More NHL Offseason: | | | To start off the Core Values series, there's really no better team to look at than the Stanley Cup champion . It's pretty clear that the players the Kings are building around have laid the foundation for succe s in the present and future. With most of the core players having taken home two Stanley Cup titles in the past three years, it's pretty remarkable that this team appears set to compete for many more championships. The Kings' core boasts two of the best players at their position in the league including center and defenseman . Having that as a foundation among the skaters, with a well-established starting goaltender in , is going to make a lot of Lou Gehrig Jersey teams envious.Here's a look at the rest of the core. Players (Age, term remaining on contract): C Anze Kopitar (26, 2 years), D Drew Doughty (24, 5 years), C/W (29, 8 years), G Jonathan Quick (28, 9 years), RW (29, 8 years), LW Marian Gaborik (32, 7 years), LW (32, 1 year)Total cap hit for 2014-15: $39,272,727.00 (56.9 percent of cap space consumed by seven players) Average age: 28.5Total point production in 2013-14: 105 goals, 138 a sists, 243 pointsLos Angeles Kings Player Usage Chart *:*About the CoreAnze Kopitar: Probably a top-10 player in the league if not top five, Kopitar has developed into one of the elite two-way centers in the game. He has never had fewer than 61 points in a full season and has topped 70 points five times. That often comes despite Kopitar playing in key defensive matchups against opponents' top lines. One look at that player usage chart above tells you a lot about what you need to know about Kopitar. He's in a cla s all his own on this team. Having helped lead the club to two Stanley Cup championships, Kopitar should start being mentioned more as one of the greats in the league today. He has only two years remaining on his contract, but you would have to believe the Kings are going to do whatever they can to keep him in Los Angeles for a long, long time. , Drew Doughty: Perhaps one of the best two-way defensemen in the league right now, Doughty can take games over and sometimes did in the playoffs. His 221 points in 442 career games are second most among players 25 or younger since Doughty entered the league in 2008-09. He has averaged more than 25 minutes a game over his career and that jumps up to 27:38 for his career in the postseason. At just 24 years old, he already has two Stanley Cup rings and two Olympic gold medals. How long until he adds a Norris Trophy to that list? Not very. Jeff Carter: Since joining the Kings late in the 2011-12 season, Carter has been extremely productive. He hasn't had a chance to put up the numbers he did while with the Flyers, but the two Stanley Cup titles with him on the roster in LA probably make that a moot concern. He was integral to the Kings' last title run with 25 points in 26 games. His versatility and ability to create offense make Carter the kind of player any team would like to have on its roster. His experience as a nine-year veteran of the NHL makes him that much more valuable. Jonathan Quick: Heading into the second year of a 10-year, $58 million contract, the Kings have put long-term faith in their goaltender. The 2012 Conn Smythe winner has experienced some ups and downs over the past few seasons, but Roger Maris Jersey based on the comments by Kings management and teammates, he is still viewed as one of the cornerstones of this team. Quick does need to turn things around, however. With a .909 save percentage over the past two seasons combined, he's a long way away from the guy that put up a .929 mark in 2011-12. As long as the Kings keep winning, they may not worry about Quick's subpar numbers, but with nine years remaining on that deal, they should be looking for a bounceback campaign from their top goaltender. He has to be better than the league average and hasn't been the past two seasons. Dustin Brown: The numbers weren't there for Brown last season, but as the team's captain and under a long-term contract, he's an important part of the organization on a number of levels. The agitating, physical forward is coming out of one of the least productive season of his NHL career with just 27 points in 79 games. He bounced back a bit in the playoffs, though, with a 14-point performance before he was the first to lift the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years. Brown is a homegrown guy who was with this organization in some of its leanest years. Should he regain some productivity and get back up to the 50-plus point guy he should be, last season will look more like a hiccup than a concern. Most teams would view their captain as an important part of their core and that's why he makes this list over a few others.Marian Gaborik: Only with the club for 19 regular-season games and 26 playoff contests, Gaborik is a new addition to the core. He makes the cut thanks to the new seven-year deal he signed with the club that comes with a manageable cap hit, but risky term. Gaborik clearly brought an element the Kings needed more Giancarlo Stanton Jersey of last season with his ability to score. He led the playoffs with 14 goals and has been one of the league's better goal scorers over the past decade. With three 40-plus goal seasons to his name and four more with 30 or more, he has proven to be a scorer. Gaborik is also oft-injured, which is why there should be some concern. If he stays healthy, though, the Kings have another key player they know can put the puck in the net. Justin Williams: After claiming the Conn Smythe with a virtuoso performance during the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, Williams could remain relatively anonymous no more. He posted 25 points in the postseason and finished third on the team with 43 points last season. Williams has only one year remaining on Aroldis Chapman Jersey his current contract and will be 33 years old when the contract expires. After such a strong performance in the postseason and depending on how next season goes, the Kings will have a tough decision. There are some young guys coming up that will need more ice time, which means Williams, in spite of everything, could be expendable as the team needs to alleviate cap concerns. Heading into next season, however, he will remain a key player for a team that could threaten to repeat as champs and that's why he's included with this group. The next obvious option for the Kings to be included in their core, and they probably already are internally for the Kings, are defensemen and . Both have offensive capabilities, but showed growth defensively last season. As they continue to round out their games, they'll be even more effective. Having a highly-mobile defense is a big key in today's NHL and these two help the Kings in that department.Muzzin and Voynov, along with Doughty, give the Kings a rather sound trio for years to come. All are 25 or younger. The only hiccup at this point is that Muzzin will be playing on the last year of his contract next season, meaning the team will have to see how many UFA years they can buy on the restricted free agent's next deal. That could get a little pricier.It also looks like and could soon step into even bigger roles with the team in the near future as they showed great poise and effectivene s in the playoffs. The duo seemed to grow up a lot in the postseason and probably have plenty more growth ahead of them. Both one day may challenge the more established veterans for their jobs without the Kings mi sing a beat. The interesting thing about the Kings is that they could conceivably add a few more players to the core from their current roster. The strength of this team may be le s in its core and more in its overall depth. With four lines that can all play in a variety of situations and a defensive corps that is balanced in its puck-movement and physicality, the Kings really have a good thing going.That said, it really all starts with this group, especially Kopitar and Doughty C.C. Sabathia Jersey . They are driving this bus and should continue doing so for the foreseeable future.For the purposes of this summer project, we capped the number of players to be included at seven. That left guys like Jake Muzzin, Slava Voynov and , whose long-term deal may just marry him to the franchise for the duration, out of the mix. But its clear all are important members of the Kings. Considering the upcoming deals that will be due to Williams and Kopitar, this core group may shuffle a bit over the next two or three years, but this is a foundation any team could build off of. Another deep playoff run next year looks likely.This group also shows the importance of drafting well. Kopitar, Doughty, Brown and Quick are all homegrown players that allowed the team to go out and seek help via trades, which is how each of Carter, Williams and Gaborik were brought in. The le s you have to go outside, the better. Additionally, the club hasn't needed to be active on the often too-expensive free agent market. That keeps costs manageable and the big money is spent more sensibly on the guys who have been there for a while.The Kings are set up to be contenders for years to come. A suming Kopitar gets locked down to a near-max deal (which he so obviously deserves), there may need to be some maneuvering, but not before trying another run next season. Thats a good situation to be in for the two-time champs.