Post-Game Talk: Tough Decisions- LA Kings Off-Season

[HockeyEsoterics]

So you missed the point. Cool.

If that's what you believe then ok.

 

[johnjm22]

Edit: Don't believe the Gavrikov stuff, because he's a very good fit with Fox on NYR's top pair. Doubt they're looking to move him.

The Rangers are rebuilding.

 

[FSL KINGS]

If that's what you believe then ok.

Gavrikov, he chose less money to go to NYR. His motivation doesn't matter. Maybe he's seen the state of New York city & wants out. Unlikely after moving there less than a year ago.

NY GM unlikely to trade a good top pair defenman that's a good fit after one season.

LA unlikely to give up assets, 1st+ for a guy that chose to take less money to leave.

The whole Gavrikov thing is unlikely.


There are other targets on NYR that Holland is probably calling on. The chatter between the two teams is probably driving the Gavrikov stuff. Trocheck & Lafernière are more likely targets. Both rumored on the block.
Trocheck wanted to stay out east, but players have changed their minds before. Played with Panarin & is a center.

Lafernière is a decent forward, contract might be a bit much, but he should have a reasonable price tag given AAV & production. King's in need of another top6 forward. Ideally a center, but that may not happen.

 

[FSL KINGS]

The Rangers are rebuilding.

They're rebuilding like the King's. As soon as they can sign some free agents & take a shortcut, they will. Keeping Gavrikov for a fast turnaround makes sense.

If Gavrikov wanted to be on a serious team, LA isn't better than NY at this point.

Edit: Gavrikov has an NMC for the next 4 years. If he hasn't changed his mind less than a year after signing in NYR, he's not moving.

 

[Peter James Bond III]

My best idea,

Peyton Krebs is honestly an OFFER SHEET possibility... interesting...he could play 3C on the Kings...he's pretty damn good. 1.45 M last year? 3.5 to 4M x 6 . Buf cannot match. 2nd rd pick.

12 goals, 27 assists as 4th C??? The Kings cannot even get 39 pts from 3C. 2 goals, 4 assists in playoffs , plus 3. If your 4c is scoring 6 pts in 13 playoff games? That's close to insane.

Buf has cap problems: Tuch UFA, Benson, Krebs, Kesselring, RFAs. Benson is due big money.
Call Buf and tell them you're considering offer sheets...and let's instead deal. (ok, I guess that's a threat)

Krebs is a 50 pt 3C, I believe and 25 yrs old. A second rd pick?? Why caps? Cuz this idea is that good. lol.

I think part of the Gavrikov departure, was that he's a big family guy and now had 2 kids and his wife co-wears the hockey pants and SHE wanted to go to NY, where there's a larger Russian community.

I think now that he and Panarin are closer friends - and Panarin was first living in Gavy's LA home (may still be) maybe they would want to come back. Many people that come from Europe or Russia...their dream is to live in NY...not knowing that it's not all that. But they still must go there. lol.

I really don't want Trocheck...he turns 33 in a few weeks...the 16 goals is not great...even with the 60+? games he played...not a bad player, but it's time to get 25-28 year olds. The last 7 signed / acquired by Holland:
Perry 40
Ceci 32
Dumoulin 32
Armia 32
Forsberg 32
Panarin 34
Laughton 31/32
All of these players are regressing...maybe slowly, but they're regressing.
Stop with the 32+ year olds.

It's going to be hard to improve this team, in that all GMs will ask for: Byfield, Clarke, Laferriere,
#1 17 OA, #46, #49, Fiala (if they can give a similar contract back to take his 7.8M...Anderson, Moore.

No GM will ask for ANYONE else. Maybe Kempe and Panarin.
The Kings MAY be able to improve the team, if a contender overpaid for Kempe. As in give up 3 players.
Or Panarin and give up 2. Yes, this is unlikely and not the best path and would take both of them wanting to go to said team. I'm just saying, if the return was insane, then it can improve the team. Trading Moore, Anderson, doesn't improve the team...you get a hocky trade - decent player for decent player...this doesn't improve your team. A similar trade would be Nicholls for Sandstrom and Granato. 2 good wingers in their prime...Gretz was playing with Igor Liba and Bob Kudelski and suddenly, had 2 very good wingers...made the Kings better...was Nicholls great?? yes. But a center. Who saw that coming?

Pretty sure the info on Panarin was - he wanted Florida team...TBL or Panthers...when NYR couldn't get a deal, Panarin asked for LA. Anyone else hear that? They could offer him now...but that makes little sense, unless the Kings are getting a great return - PLUS - Lavi probably has plans for him.

I'll be pissed if they deal Laff...he honestly gets better and better by the month. He's not the finished product...can you see his first playoffs? 2024...he skated and hit....2025, he had 3 assists...this playoffs, 4 assists and most shots, most hits. He's becoming too valuable and the Kings have no wingers coming up as good as him...Cihar may be good to great in 2 yrs.

If the Kings want to improve, 100%?? That would look like an offer sheet for Dorofeyev or Zach Benson.
But unlikely.
I say call Bergevin (hockey ops Buf) since they are tight and see if the Kings can get a few of their 2 dozen young players: 7 centers - Thompson, McLeod, Norris, Kulich, Krebs (he's better than I knew) Helenius, Ostlund...omg embarrassing riches...and 1 of their D: Dahlin, Byram, Samuelsson, Power, Kesslering, Mrtka, Timmins.

Norris 7.9 M and Power 8.35 M, they may want to move, or be open to moving. Benson, Krebs and Kesselring RFAs and Tuch UFA...they are going to have a hard time, signing all. Get 2 of their players.

 

[unicornpig]

could see gavirkov wanting to come back. he convinced panarin to come here. he probably wasn't expecting to sign his retirement contract with a rebuilding team.

 

[FSL KINGS]

could see gavirkov wanting to come back. he convinced panarin to come here. he probably wasn't expecting to sign his retirement contract with a rebuilding team.

How are the King's any different than NY? We're going to pretend to be a playoff team for a few more seasons & call a rebuild. If Gavrikov wants a competitive team enough to leave, he's going somewhere else.

 

[johnjm22]

My best idea,

Peyton Krebs is honestly an OFFER SHEET possibility... interesting...he could play 3C on the Kings...he's pretty damn good. 1.45 M last year? 3.5 to 4M x 6 . Buf cannot match. 2nd rd pick.

12 goals, 27 assists as 4th C??? The Kings cannot even get 39 pts from 3C. 2 goals, 4 assists in playoffs , plus 3. If your 4c is scoring 6 pts in 13 playoff games? That's close to insane.

Buf has cap problems: Tuch UFA, Benson, Krebs, Kesselring, RFAs. Benson is due big money.
Call Buf and tell them you're considering offer sheets...and let's instead deal. (ok, I guess that's a threat)

Krebs is a 50 pt 3C, I believe and 25 yrs old. A second rd pick?? Why caps? Cuz this idea is that good. lol.

I think part of the Gavrikov departure, was that he's a big family guy and now had 2 kids and his wife co-wears the hockey pants and SHE wanted to go to NY, where there's a larger Russian community.

I think now that he and Panarin are closer friends - and Panarin was first living in Gavy's LA home (may still be) maybe they would want to come back. Many people that come from Europe or Russia...their dream is to live in NY...not knowing that it's not all that. But they still must go there. lol.

I really don't want Trocheck...he turns 33 in a few weeks...the 16 goals is not great...even with the 60+? games he played...not a bad player, but it's time to get 25-28 year olds. The last 7 signed / acquired by Holland:
Perry 40
Ceci 32
Dumoulin 32
Armia 32
Forsberg 32
Panarin 34
Laughton 31/32
All of these players are regressing...maybe slowly, but they're regressing.
Stop with the 32+ year olds.

It's going to be hard to improve this team, in that all GMs will ask for: Byfield, Clarke, Laferriere,
#1 17 OA, #46, #49, Fiala (if they can give a similar contract back to take his 7.8M...Anderson, Moore.

No GM will ask for ANYONE else. Maybe Kempe and Panarin.
The Kings MAY be able to improve the team, if a contender overpaid for Kempe. As in give up 3 players.
Or Panarin and give up 2. Yes, this is unlikely and not the best path and would take both of them wanting to go to said team. I'm just saying, if the return was insane, then it can improve the team. Trading Moore, Anderson, doesn't improve the team...you get a hocky trade - decent player for decent player...this doesn't improve your team. A similar trade would be Nicholls for Sandstrom and Granato. 2 good wingers in their prime...Gretz was playing with Igor Liba and Bob Kudelski and suddenly, had 2 very good wingers...made the Kings better...was Nicholls great?? yes. But a center. Who saw that coming?

Pretty sure the info on Panarin was - he wanted Florida team...TBL or Panthers...when NYR couldn't get a deal, Panarin asked for LA. Anyone else hear that? They could offer him now...but that makes little sense, unless the Kings are getting a great return - PLUS - Lavi probably has plans for him.

I'll be pissed if they deal Laff...he honestly gets better and better by the month. He's not the finished product...can you see his first playoffs? 2024...he skated and hit....2025, he had 3 assists...this playoffs, 4 assists and most shots, most hits. He's becoming too valuable and the Kings have no wingers coming up as good as him...Cihar may be good to great in 2 yrs.

If the Kings want to improve, 100%?? That would look like an offer sheet for Dorofeyev or Zach Benson.
But unlikely.
I say call Bergevin (hockey ops Buf) since they are tight and see if the Kings can get a few of their 2 dozen young players: 7 centers - Thompson, McLeod, Norris, Kulich, Krebs (he's better than I knew) Helenius, Ostlund...omg embarrassing riches...and 1 of their D: Dahlin, Byram, Samuelsson, Power, Kesslering, Mrtka, Timmins.

Norris 7.9 M and Power 8.35 M, they may want to move, or be open to moving. Benson, Krebs and Kesselring RFAs and Tuch UFA...they are going to have a hard time, signing all. Get 2 of their players.

There's talk in Buffalo that McLeod could get traded because of all the centers they have.

Jarmo and Holland have made a trade before. Holland is also familiar with McLeod.

 

[johnjm22]

How are the King's any different than NY?

The Rangers are rebuilding. The Kings aren't.

 

[FSL KINGS]

The Rangers are rebuilding. The Kings aren't.

Yup, the King's haven't thrown in the towel yet. As a player looking at the King's roster how many years would you give the King's util they implode?

If Gavrikov requests a trade because the NYR team sucks, he's not coming to a team that also sucks.

Edit: at the time of Gavrikov's signing, NYR had moved Goodrow, Trouba, Kreider & had wanted to trade more. Gavrikov signing in NYR & not expecting turnover would be short sighted on his part. Possible.

 

[Lt Dan]

I have heard at least 5 different people tell me that they KNOW what the Gavrikov situation is.
Why he left. Why he does or doesn't want to come back.

And EACH of those people SWEARS that the thing THEY KNOW is the REAL DEAL from the horses mouth including former NHL executives, current NHL media people etc

They can't all be true and none of them are prepared to accept that the people they heard it from may have just been saying random shit on a random day.

I heard that Gavrikov left because he knew that Peter Laviolette was going to be hired as the coach in June of 2026

 

[FSL KINGS]

With Kuemper being a question any time he gets contact, wonder if they'll upgrade goaltending. Get a legit starter, move Kuemper. Run Forsberg & the new guy.

Holland is in win now mode. He has two good goalie prospects that won't be ready for some time. Makes sense, especially if we're going to be trading chances.

Really Kings need a Goalie, Defense & top 6 forwards.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Kings have shown they don’t need a star goalie to have some regular season success and make the playoffs. See Talbot.

I would deal Kuemper who has some value with one year left coming off the Olympic invite and roll with Forsberg and Portillo. If Kings want some insurance, sign a AHL vet who has some NHL games and put him in either the AHL with George and Hampton or in the Coast.

 

[Trash Panda]

I’m all for moving on from Kuemper, but I’d say he has little to no value.

Aging goaltenders coming off a poor season, with injury concerns to boot, don’t return much (if anything).

 

[AzKing]

My best idea,

Peyton Krebs is honestly an OFFER SHEET possibility... interesting...he could play 3C on the Kings...he's pretty damn good. 1.45 M last year? 3.5 to 4M x 6 . Buf cannot match. 2nd rd pick.

12 goals, 27 assists as 4th C??? The Kings cannot even get 39 pts from 3C. 2 goals, 4 assists in playoffs , plus 3. If your 4c is scoring 6 pts in 13 playoff games? That's close to insane.

Buf has cap problems: Tuch UFA, Benson, Krebs, Kesselring, RFAs. Benson is due big money.
Call Buf and tell them you're considering offer sheets...and let's instead deal. (ok, I guess that's a threat)

Krebs is a 50 pt 3C, I believe and 25 yrs old. A second rd pick?? Why caps? Cuz this idea is that good. lol.

I think part of the Gavrikov departure, was that he's a big family guy and now had 2 kids and his wife co-wears the hockey pants and SHE wanted to go to NY, where there's a larger Russian community.

I think now that he and Panarin are closer friends - and Panarin was first living in Gavy's LA home (may still be) maybe they would want to come back. Many people that come from Europe or Russia...their dream is to live in NY...not knowing that it's not all that. But they still must go there. lol.

I really don't want Trocheck...he turns 33 in a few weeks...the 16 goals is not great...even with the 60+? games he played...not a bad player, but it's time to get 25-28 year olds. The last 7 signed / acquired by Holland:
Perry 40
Ceci 32
Dumoulin 32
Armia 32
Forsberg 32
Panarin 34
Laughton 31/32
All of these players are regressing...maybe slowly, but they're regressing.
Stop with the 32+ year olds.

It's going to be hard to improve this team, in that all GMs will ask for: Byfield, Clarke, Laferriere,
#1 17 OA, #46, #49, Fiala (if they can give a similar contract back to take his 7.8M...Anderson, Moore.

No GM will ask for ANYONE else. Maybe Kempe and Panarin.
The Kings MAY be able to improve the team, if a contender overpaid for Kempe. As in give up 3 players.
Or Panarin and give up 2. Yes, this is unlikely and not the best path and would take both of them wanting to go to said team. I'm just saying, if the return was insane, then it can improve the team. Trading Moore, Anderson, doesn't improve the team...you get a hocky trade - decent player for decent player...this doesn't improve your team. A similar trade would be Nicholls for Sandstrom and Granato. 2 good wingers in their prime...Gretz was playing with Igor Liba and Bob Kudelski and suddenly, had 2 very good wingers...made the Kings better...was Nicholls great?? yes. But a center. Who saw that coming?

Pretty sure the info on Panarin was - he wanted Florida team...TBL or Panthers...when NYR couldn't get a deal, Panarin asked for LA. Anyone else hear that? They could offer him now...but that makes little sense, unless the Kings are getting a great return - PLUS - Lavi probably has plans for him.

I'll be pissed if they deal Laff...he honestly gets better and better by the month. He's not the finished product...can you see his first playoffs? 2024...he skated and hit....2025, he had 3 assists...this playoffs, 4 assists and most shots, most hits. He's becoming too valuable and the Kings have no wingers coming up as good as him...Cihar may be good to great in 2 yrs.

If the Kings want to improve, 100%?? That would look like an offer sheet for Dorofeyev or Zach Benson.
But unlikely.
I say call Bergevin (hockey ops Buf) since they are tight and see if the Kings can get a few of their 2 dozen young players: 7 centers - Thompson, McLeod, Norris, Kulich, Krebs (he's better than I knew) Helenius, Ostlund...omg embarrassing riches...and 1 of their D: Dahlin, Byram, Samuelsson, Power, Kesslering, Mrtka, Timmins.

Norris 7.9 M and Power 8.35 M, they may want to move, or be open to moving. Benson, Krebs and Kesselring RFAs and Tuch UFA...they are going to have a hard time, signing all. Get 2 of their players.

It will be interesting to see when Tuch ends up. He wants $10.5 and not many teams can absorb that hit. He just turned 30 and is a solid producer.

 

[Trash Panda]

It will be interesting to see when Tuch ends up. He wants $10.5 and not many teams can absorb that hit. He just turned 30 and is a solid producer.

The salary cap is going up by 8.5 million dollars for 2026-2027.

So by default, nearly everyone can afford to absorb that hit (in a vacuum).

 

[AzKing]

The salary cap is going up by 8.5 million dollars for 2026-2027.

So by default, nearly everyone can afford to absorb that hit (in a vacuum).

Can and Will are two different things though because he's gonna want at least 5 years. Most of the top teams are probably going to waive that type of commitment off. The teams on the fringe are the ones that may be more inclined to take the risk.

 

[Fat Elvis]

McLeod or Norris from Buffalo would be nice. Just don't know if LA has the assets that Buff is looking for.

 

[Trash Panda]

Can and Will are two different things though because he's gonna want at least 5 years. Most of the top teams are probably going to waive that type of commitment off. The teams on the fringe are the ones that may be more inclined to take the risk.

I think with how weak the UFA class is otherwise, you’d be surprised.

This summer is gonna see some elite numbers thrown at mediocre players.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Not at all opposed to Gavrikov returning - wonder if something like this would get it done:

2027 2nd round pick, Brian Dumoulin, and a throw in prospect

Gavrikov has a full NMC so the Rangers would only have a couple teams to work with - We could fleece them again!!

Gavrikov - Clarke
Anderson - Doughty
Edmundson - Ceci

Is a step in the right direction - Then just find a way to upgrade one of Edmundson / Ceci (preferably Ceci obviously) and the blue line goes from dog shit to not half bad.

 

[DoktorJeep]

If Gavrikov is playing third fiddle to Drew and Mikey, does he want to come back?

 

[Mats26]

We missed Gavri, he should of been on the top pair this past season with Clarke. Now I got a bad feeling that Holland will be calling the Oilers for Nurse. That contract is ugly.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

Kind of like the idea of Kesselring as a cheap reclamation project if Buffalo is getting squeezed. McLeod and Krebs are also interesting. Not one iota interested in Norris.

 

[Choralone]

When I see Nurse, I see the trolley boy from Hot Fuzz. "Yarp."

 

[lumbergh]

The Canes just won the Cup without a single playoff minute from Jesperi Kotkaniemi. I think they might be willing to move Kotkaniemi for very little in return. Could he be a fit for a 2C role? Canes fans think he's a poor fit for Rod BrindAmour's system, but he has good size and skill for a top nine role.

Maybe a Kotkaniemi for Turcotte swap? Two highly drafted centers that need a change of scenery. Turcotte would be a good fit for Carolina's aggressive forecheck.