sharks in the first round. Despite Anze Kopitar's absence with injury, the Kings pushed the series to six games until an overtime goal by
Joe Thornton qualified the Sharks.
Stanley Cup championships (2011–2014) A bad start to the
2011–12 season resulted in coach
Terry Murray being fired, with
Darryl Sutter being chosen as his replacement. The Kings were much improved under Sutter, finishing with the eighth seed after trading for
Jeff Carter midseason and having finishing the season with a 40–27–15 record for 95 points. The Kings then headed into the
2012 playoffs against the back-to-back
Presidents' Trophy-winning
Vancouver Canucks. After playing two games in
Vancouver and one in Los Angeles, the Kings were up 3–0 in the series, a franchise first. By winning game 5 in Vancouver in overtime, the Kings advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time since the 2000–01 season, whereupon they swept the second-seeded St. Louis Blues, advancing to the conference finals for only the second time in franchise history. In doing so, the Kings also became the first NHL team to enter the playoffs as the eighth seed and eliminate the first- and second-seeded teams in the conference. They then defeated Phoenix in five games to reach the
Stanley Cup Final, culminating in an overtime goal by
Dustin Penner in game 5, and thus becoming the second team in NHL history to beat the top three Conference seeds in the playoffs (the Calgary Flames achieved the same feat in 2004, ironically also under Darryl Sutter) and the first eighth seed to accomplish the feat. Los Angeles faced the
New Jersey Devils in the Cup Final, defeating them in six games to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. With the game 6 victory occurring on home ice at Staples Center, the Kings became the first team since the
2007 Anaheim Ducks to win the Stanley Cup at home, as well as the second Californian NHL team to do so. The Kings became the first eight seed champion in any of the North American major leagues, the first Stanley Cup champion that finished below fifth in its conference, and the third to finish below second in its division (after the 1993 Canadiens and the 1995 Devils). with the
Stanley Cup during the Kings' victory parade, after defeating the
New Jersey Devils in the
2012 Stanley Cup Final Due to the
2012–13 NHL lockout, the
2012–13 NHL season began on January 19, 2013, and was shortened to 48 games. The Kings finished the season as the fifth seed in the West and began the defense of the Cup on the road against the St. Louis Blues, who they swept in the 2012 playoffs. After losing the first two games, the Kings won four in a row to eliminate the Blues in six games. In the second round, they then played a very tough San Jose Sharks team, this time with home-ice advantage. In the first game,
Jarret Stoll suffered an injury from the Sharks'
Raffi Torres, who ended up being suspended for the rest of the series. The Kings eventually won in seven games. In the conference finals, they faced the number one seed in the West and Presidents' Trophy winning-
Chicago Blackhawks. After dropping the first two games, the Kings won game 3 with Jeff Carter suffering an injury from Blackhawks defenseman
Duncan Keith, who was suspended for game 4 as a result. After losing game 4, the Kings battled the Blackhawks through two overtime periods in game 5, with
Patrick Kane eventually scoring the game-winning goal that won the game and the series, sending the Blackhawks to the
2013 Stanley Cup Final against the
Boston Bruins (whom they defeated in six games for their second Stanley Cup in four seasons) and ending the Kings' season. During the 2013–14 season, the Kings acquired
Marian Gaborik, and qualified for their fifth straight playoffs with the sixth-best result of the West. In the first round of the
2014 playoffs, the Kings played their in-state rivals, the San Jose Sharks. After losing the first three games to the Sharks, the Kings became the fourth team in NHL history to win the final four games in a row after initially being down three games to none, beating the Sharks in San Jose in the deciding game 7. In the second round, the Kings played another in-state rival, Anaheim. After starting the series with two wins, the Kings lost three-straight games, trailing the series three games to two. However, for the second time in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Kings were able to rally back after being down in the series and defeated the Ducks in Anaheim in game 7. In the third round, the Kings jumped out to a three-games-to-one lead against Stanley Cup-defending Chicago, but were unable to close out the series in the fifth and sixth games. On June 1, 2014, the Kings advanced to the
Stanley Cup Final for the second time in three years after winning game 7, 4–3, in overtime through a goal from
Alec Martinez, clinching their third Western Conference title in franchise history. The Kings became the first team in NHL history to win three game 7s en route to a Stanley Cup Final berth. Not only were the Kings the first team in history to accomplish this feat, but they also managed to win all game sevens on opposing ice. For the third time, the Kings were finalists after finishing third in their division and sixth or lower in their conference. The Kings won the Stanley Cup in five games, culminating with an
Alec Martinez goal in the second overtime of game 5 at
Staples Center. The championship run had a record-tying 26 playoff games (the 1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers and 2003–04 Calgary Flames being the others), with the Kings facing elimination a record seven times. With their game 7 victory in the conference finals and wins in the first two games of the Cup Final, they became the first team to win three consecutive playoff games after trailing by more than one goal in each game.
Justin Williams, who scored twice in the Cup Final and had points in all three game 7s throughout the playoffs, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Post-Stanley Cup titles and continued contention (2014–2021) Having won two Stanley Cup championships in the last three years, the Kings entered the
2014–15 season as the early favorites to retain their title. However, the Kings struggled often, with scoring slumps, defensemen losing games to injury and suspensions and frequent road losses. A defeat to the
Calgary Flames in the penultimate game of the season eliminated the Kings from playoff contention, while qualifying Calgary, which coincidentally missed the postseason during the Kings' five-season playoff streak. Despite finishing with a record of 40–27–15, the Kings became the first defending Stanley Cup champion to miss the postseason since the
2006–07 Carolina Hurricanes and only the fourth overall since the 1967 NHL expansion season. between the Kings and the
San Jose Sharks, during game 5 of the first round in the
2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. At the start of the 2015–16 season, the Kings were expected to make the playoffs. They entered the playoffs as the fifth seed in their conference and second seed in their division. They faced the
San Jose Sharks, but lost to them in five games. On June 16, 2016, the Kings named Anze Kopitar the 14th captain in team history, replacing Dustin Brown, who had led the team for the past eight seasons. The Kings celebrated their 50th anniversary during the 2016–17 season along with the other still active 1967 expansion teams (the St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins), and for the first time since 2002, they hosted the
NHL All-Star Game; Jeff Carter and Drew Doughty would represent the Kings at the All-Star Game, with the former leading the team in scoring this season. Goaltender Jonathan Quick suffered an injury on opening night that sidelined him for most of the season, and the Kings struggled without him. Backup
Peter Budaj filled the void, earning his first starting duties since his time with the Colorado Avalanche six years earlier, but near the trade deadline, the Kings traded him to Tampa Bay for another goaltender,
Ben Bishop who shared the crease with Jonathan Quick down the stretch, the superstar having returned from his injury. Despite the trade, the Kings ultimately missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons and, in the off-season, fired general manager Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter. Assistant general manager Rob Blake was promoted to be the new general manager and John Stevens took over as head coach after serving as associate head coach for the Kings for several seasons. In the
2017 NHL expansion draft, the
Vegas Golden Knights drafted defenseman
Brayden McNabb, who had been left unprotected by the Kings. In the
next season, the Kings clinched the 2018 playoffs as a wild card, but were swept by the expansion Golden Knights. On November 4, 2018, the Kings fired Stevens as head coach after the team started the
2018–19 season 4–8–1, and replaced him with
Willie Desjardins. In Desjardins' debut on November 7, the Kings defeated the Ducks 4–1. The Kings finished the 2018–19 season in last place in both the Pacific Division and Western Conference with 71 points and they missed the playoffs for the third time in five seasons. The Kings hired
Todd McLellan as their next head coach on April 16, 2019. The 2019–20 season was highlighted by several rebuilding moves, as players such as
Trevor Lewis,
Jack Campbell,
Kyle Clifford,
Derek Forbort and
Alec Martinez would all depart the team, through trades or via free agency. The team notably won the
2020 Stadium Series in a 3–1 win over the Colorado Avalanche, which saw
Tyler Toffoli score the league's first hat trick in an outdoor regular season game; Toffoli was traded to the Vancouver Canucks two days after the feat. In their later portion of the season, the Kings called up several prospects including
Mikey Anderson,
Gabriel Vilardi and
Cal Petersen, as the team went on a seven-game win streak, showcasing their deep and talented prospect pool. However, this win streak would mark the end of their season; the NHL would pause its season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and as part of their plan to return to play, the regular season was officially ended, and the Kings were one of seven teams left out of the playoffs. They were automatically entered into the first phase of the 2020
NHL draft lottery, in which the Kings received the second overall pick. In the
2020–21 season, the Kings had another rebuilding year as they traded
Jeff Carter, extended
Alex Iafallo and saw debuts of prospects such as
Jaret Anderson-Dolan,
Arthur Kaliyev,
Tobias Bjornfot,
Rasmus Kupari and
Quinton Byfield. A bright spot saw Anze Kopitar score his 1,000th point near season's end. They finished sixth in the
West Division and missed the playoffs again. During the
2021 NHL expansion draft, the
Seattle Kraken selected
Kurtis MacDermid from the Kings, who was left unprotected.
Return to playoffs and first round struggles (2021–present) In the lead-up to the
2021–22 season, the Kings acquired forwards
Phillip Danault and
Viktor Arvidsson during the off-season. They also signed defenseman
Alexander Edler in an effort to bolster their blue line presence. The Kings qualified for the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, despite losing Drew Doughty to injury. This season would also prove to be Dustin Brown's last, as the forward announced on April 28, 2022, that he would retire following the
2022 playoffs. They were defeated by the
Edmonton Oilers in seven games in the first round. During the 2022 off-season, the Kings acquired
Kevin Fiala from the Minnesota Wild to replace Brown on the first line. The
2022–23 season would start off well, as Fiala would lead the team in points for much of the season and be elected to the
2023 All-Star Game. Clinching the
2023 playoffs, the Kings once again faced the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, this time losing in six games. The Kings made a blockbuster move in the 2023 off-season, trading forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari to the
Winnipeg Jets in exchange for forward
Pierre-Luc Dubois, who signed an eight-year, $68 million contract upon being traded. The
2023–24 season got off to a strong start, as the team began the season with an 11–0–0 record on the road, breaking the NHL record (previously held by the
Buffalo Sabres) for the longest unbeaten road streak to start the year. Goaltender
Cam Talbot's resurgent play led to him being named to the 2024 NHL All-Star weekend. However, in January 2024, the Kings' season collapsed; despite making no major lineup or personnel changes, the Kings suddenly won just three of their final 17 games before the All-Star break. On February 2, the Kings fired head coach McLellan, with assistant
Jim Hiller named interim head coach. Under Hiller, the Kings regained their footing but never fully returned to their stronger form from earlier in the season. They finished third in the Pacific Division and clinched the
2024 playoffs, where they would be eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers for the third year in a row, this time in five games. Hiller was subsequently promoted to full-time head coach following the season. Much discussion during and after the Kings' season centered around Pierre-Luc Dubois, as his season in Los Angeles was largely underwhelming. Dubois only managed 16 goals and 40 points, and finished with a plus-minus rating of –9, despite the heavy expectations that came with his new deal. His first season with the Kings would be his only one, as he would be traded to the
Washington Capitals in exchange for goaltender
Darcy Kuemper, who had previously spent time with the Kings. The
2024–25 season started off well, and the Kings continued to be at a strong run of form after the
4 Nations Face-Off break which saw them finish second in the Pacific Division to clinch the
2025 playoffs. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper's resurgent play saw him named a Vezina Trophy finalist at the end of the season. In the playoffs they would meet their rival Oilers for the fourth consecutive year; this time, the Kings initially took a 2–0 series lead, but in Game 3, with the Kings holding a 4–3 lead in the third period,
Evander Kane scored the tying goal, and Jim Hiller controversially challenged the goal for goaltender interference. The unsuccessful challenge resulted in the Oilers scoring the game winning goal on the power play. The challenge proved to be the turning point of the series, as the Kings would end up losing the next four games and being eliminated by Edmonton in the first round for the fourth time in a row. Following the season, the Kings announced that vice-president and general manager Rob Blake's contract would not be renewed, the Kings subsequently hired former Oilers general manager
Ken Holland as his replacement. On September 18, 2025, captain
Anže Kopitar, widely considered to be one of the greatest players to ever suit up for the Kings, announced that the 2025–26 season, his 20th in the NHL, would be his last. On March 1, 2026, with the team sitting at 24–21–14 overall and 2–5–1 in their past eight games, head coach Hiller was fired by the Kings, with
D. J. Smith named his interim replacement. On April 2nd, 2026, the Kings would break the record for the most overtime/shootout losses in
NHL history with 19 after a 5-4 shootout loss to the
Nashville Predators. ==Team identity==