Kings trade defenseman Jordan Spence to Ottawa

The Kings have traded defenseman Jordan Spence to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for the 67th overall pick in this year’s draft and a sixth-rounder next year, both teams announced Saturday.

The Kings turned around and traded pick 67 to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick (originally owned by the Dallas Stars) and No.125 in this year’s draft.

It was an unceremonious end to the 24-year-old Spence’s Kings tenure after he redeemed the 2019 draft class, which was supposed to be a banner year for the Kings. Instead, Spence’s selection in the fourth round was the best pick they made by far, as he matured into a regular who averaged 75 games played over the past two campaigns.

He posted 52 points in 150 games, earning mostly third-pairing minutes and some stints on the second power-play unit. After the 2023-24 season, he spoke of “knowing (his) value” and signed a two-year deal that put him on a path to 2026 free agency. He also posted outstanding underlying numbers in terms of expected goals for percentage in particular, and now he’ll take his talents north of the border to the nation’s capital.

A major reason the Kings were moving on from Spence, despite struggling to find defensive depth last season and potentially losing a top blue-liner in Vladislav Gavrikov, seemed to be trust. In the first-round playoff series loss to Edmonton, Spence was scratched for one game and effectively shelved for the other five despite being in uniform.

“I wish I were able to contribute more in the playoffs. It was unfortunate for me to just kind of sit there and not be able to be on the ice,” Spence said during his exit interview. “There was more to bring that I could probably have done in the playoffs, but we move on.”

While the men who made that decision, Coach Jim Hiller and assistant D.J. Smith, remained with the Kings after a first-round fold that joined the 1993 Stanley Cup Final in franchise ignominy, a new general manager had the chance to appraise Spence.

Veteran executive Ken Holland recognized Spence’s fine regular season but acknowledged that Spence did not “want to go backwards” in his career or responsibilities. Holland said Wednesday he would have to thoroughly evaluate Spence’s status, and clearly made his decision by Saturday.

“If he’s not in the lineup every night, I think he’d like to be somewhere where he could be in the lineup every night,” Holland said.

Ottawa’s big-ticket rearguards Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot both play the left side, leaving Spence to compete with Artem Zub, Nick Jensen and possibly prospect Carter Yakemchuk for minutes. For the Kings, Drew Doughty, Brandt Clarke and Kyle Burroughs are now their three NHL-experienced righties under contract, though Gavrikov effectively manned his off side last season in Doughty’s absence.