EDMONTON, Alberta — How fitting that the under-the-radar star of the Kings’ Game 1 victory over the Oilers also happened to be the under-the-radar star of their season.
Trevor Moore is well-appreciated by his teammates and the coaching staff, as well as his family’s proud neighbors in Thousand Oaks, Calif. But this was Moore’s first chance in a long time to show what he could do on a national stage.
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In some ways, Game 1 was a microcosm of the Moore Effect. Moore had a three-point night in the Kings’ 4-3 win on Monday. Postgame, the focus was naturally on the contributions of Phillip Danault, Anze Kopitar and especially goalie Jonathan Quick.
Danault and Kopitar played big minutes and held their own against two of the elite centers in the league: Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Quick, meanwhile, gave the Kings the consistent saves at the crucial moments in the game that helped the Kings get the win.
Moore’s contributions were equally important but not necessarily the headline-grabbers. That, in a way, sums up exactly what he’s done for – and meant — to the team throughout his breakout 2021-22 season.
“He has undercover skill,” said Kings center Blake Lizotte.
“He’s not going to necessarily make the flashy dangle or snipe but he always makes the simple play, the right play. He’s been a very key player to our team this year. I don’t think we’d be in a position we’re in without him and his line, quite frankly. They’ve been unbelievable all year.
“Trevor Moore deserves every bit of success he’s had this year.”
Against the Oilers, Moore scored the game’s first goal and made a clever play to set up Alex Iafallo for the second goal, which gave the Kings a cushion they would need for the inevitable McDavid/Draisaitl pushback.
Trevor Moore sends a gorgeous backhanded pass from behind the net to Alex Iafallo who blasts one home at the side of the net to double the Los Angeles lead!#LetsGoOilers
(Game 1) pic.twitter.com/I9WNM3B8N0— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) May 3, 2022
“I was just trying to get open and stay quiet,” said Iafallo, who replaced an injured Viktor Arvidsson on the second line in Game 1.
“He (Moore) just made a great play behind the back.”
On the game-winning goal, Moore made the pivotal play later in the sequence, getting inside position on Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard to retrieve the puck and smoothly work it back to Sean Durzi at the point. Danault subsequently redirected Durzi’s shot before goalie Mike Smith could get settled.
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Moore’s contribution to the game-winner was a turning-point play in a seesaw game, but you had to run the replay back several seconds before you saw exactly how he set the events in motion. And that’s what Moore does – makes the sort of plays that can go unnoticed, except, of course, by the coaching staff, which appreciates his hockey sense, good instincts and willingness to compete.
His teammates do as well.
“If you asked anyone on our team, coming off of the way he played last year, if Trevor Moore could score 50 points this season, I don’t think any of the guys would have been surprised,” Lizotte said. “His work ethic is great. What really drives his game is his internal drive. He competes every single night. He’s so consistent.”
Moore joined the Kings in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs for goalie Jack Campbell and forward Kyle Clifford in February 2020. The Kings also received two draft picks in the deal.
Moore played every one of the 56 games in the 2020-21 season and contributed 23 points, including 10 goals. But the Kings deployed him all over the lineup and coach Todd McLellan later acknowledged that probably did him a disservice. Since the holiday break, he’s been a fixture alongside Danault and, at times, Arvidsson when Arvidsson has been healthy.
At different times, the line has been as important to the Kings’ success as Kopitar’s. If you were to analyze why a Kings team that had been a playoff also-ran since 2018 made the postseason this year, in part it’s because they had a legitimate second line to support Kopitar’s unit and, when needed, pick up the scoring slack.
Moore was put with Danault and Arvidsson against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 30 and the trio combined for 11 points against the Philadelphia Flyers in their second game together.
“I got to be a top-six guy for that first practice together, so I was pretty excited,” Moore told The Athletic. “I knew those guys were really good players and I was trying to play my game and make a few more plays than I had been.”
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Earlier, Danault told me that one of the strengths of the line was its ability to score off mistakes and capitalize.
Moore expanded upon that line of thinking.
“A good combination of a lot of skill there and also a lot of hard work,” Moore said. “Us three guys, we kind of break other lines down in the offensive zone, just getting pucks backs shooting and recovering. Sometimes there’s the highlight reel goal but a lot of the time you get there by making the other team tired and winning battles.”
Danault hit a career-high in goals (27) and Moore achieved career-highs in goals (17), assists (31) and points (48), and led the NHL with five short-handed goals, tied with Alex Formenton of Ottawa.
Moore’s road to the NHL was shaped by multiple coaches. In his college days at Denver, he played for Jim Montgomery and then he spent time with the AHL Marlies with Sheldon Keefe, now the Maple Leafs’ bench boss.
“I came out of college and I was more of a goal-scoring type,” Moore said. “From the Marlies to the Leafs, I learned how to penalty-kill and how to play a 200-foot game, becoming a more well-rounded hockey player.
“It started at Denver with Montgomery. He helped me a lot defensively and things like that. I just couldn’t play any defense going into college.”
Moore recalled an important talk with Keefe.
“Sheldon was a big piece for me,” he said. “I remember having a conversation, ‘How, how are you going to make the Leafs?’ It’s going to be tough to make the power play, right? So it’s going to be somewhere else. So I just jumped on the PK and it worked out from there.”
In the NHL’s salary-cap era, there are multiple ways of measuring value. One of the key ways is production for salary.
In Moore’s case, his AAV is $1.875 million this year and next, which, for his production makes him one of the league’s best bargains, outside of players on their entry-level deals.
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For example, the Chicago Blackhawks were able to get two first-round draft choices from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the deadline this year for forward Brandon Hagel. Hagel’s value to the capped-out Lightning was two-fold. He was a versatile, all-around forward and was signed for multiple years at $1.5 million.
Those two factors, taken together, made Hagel one of the priciest assets to change hands at the deadline. Based on Moore’s play and his remuneration, he could easily fetch a similar value.
Ultimately, if this keeps up, he will be due for a significant raise when his current deal expires.
Moore was asked if he was the best value in the league, or at least one of them.
Modestly, he replied, with a laugh: “I don’t know about that. I think there’s some pretty good bargains out there, But it’s definitely better to overachieve than underachieve.”
(Photo of Trevor Moore: Curtis Comeau / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)