Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
What Centers are available in the free agent market this off season ? I have a feeling Blake is going to go after a center with his comments today
https://capfriendly.com/browse/free-agents/2018/points/all/center/ufa
As far as gritty, two-way, third/fourth line options go, the following names will be available on July 1:
Martin Hanzal
Mike Fisher
Nick Bonino
Brian Boyle
Dominic Moore
Daniel Winnik
John Mitchell
Jay McClement
The top 3-4 names on that list are likely to command a decent payday as UFAs, so I'm not sure if they'd be considered realistic options. The latter 4 on that list are better suited for fourth line duty, similar to how Colin Fraser was utilized.
I imagine they still are going to consider Shore and Dowd in those roles, or look to use Dowd as a spare (or possibly moved to wing?) and get a bit more experience and grit down the middle.
The Kings really did lose that edge that both Stoll and Richards provided. Their replacements aren't as gritty as their predecessors.