Summer Synopsis: Los Angeles Kings
Not that long ago, the Los Angeles Kings were locked in a battle almost every year with the Chicago Blackhawks as the top team in the Western Conference, sharing five Stanley Cups between the two teams in a six-year span. Los Angeles still has Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty from those dynastic teams in the early 2010s but has also engaged in a remarkable re-tool under General Manager, Rob Blake, once again becoming a contending team in the Western Conference.
After missing the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, the Kings have made the playoffs in back-to-back years, losing in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers each time. In a wide-open Western Conference playoff picture, Los Angeles is knocking on the door to get their aging veterans one more run. This offseason, the Kings made some prudent moves to put themselves over the top, but still have some questions surrounding their roster.
Draft
2-54: D Jakub Dvorak, Bílí Tygři (Czechia)
3-78: F Koehn Ziemmer, Prince George (WHL)
4-118: G Hampton Slukynsky, Warroad High (USHS-MN)
5-150: D Matthew Mania, Sudbury (OHL)
6-182: F Ryan Conmy, Sioux City (USHL)
With an eye on the long-term, it was all but certain that the Kings were going to use their first selection in the 2023 NHL Draft on a defenseman. They already have a decent amount of offensively talented defensemen in their system, so selecting a shut-down defenseman such as Dvorak makes a lot of sense. In 24 games for Bílí Tygři last season, Dvorak would only tally two assists, however; it is very clear from watching him play that he is extremely effective in using his body to knock opposing players off of the puck.
Although Dvorak was a solid choice for the long-term, Ziemmer could potentially be the Kings’ best player coming out of this draft. There are some serious concerns with his skating ability, and that could lead to the reason he fell so far in the draft, but Ziemmer has an undeniable ability to score. Playing on a solid Prince George team in the WHL last year, Ziemmer put up 41 goals and 48 assists in 68 games, also tallying three goals and four assists in 10 playoff games.
Trade Acquisitions
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (from Winnipeg)
Executing one of the biggest trades of the offseason, the Kings were able to bring in an excellent second-line center without surrendering a first-round pick in the deal. Shortly before the deal, in what would become a sign-and-trade acquisition, Dubois signed an eight-year, $68MM contract with the Winnipeg Jets, which should hopefully keep him in Los Angeles for quite some time.
There are clear concerns with Dubois, as both his exit from the Columbus Blue Jackets and again in Winnipeg were surrounded by drama. Historically, throughout his career, Dubois has never seemed content with where he is playing. However, with a long-term deal in place, the expectation should be that Dubois commits to that contract, and spends the next eight seasons with the Kings.
Regardless of the controversy that has surrounded his career up to this point, Dubois is coming off two solid seasons with the Jets. Over the last two years, Dubois has played in 154 games, scoring 55 goals and 68 assists, showing that he can be a very reliable second-line center. He also provides a physical presence given his large frame and has carried substantial possession numbers as well. Given his style of play, and the players he will be joining in Los Angeles, Dubois projects as an above-average pickup for the Kings.
Key UFA Signings
D Andreas Englund (two years, $2MM)
D Joe Hicketts (one year, $775K)*
F Trevor Lewis (one year, $775K)
F Mikhail Maltsev (one year, $775K)*
G David Rittich (one year, $875K)
D Steven Santini (one year, $800K)*
G Cam Talbot (one year, $1MM)
* denotes two-way contract
Seeing most of their cap space eaten up after the contract given to Dubois, the Kings primarily spent the offseason nibbling around the edges in the free-agent market. They were able to iron out their depth at all positions, bringing back Lewis as well as bringing in Englund to beef up the bottom pairing of their defensive core.
After seeing Joonas Korpisalo depart after a shaky performance in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, the team brought in Talbot to shore up their goaltending depth, but the acquisition seemingly has brought up more questions than answers. In the team’s defense, their rival, the Vegas Golden Knights, just won the Stanley Cup from an unlikely performance out of goaltender Adin Hill, but a tandem of Pheonix Copley and Talbot doesn’t appear as a strength to the team.
Getting an honorable mention is the team’s ability to retain defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov with a two-year, $11.75MM contract. Technically not a UFA signing given that the contract was signed well before July 1st, it was a prudent move by Blake to strengthen the team’s blue line. After being acquired at last year’s trade deadline, Gavrikov was exactly what Los Angeles needed, providing valuable minutes of shut-down defense.
Key Departures
F Lias Andersson (Montreal, one-year, $775K)
F Alex Iafallo (traded to Winnipeg)
G Joonas Korpisalo (Ottawa, five years, $20MM)
F Rasmus Kupari (traded to Winnipeg)
F Zack MacEwen (Ottawa, three years, $2.33MM)
F Gabriel Vilardi (traded to Winnipeg)
Luckily, the Kings didn’t stand to lose much in free agency. Their major loss is Korpisalo in net, as besides the playoffs last year, gave the Kings a 7-3-1 record down the stretch, earning a .921 SV% and a 2.13 GAA in 11 starts. Given the contract that Korpisalo signed with the Senators, Los Angeles was simply priced out of his market, even if they did want to retain him. 
Their most significant departures come via the Dubois trade. Acquiring a player of Dubois’ ability, the team had to depart with a trio of solid forwards in Iafallo, Kupari, and Vilardi. Last season, in somewhat of a breakout season, Vilardi scored 23 goals and 18 assists in 63 games played, and should be able to improve on those numbers in Winnipeg with more access to playing time. As for Iafallo, after signing a four-year, $16MM extension with the Kings back in 2021, has not been able to live up to his cap hit since then. Lastly, although he was a first-round selection of the Kings back in 2018, Kupari still has much to prove in the NHL.
Salary Cap Outlook
If the roster enters the season completely healthy, Los Angeles will be very limited this season to make acquisitions to improve their team. According to CapFriendly, the team has a bit over $120K in salary cap space, meaning they will likely have to move salary out if they do make an in-season trade.
Next offseason, the Kings currently have approximately $61MM in committed contracts, and will also carry the $2.025MM of retained salary for the next two years in the deal they facilitated to land Ivan Provorov in Columbus. If the salary cap ceiling increases to the degree that it is currently projected next year, Los Angeles should have a bit more breathing room to continue to improve their roster.
Key Questions
Will The Goaltending Hold Up? As mentioned previously, far and away the biggest question surrounding the Kings is their goaltending. Copley did well last year holding down the fort until the team’s acquisition of Korpisalo at the deadline, but it is difficult to expect a repeat performance of that degree. For Talbot, he famously struggled down the stretch for the Senators last season, souring all chances of the team making the playoffs. Los Angeles does have a solid defensive core, which may mask any inefficiencies coming from between the pipes for the most part, but the Kings will more than likely have to procure another goaltender at the 2024 trade deadline.
How Long Is This Team’s Window? Still being the top two players on the team after so many years, Los Angeles is inching closer and closer to facing a hard truth in regards to both Doughty and Kopitar. Both players are extended until at least the 2025-26 NHL season, but at 33 and 36 years old respectively, the Kings cannot afford a situation similar to what the Boston Bruins have had this summer. With their play, neither player has given any indication they won’t be top performers for the next several years, but Los Angeles may want to start preparing now for the inevitable departure of Doughty and Kopitar to retirement in the near future.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kings Have Significantly Changed Their Goalie Spending
- Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider highlights the significant change in direction the Kings have taken between the pipes. After spending more than $12MM on the position on opening day last season, they have three netminders on one-way contracts totaling just $3.375MM – holdover Pheonix Copley plus newcomers Cam Talbot and David Rittich. As a result, they’re just one of two teams – Buffalo is the other – pegged to spend more than 60% of the cap on their forwards and over 30% on the back end.
Carl Hagelin Announces Retirement
Two-time Stanley Cup champion winger Carl Hagelin announced his retirement today via an Instagram post. Now 35 years old, Hagelin missed the 2022-23 season due to severe eye and hip injuries.
“It’s been an amazing ride, but it ends here,” Hagelin said. “Unfortunately, my eye injury is too severe to keep playing the game I love.” He told reporters at the beginning of the offseason that he hoped to return to NHL play for the 2023-24 campaign, but unfortunately, that won’t be the case. His four-year, $11MM extension he’d signed with Washington in 2019 expired on July 1.
Picked in the sixth round of the 2007 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers out of Södertälje SK’s junior program in Sweden, Hagelin took a somewhat unconventional path for European prospects and immediately came over to North America, embarking on a four-year collegiate career with the University of Michigan. It was undoubtedly the right choice, however – by his senior year, he was named team captain and produced over a point per game over his last two seasons.
Aside from a few games in the minors in 2011-12, Hagelin made the jump to the NHL immediately from college, recording 38 points in 64 games during his rookie season with the Rangers, along with a +24 rating. That placed him fifth in Calder Trophy voting and even earned him a few votes for the Selke Trophy.
He would continue consistently producing in the 30-40 point range over his four-year tenure with the Rangers but never really built on that rookie campaign. That’s not a knock on Hagelin at all, however. He was a quintessential two-way middle-six secondary scoring forward with a good amount of speed to his game. That’s even more impressive in relation to his sixth-round selection, given he went on to play over 700 NHL games.
His tenure in New York ended somewhat unceremoniously. A restricted free agent at the end of 2014-15, he couldn’t agree to a new deal with the Rangers and his signing rights were dealt to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for depth forward Emerson Etem (along with some draft picks changing hands, but nothing of significance). Anaheim compensated him nicely by signing him to the richest contract of his career (four years, $16MM), but Hagelin couldn’t really find his game in Southern California. He recorded just 12 points in 43 games to begin 2015-16 before Anaheim moved him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for David Perron, who was similarly underperforming in Pittsburgh.
It would turn out to be one of the most underrated transactions in Penguins history. Down the stretch, Hagelin would complete the famed third line with Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel that played such a crucial role in Pittsburgh winning their first of back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016. Hagelin exploded for 27 points in 37 games after the trade and added 16 points in 24 playoff games en route to the championship.
Again, he couldn’t quite recapture that performance the following season. While he would win another championship in 2017, he scored just two goals in 15 games during that playoff run. Fast forward to 2018-19, and Hagelin had scored only one goal and two assists through the first 16 games of the season. A move to the Los Angeles Kings in November didn’t do much for him, either – he recorded just five points in 22 games there. It was near the 2018-19 deadline that the Kings moved him to Washington, where he notched 11 points in the final 20 games of the season, appearing rejuvenated and earning himself the final four-year extension.
Hagelin would wrap up his career by scoring 20 goals and 66 points throughout 187 games in a Capitals uniform, posting solid numbers for a bottom-six scoring winger. Unfortunately, it was a freak eye injury in a practice in March of 2022 that would end his career.
PHR extends our best wishes to Hagelin in his continued recovery from both injuries and congratulates him on a championship-caliber career.
Kings Name Adam Brown As Goalie Coach With AHL Ontario
- The Kings’ AHL affiliate in Ontario recently announced the hiring of Adam Brown as their goaltending development coach. The 31-year-old had worked with Los Angeles in a similar role for the past two seasons while also doing some scouting. After working with their goalies throughout the organization, Brown will now work in a more traditional coaching role with the Reign and will be tasked with aiding newcomer Erik Portillo whose rights were acquired back in March.
2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Fifth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
3rd Overall: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche (33)
4th Overall: Matt Duchene, Atlanta Thrashers (3)
Duchene doesn’t fall more than one spot past his original selection, winning the PHR reader poll by the slimmest margin thus far with only 29% of the total votes. Still, it’s hard to argue with the selection – Duchene remains a top-six threat and, despite his overall inconsistency, has scored upwards of 30 goals and 70 points on multiple occasions. In terms of career totals, he’s played in 123 more games than Evander Kane, Atlanta’s original pick at fourth overall, scored 14 more goals, and added a whopping 157 more assists.
The Los Angeles Kings are now on the clock at fifth overall in our 2009 redraft series. Things are looking up for the team after drafting names like Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Wayne Simmonds in recent years, but they’ve now missed the playoffs for six straight years and are feeling the pressure to exit their rebuild in the post-Luc Robitaille era.
With their third-straight top-five pick, they selected center Brayden Schenn from the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. The burgeoning two-way talent had solid name recognition, and the Kings had passed on his older brother, defenseman Luke Schenn, the year prior. Luke went fifth overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs after the Kings selected Thomas Hickey with the fourth overall pick.
While Schenn developed into an established top-six force in the NHL with a fruitful career, it wasn’t with the team that drafted him. He played just nine games with the Kings in the following two seasons after the draft before they traded him (along with Simmonds) to the Philadelphia Flyers in a package for center Mike Richards in 2011. With the Flyers, it didn’t take Schenn terribly long to become a strong middle-six center, eventually earning more chances higher in the lineup once moved to the wing. He tallied 20-plus goals three times in a Philadelphia jersey and had some solid possession metrics, although he never received any Selke Trophy consideration.
His career truly took off in 2017 after another trade, this time to the St. Louis Blues. He immediately posted the best season of his career, scoring a career-high 28 goals and 70 points in 2017-18 and playing nearly 20 minutes per game. He took a small step back in 2018-19, but you won’t hear any Blues fans complaining about that – he would go on to record 12 points in 26 playoff games as the Blues won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
Set to turn 32 in a few days, Schenn is actually posting the most consistently high offensive totals of his career, combining for 123 points in 144 games over the past two seasons. His two-way game is starting to decline, but nonetheless, he’s given his two longtime NHL homes some solid hockey over the past decade-plus.
That being said, is Schenn the best player left on the board, or are there other options that would have better served the Kings? Make your voice heard in the poll below:
If you can’t access the poll above, click here to vote!
August Free Agency Update: Pacific Division
As even most mid-tier free agents are now off the market, it’s a good time to look at how each team has fared on the free agent market this offseason. We’re publishing a list of one-way signings (i.e., likelier to start the season on the NHL roster) by team, per division, to keep you updated on NHL player movement since the new league year began on July 1.
Asterisked players denote a restricted free agent. Double-asterisked players denote the contract starts in the 2024-25 season. We finish up with the Pacific Division. You can check out the list of Atlantic Division signings here, the list of Metropolitan Division signings here and the list of Central Division signings here.
Anaheim Ducks
*F Troy Terry (seven years, $7MM cap hit)
F Alex Killorn (four years, $6.25MM cap hit)
D Radko Gudas (three years, $4MM cap hit)
G Alex Stalock (one year, 35+ contract, $800K cap hit)
D Robert Hägg (one year, $775K cap hit)
Calgary Flames
D Jordan Oesterle (one year, $925K cap hit)
Edmonton Oilers
*F Ryan McLeod (two years, $2.1MM cap hit)
F Lane Pederson (two years, $775K cap hit)
F Connor Brown (one year, $775K cap hit)
Los Angeles Kings
**F Anze Kopitar (two years, 35+ contract, $7MM cap hit)
D Andreas Englund (two years, $1MM cap hit)
G Cam Talbot (one year, 35+ contract, $1MM cap hit)
G David Rittich (one year, $875K cap hit)
F Jaret Anderson-Dolan (one year, $775K cap hit)
F Trevor Lewis (one year, 35+ contract, $775K cap hit)
*D Tobias Björnfot (two years, $775K cap hit)
San Jose Sharks
G Mackenzie Blackwood (two years, $2.35MM cap hit)
*F Fabian Zetterlund (two years, $1.45MM cap hit)
D Kyle Burroughs (three years, $1.1MM cap hit)
F Filip Zadina (one year, $1.1MM cap hit)
F Givani Smith (two years, $800K cap hit)
Seattle Kraken
*D Vince Dunn (four years, $7.35MM cap hit)
D Brian Dumoulin (two years, $3.15MM cap hit)
*D William Borgen (two years, $2.7MM cap hit)
F Kailer Yamamoto (one year, $1.5MM cap hit)
*D Cale Fleury (two years, $800K cap hit)
F Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (one year, 35+ contract, $775K cap hit)
Vancouver Canucks
D Carson Soucy (three years, $3.25MM cap hit)
D Ian Cole (one year, $3MM cap hit)
F Teddy Blueger (one year, $1.9MM cap hit)
F Pius Suter (two years, $1.6MM cap hit)
*F Nils Höglander (two years, $1.1MM cap hit)
Vegas Golden Knights
*F Brett Howden (two years, $1.9MM cap hit)
*F Pavel Dorofeyev (one year, $825K cap hit)
Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly
Kings Prospect Jack Hughes Transfers To Boston University
Kings prospect Jack Hughes has decided that a change of scenery was needed. Boston University announced on their Instagram page that the 19-year-old has transferred to them for the upcoming season.
Hughes, the son of Montreal GM Kent Hughes, was a second-round pick back in 2022 (51st overall) following a strong freshman year at Northeastern that saw him put up seven goals and nine assists in 39 games. However, he wasn’t able to take a sizable step forward last season, notching five goals and 11 helpers in 32 contests, finishing eighth on the team in scoring.
The Terriers have eight NHL-drafted forwards on the team now along with four blueliners, headlined by Lane Hutson, a presumptive early Hobey Baker candidate. Hughes is hoping that the move will help give him some more opportunities offensively which would go a long way toward helping him earn an entry-level contract. The Kings have until August 15, 2025 to give him that deal.
Bob Murdoch Passes Away
Longtime former NHL player and coach Bob Murdoch has passed away at the age of 76 after a four-year battle with Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinsonism, and Alzheimer’s, the NHL Alumni Association said today. Murdoch spent the first three seasons of his career with the Montreal Canadiens from 1970 to 1973 before he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, where he would play until 1979. He was traded again to the Atlanta Flames, the franchise with which he would finish out his NHL career, retiring in 1982 after staying with the team during their move to Calgary.
Murdoch then spent a decade in the NHL as a coach with the Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets, and San Jose Sharks. His stints with Chicago and Winnipeg were in head coaching roles, and he won a Jack Adams award in his first season with the Jets in 1989-90 after the team made a 21-point jump in the standings from the prior season.
Undrafted, Murdoch made his way to Montreal at 24 after playing for the Canadian national team and in the minors for the Montreal Voyageurs of AHL. While his role with the team was limited in the first two of his three seasons there, he did suit up in the postseason for Montreal’s Stanley Cup victories in 1971 and 1973. After a breakout year in 1972-73, recording 24 points in 69 games, he garnered a first-round pick on the trade market and was shipped to the Kings.
Murdoch had the best years of his career in California, consistently posting double-digit point totals and playing a strong brand of physical, two-way hockey. In 1974-75, he recorded career highs across the board with 13 goals, 29 assists, 42 points, a +39 rating, and 116 penalty minutes in 80 games. He earned year-end All-Star team consideration that year.
After retiring and then leaving the NHL coaching circle in 1993, Murdoch headed overseas, where he coached in Germany. He lasted just half a season with Mad Dogs München in 1994-95 but immediately found a new job in the DEL with Kölner Haie, where he stayed until 1997. He followed that up with a three-year stint behind the bench of the Nürnberg Ice Tigers from 1999 to 2002. Most recently, he served as a scout for the WHL’s Tri-City Americans from 2013 to 2015.
We at PHR send our condolences to Murdoch’s family, friends, and former teammates.
Ontario Reign Sign Wyatte Wylie to AHL Contract
Filling out the rest of their bench before the start of the 2023-24 AHL season, the Colorado Eagles have hired Steve Konowalchuk as an associate coach (Tweet Link). This will be Konowalchuk’s third stint within the Colorado Avalanche organization, both as a player and as a coach.
In his playing career, Konowalchuk was originally drafted in the third round of the 1991 NHL Draft. Never an elite point-scorer by any stretch of the imagination, Konowalchuk was a quality defensive player for the Washington Capitals for a little over a decade, assisting in the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1998. Right before the 2002-03 campaign, Konowalchuk was named the tenth captain in Capitals history and would hold that role for two seasons, after a draft day trade sent him to the Avalanche in 2004. Playing in 14 seasons in the NHL, Konowalchuk had his career unfortunately cut short by a Long QT Syndrome diagnosis in 2006.
Taking a few seasons away from the game, Konowalchuk finally returned to the NHL, serving as an assistant coach in Colorado under head coach Joe Sacco from 2009-2011. Konowalchuk then headed Northwest, signing on with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL as a head coach, a position he would hold until the 2017-18 season. He had a brief stay with the Anaheim Ducks, serving as an assistant coach with the team for one season, before then settling in with the New York Rangers for three years as a scout. Finally, Konowalchuk oversaw the head coaching operation with the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL as his last stop before joining the Eagles.
Other notes:
- The Texas Stars have announced the signing of defenseman Ben Zloty to a one-year contract for the 2023-24 AHL season. An undrafted player out of the WHL, Zloty spent the last four years with the Winnipeg Ice, serving as an assistant captain in his final season with the team. In a total of 207 games spent with a single organization, Zloty scored 26 goals and 163 assists for the Ice and also scored three goals and 37 assists in 34 playoff games in his final two years in Winnipeg.
- A former fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, defenseman Wyatte Wylie has reached a one-year AHL agreement with the Ontario Reign. Appearing as a solid prospect after his last season with the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, Wylie hasn’t been able to transfer his puck-moving ability to the AHL up to this point. In 131 games played, all for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Wylie has scored nine goals and 26 assists in total. Although not much came of it in the long run, Wylie was finally able to appear in a Calder Cup playoff race for the first time in three seasons, going scoreless in three games.
- Now a seasoned veteran of the AHL, forward Evan Polei has agreed to a one-year contract with the Phantoms for next season. This will be the fifth team Polei has played on in the last six seasons, having also spent time with the Bakersfield Condors, San Antonio Rampage, Cleveland Monsters, and Manitoba Moose. The most successful stretch of play came during his time in Manitoba, scoring back-to-back 20-point seasons. Polei will serve as an experienced veteran in the bottom six of the Phantom’s lineup, showing off the ability to chip in timely goals.
Los Angeles Kings Sign Jakub Dvorak
In a press release this afternoon, the Los Angeles Kings announced they have signed 54th overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, Jakub Dvorak, to an entry-level contract. It will be a typical three-year contract, paying the young defenseman an AAV of $900K per season.
Dvorak is not much of a point scorer but relies primarily on his large frame. Standing at 6’5″, Dvorak uses his body substantially as a hard-hitting defenseman and uses solid body positioning to gain control of the puck.
In his draft year, Dvorak played for Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Czech Extraliga, tallying two assists in 24 games. The team played well, finishing with a record of 19-10-10, losing in the playoff quarterfinals to Mountfield Hokejový Klub in five games. Dvorak surely benefited from the wisdom of the former NHL talent on his team, including forwards Tomas Plekanec and Marko Dano.
In all likelihood, Dvorak will start the year on Liberec, as Los Angeles is steadfast in competing for the Stanley Cup this season, and will likely be seeking more NHL-ready talent on the blue line. Even if the Kings did not consider themselves to be in contention for the sport’s top prize, it would be rare to see a second-round pick play a season after their draft.