
Import some grit, find a starting goalie, and sign Quinton Byfield.
Check, check, and check. Done.
Those were the trio of significant items for Kings GM Rob Blake to accomplish heading into his offseason. Beyond those major tasks, of course, there were also several secondary puzzle pieces to be worked out — all of which have also been completed, sans one rather complex situation… and we’ll get to that topic in just a moment.
Following a pair of free agent signings (Warren Foegele, Joel Edmundson) and a pair of trades (Darcy Kuemper and Tanner Jeannot), the Kings 23-man roster is largely set. There’s a little wiggle room available at the bottom of the lineup, but not much. For now, the biggest question is how will it all fit together?


Perfectly Paired?
Unlike past years, where it was rather easy to put the line combinations together, coach Jim Hiller enters the 2024-25 campaign with the team in a bit of a transition phase. Rather than think of lines, it’s likely best to focus on pairs for now. The two ‘for sure’ pairs are expected to be Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe on the top line, along with another pair consisting of Byfield and Kevin Fiala. From there, it gets a little dicey right out of the gate. When training camp opens, another potential pair will feature Trevor Moore and Phil Danault; they’ve played together quite a bit and found enough success last season to help spur the former into a 31-goal season.
What about the fourth line? Well, that all really depends on what Hiller does with his top three lines. Even that is a point of contention for some people, as you could argue Byfield’s line will be the second line or the third line. Ideally, Danault has always been thought of as the future 3C. Is that now? Will Byfield be slotted in for 2C minutes on Day 1 or will that line work to earn more time as the season wears along? Given that the answers aren’t readily available — and it will likely be a moving target for the next few months — just think of them as line 2A and 2B. Maybe that will make it easier for now.
Up next are the kids and the additions. Hiller will need to sprinkle Foegele into the lineup, and that’s most likely going to start alongside Byfield. The two train together in the offseason and both seemed to indicate a desire to be paired up during their separate media availabilities this summer.
Assuming that happens, the question becomes, where will Hiller place Jeannot? And what about rookies Akil Thomas and Alex Turcotte?
We see those questions as all sort of linked together. It just depends which domino gets played first.
At the end of the season, there was some internal chatter about playing Alex Laferriere on the Kopitar-Kempe line (and that’s why we put him there for now). This could easily change. Would Hiller perhaps load up and move Moore onto the top line to give him more offensive opportunities than he may see with Danault? To do that, would he simply flip Laferriere and Moore in the above projected lineup?
That’s an important decision, as it then impacts where the other players go. If Laferriere and Moore are holding down those two spots regardless of which player gets LW1, that could mean Turcotte goes to 4C. And if Turcotte is 4C, it makes more sense to us to use Jeannot as his winger.
What about using Turcotte at LW1, though? That could really free things up. Perhaps something like this:
Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Foegele
Moore – Danault – Laferriere
Jeannot – Thomas – Lewis/Fagemo
Now, Turcotte fans will love that idea. Here’s our concern: We see Thomas at wing more likely than Turcotte. And to get Thomas onto the wing, Turcotte likely needs to be the 4C.
Finally, it was initially suggested Jeannot would play a middle-6 role in LA. While that may be true at times, it just doesn’t feel like that spreads out the offense enough and/or will give the rookies enough playing time.
We’ll have to see what Hiller has in store next month.
What About Kaliyev?
Rather than write a 4,000 word essay on Kaliyev, let’s opt for the much shorter version. His trade value just isn’t there. We still believe in his abilities at the NHL level and think a 20-game run with somebody like Byfield or Turcotte could highlight his strengths. Yet, the reality is, the Kings couldn’t even get a fifth round pick for Kaliyev at the NHL Draft.
So, what’s the plan? Trading him during training camp is always a possibility. There’s always a team that has an unexpected injury before opening night and their GM enters the trade market earlier than expected.
Assuming that doesn’t happen, Kaliyev’s best option would be to play for the Kings and rebuild his image. Force other clubs to take notice and hope that a new opportunity presents itself in, say, November or December. Who knows, maybe he even gets a fresh start under Hiller and ends up enjoying the new Kings structure.
For any of those latter suggestions to take place, he’ll need to sign a contract. He’s currently a restricted free agent with little leverage. Kaliyev was qualified, meaning the Kings offered him a one-year contract at $874,125 (a 5% increase over his prior year’s base salary). Could he sign a longer term deal? Anything is possible. However, signing his qualifying offer is most likely the best play if he plans on staying in the NHL.
That’s right, we’ve quietly started to hear that he could be headed to the KHL if a trade isn’t worked out before training camp opens on Sept. 18.
If he does depart the organization somehow, his roster spot could potentially be taken by Andre Lee, who is coming off a breakout season with AHL Ontario in 2023-24.
Is Englund Still in the Plans?
For now, Englund is slated to be the team’s seventh defenseman. He was one of only six Kings players (and only two defensemen) to play in all 82 games last season and is entering the final year of his contract, which carries a $1M AAV.
Other options include Jacob Moverare ($775K) and Kyle Burroughs $1.1M). Neither player would cause much of a change to the team’s salary cap situation. Moverare has seen spot duty with the big club each of the past three seasons and has proven to be more than capable while manning the left side.
Burroughs was acquired this offseason via a trade with San Jose for Carl Grundstrom. Known more for his physical style of play than anything else, Burroughs racked up 71 penalty minutes in 73 games with the Sharks last year.
All three players will require waivers to be sent to Ontario after training camp, so at least two of them are going to need to clear. Burroughs and Moverare both have two years remaining on their deals, which should dissuade most teams. Englund may not be as easy to sneak through waivers.
How Does Portillo Fit In?
Although he’s the No. 1 goaltending prospect in LA’s system, Portillo remains No. 4 on the Kings NHL depth chart.
For a deeper look into his situation, be sure to check out the article linked above. Essentially, Kuemper and David Rittich are slotted in as the two goalies to start off in the NHL. Waiting in the wings — and looking to get back up with the Kings after being downed after just eight games last season (ACL injury) — is veteran Pheonix Copley. He signed a league-minimum deal to return to the organization for one more year. Should either of the first two falter, Copley is hoping he’ll get another chance in the NHL. Until then, he’ll be sharing duties with Portillo in the Reign crease for coach Marco Sturm.
What About a Trade for More Scoring?
Even though Blake and the Kings are projected to begin the season with about $1.5M in cap space, we don’t anticipate any significant trades or additions before training camp begins. Assuming everybody shows up healthy next month at Toyota Sports Performance Center, the working plan is to let the kids play. They’ve been developing in Ontario, now the club wants to see what Turcotte, Thomas, Clarke, etc. can do with full-time NHL roles. If something isn’t working to management’s liking, trades become more of a realistic option starting in January.
After all, they still have Sammy Fagemo to work into this entire conversation too. He could slot in on just about any line and potentially take minutes away from one of the players talked about above.
If there’s one piece that could throw all of this into a bit of chaos, it’s Kaliyev. His return to the team would cause Hiller to re-shuffle the forwards one way or another. Conversely, if a trade happened in the coming weeks, that could potentially cause the Kings to re-look at what they have. However, indications are, Hiller and his staff have plenty of options on the table with the names mentioned throughout this article — making training camp and preseason configurations an interesting thing to look forward to next month.
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