Confirmed with Link Kings name Holland their 10th GM in History

[hokiecat]

”Perpetual whining”? ”somehow getting an unfair advantage”? Are you seriously saying that this isn’t a real thing?

Since I live in Sweden I couldn’t care less about how you americans pay your taxes in the different states. But there is no way you can make me think that strictly from a hockey point of view there isn’t an extreme advantage for Tampa, Florida and some other teams that they can pay their star players 1-2 mill less per year than Kings can.

I don’t care a bit about the politics behind that, to me it’s simple math and that’s just not right.

It's simple math. Yet, it doesn't seem to impact the NFL or the NBA which also have salary caps. Nashville has no state income tax and they stink. Florida has extended players at team friendly deals but the roster was built with great moves. Verhaeghe was not tendered by Tampa and signed with FL as a UFA. Forsling was picked up from the waiver wire. Montour was traded for a 3rd rounder and exploded on the scene when Florida traded Huberdeau and Weeger. OEL was unwanted and revived his career. Seth Jones looks amazing. The taxes don't hurt but that FL front office is amazing.

Again, if it is so unfair, then the CA legislature can pass a hockey players exemption to help the Kings, Sharks, and Ducks be more competitive.

 

[Halfwall]

It's simple math. Yet, it doesn't seem to impact the NFL or the NBA which also have salary caps. Nashville has no state income tax and they stink. Florida has extended players at team friendly deals but the roster was built with great moves. Verhaeghe was not tendered by Tampa and signed with FL as a UFA. Forsling was picked up from the waiver wire. Montour was traded for a 3rd rounder and exploded on the scene when Florida traded Huberdeau and Weeger. OEL was unwanted and revived his career. Seth Jones looks amazing. The taxes don't hurt but that FL front office is amazing.

Again, if it is so unfair, then the CA legislature can pass a hockey players exemption to help the Kings, Sharks, and Ducks be more competitive.

Or just cut taxes if they want to be CA to be competitive.

 

[Clif]

It's simple math. Yet, it doesn't seem to impact the NFL or the NBA which also have salary caps. Nashville has no state income tax and they stink. Florida has extended players at team friendly deals but the roster was built with great moves. Verhaeghe was not tendered by Tampa and signed with FL as a UFA. Forsling was picked up from the waiver wire. Montour was traded for a 3rd rounder and exploded on the scene when Florida traded Huberdeau and Weeger. OEL was unwanted and revived his career. Seth Jones looks amazing. The taxes don't hurt but that FL front office is amazing.

Again, if it is so unfair, then the CA legislature can pass a hockey players exemption to help the Kings, Sharks, and Ducks be more competitive.

It’s massive balls to trade a 100+ pt center AND a promising young defenseman for any player. But they did it and Tkachuk proved to be a player you truly do go all in for. Tampa Bay was beating up on FL and the entire team got grittier once Tkachuk arrived.

As for the rest of the moves you mentioned, moneyball genius. Gotta love the game.

 

[emsomaso]

It's simple math. Yet, it doesn't seem to impact the NFL or the NBA which also have salary caps. Nashville has no state income tax and they stink. Florida has extended players at team friendly deals but the roster was built with great moves. Verhaeghe was not tendered by Tampa and signed with FL as a UFA. Forsling was picked up from the waiver wire. Montour was traded for a 3rd rounder and exploded on the scene when Florida traded Huberdeau and Weeger. OEL was unwanted and revived his career. Seth Jones looks amazing. The taxes don't hurt but that FL front office is amazing.

Again, if it is so unfair, then the CA legislature can pass a hockey players exemption to help the Kings, Sharks, and Ducks be more competitive.

Yes, of course you can have ”more” money than others and still suck. And of course this isn’t all that matters, you still have to make good trades!

But to say that it isn’t even an advantage to be able to pay your already existing star players + the players you’ve traded for way less money when teams with no state income tax, Florida and Vegas, have won four of the past five Stanley Cups is not accurate, at least IMO. And it also allows teams in these low-tax states to stretch their salary cap further, helping then have greater depth and balance.

This is what Filip Forsberg said when he signed his new deal with his no-tax team:
“I think every place certainly has its advantages, whether it’s [lifestyle], taxes is certainly a part of it, and at the end of the day, that does play quite a bit of difference on our salary,” Forsberg said. “It’s a fair point. I’m not disagreeing with it. It’s above my pay grade whether to decide if it’s right or wrong.”

So to me, this would be up to the NHL to fix. Not a local thing that should be fixed in the CA.

But let’s agree to disagree and move on! It’s not like it’s up to us to fix this anyway…

 

[Statue4Deano]

It's simple math. Yet, it doesn't seem to impact the NFL or the NBA which also have salary caps. Nashville has no state income tax and they stink. Florida has extended players at team friendly deals but the roster was built with great moves. Verhaeghe was not tendered by Tampa and signed with FL as a UFA. Forsling was picked up from the waiver wire. Montour was traded for a 3rd rounder and exploded on the scene when Florida traded Huberdeau and Weeger. OEL was unwanted and revived his career. Seth Jones looks amazing. The taxes don't hurt but that FL front office is amazing.

Again, if it is so unfair, then the CA legislature can pass a hockey players exemption to help the Kings, Sharks, and Ducks be more competitive.

The NHL is truly in a different league when you compare the total dollars paid to its most significant stars. So you can’t really compare it to the NBA where star players make $50M a season. Or the NFL where the 10th best QB routinely makes $20M a season.

Sidney Crosby has never made more than $9M in a season. McDavid has a cap hit of $12.5M. The biggest cap hit in the league is $13.25M. That’s the reason a lot of these guys are obsessed with squeezing every last dollar out of their contract. And they want that money immediately.

The MLB has figured out how to entice players with deferred money contracts and in markets like LA they offer signing bonuses before the season starts so a player who lives in a state with no income tax can take a large portion of their pay with no CA state tax.

If the NHL were to adopt a salary cap with a base rate that’s adjusted to local economy you absolutely would see a shift in how many players favor states with no income tax. An adjusted salary cap would allow a team like Vancouver or Toronto 16% extra to sign those big UFAs. LA would get about 13% extra cap space.

 

[dannybuoy1]

Yes since the legion of John Tyler devotees would resent it.

jom

TBH I was hoping to be all inclusive by throwing a bone to offer a Julia Tyler minuet hour.

 

[VCRW]

Boo hoo!
I'm equally sick of the perpetual whining that FL and TX and other teams are somehow getting an unfair advantage because of their low tax rates. We can all go to the state assembly and ask for an athletes exemption so that the Kings, Ducks, and Sharks can build a better team. LMK how that turns out for you.

Okay… you got your rant out… but why would you quote my simple request? I have no connection to the conversations about state and local taxation. Confused. I think most of us want LGK to be an escape from the political chaos.

 

[King of Pentacle5]

I was looking at the buyout option for DD. The Kings would save a boatload of cap space for the next two seasons by doing so. And with the cap increasing the Kings would have a lot more resources to sign extensions, much needed FAs or include cash in trades over the next two seasons.

As much as I hate to say it, because the guy has been an amazing player for the Kings, they might do better in the long run by buying him out.

 

[JasonU]

I was looking at the buyout option for DD. The Kings would save a boatload of cap space for the next two seasons by doing so. And with the cap increasing the Kings would have a lot more resources to sign extensions, much needed FAs or include cash in trades over the next two seasons.

As much as I hate to say it, because the guy has been an amazing player for the Kings, they might do better in the long run by buying him out.View attachment 12125

I wonder why the Kings have problems attracting big name players to their team

 

[DryKing]

I was looking at the buyout option for DD. The Kings would save a boatload of cap space for the next two seasons by doing so. And with the cap increasing the Kings would have a lot more resources to sign extensions, much needed FAs or include cash in trades over the next two seasons.

As much as I hate to say it, because the guy has been an amazing player for the Kings, they might do better in the long run by buying him out.View attachment 12125

Better yet, trade him and retain $3-4m of salary. That would both save more money and yield us a pretty good return. That said, it only happens if Doughty decides he wants to move on and take another shot with a Cup contender.

As much as Doughty is overpaid, and he definitely is, he still provides a good deal of value to the team. Given the new contracts being handed out, he might actually end up being fairly paid by the time his contract expires.

 

[Clif]

I was looking at the buyout option for DD. The Kings would save a boatload of cap space for the next two seasons by doing so. And with the cap increasing the Kings would have a lot more resources to sign extensions, much needed FAs or include cash in trades over the next two seasons.

As much as I hate to say it, because the guy has been an amazing player for the Kings, they might do better in the long run by buying him out.View attachment 12125

Fan fiction

 

[salami]

Better yet, trade him and retain $3-4m of salary. That would both save more money and yield us a pretty good return. That said, it only happens if Doughty decides he wants to move on and take another shot with a Cup contender.

As much as Doughty is overpaid, and he definitely is, he still provides a good deal of value to the team. Given the new contracts being handed out, he might actually end up being fairly paid by the time his contract expires.

Respectfully, you don't trade Doughty unless he requests it, which he won't. He needs to heal from the leg-break, and he'll be a true #1 defenseman again. His passion and love for the team are difficult if not impossible to replace. Just my $.02.

 

[DoubleMinor]

Respectfully, you don't trade Doughty unless he requests it, which he won't. He needs to heal from the leg-break, and he'll be a true #1 defenseman again. His passion and love for the team are difficult if not impossible to replace. Just my $.02.

This is accurate. DD isn’t going anywhere. And we shouldn’t judge too harshly after his injury season.
While he will not be the 28/year old player there is still enough there to keep him through this contract.
The Kings org took a hit with Quick and they will not repeat it with Dd or Kopi.
The Kings need to monitor DD the next few of years, less minutes and hard minutes.
I just don’t see DD as a problem that needs to be addressed.

 

[McSorleyFan]

This is accurate. DD isn’t going anywhere. And we shouldn’t judge too harshly after his injury season.
While he will not be the 28/year old player there is still enough there to keep him through this contract.
The Kings org took a hit with Quick and they will not repeat it with Dd or Kopi.
The Kings need to monitor DD the next few of years, less minutes and hard minutes.
I just don’t see DD as a problem that needs to be addressed.

I agree and hope Kings mgmt feels the same. Kopi needs to make a decision next year and I hope they're talking. Retire (38?) or sign 1 year contracts from here on out. Hopefully, discounted to reflect his declining use on the ice. I'd take a 38 year old Kopitar as a 2nd, 3rd line center over anyone (who has that same role) in this league.
Same goes for Doughty, when his current contract expires. He'll be 37 (38 in Dec if he extends).
As for the rest ...
Gavy - plz re-sign
Kuz - walk
Jeannot - walk
Lewis - walk
Rittich - walk
Ward - walk
Go hard after Bennett/Marner
Go somewhat hard after Boeser/Ehlers/Provorov(if no Gavy)

Package up the likes of Turcotte, Thomas, Moore, picks to get an impact top 6 forward.
Work at extending Kempe. Or, trade him for the above as well.

 

[DryKing]

I agree and hope Kings mgmt feels the same. Kopi needs to make a decision next year and I hope they're talking. Retire (38?) or sign 1 year contracts from here on out. Hopefully, discounted to reflect his declining use on the ice. I'd take a 38 year old Kopitar as a 2nd, 3rd line center over anyone (who has that same role) in this league.
Same goes for Doughty, when his current contract expires. He'll be 37 (38 in Dec if he extends).
As for the rest ...
Gavy - plz re-sign
Kuz - walk
Jeannot - walk
Lewis - walk
Rittich - walk
Ward - walk
Go hard after Bennett/Marner
Go somewhat hard after Boeser/Ehlers/Provorov(if no Gavy)

Package up the likes of Turcotte, Thomas, Moore, picks to get an impact top 6 forward.
Work at extending Kempe. Or, trade him for the above as well.

Trading Tucotte really doesn't make any sense. He is on a $775k AAV through 26/27 and hasn't yet hit is stride. Even still, he is a great value for the $. and he has relatively low trade value. Kings would be better off holding him to see how he develops and trading him once his value is up if they decide to part ways with him (though I really think the Kings should hold on to him).

 

[DoubleMinor]

Trading Tucotte really doesn't make any sense. He is on a $775k AAV through 26/27 and hasn't yet hit is stride. Even still, he is a great value for the $. and he has relatively low trade value. Kings would be better off holding him to see how he develops and trading him once his value is up if they decide to part ways with him (though I really think the Kings should hold on to him).

I agree that the Kings would be trading Turcotte at the low end and of his value. He does have skill and has shown at times his potential.

My concern is with his ability to stay in the lineup. His injury history is troublesome.
It’s a dilemma with Turcotte. He needs to be aggressive on the ice but that aggressiveness puts him in bad position and causes him to take some bad hits, which puts him out of the lineup. Turc needs to figure out how to avoid that while still playing the type of game that will allow him to be a regular who can produce.

 

[DoubleMinor]

I agree and hope Kings mgmt feels the same. Kopi needs to make a decision next year and I hope they're talking. Retire (38?) or sign 1 year contracts from here on out. Hopefully, discounted to reflect his declining use on the ice. I'd take a 38 year old Kopitar as a 2nd, 3rd line center over anyone (who has that same role) in this league.
Same goes for Doughty, when his current contract expires. He'll be 37 (38 in Dec if he extends).
As for the rest ...
Gavy - plz re-sign
Kuz - walk
Jeannot - walk
Lewis - walk
Rittich - walk
Ward - walk
Go hard after Bennett/Marner
Go somewhat hard after Boeser/Ehlers/Provorov(if no Gavy)

Package up the likes of Turcotte, Thomas, Moore, picks to get an impact top 6 forward.
Work at extending Kempe. Or, trade him for the above as well.

Agree with most of this.
Kopi still can play. But I don’t know that he can withstand 82 games of 20-minutes a night, PK and PP duty, and still get through a playoff run.

He could absolutely still play in a diminished role at a discounted price for a couple more years, IF he wants that.

Kempe is a no-brainer. Kings have to keep him. Even at a cap hit of 10-12 million. They have enough cap room to lock him up for a long time.

Gavy should come back. With the cap going up I’d take him for as much as 8M for 4-5 years. He was their #1 Defenseman this year.

Jeannot I have interest in. I think he’s worth a contract at minimal hit and term.

Kuzmenko is a question. He helped the top line and PP. But at what cost? Depends on what other moves happen. I suspect he’s likely gone.

I think Bennett is going to be too costly. I wouldn’t give him 8-12M for 7 years. And that will be the cost.

Marner is tempting. But at his cost you must be right that he’s the missing piece. That part is above my pay-grade.

Boeser is a second-tier guy. But as a middle-six guy he is attractive. Again, depends on other moves.

 

[DryKing]

Agree with most of this.
Kopi still can play. But I don’t know that he can withstand 82 games of 20-minutes a night, PK and PP duty, and still get through a playoff run.

He could absolutely still play in a diminished role at a discounted price for a couple more years, IF he wants that.

Kempe is a no-brainer. Kings have to keep him. Even at a cap hit of 10-12 million. They have enough cap room to lock him up for a long time.

Gavy should come back. With the cap going up I’d take him for as much as 8M for 4-5 years. He was their #1 Defenseman this year.

Jeannot I have interest in. I think he’s worth a contract at minimal hit and term.

Kuzmenko is a question. He helped the top line and PP. But at what cost? Depends on what other moves happen. I suspect he’s likely gone.

I think Bennett is going to be too costly. I wouldn’t give him 8-12M for 7 years. And that will be the cost.

Marner is tempting. But at his cost you must be right that he’s the missing piece. That part is above my pay-grade.

Boeser is a second-tier guy. But as a middle-six guy he is attractive. Again, depends on other moves.

Kopi's biggest obstacle is going to be speed - will he have the speed to keep up with the game as he continues to age. That said, the guy is amazing and still has more years left in him if he wants it.

I don't see Kempe's AAV coming in at $12m. I think Kempe is great and he should get a little extra as he has been on a very team friendly contract for awhile now, but if Rantanan got $12m/AAV Kempe is probably in the $10m region.

$8m for Gav sounds right, but I expect other teams may offer him more. It'll be interesting to see how that one plays out as the Kings really can't afford to overpay as they goal needs to be to improve the roster.

Jeannot 100% needs to be brought back at a reasonable contract. He would have been a difference maker had he been healthy enough to suit up for the playoffs.

Agree with most of this.
Kopi still can play. But I don’t know that he can withstand 82 games of 20-minutes a night, PK and PP duty, and still get through a playoff run.

He could absolutely still play in a diminished role at a discounted price for a couple more years, IF he wants that.

Kempe is a no-brainer. Kings have to keep him. Even at a cap hit of 10-12 million. They have enough cap room to lock him up for a long time.

Gavy should come back. With the cap going up I’d take him for as much as 8M for 4-5 years. He was their #1 Defenseman this year.

Jeannot I have interest in. I think he’s worth a contract at minimal hit and term.

Kuzmenko is a question. He helped the top line and PP. But at what cost? Depends on what other moves happen. I suspect he’s likely gone.

I think Bennett is going to be too costly. I wouldn’t give him 8-12M for 7 years. And that will be the cost.

Marner is tempting. But at his cost you must be right that he’s the missing piece. That part is above my pay-grade.

Boeser is a second-tier guy. But as a middle-six guy he is attractive. Again, depends on other moves.

Kopi's biggest obstacle is going to be speed - will he have the speed to keep up with the game as he continues to age. That said, the guy is amazing and still has more years left in him if he wants it.

I don't see Kempe's AAV coming in at $12m. I think Kempe is great and he should get a little extra as he has been on a very team friendly contract for awhile now, but if Rantanan got $12m/AAV Kempe is probably in the $10m region.

$8m for Gav sounds right, but I expect other teams may offer him more. It'll be interesting to see how that one plays out as the Kings really can't afford to overpay as they goal needs to be to improve the roster.

Jeannot 100% needs to be brought back at a reasonable contract. He would have been a difference maker had he been healthy enough to suit up for the playoffs.

Bennett is such a hard player to price. He reminds me a lot of a Claude Lemieux - good during the regular season and a beast come playoff time. For a team like the Kings, this is a prime guy to target but what is a reasonable AAV? I put his AAV under Kempe's so maybe $8-9m? If the price is reasonable, or a slight overpay, the Kings have to go for it.

Marner I would go all-in on but again I don't see him being worth more than Rantanen (though he will likely get more) and should be the top target. At the $12m range the Kings would but foolish not to take a shot at signing him. He would have more impact on the Kings than any other FA (imo).

Boesser would be a big additional as well as he would give us another goal scorer (of which we have limited supply). His skating speed isn't great, though, so he likely ends up in a Vilardi situation with the Kings. He'll probably command something around where Bennett does, but Bennett would be the more solid addition of the two. For the $8m AAV range, and if we strike out on Marner and Bennett, I think the Kings should look to lock him up.

Kuz I'd let walk unless he is willing to take a home team discount to stay with the Kings. He's great on the PP but I don't seem him being a huge factor in the playoffs, past the first round or two, as it appears he will wear down (as the series progress his backchecking and attention to detail in the defensive zone seemed to diminish - he also seemed to get outmuscled).

I also think the Kings should consider making an offer to Matt Grzelcyk.

​

 

[DoubleMinor]

Kopi's biggest obstacle is going to be speed - will he have the speed to keep up with the game as he continues to age. That said, the guy is amazing and still has more years left in him if he wants it.

I don't see Kempe's AAV coming in at $12m. I think Kempe is great and he should get a little extra as he has been on a very team friendly contract for awhile now, but if Rantanan got $12m/AAV Kempe is probably in the $10m region.

$8m for Gav sounds right, but I expect other teams may offer him more. It'll be interesting to see how that one plays out as the Kings really can't afford to overpay as they goal needs to be to improve the roster.

Jeannot 100% needs to be brought back at a reasonable contract. He would have been a difference maker had he been healthy enough to suit up for the playoffs.

Kopi's biggest obstacle is going to be speed - will he have the speed to keep up with the game as he continues to age. That said, the guy is amazing and still has more years left in him if he wants it.

I don't see Kempe's AAV coming in at $12m. I think Kempe is great and he should get a little extra as he has been on a very team friendly contract for awhile now, but if Rantanan got $12m/AAV Kempe is probably in the $10m region.

$8m for Gav sounds right, but I expect other teams may offer him more. It'll be interesting to see how that one plays out as the Kings really can't afford to overpay as they goal needs to be to improve the roster.

Jeannot 100% needs to be brought back at a reasonable contract. He would have been a difference maker had he been healthy enough to suit up for the playoffs.

Bennett is such a hard player to price. He reminds me a lot of a Claude Lemieux - good during the regular season and a beast come playoff time. For a team like the Kings, this is a prime guy to target but what is a reasonable AAV? I put his AAV under Kempe's so maybe $8-9m? If the price is reasonable, or a slight overpay, the Kings have to go for it.

Marner I would go all-in on but again I don't see him being worth more than Rantanen (though he will likely get more) and should be the top target. At the $12m range the Kings would but foolish not to take a shot at signing him. He would have more impact on the Kings than any other FA (imo).

Boesser would be a big additional as well as he would give us another goal scorer (of which we have limited supply). His skating speed isn't great, though, so he likely ends up in a Vilardi situation with the Kings. He'll probably command something around where Bennett does, but Bennett would be the more solid addition of the two. For the $8m AAV range, and if we strike out on Marner and Bennett, I think the Kings should look to lock him up.

Kuz I'd let walk unless he is willing to take a home team discount to stay with the Kings. He's great on the PP but I don't seem him being a huge factor in the playoffs, past the first round or two, as it appears he will wear down (as the series progress his backchecking and attention to detail in the defensive zone seemed to diminish - he also seemed to get outmuscled).

I also think the Kings should consider making an offer to Matt Grzelcyk.

​

Completely agree re Kopitar. Speed is an issue moving forward, and it’s been noticeable the last couple of years.

With Kempe, I wasn’t as clear as I could have been.
I fully expect the Kings lock him up for a long while. I hope his money starts around 7.5-8 and maybe escalates to 11-12 in the later years. I suspect a cap hit of around 10 is where I think they land. Hopefully less of course (no offense).

I don’t know how well known Kempe is around the NHL. 30+ goal seasons, a great two-way game, PK &PP. I don’t know that people appreciate how good he is. With the cap going up we are going to see some big numbers for players that we aren’t used to. It will take a while for us to get accustomed to the new salary levels.

My question with Kuzmenko was whether he could produce in the playoffs. He was good the first two games when it came easy. The next two he wasn’t good at all, nearly invisible, and almost seemed uncomfortable with the playoff road environment. Final game was OK-ish.
Not sure he earned an offer. I believe he was on a 5-5 cap hit. That’s a bit much. I do keep thinking that his acquisition gave the Kings a good top line and a good PP, which they have not had in a long while. There is something of value there. But again, depends on what moves are made.

 

[DryKing]

Completely agree re Kopitar. Speed is an issue moving forward, and it’s been noticeable the last couple of years.

With Kempe, I wasn’t as clear as I could have been.
I fully expect the Kings lock him up for a long while. I hope his money starts around 7.5-8 and maybe escalates to 11-12 in the later years. I suspect a cap hit of around 10 is where I think they land. Hopefully less of course (no offense).

I don’t know how well known Kempe is around the NHL. 30+ goal seasons, a great two-way game, PK &PP. I don’t know that people appreciate how good he is. With the cap going up we are going to see some big numbers for players that we aren’t used to. It will take a while for us to get accustomed to the new salary levels.

My question with Kuzmenko was whether he could produce in the playoffs. He was good the first two games when it came easy. The next two he wasn’t good at all, nearly invisible, and almost seemed uncomfortable with the playoff road environment. Final game was OK-ish.
Not sure he earned an offer. I believe he was on a 5-5 cap hit. That’s a bit much. I do keep thinking that his acquisition gave the Kings a good top line and a good PP, which they have not had in a long while. There is something of value there. But again, depends on what moves are made.

Ah that makes sense regarding Kempe. Kempe is probably the King, currently, which gets the most amount of praise from opposing fans (many stating they wish they had him on their team). I don't know how well that translates to being well known within the league (in terms of GMs/Coaches) but I feel he is pretty well known though still a bit under the radar when it comes to media. If we were to lock up Kempe, long-term, at a $10m AAV my thought is that that would be a fair deal for both sides. Kempe has shown he is a playoff perfomer, capable of being a 40 goal scorer, adds leadership on the ice and most of all has a ton of heart. He has also been underpaid for a long time, and has shown a great deal of team loyalty. The Kings need to bring in a player to help him reach his ceiling, however, such as Marner or a great playmaker to take over once Kopi retires.

On Kuz I totally agree. I think he's a solid $4m AAV player but was not very effective come playoff time. He is also slow and small, which is not a great combo. Also I feel Turcotte provides more value at LW than he does, which leaves that position relatively full (pending a trade). That said, he makes our PP a world better and has great hockey sense in the offensive zone. Really it comes down to who the Kings are able to sign, or trade, in the offseason, and if they want to keep him aligned with Kopi for the duration of Kopi's contract as the two have worked well together. Kuz showed a williness to play both sides of the ice and committed to the D zone so bringing him back would be great if the price is right and a roster spot exists.

Next season is hopefully the season we see Kempe lined up with Byfield as they have excellent synergy together and can take advantage of both players speed. That leaves a potential spot on Kopi's line (though, again, I think the Kings are better served with alinging Turcotte to Kopi next season).