What do you think explains Cal's precipitous fall from heir apparent to his current status? Thats a good point re Portillo, they're going to want to develop him as you said. Hadnt even considered how that may impact the overall pipeline - but it makes sense to move him elsewhere - not sure how that works given his NHL contract.
I think he just lost his confidence, and a lot of times when it happens guys can never recover.
The Kings have to have a discussion with Cal and determine what is best for all parties here. In this scenario Cal gets to move closer to an area he is familiar with, in an attractive market to live and gets a fresh start away from SoCal. If he plays well he may get some NHL bites once he is bought out by the Kings.
The Kings open up an opportunity for Portillo to be the man for the Reign next year and probably get the Wolves to pick up some of the actual cash owed to CP.
The Wolves get a guy who was an NHL starter not to long ago, and is better than signing a free agent who could bolt for the NHL at anytime.
It’s still a $4m cap penalty, but that is probably better than giving up another 1st rounder for some team like the Hawks to take him.