Where Do The LA Kings Go From Here?

By Jeff Duarte
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: May 3, 2016

THE HOCKEY GODS HAVE ABANDONED US!!!

Okay, with that now off of my chest and out-of-the-way, we can properly discuss something that my colleague and friend Emily Redenbach asked at the end of her latest article, “Why Claiming 2014 Didn’t Help The Kings In 2016,” which was, “Where do the Kings go from here?”

The answer to that is not simple, nor will anything that can fix things be done easily because of the giant black cloud that is hovering over the Los Angeles Kings right now. That cloud is widely known and feared as the “Salary Cap.”

The salary cap is no doubt the Kings’ biggest obstacle and with the cap only rising to a measly (not Weasley) $74.5 million from the current $71.4 million, than the Kings will not have much room for any drastic improvements or changes.

Anze Kopitar’s new $10 million AAV contract kicks into effect on July 1^st and as well deserved as that contract is for the Kings’ superstar, it is going to eat some much-needed space on the cap. As will Captain Dustin Brown’s annual hit of $5.87 million, Marian Gaborik’s $4.87 million, Drew Doughty’s $7 Million, Alec Martinez and Jake Muzzin’s $4 million etc. They all are taking up significant space, which of course is to be expected in the current salary cap era NHL but it will strongly interfere with any attempts to improve the team by fixing some weak areas in the roster.

The Kings’ biggest concern that needs to be addressed is their current lack of defensive depth. After the Kings disappointingly bombed out of the playoffs after just 5 games and didn’t make the playoffs last season the Kings are facing the reality that they are not the defensive team that they used to be. It was not that long ago when the Kings had a 100 wins (or so), 1 loss and 2 record when going into the third period with the lead in the game. In other words, it was pretty much guaranteed that the boys were coming out of that game with the victory, (and oh how I miss those days!) and two much needed points. Now, the Kings are prone to not only giving up leads in the third period, but HUGE leads in the third period. The last game of the regular season against the Winnipeg Jets was a perfect example. Too many times this year, we have seen the Kings blow some leads in important games that ended up costing them the Pacific Division title, and possibly a better playoff match up against the Nashville Predators, (but don’t tell the Anaheim Ducks that).

Also factor in that the Kings no longer have one of the best penalty killing units in the league anymore, (they were 15^th overall during the season) and were one of the most penalized teams in the league creating a very dangerous and toxic combination. Being prone to mental lapses (aka brain farts) defensively during the first two and last two minutes of any period, (and I mean ANY PERIOD), or right after the Kings score a goal has exposed a strong vulnerability to the Kings’ armor and that is only making things worse. The Kings just don’t have the defensive depth that they used to and need to improve it if they are to have any more championship success in the upcoming seasons.

Defenseman Luke Schenn is going to be a restricted free agent come July 1^st. When Schenn and forward Vincent Lecavalier, (who is retiring and will forgo the last two seasons of his contract of $2.25 million AAV), arrived to Los Angeles via a trade with Philadelphia, Lombardi had the hope that Schenn would become the next Matt Greene. At first Schenn gelled in quite nicely with the team and with Darryl Sutter’s style of hockey but as time went on, Schenn became less and less reliable and made some defensive blunders that made him look more like a rookie than an 8 year veteran. Schenn was making only $1.8 million, which is cheap and appealing but he is someone who has not lived up to the potential that was projected of him (whether fairly or unfairly) when he was drafted years ago. Not re-signing Schenn could free up some space as I don’t feel that Schenn is going to improve from what he currently brings to the table. As bad as the Kings need to improve their defense, letting a younger player slip into this roster spot and then developing them to the team’s needs is the way to go here.

Defenseman Brayden McNabb is going to be an unrestricted free agent. At 25 years old and with an upside of potential, McNabb did not have the kind of year that the Kings were hoping to get out of him. Unlike Schenn, who has been in the league for some time, there is still time for McNabb to develop into the type of mean, stay at home defenseman that the Kings need him to be. The blunders and gaffs that McNabb made, especially during the second half of the season, (including having skating and balance issues),most definitely need to be cleaned up. His “greenness” in the playoffs stood out like a sore thumb but it is too soon to give up on him. It is a lot easier to develop a younger player than a veteran like Schenn so there is still hope and room for improvement for McNabb.

Speaking of veterans, I love Rob Scuderi and I have no doubt that he played at the best that he could considering his current age and ability while providing some old school, (as in 2012 is now considered old school LA Kings) leadership but he isn’t the player he used to be and struggled mightily against the faster San Jose Shark forwards in the playoffs. He is still on the books for one more year of $1.12 million but it may be time for “Scuds” to call it a career, (well at least he was a better fit than Christian Ehrhoff). I am not sure how much more Scuderi can effectively give back to the Kings besides mentoring the younger defensive players but he is becoming more and more of a liability on that ice and the Kings need to be faster, as in break out of their defensive zone faster and as best as his warrior spirit intends, “Scuds” can no longer do that.

So how can the Kings improve their defense? Like I said, it’s not an easy answer but bringing up Ontario Reign regular Kevin Gravel and the freshly signed Paul LaDue would be a great start to rebuilding the defensive pairings. Of course there is still going to be growing pains with both of them, (like with McNabb) but defensemen are not going to be readily available in this year’s free agency market so the Kings might as well build from within. By letting Schenn, Jamie McBain, Jeff Schultz (remember him?) and Derek Forbort go to free agency, Gravel and LaDue can be younger and fresher regulars on the Kings’ blue line. Going with younger guys is always a risk but due to the cap the Kings are going to have to make changes anyway so why not give the younger guys a chance at developing and becoming a major part of this team like how Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin and Slava Voynov did in the recent past.

Another option is that the Kings can make a play for Winnipeg’s restricted free agent defenseman Jacob Trouba. Whether it is by a trade (most likely) or an (ill-advised) free offer sheet (not as likely), he could be a perfect fit for this team, (HE SHOOTS RIGHT!) Of course, he won’t come cheap and the Kings would have to give up something big in return.

Now, we’ve just talked about improving the defense but how about the offensive depth? Forward Milan Lucic is also an unrestricted free agent. Both the Kings and himself have expressed that they would like to work something out so Lucic can stay. The first thing I ask is for how much? Lucic made $6 million last season with the Kings only paying $3.25 million of that while the Boston Bruins, (where Lucic was traded from) paid the rest. For Lucic to stay as a King, he would have to, A, take a pay cut and B, the Kings would have to get rid of one or more of their existing contracts to make room for Lucic, even with the discount. Now with the Kings needing to improve their defensive depth, that will almost be impossible (or at least extremely hard to do), if Lucic does re-sign with the team and taking another huge chunk of the cap away for his new contract. Is bringing back Lucic worth more than shoring (not Nick) up the defense? I like Lucic and he played great for the Kings but I say no. Correcting the defensive issues should take top priority in my opinion but for arguments sake, let’s say Lucic does come back and now the Kings are going to have to make some room on the cap to squeeze him in.

Since the Kings would still be looking to at least sustain some of their defense, I think it is safe to say that both Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez and their AAV of $4 million each are not going anywhere, (though anything is possible). That means that Dustin Brown’s and Marian Gaborik’s contracts are going to have to be moved because they are dangerously sticking out against the cap.

I am a huge Dustin Brown fan and I always will be. It is not easy for me to say that the one guy who was able to do what Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Dave Taylor and Rob Blake couldn’t do by captaining the LA Kings to the Stanley Cup (and he did it twice), might have to leave my favorite team, for the overall betterment of the team. It hurts to say that but “Brownie” isn’t playing at the level of what the team requires him to play with that type of expensive contract that he has, (think Mike Richards). I do have a gut feeling that Lombardi is not going to be eager to trade his Captain, plus with the fact that Brown has a limited no movement clause in his contract which could possibility limit any options Lombardi may need to trade Brown away. Lombardi, for better or for worse, has shown to be very loyal to some of his players and Brown might be in that untouchable category in Lombardi’s heart but after Dean got severely burned by the Mike Richards debacle, (Lombardi was hoping that Richards would become the Kings’ version of baseball and New York Yankees’ legend Derek Jeter and we all know how that didn’t work out), all bets are probably off and should be considered seriously. Moving or trying to move Dustin Brown and his large contract is within logical reason. Even if it hurts.

Gaborik doesn’t have the long history with the Kings/Lombardi that Brown has had or has the NMC in his contract so he could possibly be traded at anytime if Lombardi can find the right deal. Gaborik is 34 years old and has struggled with both his play and with injuries. As great as he was during the 2014 playoffs, (he was the best steal of that 2014 trade deadline), and despite how offensively dynamic he can be at times, he hasn’t been able to rekindle the magic he had with Kopitar or with anyone else and it sadly may be time for him to go too in order to help the team retool.

In a perfect (pre-salary cap) world, it would be great for the Kings to keep everybody and pay whatever is needed to keep them all but that’s not a reality so if the Kings really want to keep Lucic (and not have him be just a one year rental player at the expense of the traded former Kings’ prospect, the Calder Cup winning defenseman Colin Miller), then Brown and/or Gaborik have to go to make room on the cap to fit Lucic in. No and, ifs or buts.

Also remember that the popular, unsung hero Trevor Lewis is also an unrestricted free agent this summer and that the Kings are going into the final year of Tyler Toffoli’s and Tanner Pearson’ s current bridge contracts, and they both are going to have to be re-upped soon, (and Toffoli’s new contract will not be cheap), so there is nothing but obstacles and complications involved when it comes to re-signing Lucic or improving the Kings offense and defensive depth. Nothing about this is an easy fix and of course this is assuming that Lucic is actually going to stay and make a deal with the Kings. Everyone is saying the right things right now but nothing is guaranteed until an actual deal is made. If Lucic doesn’t re-sign then Brown or Gaborik might still be safe for now (unless they would be used to trade for defensive assets) but then this creates a completely different problematic issue with the Kings’ (lack of) offensive depth. I highly doubt unrestricted free agent Kris Versteeg is even being considered to be brought back but stranger things have happened in hockey, (like who predicted that Scuderi would be back or that Lecavalier would retire as an LA King? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?)

Now how about the coaching? Head coach Darryl Sutter is now without a contract. Do the Kings bring him back or go with someone different? A coach’s contract has no bearing over the salary cap so the Kings are free to pay whatever they want to whomever they want but who do they go with? There is no doubt that Sutter is a major reason why the Kings have become as successful as they have. With two Stanley Cup victories, three conference final appearances, four playoff appearances in five years and a new franchise wins record, Sutter has been the man. If previous coach Terry Murray taught this core of LA Kings’ players how to play defense then Sutter was the one who taught them how to compete. This worked great for the first three or so seasons of Darryl Sutter style hockey but now there are issues with the team’s lack of competitiveness, discipline and focus. Plus the fact that Sutter has made some real strange roster choices and coaching decisions that I feel has hurt the team both down the stretch AND in the playoffs where San Jose Shark’s coach Peter DeBoer completely out coached him. Could Sutter’s magic be starting to fade away? I am bothered that even though the Kings clinched their playoff spot early, (it was the earliest in franchise history), he still overused Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick and I feel that that led to the three of them feeling some burn out by the time the playoffs rolled around as all three of them did NOT look or play like their usual selves. Sometimes, the players just need a fresh voice behind the bench and in the locker room, and a change could be needed.

Let’s say the Kings do let Sutter go by not re-signing him, (which also means that Chris Sutter would be gone too, NOOOOOO!!!), who replaces him? Associate coach John Stevens seems to be the heir to the head coaching throne but how much would Stevens actually change or be different from Sutter’s system? How about if assistant coach Davis Payne became the head coach or Ontario Reign coach Mike Stothers? The Kings would need someone that the players can buy into, like they did with Sutter back in December 2011. I honestly don’t see Lombardi letting Sutter go at this point unless Sutter himself chose to do so. The Kings will make some personal changes to certain roster spots before changing their successful coach with someone else so consider Sutter safe … well at least for now.

So where do the Kings go from here? Well they are going back to the drawing board by retooling on the fly, and the only one who can see that drawing board clearly is Dean Lombardi. There are many lingering issues with the team but sadly there is only so much money allowed and only so much room on the cap for Lombardi and company to necessarily fix all of these issues over one summer. It’s one thing to know what needs to be done but it’s another to be able to do it and things like this take time. The Salary Cap is going to be an issue for a long while.

On the bright side, the Kings will still have their core group of Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Doughty and Quick intact and with that there is always hope. The Kings may not play as well or win as many games as they did this season but they do still have a team that can compete and make the playoffs again and we all know that anything can happen once you are in the playoffs. Young, talented players like Michael Mersch, Nick Shore, Nic Dowd (if re-signed), Gravel and LaDue can be effectively used and developed for an entire season on the main roster which could bring a fresh vibe to the locker room and ice. Plus some healthy competition for roster spots from the younger guys could be a much needed spark for the veterans of this team, (whichever veterans are still on this team come October). Of course this also all depends on how stubborn Sutter is going to be when it comes to using these players on the main roster as he is the guy that loves it when Andy Andreoff and Jordan Nolan are taking up some major roster positions to the deterrent of everyone, (sigh).

Whether it is adding depth to the defense, or to the offense, signing or re-signing players, making trades or about the coaching, Lombardi will have his hands full while trying to figure this salary cap mess out. So hold firm and stand tall fellow Kings’ fans. Wherever the Kings do go from here, we will go with them even if the roads ahead are expected to be extremely bumpy and frightening. Just remember that as Kings’ fans, dealing with bumpy and frightening roads is really all we know and what we are best at. Hockey Gods be damned.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!