Two weeks ago, The Athletic surveyed Los Angeles Kings fans on a range of topics related to the state of the franchise.

This is where we want to hear your viewpoints. Some respondents went beyond voting to share their opinions, and that is always welcome. No survey is perfect, but we hope the results provide a snapshot of Kings fans’ attitudes about six weeks out from the team’s season opener against the Colorado Avalanche.

More than 850 readers weighed in, and I provided some analysis of the results to each survey question. Without further delay, let’s examine how the survey turned out.

Hockey Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille’s stewardship of the Kings has been an increasingly hot topic as he nears the end of a decade as team president. The team’s inability to win a playoff series after emerging from a three-year retrenching stretch has left fans feeling uneasy about Robitaille’s direction and worried about the prospect of the club being trapped in mediocrity.

More than 80 percent of survey respondents lacked confidence in Robitaille. Does that reflect the feelings of the entire fan base? Or is it more representative of a passionate, vocal minority of fans? It’s hard to say. However, it’s clear that many supporters blame Robitaille for their frustration with the Kings’ current direction.

General manager Ken Holland is also in the Hall of Fame (as a builder), but the 70-year-old executive hasn’t won over many Kings fans. The start to his tenure in Los Angeles was rocky, as Holland’s decision to sign Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci to replace Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence on defense made those who feared a downgrade look like sages.

The trade for Artemi Panarin will help define Holland’s tenure, and some smaller moves still have the potential to pan out. Getting Brandt Clarke signed well into the future might become a feather in Holland’s cap. He’s a win-now GM working for a franchise with the same mindset, and that has made more than 70 percent of respondents wary of his fingerprints on the club’s major moves, but the distrust is less fervent for Holland than for Robitaille.

The results reflect the disconnect between the organization and its fans. It’s clear in this survey that fans are willing to withstand a full-blown rebuild and the lengthy downturn that often accompanies such decisions. But it also raises questions about whether the disparity in the survey results is shared by the broad majority of Kings fans. Will they still buy tickets to watch a bottom-five team for a couple seasons if that means a chance to draft a franchise cornerstone? Would apathy take root over a prolonged stretch of losing?

Far more favorably viewed was the decision to bring in Peter Laviolette, a proven head coach with an extensive track record. The 61-year-old has had a winning record with six previous NHL franchises, and his teams often enjoy a significant boost soon after he takes over — though it’s also fair to point out that Laviolette’s teams have struggled to sustain their initial success.

The most interesting part of this survey response is respondents’ generally positive opinion of Laviolette, even if a healthy segment of the fan base favors a change in direction. But if the franchise is determined to win now, it makes sense to hire a coach with a strong track record of maximizing rosters in his first season with new teams and who will be eager to break his own run of first-round futility. If the Kings didn’t feel this way, “Lavy” wouldn’t have been the coach to hire.

Is this where we spin Holland’s summer as deserving of a passing grade? Nearly half of respondents gave him a “C.” Does that mean landing Mats Zuccarello and Erik Haula in free agency should be met with a shrug? Just about a quarter of voters are more bullish on Holland’s offseason, and maybe the decisions to lock up Clarke, re-sign Scott Laughton and bring back Corey Perry to fill out the lineup are enough to give a higher grade.

Then again, 219 respondents gave a thumbs-down — including 46 that awarded a fail.

Tracking these over a few days, the voting was close to an even split early on, but there was a gradual surge of optimism for Quinton Byfield’s chances to break the 60-point barrier after scoring 20 goals and 55 points in 2023-24, 23 goals and 54 points in 2024-25, and 24 goals and 49 points in 2025-26. It makes sense to believe the 23-year-old is in for an offensive uptick now that Anže Kopitar is no longer there to block his path toward becoming the Kings’ top center. Now, can Byfield be a true 1C in the NHL?

A strong plurality of respondents believe Byfield’s point total will jump into the 60s. That’s a modest prediction, and maybe it reflects fans’ trepidation that he won’t reach the level of stardom that’s long been predicted for the athletic 6-foot-5 pivot. He turns 24 on Wednesday, on the cusp of his prime years. It matters who he will play with regularly, but nearly a quarter of respondents expect him to level up for a career year with at least 70 points. If the Kings are going to do any real damage in 2026-27, they’ll need him to be more than a 50-point player.

Looks like you remember those early days when Adrian Kempe, the Swede with the silky mitts and the undercurrent of a chippy demeanor, struggled mightily when he played in the middle. He has flourished and landed a huge contract since moving to right wing, but let’s see in the early days of training camp whether Laviolette is good with Haula or another player as his No. 2 center.

Kempe has been the Kings’ top scorer for the last three seasons, after Kopitar’s long stretch as the team’s lead point producer. Kempe’s career high is 75 points. Panarin has scored more than 75 points in nine of his 11 NHL seasons. Logical results here. Readers, you know your stuff.

When voting began, the results were evenly split, but they gradually swung in the direction of Perry being welcomed back after playing the first five-plus months of last season with the Kings. The jersey matters more, and Perry was still effective enough to have the Tampa Bay Lightning interested in acquiring him for the postseason. Many fans will happily cheer the famed net nuisance when he scores — or at least do so grudgingly.

The sharp spike in the NHL salary cap and the highly lucrative contracts negotiated this summer have had fans reassessing the earning power of players, and what constitutes a “good” deal. The 23-year-old Clarke took another step forward on the Kings’ defense last season and became one of this summer’s restricted free agents who got paid. But most readers here feel his contract will age well.

Will Drew Doughty succeed Kopitar in wearing the “C” for the Kings? He’s long been among the team leaders after becoming a regular alternate captain in 2016-17. A third of you feel it’s time for the 36-year-old to assume the role, but Kempe and Mikey Anderson also have strong support. The most surprising result is that 20 percent of respondents said there shouldn’t be a captain.

Doughty is entering the final year of his contract, and there is mutual agreement on the defenseman playing out the season without an extension in place. He has communicated his desire to stay with the Kings after 18 seasons with the team. Nearly half of you want him to be a one-team legacy player like Kopitar and Dustin Brown. But the other half are prepared to sever that bond with Doughty, either during the season or after it.

Fans will believe. And they can do so realistically in a Pacific Division that’s routinely called the worst in the NHL. (Never mind that there’s been a Pacific team playing in the last four Stanley Cup Finals). But will 90 points be enough to make the playoffs like last season? Or will more be necessary this time around, and will the Kings improve enough to reach the postseason?

These responses were interesting. On one hand, it’s not unexpected. Attending a hockey game is expensive; between tickets, food, parking and perhaps some merchandise, the live-game experience can easily cost hundreds of dollars. Respondents who said they don’t attend any Kings home games likely include Kings fans outside of Southern California who only have the opportunity to see the team in person when the Kings are on the road.

But the franchise averaged 17,435 attendance for their home contests in 2025-26, a slight increase from the previous season. Of course, those numbers reflect paid admission, and the announced numbers often don’t jibe with the actual bodies in the arena. Still, according to these results, quite a few readers make regular trips to Crypto.com Arena for game night.

Crypto is loud. Or I’m just old. Both can be true. While Kings games can sometimes resemble a night at the club more than a professional hockey game, most respondents seem to take the Will Ferrell, Steve Carell and Snoop Dogg video exhortations and regular techno music intrusions in stride. Some may already be hearing lively public address announcer Trevor Rabone pumping them up in their heads. And while Eric Cartman may have “died” once, he will live in eternity at Kings games thanks to massive fans and “South Park” co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Couldn’t do a Kings survey without this question. Looking back, I probably should have included the roughly 13-year period when the franchise’s primary colors united purple and black, but these two sets of combinations have been the dominant color schemes across the Kings’ 59-year history. Black has been a staple of the Kings’ kits since Wayne Gretzky arrived in 1988, and that has lasted far longer than the 21 seasons they wore the original purple and gold.

While they’ve reintroduced the Gretzky-era logo full-time and brought back an update of the original crown logo for the current alternate third jersey, the Kings have been determined to keep black in their color scheme. They won both of the franchise’s Stanley Cups on home ice in black, and they were mostly bad in the late 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. But never underestimate nostalgia, or how the purple-and-gold combination pops in an era where bold sports colors are coming back into style.

The vote here mirrors two distinct eras of Kings hockey, and perhaps the team’s fan base, over nearly six decades.

The football world appears to have been split down the middle by the issue, with the confederations of Africa, South American and Oceania having backed Infantino.

But even within confederations, there is disagreement and it makes it very difficult to predict whether Infantino or his opponents have the upper hand in this battle.

In Oceania, which has 11 member associations, New Zealand has said it will not follow the confederation and vote for him.

Mexico, Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis have broken away from the other 32 Concacaf nations to support the Fifa president.

Of the 46 Asian confederations members, so far eight countries have split to champion Infantino’s cause – the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Kuwait, Mongolia, the Philippines and Bhutan.

The Fifa Council, on which there are 36 confederation and national association heads plus Infantino, seems similarly split.

It raises questions about whether Infantino has the political power to govern Fifa, even if he wins an election of the 211 member associations.

The first test of Uefa’s threat is just over three weeks away, when the Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup is set to kick off. It is being hosted by Poland and features five other European nations, including England.