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Islanders Hire Ray Bennett, Bob Boughner As Assistant Coaches

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The Islanders announced Monday they’re hiring veteran coaches Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner to head coach Patrick Roy’s staff as assistants.

The moves complete the first staff changes under new general manager Mathieu Darche. New York created the two vacancies when they relieved Tommy Albelin and John MacLean of their duties over a week ago.

Albelin and MacLean were the Islanders’ primary special teams coaches. It’s a fair assumption that Bennett and Boughner will replace their roles directly, with the former now overseeing New York’s power play and the latter overseeing their penalty kill.

Bennett’s hiring means the 62-year-old will be on an NHL bench for a 25th season. He spent the last eight years with the Avalanche as their power play coach. Colorado relieved him of his duties quickly following their first-round playoff loss to the Stars.

He certainly had loads more firepower to work with in Denver than he will on Long Island, at least to start, but Bennett’s recent track record is strong. Colorado’s 23.0% success rate on the power play since Bennett took it over in 2017-18 is fifth in the league, fourth if you don’t consider Utah’s 24.2% clip last year as a separate franchise from the Coyotes.

Bennett will now look to help jumpstart an Islanders power play that finished 31st in the league last year under MacLean’s watch at just 12.6%. Before his eight-year run with the Avs, Bennett was on the Kings’ staff from 1999 to 2006 and then with the Blues from 2007 to 2017.

Boughner, eight years Bennett’s junior, doesn’t have as lengthy of an NHL track record but has held two head coaching roles, first with the Panthers in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons and again with the Sharks for parts of three seasons from 2019 to 2022. Since being let go by San Jose in the 2022 offseason, he worked on the Red Wings’ staff as their top assistant, managing their defense and penalty kill. He was fired in Detroit along with head coach Derek Lalonde in December.

His last stop didn’t see him fare particularly well. Detroit’s penalty kill was a bottom-10 unit over Boughner’s tenure, but he was given the unenviable task of managing an undermanned group on a club exiting a rebuild. But when he was running the Sharks’ penalty kill in his two-year run as an assistant in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns, they were still middle-of-the-pack with an 80.6% success rate.

The changes were necessary and foreseeable ones to jumpstart both special teams units, which, along with poor finishing talent, stripped away any hope of a playoff spot for the Isles last season. They were a slightly above-average possession team at even-strength, though, so Darche will hope some improved special teams coaching will gel well with the returning Roy and assistant Benoit Desrosiers in helping the club get back to relevance in 2025-26.

Islanders Continue To Lean Toward Matthew Schaefer At First Overall

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When the Islanders won the draft lottery to move up from 10th to first overall in the 2025 draft, there was immediate speculation they might draft Long Island native James Hagens with the pick. The 5’11”, 185-lb center was the consensus first-overall pick at the beginning of the season.

Despite having a point-per-game freshman season at Boston College, though, he slipped down draft boards throughout the year. That was partly due to concerns about his size and how much he can truly pop offensively in the NHL, but also because other names simply displayed potential that surpassed his.

One of those names is defenseman Matthew Schaefer. Despite sustaining a season-ending collarbone injury at the World Juniors, the 6’2″ lefty was the consensus top prospect in the draft by the time the December tournament rolled around. Even while sitting on the shelf, his stock hasn’t dipped.

Very few public scouts have Schaefer ranked behind names like Hagens or OHL Saginaw star forward Michael Misa, and NHL Central Scouting labeled him the best North American skater in the class in their final rankings. Schaefer was healthy enough to participate in last week’s draft combine and showed out well enough to reaffirm the near-universal belief he’ll go off the board to the Islanders at No. 1 overall, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic relays.

The Islanders interviewed both Hagens and Misa at the combine as well, likely rounding out the trio of players they’re exclusively considering with the selection. However, the sense following the combine is that Schaefer remains a clear favorite and that “it would come as a bit of a surprise” if he isn’t the pick, Wheeler wrote.

Schaefer is one of the youngest players in the class – he doesn’t turn 18 until Sep. 5 – and hasn’t played organized hockey in nearly six months. That obviously works against his chances of being on the Isles’ opening night roster in the fall, but he did dominate with 22 points and a +21 rating in 17 games for OHL Erie to begin the campaign.

Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Uncertain For Game 3

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June 9: Nugent-Hopkins is still questionable for Game 3 and remains a game-time decision, although Knoblauch told reporters today he’ll take warmups regardless (according to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug).

June 8: The Oilers may be down a crucial top-six forward as the Stanley Cup Final shifts to Florida. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be a game-time decision for Monday’s Game 3 due to an undisclosed injury after missing Sunday’s practice session, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters (including Tony Brar of Oilers TV).

Nugent-Hopkins didn’t miss a shift in Game 2’s double-overtime loss and didn’t miss a game due to a non-illness-related injury all season long. He’s routinely been starting games on the wing with Connor McDavid and Corey Perry, but he’s also alternated with Leon Draisaitl as the club’s second-line center. When shifted to Draisaitl’s spot between Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen later in Game 2, David Staples of the Edmonton Journal relays that Kane was taking faceoffs instead of Nugent-Hopkins, pointing to a speculative upper-body issue.

On the heels of an underwhelming regular season, Nugent-Hopkins has turned up the heat in the postseason. The 32-year-old is operating at a point per game with a 5-13–18 scoring line despite being held off the scoresheet in his last three appearances. He was especially dominant in Edmonton’s Western Conference Final victory over the Stars, posting a 2-7–9 scoring line in Games 1 through 4.

A potential Nugent-Hopkins absence with a 2-1 series lead on the line is exacerbated by the unavailability of usual Connor McDavid/RNH linemate Zach Hyman, who sustained a serious wrist injury in the Dallas series and is done for the year. While depth pieces like Kapanen and Perry have far exceeded expectations when elevated into top-six roles this postseason, there’s rightful concern about eating too deep into their depth in a seven-game series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Jeff Skinner, a healthy scratch for all but two games in these playoffs, took line rushes in today’s practice in Nugent-Hopkins’ place alongside McDavid and Perry and will presumably enter the lineup if RNH can’t go. In his first career postseason action, the veteran of nearly 1,100 regular-season games has a goal and an assist over his pair of appearances.

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Teams Not Expecting Sam Bennett To Reach Free Agency

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While there wasn’t as much transaction activity at the draft combine as some expected, there was still a chance for many to get a sense of what NHL executives are thinking ahead of the draft and free agency. Regarding Panthers pivot Sam Bennett, arguably the top UFA center available on the heels of a spectacular postseason showing, “no one I spoke to around the league expects [him] to be available,” writes James Mirtle of The Athletic.

It wouldn’t be a surprising outcome. The Panthers have had a strong track record of success regarding keeping pending UFAs in the fold in recent years, particularly forwards. They got business out of the way early with winger Carter Verhaeghe, who could have been a UFA this summer but signed an eight-year, $56MM extension back in October, and kept star Sam Reinhart off the market on the eve of free agency last year with an eight-year, $69MM deal worth $8.625MM per season that came in a fair bit under his market value.

Both of those players took less money per season in exchange for the eighth year of security that only the Panthers can offer, plus the opportunity to continue spending their primes with a perennial championship contender in South Florida. Bennett should be expected to take some form of discount on what will presumably be an eight-year contract as well, but with how much his stock has risen amid a year where he leads the postseason with 13 goals in 19 games, that “discount” might even be more than he could have landed as a free agent last summer.

As such, a Bennett extension in Florida is still likely to cost at least $8MM per season, Mirtle said. That indicates there could be some smoke to the fire that erupted when Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic speculated there could be a handful of teams willing to offer Bennett close to $10MM per season if he decided to test free agency.

Even with a rising cap, though, $8MM is quite a lot of money for Florida to tie up in a center at his peak coming off a career-high of just 51 points in the regular season. With the much younger Anton Lundell signed at a much more cost-effective $5MM figure through 2030 and posting similar offensive production to Bennett in lesser minutes this past season, many speculated Florida would give him the keys to the 2C slot. Nonetheless, it appears their one-two-three punch of Aleksander Barkov, Bennett, and Lundell will be in place for at least the next five years, after which Barkov’s and Lundell’s contracts are set to expire.

Ducks May Offer Record-Breaking AAV For Mitch Marner

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Many have speculated that the Ducks will be a major player in the Mitch Marner sweepstakes. The All-Star winger is nearly guaranteed to hit the open market on July 1, and Anaheim has the third-most cap space in the league early in the offseason, according to PuckPedia.

That flexibility, plus a mandate from ownership to contend for a playoff spot next season, means they could offer Marner the most lucrative seven-year offer of any club this summer. James Mirtle of The Athletic reports Monday they’re considering offering him an AAV that would push north of the $14MM mark, making him the league’s highest-paid player starting next season.

Whether Marner is considering teams that aren’t currently established playoff contenders remains to be seen. Still, it’s hard to imagine any team, aside from the Blue Jackets and their $40.4MM in cap space, being willing to enter that range. Even an offer matching, not exceeding, Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl’s league-high $14MM cap hit comes in well north of his projected market value of just a shade under $13MM, according to AFP Analytics.

There will naturally be sticker shock when it comes to many deals this summer, with an 8.5% increase in the salary cap’s Upper Limit from $88MM to $95.5MM. Draisaitl’s mega-extension, which costs 14.66% of the cap when it starts next season, would be equivalent to a $12.9MM AAV had it gone into effect last year.

Any conversation about Marner pushing into the $14MM tier per season will result in direct comparisons between him and Draisaitl, especially with the latter’s extension being signed under a year ago and kicking in at the same time Marner’s next deal will. That’s where things will get hairy for Anaheim regarding public perception of the contract, even if acquiring a dynamic offensive threat of Marner’s caliber is a crucial long-term step in helping them return to relevance.

Draisaitl is one year Marner’s senior and had a two-year head start on him in beginning his NHL career, but the former wasn’t immediately thrust into top-six minutes like Marner was. Even still, Draisaitl’s career points per game rate of 1.21 dwarfs that of Marner’s 1.13.

The discrepancy between the two increases when putting them on equal footing regarding sample size. Draisaitl’s points-per-game rate increases to 1.32 from the beginning of Marner’s career in 2016-17. Over the past three seasons, Draisaitl has operated at a 120-point pace per 82 games compared to Marner’s 102.

The soon-to-be-former Maple Leafs winger has historically been a far more valuable player defensively than Draisaitl, but that changed this season, at least in terms of public perception. Draisaitl came one place ahead of Marner in Selke Trophy voting after posting career-best possession numbers (58.8 CF%, 61.2 xGF%) at even strength. While playoff production has far less impact on contract value, Draisaitl is in a different tier, with a 1.49 career points per game rate in the postseason compared to Marner’s 0.9.

Combine all that with Draisaitl playing a more traditionally valuable position, and it’s hard to imagine many other teams willing to match a $14MM offer for Marner if the Ducks make it, even if they technically have the resources to do so. Suppose he enters July 1 open-minded about his next destination. That discrepancy between Anaheim’s offer and whatever the second-best one is for him financially could be enough to tip the scales in the Ducks’ favor.

2025 NHL Draft Combine Results

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The NHL held its annual Draft Combine over the past week, with players able to speak with their potential teams and participate in fitness testing. The physical part of the week was held on Saturday (with a select few tests occurring the day before), with 90 prospects trying their best to show off their strengths in the gym. Here are the top five prospects in each test, thanks to NHL Central Scouting:

* – denotes projected first-round pick according to Elite Prospects’ consolidated ranking

Aerobic Fitness: VO2max (ml/kg/min)

  1. *F Anton Frondell (Sweden2/Djurgårdens) – 64.7
  2. *F Cole Reschny (WHL/Victoria) – 64.7
  3. F Eric Nilson (Sweden-Jr/Djurgårdens) – 63.7
  4. F Vaclav Nestrasil (USHL/Muskegon) – 63.3
  5. F Matthew Gard (WHL/Red Deer) – 62.0

Agility & Balance: Pro Agility – Left time (sec)

  1. *F Milton Gästrin (Sweden-Jr/MoDo) – 4.12
  2. *F William Moore (USNTDP) – 4.19
  3. D Sean Barnhill (USHL/Dubuque) – 4.23
  4. F William Horcoff (NCAA/Michigan) – 4.23
  5. D Charlie Trethewey (USNTDP) – 4.24

Agility & Balance: Pro Agility – Right time (sec)

  1. F Carter Klippenstein (WHL/Brandon) – 4.20
  2. D Charlie Trethewey (USNTDP) – 4.21
  3. *F Cameron Schmidt (WHL/Vancouver) – 4.21
  4. D Sean Barnhill (USHL/Dubuque) – 4.23
  5. *F Milton Gästrin (Sweden-Jr/MoDo) – 4.24

Anaerobic Fitness: Fatigue Index

  1. F Eric Nilson (Sweden-Jr/Djurgårdens) – 34.1
  2. *D Cameron Reid (OHL/Kitchener) – 34.5
  3. F Matous Kucharcik (Czechia-Jr/Prague) – 37.4
  4. F Hayden Paupanekis (WHL/Kelowna) – 37.4
  5. D Sam Laurila (USHL/Fargo) – 38.9

Anaerobic Fitness: – Mean Power Output (watts/kg)

  1. D Sam Laurila (USHL/Fargo) – 12.2
  2. F Carter Klippenstein (WHL/Brandon) – 12.1
  3. F Tommy Lafrenière (WHL/Kamloops) – 12.1
  4. F Vojtěch Čihař (Czechia/Karlovy Vary) – 12.0
  5. D Carlos Händel (QMJHL/Halifax) – 12.0

Anaerobic Fitness: – Peak Power Output (watts/kg)

  1. D Charlie Trethewey (USNTDP) – 17.0
  2. F Arvid Drott (Sweden-Jr/Djurgårdens) – 16.8
  3. *F Anton Frondell (Sweden2/Djurgårdens) – 16.8
  4. *D Matthew Schaefer (OHL/Erie) – 16.6
  5. D Asher Barnett (USNTDP) – 16.4

Anthropometry: Wing Span (inches)

  1. D Haoxi Wang (OHL/Oshawa) – 82.25
  2. D Carter Amico (USNTDP) – 82.00
  3. D Mace’o Phillips (USNTDP) – 82.00
  4. D Jacob Rombach (USHL/Lincoln) – 81.00
  5. *F Jack Nesbitt (OHL/Windsor) – 80.00

Force Plate: No Arm Jump (inches)

  1. F William Horcoff (NCAA/Michigan) – 22.84
  2. F William Belle (USNTDP) – 21.92
  3. D Haoxi Wang (OHL/Oshawa) – 21.25
  4. D Mace’o Phillips (USNTDP) – 21.25
  5. F Kieren Dervin (OHL/Kingston) – 21.03

Force Plate: Vertical Jump (inches)

  1. F Ryker Lee (USHL/Madison) – 25.67
  2. F Kieren Dervin (OHL/Kingston) – 25.10
  3. *F Malcolm Spence (OHL/Erie) – 24.51
  4. F William Belle (USNTDP) – 24.45
  5. *F Bill Zonnon (QMJHL/Rouyn-Noranda) – 24.36

Musculoskeletal: Bench Press 50% of Body Weight – Power (watts/kg)

  1. *F Cameron Schmidt (WHL/Vancouver) – 7.82
  2. F Adam Benák (USHL/Youngstown) – 7.75
  3. D Mace’o Phillips (USNTDP) – 7.64
  4. F Cole McKinney (USNTDP) – 7.62
  5. F Shane Vansaghi (NCAA/Michigan St) – 7.59

Musculoskeletal: Horizontal Jump (inches)

  1. F William Horcoff (NCAA/Michigan) – 124.8
  2. F William Belle (USNTDP) – 118.3
  3. D Sean Barnhill (USHL/Dubuque) – 118.0
  4. *F Lynden Lakovic (WHL/Moose Jaw) – 117.0
  5. *F William Moore (USNTDP) – 116.0

Musculoskeletal: Left Hand Grip (lb)

  1. F Shane Vansaghi (NCAA/Michigan St) – 180
  2. D Haoxi Wang (OHL/Oshawa) – 170
  3. F Hayden Paupanekis (WHL/Kelowna) – 167
  4. D Mace’o Phillips (USNTDP) – 161
  5. F William Belle (USNTDP) – 158

Musculoskeletal: Pull-Ups Consecutive (max #)

  1. *F Bill Zonnon (QMJHL/Rouyn-Noranda) – 16
  2. F Shane Vansaghi (NCAA/Michigan St) – 15
  3. *F Braeden Cootes (WHL/Seattle) – 15
  4. F Eric Nilson (Sweden-Jr/Djurgårdens) – 15
  5. *D Sascha Boumedienne (NCAA/Boston U) – 14

Musculoskeletal: Right Hand Grip (lb)

  1. F Shane Vansaghi (NCAA/Michigan St) – 180
  2. F Hayden Paupanekis (WHL/Kelowna) – 165
  3. D Peyton Kettles (WHL/Swift Current) – 165
  4. *F Jack Nesbitt (OHL/Windsor) – 165
  5. *D Blake Fiddler (WHL/Edmonton) – 162

Karson Kuhlman Signs With Sweden’s Rögle BK

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Former NHL winger Karson Kuhlman has signed a one-year contract with Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League, the club announced. There won’t be a return to North America in 2025-26 for the Minnesota native, who spent last year in Finland with Lukko.

Kuhlman, whose season in Finland this year was the first overseas one of his career, did well to rejuvenate his production. His most recent season stateside was an exceptionally difficult one. Kuhlman inked a two-way deal with the Islanders for 2023-24 but was buried in the minors for the entire season after clearing waivers, putting together a lowly 12-10–22 scoring line with a -29 rating in 72 games for AHL Bridgeport. That’s garish production for someone with nearly 150 games of NHL experience, even for a depth piece.

The former NCAA championship tournament MVP found much more offensive success in Finland. He served as an alternate captain for Lukko and led the club in scoring with a 21-25–46 line in 60 games, helping them finish atop the Liiga regular-season standings for the first time in four years. He was Liiga’s player of the month in December while posting the highest points per game rate of his professional career in any league.

Instead of searching for an NHL two-way deal this summer and battling it out for a roster spot in training camp, he’ll opt for more security in what will presumably be a top-six role with Rögle. The team has been a middle-of-the-pack one in the SHL for the past few years, but has been active this offseason, landing ex-NHLers Mark Friedman and Fredrik Olofsson in recent weeks. They’re still rather light on offensive firepower, though, and Kuhlman has a chance to play the same starring role for them as he did for Lukko.

Kuhlman, undrafted, last saw NHL action in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Jets. He has a 12-18–30 career scoring line in 147 games with Boston, Seattle, and Winnipeg.

Egor Sokolov Linked To CSKA Moscow

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Winger Egor Sokolov is set to be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. After spending this season under contract with the Mammoth, it doesn’t appear he’ll return to the organization for 2025-26. Sokolov is expected to sign a contract with CKSA Moscow of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, according to Sport24.ru.

Utah acquired Sokolov’s signing rights in exchange for those of forward Jan Jeník in a trade with the Senators shortly after free agency opened last summer. A restricted free agent at the time, Sokolov put pen to paper on a one-year, two-way deal with the Mammoth days later that paid him a $190K minors salary.

Sokolov had hoped to get another NHL try in Salt Lake City after appearing in 13 games for Ottawa across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. However, the 6’3″, 222-lb Russian cleared waivers and spent the entire season in the minors for the second straight year.

The 2020 second-round pick by the Sens played in all 72 games for Utah’s AHL affiliate in Tucson, finishing third on the team with a 22-22–44 scoring line but posting a club-worst -20 rating. It marked Sokolov’s second straight year with declining minor-league production after he notched a career-high 38 assists and 59 points in 70 games with the Belleville Senators in 2022-23.

While Sokolov had legitimate top-nine upside a couple of years ago, that’s likely gone with his AHL development stalling out. Instead of continuing in his current role as a top-nine minor-league piece, he’ll return home to play in Russia for the first time since 2016-17. He played junior hockey with QMJHL Cape Breton for three years before turning pro with the Senators in 2020.

Offseason Checklist: Los Angeles Kings

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The offseason has arrived for all but two teams now with the playoffs nearing an end.  Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming weeks with free agency fast approaching.  Next up is a look at Los Angeles.

Nothing much has changed in Hollywood in recent years. In 2023-24, a streaky regular season dotted by a coaching change ultimately led to a familiar fate – a first-round elimination at the hands of the Oilers. With a full season under head coach Jim Hiller and strong play from offseason and in-season pickups to bolster the forward group, most thought this would finally be the year L.A. escaped a first-round date with Edmonton after three failed tries. Instead, after their best regular-season record in 50 years, they blew a 2-0 series lead and headed for the exits early again. That triggered a big change with new GM Ken Holland succeeding Rob Blake, and he’s got some things to address in his first summer on the job.

Look Ahead To Kempe, Kopitar Expiries

Two years ago, franchise center Anže Kopitar put any retirement speculation to rest early when he signed a two-year, $14MM extension five days after becoming eligible to do so. After an age-37 season in which he saw the lowest average ice time of his career but was still a top-10 defensive forward in the league, he becomes extension-eligible again on July 1. Given his slow decline so far, it’s likely he has more than one season left in him.

While it may make sense for the Kings to wait to see how Kopitar starts next season to gauge where he’s at in his aging curve, it would also be smart to get what will likely be a short-term, team-friendly extension for Kopitar out of the way now. That’s primarily because winger Adrian Kempe’s contract expires following next season and, on the heels of a second straight 70-point season, will shatter his current $5.5MM cap hit on a new deal with Los Angeles.

Of course, the Kings could flip-flop their priorities and enter talks on a long-term deal with Kempe now while kicking Kopitar’s contract down the road until they have cost certainty on the former. Jumping the gun on an older player with less earning potential signing a short-term deal is a smarter financial move than over-committing to Kempe too early, though, especially with the rising cap, meaning extension projections for Kempe fall in the $9MM range (per AFP Analytics).

L.A. has enough cost-effective deals with term, particularly at forward, that they don’t have to stress too much about losing one of the two next summer outside of a surprise retirement decision from Kopitar. Still, knowing both top-liners have contractual business to attend to in the next 12 months will certainly impact how Holland doles out his cap space this summer.

Be Aggressive With Gavrikov

The Kings made an unlikely win-win trade with the Capitals involving Pierre-Luc Dubois and Darcy Kuemper last offseason, opening up around $3MM in cap space for them in the process. That increased flexibility will be pertinent for them this offseason as they try to land more of a game-breaking forward to help put them into the league’s upper echelon of offensive clubs. They have nearly $22MM in projected cap space this summer to do so, but while they can let all of their pending UFAs at forward walk with mostly no ill effect in pursuit of a higher-caliber addition, the same can’t be said on the blue line.

Vladislav Gavrikov was a rock on L.A.’s defense this season, particularly with Drew Doughty missing over half the campaign. Unlike the Kings’ top UFA forward, trade deadline Andrei Kuzmenko, there’s no backup plan involving a similar-caliber UFA pickup if the Kings can’t come to terms with Gavrikov on an extension. From now until July 1, working on numbers with him will presumably be priority No. 1 for Holland.

They simply don’t have another player with his skillset and ceiling in their system, and he provided legitimate top-pairing value this year with 30 points, a +26 rating, and 140 blocks while playing all 82 games and averaging over 23 minutes per night. But with most of the top UFA defensemen signing extensions and taking themselves off the market early, he’s the top left-shot option available. That could drive up his extension price, although the Kings have the benefit of being able to offer him an eighth year on his contract to award him the same (or higher) total compensation while keeping his cap hit down.

AFP Analytics’ open market projection for Gavrikov is a seven-year deal at $7.6MM per season for a total value of $53.25MM. The Kings could offer Gavrikov $55MM total on an eight-year deal while keeping his cap hit at a much lower $6.875MM per season, though. That’s a significant difference as they try to keep their options open for going big-game hunting at forward.

Decide Clarke’s Future

Gavrikov isn’t the only name potentially in flux on L.A.’s blue line. Righty Brandt Clarke, the 2021 eighth-overall pick, is slated to be a pending RFA coming off his first full-time NHL season, but still found himself as trade fodder at the deadline.

That’s despite the 21-year-old serving as the offensive cornerstone of the Kings’ defense in Doughty’s absence. He put together a 5-28–33 scoring line in 78 games and managed a +13 rating to boot, but never seemed to earn the organization (or Hiller’s) full trust. He averaged decidedly bottom-pairing minutes at just 16:17 per game.

With the Kings’ questionable usage of their top U-22 player, the feeling might be mutual if Clarke doesn’t feel Los Angeles is the right environment for him to maximize the rest of his development years. He would have immense trade value this summer, not just for his potential impact in a top-four role for a club next season, but because he’d be doing so on a six-figure cap hit in the final year of his ELC.

His trade value would be enhanced further by a weak UFA market, even more so among right-shot defenders than lefties. He would presumably be the No. 2 target at the position if he were on the open market this summer behind Aaron Ekblad, taking both his 2024-25 performance and his still-untapped ceiling into consideration.

If Holland strikes out on the upper echelon of UFA forward talents like Nikolaj Ehlers and Mitch Marner, expect him to leverage Clarke again as he pursues a higher-ceiling winger, potentially Buffalo’s JJ Peterka. In any event, it’s highly unlikely the Kings commit resources to a Clarke extension this summer, particularly with some aforementioned bigger fish to fry.

Sign Laferriere Quickly

Moving away from UFA talk, the Kings do have one notable RFA to deal with this summer. That would be winger Alex Laferriere, whose negotiations could become a headache if the Kings get a Gavrikov extension done and blow the rest of their cap space on a big forward pickup.

The 23-year-old is a highly intriguing top-six winger with a physical edge, finishing third on the team with 124 hits this season. He also logged a +22 rating, put together a 19-23–42 scoring line in 77 games, and averaged 16:32 per game – a legitimate needle-moving depth piece the Kings would likely prefer to retain given his age.

Getting cost certainty on Laferriere, even if it’s a bridge deal to keep his cap hit down, is important for Holland to know if he needs to make any cap-clearing moves to maintain flexibility for Gavrikov and their clearly desired forward pickup. Locking him in could make an older player with a similar price point and offensive ceiling, such as winger Trevor Moore, an expendable asset if L.A. needs to open up some roster space or spending money.

Image courtesy of Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images.

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