We’ve now made it past Thanksgiving and the holiday season is right around the corner. Like the last few years, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for but this year comes with a bit of a change. Normally teams would have an idea of where their season was heading, coming up on the one-quarter mark with mountains of statistics to analyze. Instead, in this unprecedented year, the season hasn’t even begun. We’ll still take a look at what each group is excited about and what they could hope for once the calendar turns to 2021.
What are the Kings most thankful for?
The draft lottery.
Everyone was obviously focused on the New York Rangers at the 2020 draft lottery, who moved up from the qualification round group all the way to first overall and earned the right to pick Alexis Lafreniere. But there was another winner that night (well, multiple nights), and that was the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings had just the fourth-highest chance at the top pick going into the lottery but managed to move up a few spots into the second slot and had their choice of the field. Though there were some last-minute rumors that they may choose German forward Tim Stuetzle, the Kings eventually settled on the other top Canadian prospect, Quinton Byfield.
Sure, there are still questions that the 6’4″ center needs to answer—he’ll get the chance at the upcoming World Junior tournament—but there is no one that doubts his raw ability. Powerful, dynamic, and with a nose for the back of the net, Byfield reminds many of a player like Evgeni Malkin when he is at his best. While asking for a future Hall of Famer may be a bit much, the Kings are obviously leaping for joy at the thought of penciling Byfield into the lineup for the next decade-plus.
Who are the Kings most thankful for?
Mark Yannetti.
Who? Casual fans may not have heard Yannetti’s name very often (if at all), but he’s been one of the most important people in the Kings organization the last several years. The director of amateur scouting, he has been responsible for turning the Kings prospect pipeline into one of the league’s best, loaded with blue-chippers that will be impact players in the NHL for years to come. Sure, it may be easy to select someone like Byfield with the second pick, but the Kings look like they’ve hit on several other picks further down the draft board.
Kale Clague. Gabriel Vilardi. Jaret Anderson-Dolan. Michael Anderson. Aidan Dudas. Akil Thomas. Rasmus Kupari. Alex Turcotte. Tobias Bjornfot. Arthur Kaliyev. Samuel Fagemo. The list of players that have either already made their NHL debut or look poised to do so before long goes on and on for the Kings. Yannetti—especially now that the Kings parted ways with former AGM Mike Futa, who was also a considerable part of the draft process—is behind it all and will need to continue his work to get Los Angeles back to contender status.
What would the Kings be even more thankful for?
A desperate contender.
There’s a ton of talent coming for the Kings, but the NHL roster is still littered with aging, expensive veterans. In particular, the cap hits of Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, and Jonathan Quick, which each extend past the upcoming season (Quick through 2022-23), are tough pills to work around even if they are all some of the most celebrated players the franchise has known. All three have been thrown around in trade speculation the last few years, but at this point it would likely take a desperate contender to actually eat one of the deals. The asset they’d need to include for another rebuilding team wouldn’t be worth the cap relief at this point, meaning the Kings might just have to wait it out.
Even those three may not be the worst of the worst. Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, even for all that they’ve meant to the franchise, are set to carry a combined cap hit of $21MM through the 2023-24 season, with Doughty’s contract extending three more years after that. They’re both legends, but you have to wonder if at some point the team will try to get out from under those contracts and hand the reins to their next wave of talent.
What should be on the Kings’ holiday wish list?
2022 draft picks.
The Kings could surprise some this season, but it’s hard to name them a contender at this point. That means they could be destined for a middling draft pick slot, reducing the chance for another real franchise-changing talent. By 2022, when the draft is absolutely loaded at the top, they could very well be out of the basement entirely. Getting some 2022 picks now might be an interesting strategy for a team that is still several years away from real contention. Like we’ve seen with the San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators in recent years, sometimes giving up a future pick can come back to really bite you when it ends up in the lottery.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
I honestly don’t know if their gonna be that good unless they get one more top 3 or so pick. Especially with all the dead money on their cap. By the time guys like brown and quick are gone they will have to then have to start paying this young kids and by then chances are Kopitar and Doughty are gonna be on the downward swing of their careers but still making 10 each
Huh? They have a ton of cap room long term. Kovalchuk’s dead money is gone this summer. Brown and Carter both expire in summer 2022 (not that far away). Quick 1 year after that. They can easily pay whatever young RFAs they have in that time.
And hopefully Seattle will take JQ in the expansion draft.
What a terrible take. Do you even watch kings regularly to know what is good or bad? They have stockpiled the best draft pool in the league in 3 years.
Kopitar is still playing at a high level and projects to age well seeing as he has never relied on speed with puck. He could definitely be moved for some top level capital, doughty however hasn’t played great the last few seasons but has battled injuries and a team with next to no talent next to him same with quick.
I expect there numbers will rise with the injection of youth coming. I anticipate 2 more bad seasons to really build depth and get potentially 1 or 2 more blue chip prospects before the rebuild is completed. The goal now is to build up players value like brown, Carter etc to ship them out for draft capital.
They have 13 million in space this year with the numbers double in each of next two seasons as players deals fall off the books. In a time where cap space is sacred kings are in a great position to add through free agency in 1/2 years right around when there window starts
2021 Kings sign Binnington, RNH, and Landeskog. Become Western contender.
I doubt blues let binnington go