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Los Angeles Kings: Is It Time For More Significant Changes?

By Derian Carmichael

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 17: Jake Muzzin #6, Drew Doughty #8 and Jeff Carter #77 of the Los Angeles Kings skate back to the bench after a Kings's timeout trailing 1-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights with less than a minute in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Staples Center on April 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Golden Knights won 1-0 to sweep the series. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 17: Jake Muzzin #6, Drew Doughty #8 and Jeff Carter #77 of the Los Angeles Kings skate back to the bench after a Kings's timeout trailing 1-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights with less than a minute in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Staples Center on April 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Golden Knights won 1-0 to sweep the series. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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It might be time for the Los Angeles Kings to start making more significant changes

After being swept in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s obvious what the Los Angeles Kings must do. Blow up the team. The 2017-18 season was a bounce-back year for the Kings after missing the playoffs a year ago. This resulted in the firing of their head coach Darryl Sutter and general manager Dean Lombardi.

Los Angeles geared up for another run with its two-time Stanley Cup champion core. However, a sweep to an expansion team has slammed the Kings’ championship window shut. Moving forward, Los Angeles has no choice but to make significant roster changes.

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By overhauling management and the coach last season, the Kings Stanley Cup window remained open an additional year, but time has run out. Their core has gotten old with several key players approaching their mid-30’s. For a team that struggles to score on a regular basis, getting older is not the answer to solving their problems.

Players such as Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, Jonathan Quick, and Dion Phaneuf are each at least 32 years old. Even star center Anze Kopitar and 2014 postseason hero Alec Martinez are on the wrong side of 30.

Attempting to load up with this core roster for another run at the Stanley Cup would be a massive mistake. The Kings should look to trade any players within their core not named Kopitar or Quick for whatever they can get in return. This won’t be easy given the colossal contracts belonging to Brown, Carter, Phaneuf, and Martinez.

Brown and Carter both have four years remaining on their current deals. The former’s cap hit is $5.875 million while the latter’s is $5.272 million. Brown is coming off a bounce-back season with a career year of 61 points, making it the perfect time to attempt to move him.

Carter is coming off an injury-plagued season that saw him play only 27 games, but he still managed 22 points. Now might also be the best time to move him before he earns the reputation of being too old and injury prone.

Phaneuf and Martinez both have three years remaining on their deals with Phaneuf’s cap hit at $5.25 million (the Ottawa Senators retained part of his salary) while Martinez’s cap hit is $4 million. At 33-years old, its unlikely the Kings would be able to move the former’s contract. That said, it has been moved twice in recent years, so anything is possible. As for Martinez, at only 30-years old and a relatively low cap hit, he may become the team’s best trade chip.

Trying to clear up cap space is crucial for the Kings as Drew Doughty’s contract expires after next season. He will hit the free agent market if he doesn’t sign an extension. Doughty has made no secrets he won’t be taking a hometown discount and will receive a significant raise over his current $7 million cap hit.

If Los Angeles was truly bold, they could attempt to move Doughty this summer while trying to acquire as many assets as possible to kick-start a rebuild. If for whatever reason the Kings feel they’d be unable to re-sign him then his value will never be higher than it would be this summer. At only 28-years old, Doughty has plenty of quality seasons left to play.

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Regardless of what Los Angeles does one thing is crystal clear, they cannot return next season with the same team. The Kings have struggled to score year after year and as the team gets older the offensive issues will only get worse.

If missing the playoffs last season wasn’t rock bottom for Los Angeles’ core than being swept in the opening round of the playoffs by an expansion team certainly has to be.

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