NHL 2012 Stanley Cup: Why the Kings and Flyers Are a Possible Matchup

Two of the most talked about teams in the NHL over the past three years, and maybe even two of the more overrated teams, but is this the year that the Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings actually represent their conferences next June?

I do not want to make it sound like I am overzealous with the whole spectacle of the Flyers' decisions that resulted in blockbuster trades and signings that were made by the teams on Thursday, however, I do believe that several team weaknesses were addressed through them.

The difference between the Flyers and rebuilding teams such as the Oilers, Islanders,  and Avalanche, is that Philly already has its foundation. In other words, despite trading away two franchise centers, Paul Holmgren did not exactly blow this team up.

Philadelphia still has elite veteran leadership and high calibre talent in Chris Pronger, Daniel Briere, Kimo Timonen and Scott Hartnell. They also have young but highly experienced players in Ville Leino, Braydon Coburn, Claude Giroux, Kris Versteeg, Andrej Meszaros, Matt Carle, and even newly acquired Wayne Simmonds, who have all had significant playoff exposure.

Therefore, the Flyers already have a head start.

Most rebuilding teams start from scratch and acquire some of the missing leadership and experience during their young talent development, so it usually takes a few years for them to have a complete package to become a contender.

The Flyers are even more of a contender now, after signing one of the top five goalies in the league, Ilya Bryzgalov. Goaltending was clearly the biggest, and perhaps the only weakness of Philly in the 2011 postseason, but now, the void has been filled.

Giving up Mike Richards and Jeff Carter will definitely cause the Flyers to take a hit in the goal scoring department, but they are still a deadly offensive team with toughness from top to bottom. By all means, they will still be among the best teams in the East, and should have a good shot at winning the conference if they select the right captain, play appropriate styles, and are influenced by the right motives.

The Los Angeles Kings on the other hand, should continue to get better year by year, and have accelerated their development process with the acquisition of Mike Richards.

The fact that several sports books had them favored to win the division last season says a lot about the direction in which this team was already heading even before acquiring Richards.

Not only does this team now have more offensive depth when healthy, they also have a strong group of skilled forwards who are also responsible defensively, and also possess elements of physicality and toughness.

Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, Dustin Brown, Justin Williams, Dustin Penner, Michal Handzus, Alex Ponikarovsky and Jarret Stoll, form a core offensive package composed of size, talent, toughness and experience, similar to that of the Boston Bruins main offensive units. Support players such as Kyle Clifford and Bran Richardson have demonstrated that they can be effective role players in the playoffs as well.

On defense, the Kings continue to solidify by season. Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson, talented and significant as they already are, will continue to improve even more, while veteran defensemen such as Matt Greene, Rob Scuderi and Willie Mitchell will bring a presence of playoff experience and leadership if they continue to remain with the team next June. Alec Martinez will also continue to develop into a good player, and has the right mentors on his side.

Jonathan Quick has proven that he can perform in high pressure situations, and it helps that he now has a few rounds of playoff experience.

Truly, despite these two teams being among the deepest overall in the league next season, there will be several possible contenders as usual. By no means were the trades this week the only factor in why I believe that this could be a possible Stanley Cup matchup. Both of these teams have had, and will continue to experience complex development situations, and will probably both acquire more pieces that will complement their growth.

However, I think that a combination of the positive situation of the direction of where these two teams are heading, with the addition of their new members, may be appropriate to drive them to new heights in next year's postseason.