The free agent period is now just days away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of the free agent situation in Los Angeles.
Key Restricted Free Agents: F Nick Shore – Most of the heavy lifting was done already with the three and four year deals to wingers Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson respectively which leaves Shore as the lone forward to deal with. He’s coming off his second full NHL season and set a new career high in points with 17 in 68 games while averaging just shy of 13 minutes per game. He should earn a bit of a raise from the $600K he received the last two years on his bridge deal but despite having arbitration eligibility, he’s not in a spot to command any sort of substantial salary.
D Kevin Gravel – After being predominantly a minor league defenseman in 2015-16, Gravel played his way into more of a 6/7 role with the Kings after being recalled back in November and earned increasing minutes as the season progressed. With Los Angeles losing Brayden McNabb to Vegas in the Expansion Draft while buying out Matt Greene, Gravel is in line for more of a regular role next season. He’s due a qualifying offer of the league minimum $650K but should be able to land a bit more than that on this next contract.
Other RFAs: W Justin Auger, F Jonny Brodzinski, F Andrew Crescenzi, D Paul LaDue, D Zach Leslie, D Kurtis MacDermid, F Michael Mersch
Key Unrestricted Free Agent: F Jarome Iginla – After a rough first three quarters of the season with Colorado, Iginla accepted a trade to the Kings to try to help their playoff push. While that ultimately fell short, the soon-to-be 40 year old may have restored some of his own value after he put up nine points in 19 games with LA while logging over 16 minutes a night. If he does decide to play another season, he should have interest from several teams, particularly those who are looking for a veteran who has seen it all. He will have to take a significant pay cut from the $5.33MM cap hit ($5MM salary) he had this past season. Iginla is eligible for an incentive-laden one year contract which could be of interest to some cap-strapped teams as well.
Other UFAs: F Patrick Bjorkstrand, D Vincent LoVerde, F Joel Lowry, F Teddy Purcell, D Cameron Schilling, D Rob Scuderi, D Zach Trotman
Projected Cap Space: As things stand, the Kings have just over $10MM in cap space per CapFriendly but only have 17 signed players projected to be on the opening roster. Once they re-sign Shore and Mersch, they’ll have a better sense of what they have left. New GM Rob Blake likely won’t be able to make a big splash on the open market but they should have enough flexibility to add a second tier player or two if they’re willing to spend close to the Upper Limit right away.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nick Shore? I’m sorry I have seen nothing in this guy that would make him a priority to sign