Heading into the offseason, the Los Angeles Kings will have just over $18MM in cap space. Los Angeles will use some of that to retain defenseman Brandt Clarke, and could burn through much of the rest if they wish to retain Andrei Kuzmenko, Scott Laughton, and Mathieu Joseph.
In a new article on Mayor’s Manor, Scott Coffman opined that the Kings could look to move netminder Darcy Kuemper to open up additional breathing room and pursue a top-six center. Kuemper, 36, managed a 19-14-15 record in 50 games this past season with a .891 SV%. Additionally, he’s one year removed from being a Vezina Trophy finalist and one year remaining on his contract.
Despite Anton Forsberg‘s strong performance last season, Los Angeles lacks a reliable starting goaltender if they trade Kuemper. However, they could form a competent goaltending committee. Erik Portillo is signed through next season, and the Kings brought in another prospect, Hampton Slukynsky, after his collegiate season ended. It would be putting a lot of faith in a pair of unproven talents at the NHL level, but it might be a risk the Kings have to take.
Additional evening notes:
- Now that the Anaheim Ducks’ season has ended, it was expected that a few players could make their way to Switzerland for the IIHF World Championships. One of them has done just that, as it was announced that Mikael Granlund will be joining Team Finland for the remainder of the tournament. Although he didn’t play for his home country last spring, Granlund represented Finland well at the Olympic Games in February, scoring one goal and three points in six games.
- Earlier today, Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports reported that Cale Makar, Josh Manson, Brent Burns, and Artturi Lehkonen are all nursing day-to-day injuries for the Colorado Avalanche. Despite Game 1 of the Western Conference Final being four days away, each of the injured members of the Avalanche is expected to play.
I hope the Kings fans know where LA is headed with Ken Holland in charge.