The Los Angeles Kings have been struggling recently, going 3-6-2 in their last 11. The recent slide caused them to trade center Phillip Danault and now we are wondering what is next for the team. Could another move be imminent or will head coach Jim HIller be removed from his post? A lot of questions surrounding the Kings as they fall farther in the standings.
The trade of Danault to the Montreal Canadians raised some eyebrows. He played extremely well when he arrived in Los Angeles but his overall play has tapered off. he goes back to Montreal where he played from 2015-16 through 2020-21. This is a homecoming for Danault, who hails from Victoriaville, PQ, which is less than two hours from Montreal. This is a good move for Danault, who should benefit greatly from this move.
This begs the question of now what for the KIngs?
The Kings currently have $9.4 million in cap space and have some options out there. They need scoring and a center. One option for Los Angeles is to look at the Nashville Predators and where they are with forward Steven Stamkos. Nashville is also struggling and Stamkos has not looked comfortable since he arrived in Nashville. Los Angeles needs a lethal scoring weapon on the power play which needs a lot of work. The Kings still have prospects, draft picks, and salary cap room to add him but does Kings GM Ken Holland make the call?
As far as the center position that could be filled in house for the time being. With Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield as the top two centers, Alex Turcotte could slot in as the third center and Samuel Helenius could grab the fourth-line center spot. That could send them to the offseason where Holland hopefully is active to upgrade this forward group.
This Danault trade did hurt as far as forward positioning but Holland had no choice but to move him. However, this trade could end up in Montreal’s favor if Los Angeles does nothing with the open roster spot and the extra cap space. This move should have been made with other moves in place. If the Danault trade was the only trade Holland had in mind then it was a bad move.Holland needs to make a move or two to save this season as the team, and their place in the standings, is fading fast. This is not about the players. This entire roster is not playing well and moves need to be made.
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