(SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Kings are coming off their second Stanley Cup championship in three years, and if last season's run to the Cup is any indication, this is a team that isn't going to take its title defense lightly.

Los Angeles did it the hard way in 2014. While their championship run of 2012 saw the eighth-seeded Kings blow through the competition in 20 games, they had to go the distance in each of their first three rounds before besting the New York Rangers in five games to win it all.

The Kings played a total of 26 postseason contests last campaign, overcoming a 3-0 series deficit to beat San Jose in the first round, winning two straight to close out Anaheim in the semifinals and then besting the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7 of the conference finals in overtime.

Sure, Los Angeles only needed five games to get past the Rangers, but three of those games went past regulation, including a pair of double-overtime battles.

When all was said and done, defenseman Alec Martinez's rebound goal at 14:43 of double overtime made him the unlikeliest of playoff heroes and touched off the celebration in Los Angeles.

Martinez also scored the OT winner in Game 7 versus the Blackhawks.

The great news for Kings fans is that the club returns essentially the same group of last season, minus defenseman Willie Mitchell, giving the club as good as shot as any to become the first team to win back-to-back championships since Detroit in 1997-98.

General manager Dean Lombardi worked his magic to re-sign forward Marian Gaborik, who was acquired at the trade deadline last season and instantly boosted the offense. The 32-year-old inked a seven-year, $34.1 million deal, giving the Kings a team-friendly cap hit that checks in at under $5 million.

Other than that, it is business as usual for the Kings, who made few other moves in the offseason. Other than Mitchell, young forward Linden Vey was flipped to the Vancouver Canucks for a 2014 second-round draft pick, while forwards Adam Cracknell and David Van der Gulik were signed for depth, giving head coach Darryl Sutter some options should injuries arise.

FORWARDS - Sutter's Kings are known for their defense and that doesn't just include the blue line. Anze Kopitar is one of the best two-way forwards in the game and was finally recognized for that aspect of his game with a Selke Trophy nomination.

In addition to his 70-point regular season, Kopitar saw a ton of ice time and logged the most minutes while shorthanded of any player to rank in the top 30 in scoring last season.

Kopitar also clicked almost instantly with Gaborik when he was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Gaborik ended up with 16 points in 19 regular- season games with the Kings, including just five goals, but went off for 14 goals and 22 points in 26 playoff games.

The duo could play on a line again with Dustin Brown, a tough forward who struggled to just 27 points in 79 games. The club's captain will try to bounce back in 2014-15 along with Mike Richards.

Richards had a mere 11 goals and 41 points in 82 games -- scoring just one goal between Nov. 25 and March 1 -- and found himself playing on the fourth line by seasons' end.

Another skater known for his excellent two-way play, Richards was a minus-6 in both the regular season and playoffs. That isn't what the Kings were hoping for given he is entering the seventh season of a 12-year deal worth nearly $70 million, but Lombardi opted not to buy out the center in hopes of a bounce- back season.

Richards will try to work his way back up the depth chart, but there may not be a place for him on the top two lines. Los Angeles' second grouping of sniping center Jeff Carter between young wings Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson had an excellent showing in the playoffs and if the line can click again this regular season, the Kings should improve on their 26th-place showing of last year at 2.42 goals per game.

Carter's 27 goals last season marked his highest total since putting home 36 goals in 2010-11 with the Philadelphia Flyers, while Pearson is yet another solid two-way player who notched four goals and 12 points in 24 playoff games.

And how is this for depth? Justin Williams, the 32-year-old reigning Conn Smythe winner, will probably open the season on the third line along with forward Dwight King and center Jarret Stoll.

Kyle Clifford and Trevor Lewis should serve as the wings for the fourth line.

DEFENSE - Los Angeles countered a low-scoring offense with the league's best defense, giving up just 2.05 goals per game last regular season.

Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin make up the top pairing and Doughy is quickly getting the reputation as a fantastic playoff performer. The 24-year-old contributed 37 points last regular season and then another 18 points in the playoffs while logging 28 minutes and 45 seconds of ice time per game.

Slava Voynov, 24, is another blueliner who likes to contribute to the offense, posting 34 points last season, and he is paired with 34-year-old veteran Robyn Regehr, who takes care of business in his own end.

Matt Greene got a four-year contract extension, but his deal and the Gaborik re-signing didn't leave enough cap space left for Mitchell, who had been a fixture with the club for the previous three seasons.

Martinez will get a chance to replace Mitchell after his spotlight-grabbing playoff heroics and the club also has options in Brayden McNabb and Derek Forbort.

The 23-year-old McNabb has excellent size at 6-foot-4, while Forbort, the 15th overall pick of the 2010 draft, isn't far off from being NHL ready.

GOALTENDING - Statistically, goaltender Jonathan Quick took a step back but was still good enough to help the Kings win another Cup.

Limited to 49 games in the regular season due to injury, Quick went 27-17-4 with a very good 2.07 goals against average and .915 save percentage. However, after posting sub-2.00 GAAs in the previous two postseasons, Quick had a 2.58 GAA and .911 save percentage in the 2014 playoffs.

That may have had to do with a wrist injury he suffered during the second round of the playoffs and he had surgery in late June. He should be ready to go at the start of the regular season and remains an elite option in net.

Sutter, though, may want to limit the workload for the 28-year-old, but that will depend on 24-year-old backup Martin Jones.

Jones made a name for himself as a rookie last year, winning his first eight NHL decisions while Quick was hurt and eventually his play earned him the backup role as the Kings dealt Ben Scrivens to Edmonton.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - It's no secret that repeating as champion is a very hard thing to do and the Kings don't seem to make it easy on themselves. In fact, despite its two recent championships, the Kings remain without a division title since 1991. But with Vancouver and San Jose rebuilding on the fly, Los Angeles should battle Anaheim for a Pacific crown. Obviously this team is built to win another Stanley Cup and though the odds are against them, one would be a fool to continue to bet against these resilient Kings.