Math is hard, or so the saying goes.
And things aren’t getting any easier for LA Kings management this week.
While GM Rob Blake was able to swing a seismic trade on Tuesday – designed to improve the club’s performance on ice – their salary cap situation remains a major work in progress.
Following the acquisition of 6-foot-4 center Pierre-Luc Dubois from Winnipeg, Blake is projected to have less than $300k to work with. This clearly isn’t enough; considering, at a minimum, he needs to still add a goalie to the club’s roster. They aren’t planning on starting the season with Pheonix Copley and Erik Portillo. Even if they were, though, there currently isn’t enough cap space to even add Portillo.
Clearly, some work remains for Blake and his LA management team. Despite shedding the contracts of Cal Petersen, Alex Iafallo, and Sean Durzi this month, there’s still more to be done.
From a purely mathematical perspective, Blake Lizotte would be the most obvious candidate in consideration at this point when looking for places to find some additional cap space. While his spot in the lineup at 4C could be taken by Jaret Anderson-Dolan, it’s difficult for any player to replace the energy and tenacity Lizotte brings to every shift.
If Lizotte was moved in a deal and replaced by another forward on a league minimum contract, the ‘savings’ would still only leave the Kings about $1M to add a goalie. Also note, this would mean the Kings had just 13 forwards on the roster. That isn’t impossible to work with, just not ideal.
Another option here would be to move Copley and add Portillo in that spot. That at least frees up a few hundred thousand more to add to the goalie pool. Still, that’s not a lot of money to spend on a goalie.
We’ve mentioned previously, in theory, the Copley contract could be easy to move after July 1 because the Kings will be paying half of the contract in a bonus payment. Thus, starting next week, the contract is a good one for teams looking to hit the salary cap floor (and/or for teams not up against the cap) because Copley’s deal adds $1.5M to the cap, while only costing $750K in actual cash.
Blake struck gold with Phil Danault two summers ago and did it again with Keven Fiala last summer. Will Dubois make him 3-for-3? That won’t be known for several more months. It was definitely another big summer roster swing. Just don’t put those calculators away quite yet. Things appear to be just getting started.
More on the Dubois trade details and LA’s situation with various RFAs can be found at the links below.
In other #GoKingsGo
news…Goalie Matt Vilalta and forward Aidan Dudas are not expected to receive qualifying offers (making them unrestricted free agents in a few days).
Hearing plans for Zack MacEwen will be finalized in next 48 hours.
More here https://t.co/mnhxgwqPjO pic.twitter.com/z0wMho9Ek9
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) June 27, 2023
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Kings GM Rob Blake Breaks Down the Dubois Trade, Why Him and Why Now
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Mayor, I love Lizzotte. He grew up 40 miles from hometown. That being said trade him. His size is the issue. I just watch him get plowed over all the time by defensemen. He recovers quickly, but teams with speed are already gone. I don’t know which goalie Blake is going after, but for sure it will be a good one. Expect draft picks for Lizzotte. And then paired with a forward in another trade. Looks like a four million goalie. Who might that be?
This is poor planning, and Blake shedding players for salary cap space is stupid AF, especially when adding the absurd contract of PLD (don’t even get me started about his output last year vs the 3 players he replaces – 4 if you count Durzi who’s draft pick return was thrown in). And I do not get the problem with Copley, who saved the season. 24-6-3 and .902 ain’t so bad – Quick was 11-13-4 and Korpisalo was 7-3-1. Gonna listen to KOTP for the latest, but I don’t expect there to be any absolution for Blake in there.
I know it is every year you have to trade, I know, there are times when I don’t agree with you. Martinez, Jack Johnson, Jeff Carter.
That Doughty contract is uglier and uglier each season. Unfortunately, the player is a shell of the former All Star but is being paid like he impacts the game on a Makar like level. That deal is going to hurt big time for four more seasons. As far as other cap options, I don’t know how Blake can’t consider moving Arvi and his hit to shore up the goalie issue but then you’re now down 3 regulars again (Lardo and PLD cancel out) and aside from Fagemo, nobody else is ready to step up.
As good as the top end is, the 4th line is rough looking and there is still nobody besides Copper between the pipes. I don’t envy Blake’s “mathing” right now.
looks to me like arvidsson maybe on his way out possibly ? i do think 3 players ans a draft pick was 1 player to many in our package sent to winn.