The LA Kings need help.
And from the looks of things, this franchise could be primed for the most significant change in a long, long time.
What will that look like, and how widespread are we talking about?
Obviously, the retirement of Anze Kopitar leaves a hole in several areas, for starters. The team also just wrapped up their season with an interim coach behind the bench. What’s next with that situation? Who will be the next captain? Several of these topics are even intertwined to a certain degree.
One thing is for certain; this isn’t going to be a quick fix. Firing this person, hiring that guy, or trading for this player won’t suddenly wave a magic wand and correct whatever is ailing this club over the past five, ten, or twelve years (going back to their last playoff series win in 2014 — yes, it’s been that long).
However, things should look drastically different in less than 90 days.
How so? Let’s get into it via a rather summarized fashion. This could easily be a 5,000-word essay or 10-part series. Instead, let’s do a quick overview and then break it down further during some upcoming podcasts, where additional context can be offered.
1. Rebuild, Retool, or Reimagine
This isn’t about a marketing slogan and there hasn’t been a ‘plan’ laid out publicly. Even so, some yet-to-be-determined word or phrase that will begin gaining traction in the days and weeks ahead is rather immaterial. Knowing that a rebuild isn’t very likely at all — that isn’t what GM Ken Holland was hired to do — this is about working diligently to recreate what used to be. Redesign it, from the ground up, if need be.
Once upon a time, LA was a team with a clear identity and a vision for how to be one of the best groups in the NHL, both on and off the ice.
Tinkering on the margins won’t be good enough.
While remaining competitive is the current direction, there still needs to be a bigger-picture approach. This is a rare summer ahead. A fresh start is available to the Kings across multiple fronts, an opportunity rarely afforded professional sports franchises. Synergies need to be found; complementary pieces need to be connected. This should be a giant puzzle project, not just a hodgepodge of random parts assembled.
The assumption is Luc Robitaille returns as Team President, as does Holland in his current role. Time to get to work, as nearly everything else is a blank canvas.
2. The Next Captain
This section can be kept rather short, even though it’s a question that comes up all the time. The proper answer is, it’s way too soon for a decision.
Clearly, the Kings need a new identity. And that will be closely tied to the person who ultimately has the ‘C’ sewn on their jersey.
To put it simply, there are probably three leading candidates for the job: Adrian Kempe, Mikey Anderson, and a player to be named later. That last note isn’t a hedge against a surprise name among their other players; it’s a direct hint that the next LA captain may not even be under contract with the organization at this time.
Therefore, get a roster together, along with a coach. Then, we’ll circle back on the appointed leader.
3. The Defense
Let’s get right to the elephant in the room, Drew Doughty’s status. We did a deep dive on the topic here about a week ago. It’s worth a listen when grappling with the reality — and gravity — of the situation.
Doughty is on the Mt. Rushmore of LA Kings players. He’ll be in the Hockey Hall of Fame one day. He also only has one year remaining on his contract and wants to continue playing for four more seasons (i.e. until he’s 40). With no plans to retire anytime soon, this is starting to feel like Jonathan Quick 2.0, and nobody should want anything even remotely similar to go down again.
Both sides need to have an honest talk about what next summer looks like. If the two sides aren’t moving forward with a contract extension, now might be the perfect time to move on from each other. With Kopitar leaving, the organization is about to embark on what should be a truly new era. The Lombardi days are long gone. Doughty might be best served to launch his second act with a club that better suits the goals he has for himself at this point in his career.
There’s also the larger blueline topic to navigate. LA can’t come back next season with the same six defensemen. They simply can’t.
A quick overview says Anderson, Brandt Clarke, and Cody Ceci are the three least likely to leave. Which leaves Doughty, Brian Dumoulin, and Joel Edmundson as the trio to talk about. Two have to go.
We’ll save the bulk of trade speculation and possible roster configuration for later articles. Even so, it’s worth noting the Kings only have one NHL-ready defenseman at AHL Ontario, maybe two. Angus Booth, who made his debut a few months ago, is ready to go. Listen here to get a better idea of just how good he’s been for the Reign, while paired with a first-year guy in Kirill Kirsanov. Are they good enough to be a third pair in LA next season? The only opinion that really matters on that comes from Holland, as he has the deciding vote.
It’s not likely, though, because that would also push Ceci to the second pair.
4. What to do at Center
Perhaps the most important thing to start with here is money. As noted in several recent radio appearances and podcast discussions about this critical topic, we don’t expect the Kings to spend to the salary cap next season. This is an important distinction to understand, especially considering for the better part of a decade they’ve been spending up to the cap ceiling. That’s no longer the case. Even this past season, they didn’t spend all their money. It’s a trend we expect to continue this summer and on into next year.
What’s important to note, though, is that won’t stop them from having players on big contracts. How does that align with what was just said? Simple, the bigger contracts are offset by players on deals carrying an AAV under $1.5M. So, guys like Adrian Kempe or Artemi Panarin will still be on the books with deals carrying cap hits over $10M. Those will be offset by guys on entry-level contracts. As the saying goes, this isn’t Xbox. Just because they have cap space to spend doesn’t mean they will.
Basically, they’ll have an internal budget, and that number can be chopped up any way Holland sees fit. We only bring this up because it further complicates any potential trades in the coming months. Can they acquire somebody with a big contract? Sure. Just understand that Holland would then also likely need to move dollars out to make it all work.
Acquiring Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk (who isn’t a center), Robert Thomas from St. Louis, Auston Matthews from Toronto — or any other big name — will be difficult enough for the Kings to put a package together because of the assets needed. Teams know LA is desperate and they’ll be asking for Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, one of the young goalies, first-round picks, etc. However, it’s more complicated for Holland; he’ll need to balance the books too. He can’t simply trade away a bunch of young, inexpensive assets to acquire a center (or more scoring, for that matter).
Trading Byfield to get a center also creates other problems. Namely, they need another center, not a one-for-one roster swap. Sending away their 23-year-old pivot creates a hole defensively and still leaves them needing a top-six center.
Cap, assets going out the door, and positional need. That’s one heck of a needle to thread.
There’s also the matter of a 3C. Scott Laughton’s brief time in LA was successful by all accounts. It appears there is mutual interest in continuing the relationship. How much will that cost, and how will the Kings tuck it in under their overall budgeted number?
Some quick math would suggest Kopitar’s money coming off the books can be used to ink Clarke to a new deal. That’s close to a wash. However, Kempe will make about $5M more next season. Panarin will make about $5M more next year too. That’s a roughly $10M increase, plus whatever Laughton costs (and he’ll certainly cost more than his $1.5M from this past season).
So, some money needs to be moved out. And if they’re adding a contract or two via trade, they’ll almost surely be looking to move money out.
Not re-signing Andrei Kuzmenko frees up about $4M. That’s not enough.
With goaltender Erik Portillo expected to be in the NHL next season, along with Anton Forsberg’s late-season performance, it isn’t hard to connect some dots here. If Darcy Kuemper is the odd man out, that’s another $5M coming off the books. Combined with Kuzmenko, that essentially neutralizes the Kempe and Panarin increases.
Fine, Holland is back to a baseline number. Now, bring in a legit top-six center and he’s right back to the beginning of also needing to ship out money if they’re not going to spend to the cap ceiling.
5. The Coaching Staff
We broke down who we believe are the current top two candidates here. Spoiler alert, it’s not Bruce Cassidy, nor is it David Carle.
Solving the bench boss riddle will heavily play into the team’s new identity. Getting it right is paramount. It’s going to take a master orchestrator. If this summer truly is an offseason of change in Los Angeles, the new coach will need to work in concert with the new captain to usher in this new era. Getting everybody on the same page, holding people accountable, and elevating the potential synergy of the group will be essential if they’re to have any success in 2026-27.
We’re also expecting assistant coach Matt Greene to return to his previous role with the development staff. Maybe he caught the coaching bug in his brief trial run and wants to come back. It would be a bit surprising, but certainly welcome. As for Newell Brown, he’s assumed to be under contract for one more year. Beyond that note, the tea leaves would suggest a change could be coming — resulting in three new voices leading the players.
It all starts now. As cloudy and confusing as it may be over the next three months. By mid-July, the picture will be much clearer. There will be more answers available than the laundry list of questions currently facing the organization.
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