Los Angeles Kings: Has Jonathan Quick Already Peaked?

Jonathan Quick
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Kings aren’t off to the kind of start they were hoping for when the season got underway, but this team has become notorious in the last couple of years for its slow starts, and its ability to recover after stumbling out of the gates. As a team, they’ll be fine, even with some ups and downs. However, how much stock should we put into the early inconsistencies of Jonathan Quick?

Quick put together a rough 2013 season. To a pretty large extent, that was understandable. Regardless of how “minor” his back surgery may have been, he did not have time to get re-acclimated to game situations once the lockout came to an end. Toward the end of the year, he started putting it back together, though, particularly in the playoffs.

Early on this season, we’ve seen more of the same from the former Vezina Trophy candidate and 2011-12 Conn Smythe Trophy winner. He’s given up some questionable goals, including scoring on himself in an early tilt this season, in addition to posting some overall numbers that simply are not all that impressive.

So far in 2013-14, Quick has posted a 6-4 record, with a goals against average of 2.71 and a save percentage that has barely managed to remain afloat over .900, at a .904 clip for the year. It’s still early, of course, but it’s certainly worth wondering if we’ve already seen the best that Jonathan Quick has to offer as his inconsistency continues.

This was a guy who literally carried his team to the playoffs in 2011-12. In the postseason, he dominated, hence the hardware he took home as a result. The regular season that year featured an absurd 1.95 GAA and a .929 save percentage. While he has yet to play in that many games since, he hasn’t come anywhere near those numbers.

The skill set is obviously still there. Quick moves around the crease as well as any goaltender in the league, living up to his name. At the same time, though, he’s an extremely aggressive netminder, which means teams can take advantage of that. Perhaps that is more to blame for any regression than anything else.

We’ll see what the rest of the year has in store for Jonathan Quick. He may very well get back to an elite level before the 2013-14 season comes to an end, given how much time is left this year. At the same time, though, after the brilliance of 2011-12, it’s certainly worth wondering if we’ve already seen the best that Jonathan Quick has to offer.

Judge Quick for yourself and see him live by getting your Kings tickets here.

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