{"id":562799,"date":"2026-04-29T20:27:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T20:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/562799\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T20:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T20:27:13","slug":"kings-notes-doughty-kempe-clarke-kuemper-edmundson-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/562799\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Notes: Doughty, Kempe, Clarke, Kuemper, Edmundson \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Mike Meyer<\/a> |
\n at April 29, 2026 2:03 pm <\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Kings<\/a>\u2019 season came to an abrupt and disappointing end this week following a four-game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche<\/a>. As players gathered for exit interviews, the focus shifted from a frustrating postseason to an offseason filled with contract questions and health updates.<\/p>\n

Veteran defenseman Drew Doughty<\/a> is entering the final year of his contract. While he remains the face of the Kings\u2019 blueline, he admitted that discussions regarding an extension have not yet begun. Despite recording 23 points in 72 games, Doughty was candid about his own performance, stating it \u201cwasn\u2019t as good as it needed to be.\u201d However, his desire to remain a \u201cKing for Life\u201d hasn\u2019t wavered. \u201cI want to stay here,\u201d Doughty said<\/a>. \u201cIf they approach me to get something done, I\u2019m going to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional Notes:<\/p>\n

Forward Adrian Kempe<\/a> shed light on the lower-body injury that hampered him in late March, revealing it was a foot injury that impacted his play for about five or six games. While it bothered him during the regular-season stretch, Kempe insisted<\/a> it \u201cdidn\u2019t really affect\u201d him by the time the playoffs began.
\nDefenseman Brandt Clarke<\/a> is a pending restricted free agent. Clarke, who emerged as a reliable top-four option with 31 points in 82 games this season, confirmed that while talks occurred during the year, both sides tabled them to focus on the playoff push. \u201cI love Los Angeles. I love my teammates,\u201d Clarke noted<\/a>. \u201cI want to lock myself in and be part of this core.\u201d
\nGoaltender Darcy Kuemper<\/a> is coming off a heavy workload, appearing in 50 games this season with a 2.78 GAA and .891 SV%. When asked about representing Team Canada at the upcoming World Championships, Kuemper remained non-committal, stating he is currently uncertain about attending.\u00a0\u00a0
\nDespite the sweep, veteran defenseman Joel Edmundson<\/a>\u2014who is in the middle of a four-year deal<\/a>\u2014emphasized that the locker room remains tight-knit. \u201cI love this team,\u201d Edmundson said<\/a>. \u201cWe all love each other and care for each other\u2026 that\u2019s going to pay off in the long run. It gets us excited for the next couple years.\u201d With several key pieces nearing free agency and a core that struggled to find its footing against Colorado, the Kings\u2019 front office now faces a pivotal summer to ensure that the \u201cnext couple years\u201d Edmundson referenced lead to a deeper playoff run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Mike Meyer | at April 29, 2026 2:03 pm The Los Angeles Kings\u2019 season came to an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[366,884,368,883,5,6586,145,4],"class_list":["post-562799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-adrian-kempe","tag-brandt-clarke","tag-darcy-kuemper","tag-drew-doughty","tag-hockey","tag-joel-edmundson","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-nhl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116489882432539378","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}