While July 1’s opening of NHL free agency is defined for many by four words — “show me the money” — new Kings general manager Ken Holland may prefer “defense, defense, defense, defense.”
He addressed the media three times in the week leading up to Tuesday’s FA kickoff, with each session stressing a need for defensemen while revealing that it became increasingly broad and urgent.
Holland said defense was “at the top of the to-do list” and had “most of (his) focus,” all while revealing that two of the Kings’ most consistently dressed defensemen last year would not return for 2025-26.
After detailing that it didn’t seem as though Jordan Spence, who played 79 of 82 regular-season games and five of six playoff games in a reduced role, would hold his top-six spot, he traded Spence to give him a fresh start in a contract year. All the while, Holland was cognizant of the possibility that Vladislav Gavrikov, who can play either side and was voted the Kings’ top defenseman last year, could depart in free agency, a possibility that grew more salient over the weekend.
“It’s looking more and more like he’s going to go to July 1 [as a free agent],” Holland said on Saturday via teleconference. “As we all know, I would anticipate that there’ll be some players around the league that are UFA that are going to sign between now and Monday. I’m not sure if Gavrikov is one or if he’s not. But if he’s not, then we have to obviously wade into the market and get a defenseman or two.”
Goaltending
The Kings are set with their No. 1 netminder in Darcy Kuemper, the man who arrived for a second stint in Los Angeles with a cape on his back and a season where he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, ready to unfurl. While he cleansed the Kings’ palette of some of the bitterness from their failed Pierre-Luc Dubois acquisition, Kuemper is 35 and had two stints on IR last year, meaning the Kings could be on the trail of a veteran backup to split duties with Kuemper.
There have been several rumblings that the Kings could be in the market for another veteran goalie to play behind Kuemper. Their in-house options are limited, with David Rittich being an underperforming, pending unrestricted free agent (Holland said he’d maintained communication with Rittich’s agent, Craig Oster), Erik Portillo sustaining a back injury last year and Pheonix Copley being re-signed as a No. 3 option.
Ubiquitous hockey maven Pierre LeBrun mentioned that the Kings could have interest in New Jersey’s Jake Allen, though he may be coveted for a larger role by another team. It’s a thin goalie market in terms of starters, but finding a backup may be quite feasible.
Forward
Trade deadline acquisition Andrei Kuzmenko is a pending UFA and could return on a short-term deal, which was the preference of both team and player, Holland said on Wednesday. Alex Laferriere is the only notable RFA for the Kings, but his lack of arbitration rights makes that a leveraged situation for Holland in the short run.
The biggest fish in the free-agent sea is Toronto’s Mitch Marner, who joined the late Johnny Gaudreau and Artemi Panarin among the most elite forwards to hit the free-agent market this decade. Marner rivals their offensive capacity while bringing much more on the other side of the puck. His well-roundedness, combined with the escalating cap ceiling, will make his payday bigger than either Gaudreau’s or Panarin’s. Though the Vegas Golden Knights have emerged as a front-runner for his services, the Kings were also reported to have made an offer for his negotiating rights on Saturday. Holland declined to comment on the report later that afternoon.
Veteran Brad Marchand intrigued the Kings at the trade deadline, but he ended up in Florida as a major contributor to the Panthers’ second consecutive Stanley Cup. There could be some other possibilities in both the FA and trade markets, but filling two top-six defense spots, including one high in the lineup, could force them to consider mid-priced options, with Kuzmenko being the foremost among them.
Defense
Not only do the Kings likely have a pair of holes to fill on defense, but outside of workhorse Mikey Anderson, they’ve got question marks in their existing personnel. Drew Doughty is coming off his second serious injury in the past four years, a broken ankle that cost him over 50 games last season. Joel Edmundson has always been an injury risk despite playing a career-high number of games in 2024-25, his first campaign as a King. In trading Spence, they may have moved out a stylistic fit, in the eyes of coaches Jim Hiller and D.J. Smith, but replacing him with another right defenseman of comparable quality will be extremely difficult for the same $1.5 million.
Similarly, few if any options on the free-agent market could match the versatility, stalwartness or overall impact of Gavrikov. Right defenseman Aaron Ekblad has come down to the wire in negotiations with defending champion Florida (as has Marchand), but won’t for sure be available Tuesday, and will be quite costly if he does hit the open market.
There are mid-level options as well, though Gavrikov was well above the league median and Spence performed very effectively for a third-pairing rearguard. Another Panther, left defenseman Nate Schmidt, who made just $800,000 last year but exceeded the expectations of his show-me deal, could be in the mix, as could right defenseman Cody Ceci, whom Holland signed in Edmonton and spent last season split between San Jose and Dallas.