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Kings will explore ‘different philosophies’ to help scoring woes

Montreal Canadiens v Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 04: Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings celebrates his goal for a 3-2 lead over the Montreal Canadiens with Tanner Pearson #70, Anze Kopitar #11 and Tyler Toffoli #73 during the second period at Staples Center on December 4, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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The Los Angeles Kings had great possession stats again this season, but for whatever reason, all that time with the puck didn’t translate into many goals.

The Kings’ ineffective offense is the single biggest problem for new general manager Rob Blake to fix heading into next season, after Dean Lombardi was fired Monday along with head coach Darryl Sutter.

“We don’t score,” Blake said today. “There needs to be some emphasis on how we’re going to do that. There’s time now through this offseason to come up with those different philosophies. Whoever the head coach, when he is hired, will have a major impact on that.”

Blake will also seek input from the Kings’ core players. Drew Doughty, Jeff Carter, and Anze Kopitar were all at today’s press conference.

“I’m going to lean on these players to find out,” said Blake. “They’re the ones on the ice delivering that, and we’re going to share ideas here, and they’re going to direct us in the right way.”

It remains to be seen if a style change can help the Kings. It’s not going to make Marian Gaborik or Dustin Brown any younger, but it could help Doughty and Kopitar unlock some more of their offensive abilities.

That being said, Sutter’s philosophy delivered two Stanley Cups to Los Angeles. The real problem with the Kings these days might be their roster, which hasn’t been infused with enough youth to stem the declines of Brown and Gaborik, or the outright loss of players like Justin Williams.

Read more: Kings facing identity crisis

In other news from today’s press conference, there’s been no decision yet on the future of assistant coaches John Stevens and Davis Payne, and Blake expects to find a new position for VP hockey ops Michael Futa.