With the trade deadline now less than a month away, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up is a look at the Los Angeles Kings.
It hasn’t been a good season for the Kings. In fact, the team currently has their worst winning percentage since 1997, a year in which Dmitri Khristich led the club in scoring with 56 points. They could use that kind of production right now, as only two players have more than 30 points and they sit dead last in the Western Conference. The deadline is all about the future for the Kings, who will be selling everything not tied down (or too expensive).
Record
19-28-5, eighth in the Pacific Division.
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$23.87MM in a full-season cap hit (using LTIR), 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 47/50 contracts per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2020: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, LAK 3rd, LAK 4th, CGY 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th
2021: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, LAK 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th
Trade Chips
The first thing you’ll notice when it comes to the Kings, is how much cap space they have. The team has worked hard to rid themselves of some bad contracts over the last few years, including agreeing to a mutual termination with Ilya Kovalchuk. Not only will that allow them some flexibility in free agency this summer, but they can also use that space to take on bad money at the deadline.
That’s likely what they’ll have to do in order to move any of the best trade chips they have. Tyler Toffoli is the biggest name up front, but his $4.6MM cap hit is hard to fit in for many contenders. The same can be said about Alec Martinez’ $4MM hit, especially because it comes with another year on it.
Those two are definitely the biggest names you’ll hear, but there are several other expiring contracts the team could shed. Trevor Lewis, Kyle Clifford, Derek Forbort and Joakim Ryan all have various levels value at the deadline, along with some of the older pending RFAs like Nikolai Prokhorkin and Kurtis MacDermid.
Five Players To Watch For: F Tyler Toffoli, D Alec Martinez, F Trevor Lewis, F Kyle Clifford, D Derek Forbort
Team Needs
1) Young Scoring: Anze Kopitar will be 33 by the time next season begins, and yet is still leading the Kings by 15 points this season. With Jeff Carter and Dustin Brown really showing their age, the Kings need some new players up front to lead them into this decade. Yes, they have some interesting prospects coming but it isn’t enough just yet.
2) Draft Picks: There’s no doubt that the Kings will still be looking at draft talent at the deadline. While they obviously don’t want to stay at the bottom of the league for very long, they realistically know that to compete in the NHL their system needs to start providing impact talent. Even the lottery ticket mid- and late-round picks are worthwhile for the Kings right now, and that’s exactly what they might have to settle for in some of the upcoming trades.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
How many of the buffalo, er, trade chips will require the old 50% bribe to unload to some other team(s)? I’ll take the over on 5.5 …
Mac.. I have no idea what you tried to express.
The Kings don’t have highly-valued trade chips, so they’re more like buffalo chips. The trade partner(s) for the Kings will probably want the old 50% buy-down to take the bad contract(s) off their hands. If you’ve never heard of buffalo chips, I’ll let you DuckDuckGo that one… just make sure you do it *after* dinner…