With the NHL trade deadline three weeks away, could the Kings improve their roster and, in turn, their probability of making noise in the playoffs for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup in 2014?
While the deadline is the usual boundary of demarcation for player movement in the NHL, this year’s inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off and its nearly two-week break created a sort of artificial target date that also served to extend the period of trade activity considerably.
So distinct has the timetable been this season that there’s even been murmurs that the biggest-ticket player to be moved, winger Mikko Rantanen, could be traded again, according to reports that emerged this week.
While Rantanen remained cost-prohibitive on more than one level for the Kings, they might still be able to address their biggest need, a right-handed-shooting forward who can contribute on the power play.
Rickard Rakell, Pittsburgh Penguins
Rakell tops the Pens with 25 goals, the exact same total as Kings team leader Adrian Kempe, and five of those have come on the power play. The Penguins’ desire to reconfigure their aging roster could make them sellers despite being one of seven teams sitting within six points of the final wild-card berth in the East, creating a narrow group of sellers.
At 31, the former Duck has two more seasons beyond this one left on his contract at an annual average value of $5 million. His salary in coming years should prove quite manageable with significant rises in the cap ceiling around the corner, but could require some outgoing salary or front-office gymnastics to accommodate in the short term.
Jonathan Marchessault, Nashville Predators
Last summer’s biggest buyers could be this spring’s most active sellers as Nashville’s free-agent frenzy has taken them from the right side of the playoff bubble to the bowels of the NHL this year. Marchessault was one of three prominent free agents to land in the Music City and the 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy winner could be on the move for the second time in less than a year. The Kings and Predators each had multiple scouts at each other’s matches before the break.
After notching just 12 points in his first 25 games as a Pred, Marchessault has 32 in his past 29. His 17 power-play points are four more than any King has in 2024-25. He’ll count for $5.5 million against the cap for this season and four more, at the end of which he’ll be 38. Marchessault has more than just a provincial connection to Quebecois executives Luc Robitaille and Marc Bergevin: His agent is their old chum Pat Brisson.
Dylan Cozens, Buffalo Sabres
In the third year of a seven-year contract, Cozens has seen his production plummet since his breakout campaign in 2022-23. He’s also a center by trade. However, Cozens deposited 31 goals two years ago. He also has a physical edge that the Kings and any team trying to advance in the postseason could appreciate, and, at 24, he has potential runway left. Centers whom the Sabres have discarded – Vegas’ Jack Eichel and Florida’s Sam Reinhart – have hoisted the Stanley Cup in consecutive campaigns.
Cozens earns $7.1 million against the cap, a cumbersome sum without serious salary going the other way. Vladislav Gavrikov is the Kings’ highest-paid pending unrestricted free agent, but he has played superbly this year. Moving the contract of Tanner Jeannot seems more likely, but he earned less than half of Gavrikov’s salary this season and had become the team’s protector even before Andreas Englund was lost to waivers.
Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks
Boeser not only has the highest ceiling on this list but offers a sort of dual advantage in that his acquisition would clothe a Kings killer in black and silver. Boeser, who’ll turn 28 this month, is coming off a career-best season of 40 goals last year and has a whopping 17 goals in 22 career games against the Kings.
His production has cooled some this year in Vancouver – he missed seven games after being injured by Jeannot’s illegal check to the head in November – but the Minnesota native could instantaneously step in as the Kings’ top sniper.
Vancouver still occupied a playoff spot entering the 4 Nations break, but had already parted ways with J.T. Miller as rumors continue to swirl around the pricey Elias Pettersson and pending unrestricted free agent Boeser. While the asset cost would undoubtedly be high, Boeser’s $6.65 million cap hit could be massaged downward by salary retention and the Kings would have a tidier financial situation as they looked at a potential contract extension for him.