Latest on Kings Situation With Trade Deadline Approaching, Including Iafallo Updates

With the NHL Trade Deadline less than 48 hours away, there isn’t an ominous dark cloud hanging over the Kings, as there was the past few years.

Heading into Monday, here is where things stand…

Sure, there could be a deal made for Jonathan Quick — and let’s not discount the emotional trauma such a trade would raise in Los Angeles — it’s not very likely the veteran goaltender will be changing addresses. Any deal for the two-time Stanley Cup champion would likely require a goalie coming back in return, to meet requirements for the upcoming Seattle Expansion Draft.

From a contract standpoint, Jeff Carter likely has more value to a team trying to reach the salary cap floor than a contending team. Although his cap hit is $5.3M, the actual cash hit is only $2M this season and next. At 36 years old, and a proven winner who is still capable of producing offensively, he’s exactly the type of player contending teams look to add at this time of year — as a rental. The fact Carter has one more year remaining on his contract could make it challenging to move him, though.

Dustin Brown? We’ve long maintained we just don’t see GM Rob Blake moving Dustin Brown. And nothing has changed to make us think any differently.

Andreas Athanasiou has had a nice rebound year in LA and a few teams have shown interest. However, the 26-year-old center will be a Restricted Free Agent this summer. Thus, the urgency isn’t there to force the Kings into action. Any action with AA will largely be driven by how much other teams are willing to offer in return. If he stays, he’s proven to be a solid, depth addition to a Kings lineup that will only be getting younger over the next few years. We’d expect the Kings and Athanasiou to agree to a two-year deal if one is reached in the coming days.

Statistically speaking, Adrian Kempe is having his best season.

Kempe's goal tonight was his 13th of the season, by far his most productive year…

2017-18, 16 G in 81 GP (.20 G/GP)
2019-19, 12 G in 81 GP (.15 G/GP)
2019-20, 11 G in 69 GP (.16 G/GP)
2020-21, 13 G in 38 GP (.34 G/GP)

— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) April 8, 2021

He’s also on a steal of a contract at $2M AAV for one more season. And not not that dissimilar to where the Kings were once upon a time, nearly every contending team in the NHL is up against the salary cap ceiling. Thus, a player like Kempe — productive, yet inexpensive compared to similar guys — should be extremely attractive to those teams. Will they offer up enough to convince the Kings to part with him? We’d say there’s less than a 50% chance. Even if one assumes the Kings are out of the playoff conversation this season, next year’s roster can’t be a handful of guys in their mid-30s, surrounded by rookies. The team needs players in the middle, ones with some NHL experience under their belts.

Which is also why all roads lead to Alex Iafallo.

We discussed this in detail on the latest Kings Of The Podcast episode linked below. In short, Iafallo is said to be looking for around $5M per season, with at least a four-year term. That is a very rich contract if you project out that he’ll most likely be the Kings third line left wing in two years time.

All the more reason why Iafallo at 5M AAV in LA just doesn't make sense to me.

Don't misunderstand. Iafallo will be great as Kings LW2 or LW3 (more likely) in two seasons. Just not at 5M. https://t.co/7l6R1PwVhb

— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) April 8, 2021

That’s easy to say, sure. Now paint the road to get there. LA is already short on offensive firepower from the left side — which is part of the reason he’s been able to play LW1 for so long. If they trade Iafallo, who takes his role for next season?

To put it mildly, somebody is going to need to blink here. Either the Kings are going to have to overpay to keep him, knowing they have few replacement options. Or, Iafallo’s camp is going to have to back down a little, accepting that while he’s a fine player (and one the Kings can certainly use), he’s not a legitimate LW1 and needs to be paid accordingly.

In our opinion, from the LA side, $5M should only be considered on a two-year bridge deal. That probably won’t work for the player’s camp. If they’re looking for more term, $4M x 3 could be the sweet spot.

As of right now, we don’t believe any Kings players will be held out of tonight’s lineup for trade purposes.

For a deeper dive into decisions facing the Kings as they head into Monday’s Trade Deadline, see below for a link to our preview, where we discuss the status of every LA roster player and a handful of the team’s top prospects.

RELATED CONTENT:

Kings Of The Podcast: S2, E28 – Trade Deadline Preview, plus guest Mark Seidel

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