Salary Cap Deep Dive: Los Angeles Kings

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Pacific Division, next up is the Kings.

Los Angeles Kings

Current Cap Hit: $90,180,114 (above the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Brandt Clarke (two years, $863K)
F Alex Laferriere (one year, $875K)

Potential Bonuses
Clarke: $850K

Laferriere had a solid rookie season last year while spending a lot of time in the bottom six.  This year, he’s playing a little higher in the lineup and has responded by being one of their leading point-getters.  If that holds, his bridge deal (a long-term pact would be surprising) should run past $3MM per season at a minimum, potentially higher if he stays at his current pace.

After spending most of last season in the minors, Clarke is now a regular and an important part of the back end in Los Angeles.  He’s already putting up solid offensive numbers and that should continue which will only push his next contract higher.  A bridge agreement could be trending toward starting with a four if this holds while a longer-term pact could climb closer to $7MM.  Bonus-wise, Clarke has four ‘A’ bonuses in his deal at $212.5K apiece and at his current pace, he could have a shot at all four of them (assists, points, ATOI, and blocks).

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

D Andreas Englund ($1MM, UFA)
D Vladislav Gavrikov ($5.875MM, UFA)
F Tanner Jeannot ($2.65MM, UFA)
D Caleb Jones ($775K, UFA)
F Arthur Kaliyev ($825K, RFA)
F Andre Lee ($775K, RFA)
F Trevor Lewis ($800K, UFA)
G David Rittich ($1MM, UFA)

Jeannot was acquired from Tampa Bay over the offseason with the hope a change of scenery could re-spark his offensive game.  That hasn’t happened early on as he has spent some time on the fourth line.  At this point, there’s a possibility that he’s heading for a pay cut; while his 24-goal, 41-point season was only a few years ago, that looks like the outlier and teams might not want to pay up for that.  Kaliyev wanted a trade over the summer but one never materialized so he settled for a low-cost one-year deal and then was injured in training camp.  If there isn’t a trade to be found once he returns, Kaliyev could be a non-tender candidate in the summer where he’d likely have to settle for another low-cost deal in this range.

Lewis has been on a one-year deal around this price tag for five straight years now and remains a capable fourth liner.  If he wants to keep playing (he turns 38 in January), he should be able to continue that streak.  Lee is holding his own on the fourth line in his first taste of NHL action.  It’s likely that his next contract should be around the minimum but he could have a shot at a one-way agreement.

Gavrikov took an interesting approach in free agency two years ago, electing to sign an early extension to remain with Los Angeles but opting for a short-term agreement to allow him to hit the open market in a more favorable environment.  His offensive production hasn’t returned to the peak level he had in Columbus which will limit his upside to a point.  That said, he could make a case to land this much or slightly more on a long-term agreement, if not even a max-term one.  With several blueliners from this class already off the market, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gavrikov wait this out a little longer to see if a dwindling market could help up his asking price.

Englund played a regular role on the third pairing last season but playing time has been harder to come by this time around.  He’s someone who might best fit in a seventh role so while another one-way contract could come his way, it might have to come in slightly lower than this one.  Jones spent time in the minors last season, leading to a two-way deal this time around.  With very limited playing time so far, he doesn’t seem to be trending toward beating that by much next summer.

Rittich did rather well after being recalled early last season but opted to take this deal in May over testing the open market.  He hasn’t fared as well early on this year, however.  Even so, he’s likely still in the higher-end third-string option or lower-end backup tier which should get him another deal in this range.

Signed Through 2025-26

D Kyle Burroughs ($1.1MM, UFA)
F Adrian Kempe ($5.5MM, UFA)
F Anze Kopitar ($7MM, UFA)
D Jordan Spence ($1.5MM, RFA)
F Akil Thomas ($775K, RFA)

This is the first season of Kopitar’s cheaper deal after making $10MM per season on the last agreement.  It’s supposed to reflect what should be a smaller role but that hasn’t been the case early in 2024-25 as he’s still an all-situations top-line center.  Now 37, there’s some risk in terms of his age but the early returns on this contract demonstrate this could wind up as a team-friendly agreement.  Another deal, if there is one, will likely reflect the expected lighter workload as well at that time.

Kempe turned the corner offensively in 2021-22 and hasn’t looked back since then, becoming a legitimate top-line threat.  While his days of playing center are numbered which won’t help his case on the open market, he’s still positioning himself for a new deal that starts with a seven or possibly even an eight on a long-term pact.  Thomas, meanwhile, is still getting his feet wet at the NHL level.  He has some runway to develop and if all goes well, he should push past $1MM at least next time out.

Spence is playing on his bridge deal, one that’s slightly back-loaded and carries a $1.7MM qualifying offer.  With Clarke taking on a bigger role offensively, that’s going to cut into Spence’s numbers potentially but as a right-shot player with some offensive upside, doubling the qualifying offer could still be possible.  As for Burroughs, he’s in a similar situation as Englund, someone who may be best served in a reserve role.  Accordingly, a small cut might be needed here as well.

Signed Through 2026-27

F Phillip Danault ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Drew Doughty ($11MM, UFA)
F Warren Foegele ($3.5MM, UFA)
G Darcy Kuemper ($5.25MM, UFA)
F Alex Turcotte ($775K, RFA)

Danault has shown a bit more offensively since coming to the Kings and has played with more consistency on that front, making him a quality second-line option for them thus far.  If he can stay around the 50-point range, he could beat this price tag by a bit in 2027 but if his production slows, his next deal could look a fair bit like this one.

Foegele picked the right time for a career year last season as that helped him land this contract in free agency.  If he can stay around 20 goals consistently, they’ll do alright with this one while he’d be in line for a small raise.  That said, 20 goals is the outlier at this point of his career (though he’s off to a good start this season on that front).  Turcotte took a rare three-year deal at the minimum, guaranteeing himself a one-way salary in the last two seasons.  That gives him and the Kings plenty of time to see if he’s just a late-bloomer or a lottery selection likely to be viewed in the bust category.  At the moment, when healthy, he’s primarily in a bottom-six role.  If that kept up over the course of the deal, he could plausibly command a seven-figure salary next time out.

When healthy, Doughty is still a legitimate all-situations number one defenseman.  Price-wise, the deal holds up a little better now compared to when it was first signed as a record-breaker.  Having said that, this is still on the high side, especially for a player with a lot of hard minutes under his belt and now two significant injuries in recent years.  That swings the valuation of this deal back into negative territory (although his current injury has given them short-term LTIR flexibility if nothing else).  Doughty will be entering his age-38 year on his next contract.  Like Kopitar, there’s a very good chance the price tag at that time will be lowered by a few million per season to reflect his age and the possibility for a sharper decline at that time.

Kuemper was brought in as their new starter while shedding the Pierre-Luc Dubois contract that didn’t go well in its first year.  Factoring in what they paid to get Dubois, the sequence of trades isn’t the prettiest but he gives them some stability between the pipes they haven’t had lately.  He’ll be 37 when his next contract starts so this price tag might be as high as it gets.

Signed Through 2027-28 Or Longer

D Michael Anderson ($4.125MM through 2030-31)
F Quinton Byfield ($6.25MM through 2028-29)
D Joel Edmundson ($3.85MM through 2027-28)
F Kevin Fiala ($7.875MM through 2028-29)
F Trevor Moore ($4.2MM through 2027-28)

While who they traded to get Fiala (Brock Faber and a first-round pick) will loom large to a point, Fiala has largely been as advertised in Los Angeles, surpassing the 70-point mark in each of his first two years.  That’s top-line production at a pretty fair price from a valuation standpoint; it’s neither team-friendly nor player-friendly.  If he stays in that territory production-wise, a small raise could come his way next time around, albeit on a shorter-term deal.

The Kings surprisingly opted for this deal with Byfield over the summer, one that only gave them one extra year of club control.  While it kept the price tag lower than it might have been otherwise, it also walks him to unrestricted free agency at 26 in his prime.  If Byfield emerges as a consistent top liner by then, he will be well-positioned to earn several million more per season on a max-term agreement.  Moore had a breakout year in 2023-24, reaching 31 goals and 57 assists, making the first year of this deal a team-friendly one.  Even if he goes back into the 40-point range where he was previously (or played at that pace), they’ll have at least a fair-market contract.  He could be on track for a raise of a million or so on another medium-term deal in 2028.

Anderson is one of the more underrated defensemen in the NHL.  He’s not a big point producer but is a strong defender and can log heavy minutes.  He’s currently second on the Kings in ATOI and while that will go to third when Doughty returns, having a second or third blueliner making this money is good value.  The fact it’s their longest contract on the books at that price point makes it even better.  Edmundson, on the other hand, is a much riskier contract.  When healthy, he’s a second-pairing player and the money for that role is fine.  But with a long, extensive track record of injuries, it’s unrealistic for them to project he’ll stay in the lineup for most of this contract.  That could come back to hurt them down the road.

Buyouts

None

Salary Cap Recapture

F Mike Richards ($700K in 2024-25, $600K from 2025-26 through 2028-29)

Retained Salary Transactions

D Ivan Provorov ($2.025MM in 2024-25)

Best Value: (non-entry-level) Anderson
Worst Value: Doughty

Looking Ahead

Once Doughty returns, the Kings can get back below the $88MM mark without much difficulty though it will result in them needing to shorten their roster to get there.  But even with that, they’re going to have a hard time accruing cap space; whatever they do bank will probably be needed for injury-related recalls as the season goes on.  In essence, they’ll be a money-in, money-out team for any in-season transactions.

With a little over $70MM in commitments for 2025-26, GM Rob Blake should have some wiggle room even though Gavrikov will need a fairly substantial commitment and Laferriere will get a nice raise as well.  However, they can either add a few depth options to add more balance to the lineup or take a good chunk of the remaining money to try to add an impact player and then continue to round out the group with minimum-salaried players.  Either way, some flexibility is coming.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.