While dramatic improvement on the ice is never a certainty, the Kings clearly catapulted themselves in terms of front-office transparency, with new general manager Ken Holland covering the draft, free agency and well beyond during a lengthy media session on Wednesday.
Here are the main takeaways from his nearly 40-minute Q&A session.
Defense first
Holland said that the defense corps was his top priority, with pending unrestricted free agent Vladislav Gavrikov being foremost among his personnel matters. Though outgoing GM Rob Blake had expressed considerable confidence in re-signing Gavrikov, it appears he will hit the open market when free agency kicks off on July 1 or, at a minimum, his negotiations will come down to the wire.
“Rob Blake had made an offer, and I went beyond that offer, and so now we are continuing to talk, and I think I made another offer, so we’ll see,” Holland said.
Gavrikov will headline the market for left-handed-shooting defensemen and possibly for blue-liners of any type. When asked if duration or compensation was the holdup, Holland said there was no dispute over the term.
“Probably dollars. We’re prepared to do a long-term deal. Rob Blake offered a deal, and I extended it,” he said.
Though Holland had numerous talks with Gavrikov’s new agent, Pat Brisson, and said they effectively had until Monday to reach an agreement, he didn’t rule out trading Gavrikov’s negotiating rights at this weekend’s draft if negotiations didn’t appear promising.
Spence and Jeannot seeking larger roles
Unrestricted free agent winger Tanner Jeannot was valued for his “heaviness” and “hardness,” Holland said, but ultimately found a home on the fourth line before a season-ending injury shelved him through the playoffs. He would like an expanded role next season, and Holland implied that it probably isn’t there for him with the Kings.
Defenseman Jordan Spence is entering a contract year. While he was healthy for the playoffs, he might as well have been sidelined given that he was scratched for a game and saw a precipitous drop in ice time from the regular season in the other five contests. Holland said Spence did not ask for a trade, but he did make it clear he wanted a consistent role and to not “go backwards in his career.”
“He’d like to be here, but he wants to play. He’d like to be in the lineup every night,” Holland said. “He’s 24 years old, so 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. That’s part of what we have to decide between now and Tuesday [when free agency opens].”
Up front and in goal
Holland said he was confident that restricted free agent winger Alex Laferriere would re-up on a fair, short-term deal, confirming the obvious that a bridge-type contract length made the most sense for the organization when negotiating with the non-arbitration-eligible Laferriere.
Less certain but still promising seemed to be unrestricted free agent Andrei Kuzmenko. Kuzmenko reinvigorated his career after his arrival at the trade deadline last season and liked the situation very much. Though there are plenty of moving components – Gavrikov’s status and the potential to sign a top forward from the open market, for openers – Kuzmenko might return, albeit with a limited commitment from both sides.
“I’d like a shorter term and I think they’d like a shorter term,” Holland said of Kuzmenko and his agent, Craig Oster. “He’s hoping to, wherever he might be, use the next opportunity to really establish himself.”
Holland added that he was looking for a top-nine forward over the summer and that the fourth line would also be an emphasis.
“I’ve got to try to figure out a fourth line that maybe the coach wants to put out there a little bit more,” Holland said, referring to Jim Hiller’s reluctance to play his fourth line during the postseason.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper was a Vezina Trophy finalist last season, but he’s also 35 with a moderately concerning injury history. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the Kings were looking for a veteran backup to support Kuemper, and Holland said he had considered that possibility in addition to staying in touch with Oster, who is also pending UFA goalie David Rittich’s representative.
Are big swings afoot?
Holland previously said that he was unconstrained in pursuing a big-ticket player, especially in free agency. The Kings and Ducks are among the short list of teams linked to Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, a 100-point scorer who has finished high in the Selke voting as a winger and is just 28.
There was a cautious hedge – “We have a lot of cap space, but it doesn’t take much before it’s gone” – but when asked if that meant he was shying away from a potential splurge, Holland summarily rejected the inference.
“No, I didn’t say that,” he said.
A refill of Juice?
Adrian “Juice” Kempe will be eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1. Kempe tied for the team lead in goals (35) last season and paced the Kings in points (73).
Holland was confident an extension would be hammered out this summer, but he said the draft and free agency had to take precedence. Even so, he said he’d already begun the extension process in earnest.
“I met with (Kempe’s agent) J.P. Barry in Buffalo at the combine. I just told him we want to sign him to an extension. We’re gonna probably get to it sometime after July 1,” Holland said. “I’m not gonna trade him, he loves it here, he wants to be here and we want to keep him.”
Will the captain stay aboard?
This is the final season of Anže Kopitar’s contract and based on multiple comments the Slovenian icon has made, it might well be his very last NHL campaign. Kopitar will turn 38 this summer, and despite losing speed he has remained a highly effective two-way player.
Holland said any discussion with Kopitar would be different than some players who were considering re-signing, retiring or moving on to another team, because Kopitar is “a guy that’s either gonna be an L.A. King or he’s not gonna play at all.”
“My hope is that we have a great year and he’s having so much fun that he wants to keep on doing it,” Holland said.