LA Kings: The search for a scoring winger

The opening of Free Agency has come and gone with most LA Kings fans trying to erase July 1st from their memories. Despite handing out over $7.3M over seven years to two players – not to mention the $2.67M for fourth-liner Tanner Jeannot, the Kings still haven’t addressed their need for a top-six scoring winger.

Right now, General Manager Rob Blake – who has seen his approval ratings plummet to the levels of our Presidential candidates – does have some money to work with, albeit not much. Per CapFriendly, the Kings have just over $10M in cap space but that does not include contracts for Quinton Byfield or Jordan Spence. Depending on what the cost of Byfield comes in at, that $10M could all but vanish before long.

As we sit here on July 3rd, here’s what the tentative lineup looks like:

Laferriere – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Fiala
Foegele – Byfield – Jeannot
Turcotte – Thomas – Lewis

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Spence
Edmundson – Clarke

We already know the defense group isn’t going to be good enough for any sort of playoff run so I won’t beat that dead horse. While the Warren Foegele addition is one I quite like given his speed, playmaking ability, and versatility, he won’t be confused for a top-six scorer. There’s also no scenario we should be living in where Trevor Lewis is playing regularly.

Yes, I know that Arthur Kaliyev was tendered a qualifying offer and Samuel Fagemo was given a contract extension. While those are easy calls to play over Lewis, I don’t expect Kaliyev to be with the organization much longer and I’m not sure Fagemo has shown he’s an NHLer in LA’s eyes to warrant a roster spot.

So, something else does need to come in. More specifically something right-handed needs to come in. The LA Kings really never replaced Gabriel Vilardi‘s work on the power play and while Viktor Arvidsson came close, he too is out the door. So unless the team is going to be willing to try Alex Laferriere or Akil Thomas (note: I think Thomas is an underrated power play option) on the power play, their need for an effective right shot is still there.

If we keep in mind that the team may only have a couple of million to work with after Byfield and Spence get their updated contracts, it’s all the more likely that a contract would need to be moved out. We can rule out Vladislav Gavrikov, who somehow makes a shade under $6 million, seeing as Blake is stuck in a prior era with his defense construction.

The next logical player is Trevor Moore. This begs the question – is anyone available that would make trading Moore worth it? Probably not, but we’ll at least discuss some ideas here.

Martin Necas

I dug deeper into Necas a week or so ago, so I won’t add anything to that other than to say he is still on the market. He’d be very costly from an asset and contract standpoint, but given Blake’s preference for size and toughness on the blueline, should we be surprised if he were to include Jordan Spence in a trade? Remember, Kyle Burroughs is here too now.

Kirill Marchenko

The buzz around Columbus is about another winger, Patrick Laine, and while he’d fit the need for LA in terms of a right-shot scoring winger, there’s a significant amount of baggage here. I’d be surprised to see the team look to acquire a Laine after giving up on Pierre-Luc Dubois after just one season.

The soon-to-be 24-year-old Marchenko has had a nice start to his career, netting 21 and 23 goals in his first two NHL seasons. An RFA, Marchenko is projected to get a bridge deal of two years at a roughly $3.5M cap hit according to Evolving Hockey. The thing is – Columbus has plenty of cap space and will open up more if they do end up trading Laine. While he’d be a heck of a get, this one seems pretty far far-fetched.

Drake Batherson

The Ottawa Senators are in re-structuring (not rebuilding) mode so while they’re worth making a phone call to, I wouldn’t hold my breath. The team just signed David Perron and re-upped Shane Pinto to deals and though they’ve dealt Jakob Chychrun, they aren’t necessarily here to unload players.

That said, they are getting a little bit closer to the salary cap and they still need to fill out their roster. CapFriendly has them with just over $3M in cap space with only ten forwards and six defensemen accounted for.

Batherson has been excellent, putting up back-to-back 20 goals seasons (22, 28 respectively) and back-to-back 60-point seasons (62, 66 respectively) while playing a full 82 games in each year. An effective power play option as well, he’d really fill a need for this LA Kings team.

The 26-year-old has three years left at a very comfortable $4.975M AAV. Again, I don’t see Ottawa doing this necessarily, but I’m making the phone call.

Also, while I’m on the phone, I’m going to ask about Pinto. While Ottawa did just sign him to a two-year extension, there were rumors earlier this week that he was looking for an opportunity elsewhere. The Sens already have Josh Norris and Tim Stutzle as capable top-six centers with the up-and-coming Ridly Greig down the middle as well, so, maybe?

Remaining UFAs

As far as what right-shot free agents there are left, the pickings are slim. Jack Roslovic and Blake Wheeler are probably your best bets for a buy-low player who can help you, but I’m not interested in those myself.

All this to say – maybe the LA Kings roster as we see it is it? Byfield could get a contract that comes close to $8 million AAV if he signs a long-term deal so after that and Spence’s contract, there isn’t anything left. LA also spent much of last season playing with a short roster so perhaps the organization will prefer having a little more roster flexibility this year.

It’s only July, so it’s much too soon to say that. But that’s also possible if not likely, scary as it may be.

Main Photo Credit: Nick Turchiaro, USA TODAY Sports