Danault is 31 and will would probably fetch a very decent return. Moore is 29 and his value is probably at an all time high.
Should the Kings wait to sell these players until their value diminishes just so they can remain a fridge playoff team that gets bounced in the first round every year? Or should they focus on the future and focus on trying to build a legitimate contender?
Both are very good hockey players and I've loved watching both players on the Kings (I've half jokingly referred to Moore as the best player in the NHL on many occasions lol) but the Kings are in a situation where they
know the current roster isn't good enough and need to shake things up. They're also up against the cap and have a number of young players knocking on the door looking for playing time...
Additionally, this team is starting to lack future assets given recent trades. Trading Moore and/or Danault would hurt and would likely cause the team to regress next year but it would accomplish a couple things that could be necessary:
- free up cap space
- That cap space could then be used to rebuild/revamp the bottom 6 and/or solidify the goaltending position
- Re-coup future assets
- A couple picks and maybe an extra prospect or two with some upside would sure be nice to have in the Kings organization right now
- Free up roster spots for young players
- Specifically thinking about Turcotte, Fagemo, and Thomas here... Ideally, those players shouldn't be 4th line grinders... Trading Moore and/or Danault would free up a spot or two in the top 9 so you could give those guys a legitimate chance to prove something
Again, I like both players and don't necessarily love the idea of trading them but at the end of the day they're middle 6 players who put up 50-ish points at best.... It's not like they're irreplaceable.