At this time last year, the Los Angeles Kings could taste their first ever Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. This year, however, they are left thinking about what could have been after being dispatched in the Western Conference Final by the Chicago Blackhawks.

While the Kings appeared to be confident and in a good position to beat Chicago, they could not string together the effort that they needed in order to knock off the President's Trophy winner.

Despite great playoff performances by Justin Williams and Slava Voynov as well as another quality playoff run by goaltender Jonathan Quick, the undisputed top reason for Los Angeles's elimination was a lack of scoring from some of the biggest names on the team.

Well, the Blackhawks obviously deserve a ton of credit for making quick work of the defending champs.

But, the fact remains that L.A.'s most notable players, especially Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, and Drew Doughty came up dry in terms of production.

Captain Dustin Brown seemed absent throughout most of the playoffs. In three rounds that lasted a total of eighteen games, he only scored three goals and tallied just a single assist.

The Blackhawks are, in fact, also in a situation in which their captain (Jonathan Toews) has underachieved. The difference is that other players have made up for it, while that was not the case for the Kings.

Anze Kopitar was nonexistant in the first four games in the series, not scoring a single point until he recorded a goal and assist in Game Five.

Drew Doughty, the Kings' undisputed number one defenseman before this playoff season, finished with a minus-seven rating throughout the playoffs. Yes, he was playing against every opponent's top players, but he still needs to be better than that as a number one defenseman.

Los Angeles didn't have an awful playoff run; they got past St. Louis and San Jose in tight series and played the physical West Coast Hockey that they are known for, but they have been left with a lot of questions facing them this offseason.

Expect Los Angeles to be slightly more active this summer than last. They returned virtually the same exact team that was on the ice in 2012 and despite the fact that that team hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup, they need to continue to improve themselves if they want to do it again soon.