EL SEGUNDO, CA–The time is certainly now, as it already had been before.
A similar narrative to last year, and potentially the year before, the Los Angeles Kings of 2025-26 have shifted their General Manager to Hall of Famer Ken Holland in an ‘all in’ move despite the most sour result they’ve acquired in similar outcomes the last four seasons. Though his reputation precedes him, Holland certainly is not being brought in to develop a team to contend in 4-5 seasons as it is to contend now despite some roster designs and players that have left a bitter taste in even the most casual Kings fan.
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Holland is here to put the pedal to the metal.
His track record of success is undeniable and after our conversations with him, we were clearly convinced he was the right person for us at this time. He has the experience to lead us on the proper path that will help us win now.
– Luc Robitaille, on hiring Ken Holland.
My question is, being that Holland is going to be aggressive in this win-now mode, what does this mean for top prospect Liam Greentree and that first-round pick in the draft?
Greentree has become somewhat of a polarizing figure for LA, as he now represents the peak figure in a mostly shallow prospect pool. He had a dominant season in his third year in the OHL, posting 119 points in 64 games (49g-70a, +55), finishing with the third most points in the OHL. He already has pro size, and he’s gotten better each year. If Holland is aggressive, does Greentree represent a solid trade chip, or do you let him marinate for a season or two while the Kings are all in?
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I have difficulty seeing Holland disposing of what might remain of legitimate value in their prospect pool. Sure, some quality goaltending prospects are coming up, but only Taro cards and shamans can predict the future of a goaltending prospect. Outside their goaltending pipeline, the other lists are about as bleak as they were before Rob Blake took over.
So, if Greentree stays put, where does he play next year? Greentree would have to sit on the hope that Trevor Lewis will move on to play a retirement season with another team. He would also have to beat out Akil Thomas, who is now knocking on the door of no longer being a youthful prospect by NHL standards (26 years of age during next season) and has yet to be a regular NHL’er despite draft pedigree and prior WJC hype.
With these two players being cast aside, and Greentree an intriguing prospect, Holland should still consider resigning Tanner Jeannot, a player with a skillset and physical ability that is mostly absent on the roster. There is potential for a fourth-line option for Greentree with Jeannot and Samuel Helenius to be an effective gritty line. Still, it may cause difficulties for that flower to blossom at the NHL level while tethered to the bottom six.
Greentree will most likely be with Ontario, especially with the organization’s willingness to assign him there once his herculean effort was all for naught with Windsor in the OHL Playoffs (14g-10p in 11gp). He might not be an option for next season, but I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if he got a call-up within the next few seasons, being part of the mix for 2026-2027 to be a starter. This isn’t a player who is going to be a regular next season to propel the Kings towards mission execution.
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Holland should not dispense with Greentree at the draft, he just might be a wildcard impact player two seasons from now.
Now, the first-round pick for the Kings. Holland has had some first-round pick movements throughout his longstanding NHL career in management. He first did so in 1999 with Anders Eriksson and the 1999 first-round pick sent for Chris Chelios. Then again in 2003 (Sean Avery, Maxim Kuznetsov for Mathieu Scheider in LA). He used a first-round pick in 2012 to get Kyle Quincey out of Tampa, which was eventually used to get Andrei Vasilevskiy (ouch). And finally, two times he used the pick as trade value in Edmonton, once moving up in the draft and the other getting Mattias Ekholm, who might have some say in the Oiler’s Stanley Cup aspirations.
There’s history there for Holland, who has shown more than adept skill at leveraging his top draft asset but also some tremor along the way.
Considering names like Sam Bennett and Mitch Marner potentially becoming big-name free agents and the fact the Kings are already rumored to be in pursuit, the draft should go down as status quo. It might be safer to assume the first-round pick should manifest into an actual player this season, with the Kings pivoted more to making noise on free agents rather than contracted players elsewhere and the overall depth of the current Kings’ pipeline.
With Holland inserted and this win-now window the Kings feel they are in, I wouldn’t leave anything off the table for Greentree and the first-round pick. The draft should be used to strengthen and grow the barren pipeline, shifting the cards in the playing deck for use after the free agent frenzy. The Kings are prepping to go into 2025-2026 after bolstering their roster, loading up for actual damage, and that just might entail shedding assets for ready-now-elite talent.
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Will he sacrifice the long term for now or stay the course while monitoring the rocking of the waves?
We are in for a unique offseason in LA.