Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Kings.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Alex Laferriere – Not only has Laferriere arrived as a full-time piece for the Kings earlier than expected, but he’s likely been pencilled in as a future top-six piece long term. The 23-year-old cooled off down the stretch after a torrid start, but still saw a 25% increase in average ice time from his rookie season.
He’s shown immense promise as a playmaking right-winger, putting together a 19-23–42 scoring line in 77 games with a +22 rating in his sophomore outing. At Laferriere’s age, there’s still some room to grow, especially after seeing his points per game output jump from 0.28 to 0.55 in his rookie and sophomore seasons.
He’s owed a qualifying offer of $826,875 coming off his entry-level deal that he’ll obviously exceed, and it’s worth noting he’s a 10.2(c) RFA who’s ineligible to receive an offer sheet because he lacks the required professional experience. While he’ll obviously land a seven-figure extension, the question is if the Kings opt for a bridge deal to reserve more cap space for this summer or aim to get him signed long-term now.
Considering they have a few high-cost UFAs to retain, it might make more sense to go for a bridge deal in the $3MM-$4MM range.
Other RFAs: F Jack Studnicka, D Cole Krygier
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Vladislav Gavrikov – The Kings needed Gavrikov to play like a true top-pairing defenseman to begin the season with Drew Doughty on the shelf, and he delivered in spades. Less fortunately for them, Gavrikov’s career-best campaign came in a contract year.
The 29-year-old Russian fell just short of his career high in points but was a dominant two-way force, finishing the year with a 5-25–30 scoring line, a +26 rating, and 140 blocks while averaging a career-high 23:05 per game. Despite seeing the most defensive-zone-oriented deployment among L.A. defenders, the Kings averaged just 1.64 goals against per 60 minutes with Gavrikov on the ice at 5-on-5.
He’s the top shutdown defenseman still set to hit the market this summer and will command well north of $7MM on a max-term contract. The Kings can bring down the cap hit slightly by offering him a comparable total-value deal with an eighth year of term, something they’d likely take advantage of.
With Doughty aging and only having two years left on his contract, the Kings can ill-afford to lose Gavrikov and will likely be willing to shell out the cash they need to keep him.
F Andrei Kuzmenko – A notoriously hot-and-cold scorer over his three years in the league, Kuzmenko has already been traded three times since his arrival in the NHL in 2022, including twice this season. Los Angeles got the Dr. Jekyll version of Kuzmenko after acquiring him from the Flyers for a third-round pick.
The 29-year-old fit seamlessly on Anže Kopitar’s wing and was a lethal power-play weapon, totaling 17 points in 22 regular-season games before going point-per-game in L.A.’s first-round loss to the Oilers. Still, Kuzmenko has spent stretches in the press box during recent stops with the Canucks and Flames and shot just 13.3% this season after a raucous 27.3% finishing rate in his rookie year.
He’ll almost certainly be taking a pay cut on his previous $5.5MM cap hit as a result, but he likely boosted himself back into the $4MM range on a mid-term deal with his finish to the season. At that price, the Kings would be smart to pounce on an extension unless they feel they can confidently replace his top-line role with a big-ticket external signing.
F Tanner Jeannot – The Kings paid a second and fourth-round pick to acquire Jeannot from the Lightning last summer, just over a year after Tampa essentially gave up an entire draft class’ worth of picks to acquire the energy winger from the Predators in one of the more puzzling swaps in recent memory. The 28-year-old has scored just 20 goals in 198 games over the last three seasons following his 24-goal rookie campaign with Nashville in 2021-22, which is now a distant memory.
He’s still an incredibly physical fourth-line piece, albeit with underwhelming possession impacts, but can be a fine fit in limited minutes with some limited scoring upside. There should be some interest in his services league-wide, but it would be surprising to see him match or beat his expiring $2.665MM cap hit.
G David Rittich – Rittich’s past few seasons have been mired in inconsistency. After being one of the best backups in the league for L.A. last season, he regressed heavily to a .886 SV% in an increased workload (31 starts, three relief appearances).
His -11.4 goals saved above expected was seventh-worst in the league, according to MoneyPuck, and fourth-worst among goalies with at least 30 appearances. While he’s had good showings in limited deployment, the 32-year-old isn’t realistically a reliable tandem option, but his value this summer could be helped by a weak goalie market.
It might still make sense for L.A. to pursue a reunion given his 2023-24 performance, though, especially since prospect Erik Portillo isn’t quite ready for full-time NHL minutes after a disappointing AHL campaign.
F Trevor Lewis – The two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Kings returned for his second stint in L.A. two summers ago after three years away. He fell out of a full-time role this season, logging 60 appearances after playing in all 82 regular-season games the year before, but still managed 12 points and 100 hits while averaging 10:13 per game.
He’s played the last two years on one-way deals at or a shade above league minimum, a trend that could continue if the Kings want a familiar face to slot into the lineup if needed.
Other UFAs: F Samuel Fagemo (Group VI), F Taylor Ward, D Joseph Cecconi, D Caleb Jones, D Reilly Walsh (Group VI), G Pheonix Copley
Projected Cap Space
The Kings have just over $21.7MM in space below the $95.5MM Upper Limit, and with just a few roster spots to fill, they should be able to re-sign all of their pending free agents. If they plan to keep both Gavrikov and Kuzmenko around, though, they’ll need to make sure they go short-term with Laferriere to keep themselves in contention for some top UFA wingers like Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers. Signing Mitch Marner could still be realistic, but not with Kuzmenko taking up the chunk of change he’s projected to receive.
Image courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images (Laferriere) and Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images (Gavrikov). Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.