In his preseason meeting with reporters back in September, Kings president Luc Robitaille said his club was "in that bucket of 8-10 teams" with reasonable Stanley Cup aspirations.

The franchise icon's assessment was totally fair. The Kings weren't necessarily the preseason favorites to come out of the Pacific Division, let alone the Western Conference. Yet finishing atop the Pacific, winning playoff series, and - gulp - appearing in the Cup Final wasn't a deranged idea either.

It's now late December and no team has impressed quite like Los Angeles.

It probably doesn't seem that way on the surface, seeing as the Kings rank eighth in points, fifth in points percentage, and don't have a single player in the top 40 in scoring or in the conversation for an end-of-year award. But in my view, this L.A. team has asserted itself as a true alpha dog in the West.

Under fifth-year coach Todd McLellan, the 2023-24 Kings have allowed the fewest goals per game. They've smothered attackers, allowing the fewest expected goals, shots on goal, and slot shots, according to Sportlogiq. They've allowed the second-fewest inner-slot shots and third-fewest shot attempts. They've ground the opposition down, ranking third in penalty-kill percentage and fourth in offensive-zone puck possession suppression.

The Kings have also been pretty deadly with the puck. They generate the sixth-most goals per game by attacking in waves - early and often. They have the best one-through-four center depth, are a league-high plus-15 in the first period, and own a league-average power play. The only significant negative storyline has been center Pierre-Luc Dubois' surprising lack of production.

It'd be a stretch to label these Kings a "sleeping giant," considering their 18-7-4 record, which includes a stunning 13-1-1 road mark. However, they may be better than we thought - an undercover juggernaut playing a well-balanced brand of hockey that usually translates to series wins come playoff time.

Watch out.

Matthews versus (young) Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin, the greatest goal-scoring artist of all time, ceded the title as greatest goal-scorer of the moment to Auston Matthews a few years ago. There was obviously no ceremony, but he definitely passed the imagined torch. Everybody, even the legendarily durable Ovechkin, becomes the old guy at some point.

The contrast between the snipers is as stark as ever in 2023-24.

Matthews, 26, leads the NHL with 26 goals in 29 games, including a mind-bending 12 in his last eight outings. He's on pace for a career-high 72 goals.

Ovechkin, 38, is tied for 182nd with six goals in 30 games, including just one in his last 15 outings. He's on pace for a career-low 16 goals.

Matthews is no longer the young whippersnapper. He hit 500 career games in late November. That milestone had me wondering about Matthews' trajectory and how his numbers stack up against those of early-career Ovechkin.

Here's the high-level breakdown:

It's important to note that the NHL product was in a different place when Ovechkin was in the early stages of his career. On the whole, Matthews has competed in a more offense-friendly environment to start his career. (Case in point, the average NHL game during Ovechkin's fourth season featured 5.58 goals, while the average game during Matthews' fourth season featured 6.04.)

Caveat out of the way, it's amazing to see Matthews outpacing young Ovi in goals - albeit by a small margin. The American's been more productive than the Russian away from the power play, too, having recorded 242 of his 325 total goals in even-strength action. (Young Ovi scored 208 of 313 at evens.)

Shot profiles are another layer. Young Ovi both racked up shots on goal at an insane rate (more than five per game!) and capitalized on a high percentage of his shots. Matthews, an extremely versatile attacker, also shoots the puck a ton but is relatively selective and better at keeping goalies guessing.

Matthews' scoring rate through 510 games is frankly astonishing. To repeat: He's outpacing young Ovi, who's now chasing Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. Injuries may end up being Matthews' archnemesis since he's in his eighth season now, and Ovechkin hit 510 games in his seventh. Good health is a chief reason why Ovechkin's accumulated 827 goals and counting.

Duchene flourishing in Texas

Apologies to fans of Ryan O'Reilly, J.T. Compher, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Cam Talbot, but Matt Duchene's been the biggest success story from the 2023 class of unrestricted free agents. The crafty center is killing it for the Stars.

In case you forgot, the Predators bought out the last three years of Duchene's seven-year, $56-million contract on June 30. A day later, Duchene - who turns 33 in January - inked a one-year, $3-million deal with Dallas, his fifth team.

Two months on, Duchene is third in team scoring with 29 points in 30 games. Those aren't empty-calorie points, either. Six of Duchene's 11 goals count as game-winners. This week alone, he's assisted on an overtime goal (Monday versus the Kraken) and scored an OT goal (Thursday versus the Canucks).

It's been an odd 31 games for Dallas. They're tied with the Avalanche for the Central Division lead despite underwhelming performances from goalie Jake Oettinger and top defenseman Miro Heiskanen. In general, the lack of blue-line depth is a huge issue for a team built to contend for the Cup this season.

Duchene's presence has offset some of the messiness. He's changed the complexion of the forward group by driving the second line with Mason Marchment and Tyler Seguin. Together, they've outchanced the other team 155-118 and outscored them 21-11, according to Natural Stat Trick. The only line in the league credited with more goals? Pittsburgh's trio of Sidney Crosby between Jake Guentzel and Bryant Rust (23 goals in similar minutes).

Dallas' Jason Robertson-Roope Hintz-Joe Pavelski line has been one of hockey's best for years. Jamie Benn-Wyatt Johnston-Evgenii Dadonov can be super effective. This Duchene-led group adds another headache for the opposition.

Parting shots

Nolan Patrick: Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman quashed social media rumors Wednesday by reporting Patrick has not officially retired. Yet, Patrick's career arc won't be any less sad if he files retirement papers in a few days, months, or even years. Patrick, the second overall pick in 2017, has appeared in only 222 total games for the Flyers and Golden Knights because of health issues, including migraines. The 25-year-old missed all of last season and remains a free agent 30 games into this one. (He also sat out the entire 2019-20 season.) There's an alternative universe where he's healthy, reaches his potential as a two-way center, never gets traded to Vegas via Nashville on the same day in 2021, and is a key member of a Flyers team on the rise. It's truly unfortunate.

Three-goalie life: I can't recall a time when so many NHL teams consistently carried three healthy goalies on the 23-man roster. At the holiday roster freeze, the tally is six, which is roughly one-fifth of the league. For the vast majority of the season, the trend has been pushed by four squads: the Canadiens, Sabres, Hurricanes, and Red Wings. "There's some challenges there," Wings coach Derek Lalonde said earlier this month when asked about the pros and cons of carrying three guys. "I think it takes the right individuals."

Unlike the other squads, Montreal is rebuilding. Coach Martin St. Louis is in a position where he can experiment with varying workloads and hopefully find a goalie (or goalies) of the future, and if they lose games along the way, so be it. Ironically, the Habs have the highest save percentage of the bunch, with their netminders - Sam Montembeault (14 starts), Jake Allen (12), and Cayden Primeau (6) - combining for a .902 team SV%, good for 13th out of 32 teams. Meanwhile, the Wings are 17th, the Sabres 28th, and the Canes 31st.

Relaxed Gretzky: Man, it's been super neat having the Great One back in our lives. It was one thing for him to join the "NHL on TNT" panel in 2021. It was another thing for him to actually take his job as an analyst seriously. And now, two-plus years into the gig, it's obvious Gretzky is fully embracing life in the public eye again. The man who's had a one-of-a-kind existence is opening up the story vault. Recently, he spun a great yarn on TNT about the last time he visited the Hockey Hall of Fame and nailed an appearance on comedian Theo Von's popular podcast. Gretzky, 62, told tale after tale for almost an hour straight. I found this Hulk Hogan story charming:

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

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