The Kings of their Countries
Last week, I looked at all of the Kings who represented their countries at the Olympics. A lot of players never got the chance though as they played for the Kings before 1998, between 2015 and 2025, or they were only around for a few years between Olympic games. But what would some of those countries’ teams look like if they had only players from the Kings? Most countries are not represented enough to make full rosters, so let’s first look at what the top lines for these teams would look like.
Note: I’m only looking at these players stats while they were with the Kings. While players like Jarome Iginla, Vincent Lecavalier, and Jeremy Roenick were huge parts of the Canadian and American teams of the past, their times in LA were short and/or disappointing, so don’t expect to see them here.
Canada
The Canadian lineup features 4 Hall of Famers (and 2 future Hall of Famers. Yes, that includes Taylor). All of them will have their numbers retired by the Kings once Doughty retires. This is by far the strongest starting line featuring the Kings all time leading goal scorer (Robitaille), leading scorer (Dionne), highest scoring right wing (Taylor), and top 2 defensemen in points. A total of 4,558 games, 4,727* points, an Art Ross trophy, a Calder trophy, a Lady Byng trophy, a King Clancy trophy, a Masterton trophy, 2 Lester B. Pearson / Ted Lindsey trophies, 2 Norris trophies, and 2 Stanley Cup wins. Then there’s Vachon, who held nearly every goaltending record for 30+ years (*he also had 3 assists).
Internationally during their Kings tenures, they represented Canada at 3 Canada Cups (1976, 1981, 1991), 11 World Championships (1978, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2009), 2 World Cup of Hockey tournaments (1996, 2016), 4 Olympic games (1998, 2010, 2014, 2026), and the 4 Nations Face-off. Vachon played every game of the 1976 Canada Cup, winning 6 of 7.
LW: Luc Robitaille – 1077 GP, 557 G, 597 A, 1154 Pts
C: Marcel Dionne – 921 GP, 550 G, 757 A, 1307 Pts
RW: Dave Taylor – 1111 GP, 431 G, 638 A, 1069 Pts
D: Rob Blake – 805 GP, 161 G, 333 A, 494 Pts
D: Drew Doughty – 1255 G, 163 G, 537 A, 700 Pts
G: Rogie Vachon – 389 GP, 171-148-66, 0.901 SV%, 2.86 GAA
Czechia
The star of the Kings’ Czechia line is defensive stalwart Jaroslav Modry who scored 50 more points than the other 4 skaters combined. It helps that he also played in 179 more games than the other 4 combined. Sixteen Czech skaters and 3 goalies have played for the Kings, with only 2 of them surpassing 65 games. Robert Lang leads the offense with 19 goals across 4 seasons. David Rittich played mostly as a back-up, but he still won 29 games over 2 seasons to help the Kings reach the playoffs.
Several of these players were around to represent Czechoslovakia before the Czech Republic was established, though most of them did so before or after their time with the Kings. Together (by Lang and Modry), they competed in 2 World Championships (1997, 2003) and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
LW: Igor Liba – 27 GP, 5 G, 13 A, 18 Pts
C: Robert Lang – 147 GP, 19 G, 39 A, 58 Pts
RW: Pavel Rosa – 36 GP, 5 G, 13 A, 18 Pts
D: Jaroslav Modry – 454 GP, 35 G, 129 A, 164 Pts
D: Jan Vopat – 65 GP, 6 G, 14 A, 20 Pts
G: David Rittich – 58 GP, 29-20-5, 0.902 SV%, 2.55 GAA
Finland
The Finnish Kings line is led by Hall of Famer, Jari Kurri, who dwarfs all other skaters in points. Of the 16 Finnish skaters who have played with the Kings, only 4 of them are defensemen. This made the choice of Berg and Karalahti easier. Both did have respectable numbers with the Kings though. Two players, Rasmus Kupari (C) and Markus Mattsson (G) missed the cut despite having more games played than Jokinen and Korpisalo. Ultimately, the latter two had a better points percentage and winning percentage / save percentage, respectively, in their relatively short careers in LA.
On the world stage, they played in 5 World Championships (1991, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003) and 2 Olympics (1998, 2002). Kurri also played in the 1991 Canada Cup just prior to his first game with the Kings.
LW: Mikko Eloranta – 146 GP, 14 G, 21 A, 35 Pts
C: Olli Jokinen – 74 GP, 9 G, 12 A, 21 Pts
RW: Jari Kurri – 331 GP, 108 G, 185 A, 293 Pts
D: Aki Berg – 281 GP, 5 G, 38 A, 43 Pts
D: Jere Karalahti – 134 GP, 8 G, 18 A, 26 Pts
G: Joonas Korpisalo – 11 GP, 7-3-1, 0.921 SV%, 2.13 GAA
Russia
Like Russia in the 2026 Olympics, this lineup would not be able to compete, although it is for very different reasons. The Kings have never had a Russian goalie. You can, however, form a line of 5 skaters from the 17 that have played in LA. Alexander Frolov ranks in the top 25 skaters in games played and his 381 points ranks 16th. He scored more than the other 16 Russian skaters point totals combined (360). The 2nd D spot could have gone to Vladislav Garikov as he and Zhitnik played nearly the same number of games, but the decision came down to how many points each of them scored (62 vs 107). Loktionov is the only Russian center that the Kings have had making this the weakest position.
The quintet (mostly Frolov) played for Russia in 5 World Championship (1994, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010), 2 Olympics (2006, 2014), and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
LW: Alexander Frolov – 536 GP, 168 G, 213 A, 381 Pts
C: Andrei Loktionov – 59 GP, 7 G, 7 A, 14 Pts
RW: Vitali Yachmenev – 149 GP, 29 G, 57 A, 86 Pts
D: Slava Voynov – 190 GP, 18 G, 63 A, 81 Pts
D: Alexei Zhitnik – 170 GP, 26 G, 81 A, 107 Pts
G: N/A
Slovakia
Three stars of the Kings’ teams from the early 2000s represent Slovakia in this lineup. In Stumpel’s first season with the Kings in 1997-98, he scored over a point per game. Palffy accomplished the same feat in 4 of his 5 seasons in LA. Meanwhile, Visnovsky led the team in points (as a defenseman!) during the 2005-06 season. All 3 took part in the 2001 playoff series against Detroit. Stumpel and Palffy combined for 13 points that series, including a goal and 4 assists (both assists on the OT GWG) in the series clinching game. Nagy is the only true left wing of the 6 Slovak forwards to choose from, so that leaves out Michal Handzus (C), Pavol Demitra (RW), and Marian Gaborik (RW). Peter Budaj became a fan favorite in 2016 where he kept the Kings in the playoff race as he played in place of the injured Jonathan Quick.
The big 3 also played internationally in 5 World Championships (1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008), 2 Olympics (2002, 2006), and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
LW: Ladislav Nagy – 38 GP, 9 G, 17 A, 26 Pts
C: Jozef Stumpel – 334 GP, 76 G, 191 A, 267 Pts
RW: Ziggy Palffy – 311 GP, 150 G, 190 A, 340 Pts
D: Lubomir Visnovsky – 499 GP, 70 G, 209 A, 279 Pts
D: Andre Sekera – 16 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 Pts
G: Peter Budaj – 57 GP, 28-21-3, 0.913 SV%, 2.22 GAA
Sweden
Sweden is the 3rd most represented country among Kings players. This lineup features the oldest King on this list with Juha Widing playing center. He led the team in scoring for 3 seasons from 1971-73. Adrian Kempe is arguably the best player on the Kings’ teams of the 2020s and he has played the 2nd most games of any left wing. On the right wing, Tomas Sandstrom played less than 250 games with the Kings, but he has the 6th best point percentage of all Kings forward who have played 100+ games. All of the offense will need to come from the forwards as the defense features two defensive defensemen. Norstrom became captain in his 6th season with the Kings and held the role for 5 seasons. Meanwhile, Edler came in at the end of his career and still played over 100 games. At the moment, Erik Ersberg has more wins, but Anton Forsberg is poised to overtake that total.
Like the Canadian lineup, this one has seen a lot of international play across 2 Canada Cups (1976, 1991), 10 World Championship (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024), 2 World Cup of Hockey tournaments (1996, 2004), 3 Olympics (1998, 2002, 2026), and the 4 Nations Face-Off.
LW: Adrian Kempe – 686 GP, 214 G, 233 A, 447 Pts
C: Juha Widing – 502 GP, 131 G, 211 A, 342 Pts
RW: Tomas Sandstrom – 235 GP, 117 G, 137 A, 254 Pts
D: Mattias Norstrom – 780 GP, 14 G, 128 A, 142 Pts
D: Alex Edler – 105 GP, 5 G, 25 A, 30 Pts
G: Erik Ersberg – 53 GP, 18-19-10, 0.910 SV%, 2.55 GAA
United States
Four players from the Kings’ Stanley Cup winning teams in 2012 and 2014 make up the majority of the American lineup. Dustin Brown became the 2nd American captain to raise the Stanley Cup and 1st to do it twice. Jonathan Quick, along with his franchise records for wins, saves, shutouts, and playoff wins, was the 2nd American goalie to win the Conn Smythe trophy. Matt Greene and Alec Martinez scored the final goals in each of the 2 Cup Finals, with the latter being the overtime Cup winning goal. Those 2 also rank 1st and 2nd in games played by American defensemen. The pride of Thousand Oaks, Trevor Moore, has the most points among American left wings. Centering the group is Jimmy Carson, the only American to average a point per game over his tenure and rank 3rd in points behind Brown and Tony Granato (RW).
This group has competed internationally quite often across 9 World Championships (1987, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2018, 2019, 2021), 2 Olympics (2010, 2014), and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Quick was the #1 goalie for the US in the 2014 Olympics and the 2016 WCoH. Brown also served as an alternate captain for team USA at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics.
LW: Trevor Moore – 408 GP, 96 G, 121 A, 217 Pts
C: Jimmy Carson – 219 GP, 108 G, 111 A, 219 Pts
RW: Dustin Brown – 1296 GP, 325 G, 387 A, 712 Pts
D: Alec Martinez – 597 GP, 62 G, 136 A, 198 Pts
D: Matt Greene – 464 GP, 16 G, 51 A, 67 Pts
G: Jonathan Quick – 743 GP, 370-275-82, 0.911 SV%, 2.46 GAA
World
What about all of the other countries that don’t have enough players to form a full line of Kings? I’ve gathered together the best of the remaining international players to form a team World line. The lone Swiss player in Kings’ history, Kevin Fiala, has the highest point percentage of any European left wing. Anze Kopitar, the first Slovenian in NHL history, has been the Kings’ captain for the past 10 seasons and ranks first in games played, assists, game-winning goals, and (soon) points. He also led the team in scoring in 15 of his 20 seasons while winning 2 Stanley Cup championships. Dmitri Khristich is one of two Ukrainian players and he had 2 productive seasons in LA. On the blue line are the only German and Kazakh defensemen available. Huet is one of 3 available goalies, and he is the only one to have won a game in a Kings uniform.
Overall, each of these players represented their countries internationally at various times. During their times in LA though, they participated in 7 World Championship (2004 – France; 2006, 2008, 2015 – Slovenia; 2023, 2024, 2025 – Switzerland), the 2014 Olympics (Slovenia), the 2026 Olympics (Switzerland), the 2016 World Cup of Hockey (Team Europe). Kopitar served as captain of Team Europe at the 2016 WCoH and as an alternate captain during the 2014 Olympics.
LW: Kevin Fiala (Switzerland) – 288 GP, 105 G, 140 A, 245 Pts
C: Anze Kopitar (Slovenia) – 1495 GP, 446 G, 854 A, 1300 Pts
RW: Dmitri Khristich (Ukraine) – 151 GP, 46 G, 74 A, 120 Pts
D: Christian Ehrhoff (Germany) – 40 GP, 2 G, 8 A, 10 Pts
D: Kevin Dallman (Kazakhstan) – 87 GP, 4 G, 13 A, 17 Pts
G: Christobal Huet (France) – 53 GP, 14-20-11, 0.908 SV%, 2.42 GAA
Full Rosters
The Kings have had enough players from 3 countries to form full, hypothetical rosters – Canada, Sweden, and the United States. We can round it out into a 4 Nations style event by building a Team Europe using players from the other nations. Here’s my interpretation of how those rosters would look.
Team Canada
Team Sweden
Team USA
Team Europe
To get a sense of the national breakdown of Team Europe, below is how the lines look by country.
(6 Slovaks, 4 Russians, 3 Czechs, 3 Finns, 1 Belarusian, 1 Slovenian, 1 Swiss, 1 Ukrainian)
Which lineup / roster do you think would win when matching up head to head? Did I miss any players who you think would be a better fit? Let me know on Twitter or Instagram @kingsunihistory.
