Between 2010 and 2015, only three teams won the Stanley Cup: the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings.
Boston had a great run with an old core and have since transitioned well into their new one led by David Pastrnak.
The great Blackhawks dynasty has been torn down for years now, with third-year Connor Bedard leading the tail end of the team’s full-on rebuild.
Photos for moneyball courtesy of @lakings on Instagram
The Kings have also changed most of the roster, but their core sit partially sits around two members of their 2014 team in Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty.
The Kings’ last series win was the 2014 Stanley Cup final. Since then, they’ve fallen in the first round six times, with the past four years all coming to the Edmonton Oilers.
The Kings’ direction has been vague for years now. Doughty’s contract is a burden, while Kopitar isn’t the player he once was.
The lack of a true star player creates an undefined core. The only definitive member of it is forward Adrian Kempe.
With Kopitar announcing before this year that this will be his final season, the Kings’ only option seems to be to bring possibly the greatest King of all time one more shot at glory.
The Olympic roster freeze began last Wednesday, meaning no moves can be made until Feb. 23. With this, a mini trade deadline ensued.
On the other side of the country, one of the league’s most disappointing teams, New York Rangers accepted the reality that a retool had become necessary, meaning the movement of older players to bring in younger players. This meant that superstar Artemi Panarin was up for grabs.
With a full no-move clause on Panarin’s contract and all the control in his hands, the leverage went to any team that he was willing to be traded to, which would turn out to be Los Angeles.
Due to this leverage, the Kings only gave up their top prospect Liam Greentree and a third-round pick which can be upgraded based on the Kings’ playoff performance.
The Kings promptly signed Panarin to a two-year, $22 million extension, meaning that for the first time in forever the Kings will have a real superstar.
The Kings sit only three points out of the playoffs due to a shallow west. Despite this, the Kings still have major problems. Los Angeles has the third-worst goals leaguewide, with the rest of the bottom eight consistent of only teams who are bottom seven in the overall standings.
Panarin can help with this, but one player will not fix everything.
Teams can still discuss potential moves over the freeze, though nothing can be finalized during this time. It is likely the Kings will begin making calls and start to figure out what to do when the window reopens.
With their franchise icon on the way out and their top prospect gone, the only real direction for the Kings is one last all-in shot at a championship. And with around $14 million in cap room come deadline day (per Puckpedia), the Kings have room for moves.
The Kings’ big offensive issue is down the middle. They’ve been forced to play Alex Laferriere, a natural winger, at center due to lack of depth with Alex Turcotte out. This is very likely to be their position of interest.
Unfortunately for the Kings, that just so happens to be the weakest position of the deadline outside of goalies.
Photos for moneyball courtesy of @lakings on Instagram
The top player remaining on the market is another Ranger in Vincent Trocheck, a veteran center with multiple years of control remaining. Due to the thin market at the position and the years left on his contract, Trocheck will come at a premium, and without Greentree there may not be anything left that the Rangers would want from Los Angeles.
Calgary Flames’ Nazem Kadri and Nashville Predators’ Steven Stamkos both have cup winning experience but sit on teams out of contention, though both carry undesirable contracts that the Kings would need to take on.
Columbus Blue Jackets’ Charlie Coyle and Boone Jenner could also be available, but these would be lower-end options than the Kings need.
Elias Pettersson of Vancouver and Robert Thomas of St Louis could provide a long-term center solution for the Kings should either waive their full clauses.
Pettersson sits on a sinking Vancouver team that is primed for a full reset and will be likely to try and shed Pettersson’s hefty deal. The problem for the Kings is that Pettersson’s failure to live up to his contract is a large part of why the Canucks have failed, a potential red flag for L.A; one that could also slash the price of acquisition.
Robert Thomas is a much more desirable pickup as the lone bright spot in a horrible Blues season. For that reason, St Louis may not even entertain offers for him. The cost of acquisition would be sky-high and potentially too much for the Kings after moving Greentree.
How much the Kings give up comes down to whether they expect a full rebuild or not after Kopitar’s departure. With a shaky roster and shakier future, something had to give.
And the Panarin move signifies that general manager Ken Holland has likely determined that sacrifice to be the future.