Trade deadline
Taking an in-depth look at where the Ducks and Kings stand before Monday’s trade deadline.
As Monday’s trade deadline approaches, the Kings find themselves in something of an enviable situation vis-a-vis the deadline if not the standings just yet.
The Kings find themselves in a position of strength, while most of the league is fettered by limited cap space, needs to bolster positions where they have sustained injuries, competitive pressure to make a move and considerations for the looming expansion draft.
The Kings have more than $9 million in cap space this season, which is more than $34 million worth of prorated deadline cap hits. Only the New Jersey Devils, who just jettisoned salary in a trade, have more flexibility. For next season, the Kings have nearly $23 million in cap space and the potential to shed a contract in the expansion draft process.
Trade pieces
The Kings own their first-round pick and two selections in the second and third rounds this year. All their own picks remain intact for 2022 and 2023. They’ve also stockpiled outstanding organizational depth, particularly at forward.
General manager Rob Blake has said when he felt the moment was right, he would start looking for younger but nonetheless experienced NHL players to acquire by trade or free agency. Winger Andreas Athanasiou, who has accelerated the Kings’ attack noticeably, was one such example, signing a one-year deal before the 2021 season. The Kings also made minor trades for checking winger Brendan Lemieux and depth defenseman Christian Wolanin, both in their mid-20s.
If the Kings can land a big fish — a 20-something star seeking a change of scenery — then they might be willing to mobilize some assets from their farm system. Centers Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte and Rasmus Kupari were all first-round picks, as was Gabe Vilardi, who has spent this season with the big club.
Still, the Kings have not had much consistency at center apart from the play of captain Anze Kopitar and third-line pivot Jaret Anderson-Dolan, a rookie. Unless something is really worth their while, it seems unlikely they’d move any of their top prospects, at center or in general.
Positions of need
At the top level, the Kings have glaring needs for a left-shot defenseman and a consistent No. 2 center, and could also use some finishing ability on the wing. At the organizational level, they could stand to add some young goaltending to develop behind Cal Petersen and perhaps another defense prospect of note given the rapid development of rookie rearguards Mikey Anderson and Tobias Bjornfot.
The Kings have limited impetus to address those needs immediately. They can afford to be patient to see if teams dealing with cap crises, internal organizational budgets or a desire to reconfigure their core make the right players available.
Due to tight financial positions and a flat cap number for next season, this trade deadline will more likely focus on rental players being acquired by contenders, as we have already seen with the New York Islanders adding former Ducks winger Kyle Palmieri.
The sort of deal Blake is seeking to make seems more likely to transpire in the offseason, and the Kings will be in an even better position to make it then. They would also be open to adding more picks and prospects, but don’t have much in the way of veteran players to offer.
Whereas last year the imminent free agency of several veterans motivated the Kings to make moves, this season they have only one player, winger Alex Iafallo, headed toward unrestricted free agency. Given his comfort level with mainstays Kopitar and Dustin Brown, Iafallo seems more likely to be extended than to be dealt, though the Kings will likely field some calls about the 27-year-old.
Kraken time
The NHL will welcome its 32nd franchise, the Seattle Kraken, next season. That means an expansion draft, with the same rules as the 2017 Vegas expansion, is on the horizon.
The Kings may be the best-situated team in the NHL for the expansion draft. While some teams will be looking to obviate losing a key player by making a positional swap, acquiring players to fulfill exposure requirements or otherwise wheeling and dealing to diminish the impact of expansion, the Kings have no such concerns.
They have around two dozen players who are exempt from the expansion draft by virtue of their contract status. On the opposite end, they have only one player with a no-movement clause, defenseman Drew Doughty. A nomovement clause requires a team to protect a player, and has occasionally forced a team to protect a player they would have otherwise left exposed, thus effectively shortening their protection list by one.
Doughty, widely considered the best defenseman in his division this season, would be protected voluntarily even absent any such requisite.
The Kings will most likely opt for the arrangement that allows them to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie. Doughty and Matt Roy, who recently signed a three-year contract extension, seem like locks to be protected. Sean Walker and Kale Clague may have the inside track on the third position, with Olli Maatta likely being exposed to satisfy the requirement of exposing a veteran blue-liner.
Petersen seems nearly a lock to be protected in goal, which would leave veteran Jonathan Quick exposed. The Kraken seem unlikely to select him. Regardless, the Kings may want to get deeper in goal to develop a No. 2 goalie and some talent for the Ontario Reign.
At forward, the Kings are brimming with exemptions and expendable players. After Kopitar, Adrian Kempe and, depending on their contract situations, Iafallo and Athanasiou, there are not a lot of names Seattle GM Ron Francis would be eager to poach. While it would be more symbolic than substantive given the limited likelihood of their being selected, Quick, Brown and Jeff Carter are all links to the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cups who may be exposed to the Kraken.