In today’s edition of ’32 Thoughts’ on Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman spoke briefly about the Los Angeles Kings’ priority leading up to the trade deadline. Friedman unsurprisingly shared that the Kings’ are engaged in the markets for right-handed scoring forwards.
The news is unsurprising for a few reasons. The Kings have a lethargic offense, especially for a playoff-bound team. Out of every team positioned in a divisional playoff spot, Los Angeles has the lowest goals-for-per-game, powerplay percentage, and shots-on-goal amount.
They also lack handedness diversity among forwards. Of the nine Kings’ forwards with 10 or more points on the year, winger Alex Laferriere is the only right-handed shot.
It’s unlikely Los Angeles would be willing to move Anže Kopitar or Quinton Byfield out of their roles as top-six centers, indicating the Kings will move toward the market for right-handed wings. Furthermore, with cap space being a limiting factor, Los Angeles should find themselves in the rental market.
Those assumed components narrow down the field of available wingers. Kyle Palmieri of the New York Islanders, Joel Armia of the Montreal Canadiens, and Justin Brazeau of the Boston Bruins are the only pending unrestricted free agents right-handed wingers with double-digit or more goals not on teams currently holding onto a playoff spot.
Palmieri should be the ideal candidate given he’s only one year removed from scoring 30 goals and has moderate playoff experience. If the Kings acquired Palmieri today, he would become their third-highest goal scorer and rank sixth in shots on goal.
The other two have scored 10 goals each this year and would cost less than Palmieri. Still, after being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of three straight playoffs, Los Angeles may want to target more of a game-changing talent.