In this series, we take a look at each team and see what they’ve done over the offseason. Next up is the Los Angeles Kings.
Key additions: Corey Perry, Joel Armia, Cody Ceci, Brian Dumoulin, Samuel Bolduc, Anton Forsberg
The Kings have made a flurry of depth additions, most notably Corey Perry who continues to drink the fountain of youth at age 40. They are hoping his grit and tenacity can carry them farther in the playoffs, where they have lost in the 1st round to the Oilers in 4 straight years. The Cody Ceci contract is a curious one as the club hopes he can help make up for the loss of Vlad Gavrikov on the backend. Forsberg replaces Rittich as the team’s backup. They also extended fan favorite Andrei Kuzmenko.
Key subtractions: Tanner Jeannot, Vladislav Gavrikov, Caleb Jones, David Rittich
The Kings have made far more gains than losses. However, the loss of Gavrikov is a tough one as he was one of their better defenseman. Besides that, the Kings have not lost much.
Highest draft pick: Henry Brzustewicz, 31st overall
Salary cap space: $6.7 million
Staff: Former Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland joins the Kings as their new general manager. Otherwise, the coaching staff will be the same with Jim Hiller returning for his 3rd season as Kings bench boss.
Other: The Kings still have cap space available if they wish to make more moves this summer. But due to the quantity of moves they’ve already made it wouldn’t be surprising if this was it for the offseason.
All transactions available via puck pedia
