Yes, that is absolutely what they should do, and I am cautiously optimistic that is what happens beginning this summer, assuming a competent manager is brought in and given a mandate to actually build this thing correctly the way other teams (including this one once upon a time) were built. The only thing I disagree with is I don't see Kopitar traded, I am hoping he retires but he could decide to stay on and collect that $14m he was foolishly gifted by our incompetent GM.
This team is not a contender now and won't be the next two seasons (just to many huge holes that have to be fixed through the draft) and it has many assets in the prime of their careers that could be traded tomorrow for future assets. Guys like Kempe, Moore, Gavrikov, Roy, Fiala, Danault aren't useful for this teams future championship aspirations, but a team that has star players and a solid lineup who needs a piece or two? You bet. They would bring in some really nice secondary assets and picks that are more in the age range of Byfield, Clarke and the really high picks you should plan on having in the 25, 26 and 27 drafts.
Doughty's retention cap hits mean nothing, as the Kings won't be contending for the next 3 years. Trading him accomplishes the goal of making your team worse to draft higher, to open up a permanent spot for someone like Clarke and to officially turn the page on that era of Kings hockey, instead of trying to pretend you can still win with him, you can't. It also lets a guy who clearly wants to win, to go to a team that has a chance to win. I think most people here would love to see Drew win another cup.
I don't know why you (and others) seem to afraid and hesitant to go scorched Earth, it's worked here and it's worked for the teams that have dominated the sport for the last 20 years. Does it have a 100% success rate? No, could we become Buffalo or Ottawa? Yes. But we could also become Pittsburgh, Chicago, Tampa or the Kings, there is a path to a championship that way, there was never a path to a championship with this turn of the century black hole Kings build through trades and free agency path that Blake foolishly went down almost 3 years ago.
Just think if he trades Doughty instead of appeases him, this is your core right now, a mere 3 years later.
High 1st in 2023
Faber
Byfield
Clarke
High first in 2022
Whatever pick you got for Doughty
Anderson
Spence
Vilardi
Kaliyev
It's just sad to think about, yes. But also just know that any year that passes that the Kings delay fixing it is another year that a gap grows between the ages of Clarke/Byfield/Anderson/Spence and the next wave of high picks. If we blow it up this summer the high picks will still be 4-7 years younger than Clarke and Byfield, enough where they can coexist and still have a championship window, if you wait much longer there won't be as much time where they all are in their primes. It's obviously not as ideal as having guys like Faber and whoever they got from Bedard/Fantilli/Carlsson/Smith/Michkov and putting them with Clarke and Byfield for a decade, but its still possible.
