Trevor Lewis has been a part of the Kings organization since they drafted him in the first round (17th overall) back in 2006. However, his time with Los Angeles has come to an end as he told David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link) that he will not be re-signing with them when the free agent period opens up next month. He briefly commented on his pending departure:
It’s definitely different, a little tough to think about. I grew up here, been here my whole career. It’ll be different, but I’m excited. Change is always good. I’m excited to see what happens.
The 33-year-old has been a versatile veteran throughout his 12-year NHL career, played almost exclusively in a bottom-six role. However, his offensive production has tapered off considerably as he has managed just a dozen points in each of the last two seasons while battling some injuries along the way.
Nevertheless, as someone that can kill penalties and play all three forward positions, there should be a decent market for his services come October 9th. However, he’ll likely have to take a pay cut from the $2MM he has made in each of the last four seasons as most contenders – and Pagnotta adds in a separate tweet that Lewis is looking to go to one – won’t have that type of money to commit to someone that is likely best suited to play 10-12 minutes per game on the fourth line.
With 674 regular season games and another 79 in the playoffs, the Kings got a reasonable return out of their selection of Lewis even though he never really managed to develop a consistent offensive game. However, his time with Los Angeles has come to an end.
Solid player, contributed to 2 cups. We now have younger cheaper players that can do the same or better for cheaper. TY & GLTY TL.