McDavid… Matthews?: Kings Clearing Space for “Superstud LA-Type” Signing

Whether it’s Quinton Byfield or now Brandt Clark, at some point, the next wave in Los Angeles has to drive the bus for a Kings team that’s still trying to hang around in a tough Western Conference. This was something pointed out by Elliotte Friedman, who suggested the Kings are keeping the decks clear for a huge swing and their current guys need to step up until the “superstud” arrives.

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Friedman said, “So my theory here is that the Kings are trying to keep maximum flexibility so they can take a big swing at an L.A.-type move whenever it becomes available to them — that superstud addition. It’s like the Lakers: they went from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to drafting Magic Johnson, to trading for Shaquille O’Neal, acquiring Kobe Bryant, and then bringing in LeBron James. They make those big L.A.-style moves.”

Friedman argued the Kings didn’t go all-in this year because he didn’t think one of those moves was there. So instead, they’re plugging the gaps. If you look at the contracts coming off — guys like Corey Perry, Mats Zuccarello, and even Drew Doughty after next year — plus their goaltending situation, if someone big becomes available next summer, they’ll have all sorts of flexibility to make that move.

“So I think that’s how they approached this offseason. There wasn’t anyone worth blowing open the bank vault for, so they’ll plug the holes and see what they can do,” Friedman said.

Until they get the chance to take their big swing, the NHL insider said the Kings are basically “dollar in, dollar out”. One area they definitely need to improve is special teams. Last year, they were 28th on the penalty kill and 30th on the power play. You just can’t win in this league like that. Outside of that, they’ll tread water until a huge name becomes available.

Does that mean the Kings are ready to spend big on the open market, potentially signing the first $20-plus million player in the NHL? This is the kind of thing the Kings have done before. They grabbed Wayne Gretzky and it changed their franchise forever. Would offering McDavid $25 million per season get him out of Edmonton and into LA?

Friedman believes a big swing is coming, similar to when they went after Artemi Panarin — they were willing to spend big on the right player. But beyond that, I think they looked at the market and said, “Is there anyone else worth throwing a ton of money at?” If not, they’ll patch things up and wait until someone who is worth it becomes available.

Who becomes available? In a year from now, we could have a better idea.

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