While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Los Angeles Kings.
This season was a tough one for the Kings. An injury in the opening game of the season to goaltender Jonathan Quick set the stage for things to go downhill in a hurry and that’s exactly what happened. They wound up missing the postseason and the team cleaned house, letting both head coach Darryl Sutter and GM Dean Lombardi go. Both were replaced internally with John Stevens being promoted behind the bench while Rob Blake took over as general manager. Here are some of the things he’ll be tasked with in the months ahead.
Clear Up Cap Room
Los Angeles is locked to in a lot of big money, big term deals and as a result, their cap space is at a premium. Presently, they have nearly $62.2MM committed to 16 players for next year per CapFriendly which doesn’t give them much room to add impact players once they take care of their own free agents.
The good news is that they don’t have many no-trade clauses to deal with if Blake decides to shake things up. Dustin Brown has a 22-team no-trade clause while Anze Kopitar has a no-move clause and that’s it as things currently stand.
Marian Gaborik’s situation could be an interesting one to keep tabs on. It has been speculated that he could be a candidate to start on long-term injury reserve next year which could free up a bit of money when the season starts. However, it’s hard to imagine that he’d be okay with being stashed on there similar to the way Joffrey Lupul was with Toronto this year so it’s not a long-term solution by any stretch. Whether it’s through moving out one big contract or trying to save a bit here and there in a few moves, some of their dealings this summer will be motivated by their cap situation.
New Deal For Toffoli
Earlier this month, the Kings wrapped up one of their two key offseason re-signings with a new four year, $15MM contract to Tanner Pearson. Now they’ll need to turn their focus to their other key RFA in Tyler Toffoli.
Last week, it was reported that substantive talks had yet to start although that was expected to occur in the coming days. Toffoli is coming off a bit of a down season as a leg injury cost him 19 games and as a result, he recorded just 34 points (16-18-34) in 63 contests.
Toffoli’s salary this past season was $3.9MM with a cap hit of $3.25MM. As the salary sets the qualifying offer, that’s going to be the minimum cap charge on his new deal (unless he agrees to a contract less than that qualifying offer which isn’t likely). He’s coming off a two year bridge contract and is two years away from unrestricted free agency so it’s reasonable to expect that the team will be looking to pursue a long-term pact. How long (and expensive) the deal is will certainly affect the amount of cap room Blake has to work with.
Add Speed
If you were to ask the average fan how they’d classify the Kings, the word slow would likely come up quickly. Lombardi built a team with an emphasis on size and as a result, they have quite a few slower players. A decade ago, that approach made a lot of sense but as the league trends towards speed, this isn’t a good spot to be in.
It’s believed that Stevens plans to employ a more up-tempo system next season as one of the tweaks he implements as the head coach. For that to happen, Blake will need to bring in some players who are better suited for that style of play. Given that many teams are heading in that direction though, there will be plenty of suitors either via trade or free agency for some of the players that they’re likely to target.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
look to the KHL or college FA as one way to shore up the speed on this team