2025-26 Off Season Thread

[LAKINGSFAN]

If LA is a destination that players don't want to go to, then we will have to overpay to bring in top talent? That would put us in a different predicament being salary cap again.

 

[xis]

I feel the opposite with Canes. RBD is well liked as coach and hes even a hard ass. Owner supports the team. They seem to have fun as an organization similar to Vegas. Grabrikov probably weighted staying vs playing with Panarin and it seems like not much to keep him in LA. Ive said it to the point of you guys rolling your eyes...but I dont feel a winning team, ya they got point and a lot of them but I think that is still more of other teams not developing as fast as I thought along with Van imploding. We also had the luxury of a 35 y/o goalie have his best year ever....won a lot of 1g games i think. Kings had a good window 10 years ago and i said then they were blowing it on bad cap decisions and that also might factor where a player goes...not always. Plus having a bunch of buddies run the team isnt attractive either, I want a real front office where people are held accountable, ...I cant be the only one

We are agreeing way to much lately? What did you spike my punch with, dude?
Yeah absolutely agree. What I'll add to that is when Voynov decided to play punch bag with his wife things started to go in a downward sprial. Before that back in 2015 you had Richards and Stoll both getting caught with drugs in the same year. Richards got his contract terminated and If i'm not mistaken the kings are still taking a small cap hit on that. Stuff like this lead the team bringing in life coaches and the pussyfacation of the franchise started. Maybe I'm overstating it but a franchise is more than just drafting, signing and trading for players. I've been saying it for years they suck at developing and the "good o'l boys club" attitude they have is toxic.


Example:

Manon Rheaume
The LA Kings have hired Manon Rheaume as a Hockey Operations/Prospect Advisor. Rheaume will work alongside executives within the hockey operations department in multiple areas, with a focus on prospect development. She will report to Director of Player Personnel, Nelson Emerson.

What the **** does this person do exactly?

I couldn't find the article but after the Voynov deal they brought someone in for some Kum ba yah stuff seemed off to me at the time.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

I personally like Carolina too, but I'm saying what has happened has been that players don't want to go there. They traded a ton to get Jake Guentzel, and then he walked for nothing immediately. Then they traded for Rantanen, and Rantanen made is super clear he wasn't resigning there. So they didn't want to lose another major guy, especially after giving up a ton again, so they shipped him to Dallas for Stankoven and whatever they could get.

They actually had a really nice retool with making the conference finals again despite their good cap situation. But they did get smoked again, and barely won a game. Hopefully Ehlers gives them some scoring depth they've desperately been looking for forever.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

We are agreeing way to much lately? What did you spike my punch with, dude?
Yeah absolutely agree. What I'll add to that is when Voynov decided to play punch bag with his wife things started to go in a downward sprial. Before that back in 2015 you had Richards and Stoll both getting caught with drugs in the same year. Richards got his contract terminated and If i'm not mistaken the kings are still taking a small cap hit on that. Stuff like this lead the team bringing in life coaches and the pussyfacation of the franchise started. Maybe I'm overstating it but a franchise is more than just drafting, signing and trading for players. I've been saying it for years they suck at developing and the "good o'l boys club" attitude they have is toxic.


Example:

Manon Rheaume
The LA Kings have hired Manon Rheaume as a Hockey Operations/Prospect Advisor. Rheaume will work alongside executives within the hockey operations department in multiple areas, with a focus on prospect development. She will report to Director of Player Personnel, Nelson Emerson.

What the **** does this person do exactly?

I couldn't find the article but after the Voynov deal they brought someone in for some Kum ba yah stuff seemed off to me at the time.

If this was more major hockey market, that documentary would already be made. People forget that Doughty was with Stoll and bunch of other guys at that pool party in Vegas. I'm convinced Stoll took the hit for the group. You're going to tell me a bunch of Kings were partying in Vegas, and only one of them had drugs, and has enough to get in trouble like that? I think it was at Wet Republic too, which it's sort of hard to get in trouble in Vegas, especially if you're dropping money. They must have been belligerent or something. Voynov obviously kicking the shit out of his girlfriend, who he ends up marrying anyway by the way. So much of her testimony was poorly translated if I remember correctly. Then Richards getting caught at the Canadian border with drugs, of all places. I'm sure I'm missing something, but those were definitely the hits.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

What sucks as much as these horrible signings, is that next free agent market is absolutely loaded. So the Kings screwed themselves (potentially) this summer overpaying, but also removing their options next summer. And Kempe and Lafferiere are still in like for new deals (Lafferiere this summer, Kempe next). I guess we'll know for sure about how bad this culture is if Kempe doesn't lock in a deal to stay.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

The worst contracts signed in 2025 NHL free agency so far

Too much money, too much term and sometimes both dominate this list of contracts that teams will regret sooner rather than later.

www.dailyfaceoff.com

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Last post on this. Maybe it just works out for LA in the end. Who knows.

But basically saying end of 22-23, they had Doughty, Anderson, Gavrikov, Durzi, Walker, Roy as their 6 defensemen.

 

[CaptHowdy00]

Kings fans spent 20 seasons jeering Corey Perry — will they cheer the ‘Worm’ now?

The Kings also reshaped their blue line on Tuesday by adding Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin.

www.nytimes.com

Questions come with Corey Perry’s signing of a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

They aren’t questions about Perry’s game at this seemingly endless late stage of his trophy-laden career. And yes, after a successful 14-year run with the Anaheim Ducks, Perry now joins his sixth team in seven seasons, still in search of an elusive second Stanley Cup ring to pair with the one he won in 2007 with the Ducks. He reached the Stanley Cup Final (and lost) in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025, which is becoming a bad running joke.
With Perry, you know what you’re getting. He will hover around the net and rile up goalies. He lives in the tough spaces on the ice, the spots that many other players don’t want to go. Of course, he’s 40 years old and has no speed in his game. That wasn’t a problem when he starred with the Ducks, and it wasn’t one last season with the Edmonton Oilers, where he thrived with Connor McDavid and scored 10 times in another long playoff run.

The Kings, and their general manager Ken Holland — Perry’s former boss in Edmonton — know what they’re getting. What the irritating, productive winger brings might be exactly what they need. But these are the real questions that come with Perry’s return to Southern California:

Can Ducks fans stomach Perry wearing a Kings jersey?

Can Kings fans stomach Perry wearing a Kings jersey?

Might both fan bases find a common ground in hatred?

Will Kings fans be able to set aside 20 years of enmity if he’s finishing plays at the net and occupying attention to free up things for his linemates?

It was easier to be indifferent about Perry when he was with the Dallas Stars, the Montreal Canadiens, the Tampa Bay Lightning, or even the Chicago Blackhawks — in that brief stint that ended with Perry being released because of what the team called “conduct that is unacceptable.” Maybe the hatred returned when Perry then landed with the Oilers, but he was playing way up north in Edmonton. Some land far, far away.

That’s the thing about Perry. You love him. More likely, you hate him. Even if he has plenty of hardware, including the Hart Trophy in 2011.

“I’m just going to let my play speak and go from there,” Perry said Tuesday, knowing he’d get a question about winning over the Kings’ faithful. “Obviously, I’ve had many battles against L.A. The fans were passionate and hard. It’s exciting when you see that. Now I got to get them on my side and hopefully we can do that early.”
Perry’s contract is worth up to $4 million with bonuses. The Kings spent freely on Tuesday, at least after the New York Rangers gave Vladislav Gavrikov the long contract (seven years) that the Kings weren’t comfortable giving to the 29-year-old shutdown defenseman.
To address losing Gavrikov and trading Jordan Spence, the Kings spent a combined $30 million on Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin to fill those holes on each side of the defense. In Ceci and Dumoulin, they got two defense-minded blueliners, instead of one shutdown force, at a fraction of the total cost and years. And their spree also included a serious upgrade of the fourth line with Joel Armia (two years, $2.5 million AAV) and Perry.

The Kings also signed goalie Anton Forsberg, who played regularly the last four years with the Ottawa Senators, to back up Darcy Kuemper. But the defense was the focus for Holland, other than taking a shot at Mitch Marner. It remains to be seen how the Kings’ usually stout defense will look in October.

“Well, I think it makes it different,” Holland said. “We believe it’s going to be better. Obviously, Gavrikov was really important here, especially on the penalty kill. That’s what Cody Ceci has done. Did it in Edmonton, did it in Dallas. Did it in San Jose. Brian Dumoulin’s the same. He can kill penalties. Brian Dumoulin can play left defense. Can play right defense.

“With the growth of Brandt Clarke, another year older, a healthy Drew Doughty — we obviously saw Mikey Anderson and (Joel) Edmundson could do last year — we feel we’ve got six deep. … Dumoulin and Ceci are both big guys. They can defend and make some passes.”

Ceci, who should fit on the third pairing as Clarke steps up in a top-four role, said his familiarity with Holland was a selling point.

“Always helps to have a familiar face around,” he said. “Kenny brought me into Edmonton. We had some deep runs together. That was definitely a factor that played into it.”
With Perry, there is no avoiding the irony. Whether it was scoring a big goal during his blistering 2011 late-season run to the Hart Trophy or filling up Jeff Carter’s glove with water or getting under the skin of Jonathan Quick, the winger with the “Worm” nickname was front and center in so many Kings-Ducks battles. Their first and only playoff meeting in 2014 put SoCal hockey on the front page.
Now, Perry is “on the other side of it,” and noted how much has changed for the Ducks since they bought out his contract in 2019, which started his well-travelled second act in his storied career. But he’s been impressed, from a distance, with Anaheim’s rebuild, saying how tough the Ducks were to play against in a late-season game and that they’re “on the rise.”

Perhaps the Freeway Faceoff just got some much-needed juice.

“It is what it is,” Perry said. “This will be my seventh year gone. Honestly, I don’t really know anybody there anymore on the team. It’s totally changed since I’ve been there. I hope the Ducks fans can realize that I just love the game, and I just want to play and I want to win. This is another chapter.”

Could he have ever imagined playing for the Kings after such a history with their local rival?

“I’ll say no because I didn’t know where my career was going to go and how it was going to play out,” Perry said. “But at the same time, I’m excited. I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to getting going with the guys.

“I know a few of them already. I’ve played with some of them. A good friend in Drew Doughty. He called me earlier and he’s excited. You know that just gets the blood boiling. There’s some unfinished business.”

It might be coincidence that the Kings now employ three players — Perry, Ceci and Warren Foegele — who helped the Oilers eliminate them in the last four frustrating first-round series. Or there might be some design to this. If you can’t beat them, grab some guys who helped deal out some of that postseason pain.
But until McDavid one day wears black, silver and white – and we’re not saying a Wayne Gretzky redux is in the works – the Kings will settle for Perry, a once-hated foe, a devilish winner with a “Who me?” face. “I believe teams that have success, especially come playoff time, go to the blue paint hard,” Holland said. “That’s his calling card.”

“He’s a tough matchup in front of the net,” Ceci said of Perry. “I mean, he’s a big guy. He’s hard to move. He’ll be in your face and the goalie’s face. Definitely a player you want on your team. And then in the room and away from the rink, we got along pretty well.

“He’s just a great guy in the room. He’s quiet, but he says the right thing at the right time. Just when you have a guy that’s been around as long as he has, he’s got a lot of good things to say.”

Right now, Kings fans don’t have much good to say about Perry. They never have. Let’s see if he’s able to change their tune.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I'd be curious the read that. I actually think LA is world class with the facilities and little things like travel etc.

They have been pretty successful overall. Running up against Edmonton for 4 years has been a nightmare, but that seems like the playoff system. Edmonton has been to two straight finals, so they've also been working over the Central.

If Hiller wasn't a retard, they maybe had it over Edmonton this year too.

I mean, compare "losing culture" to so many other teams, and I'm not really buying it. Maybe Vegas and Edmonton of late (but very debatable) as the only two Pacific teams with better winning culture. Edmonton with a very serious tenure of being losers until very recently.

Anaheim
San Jose
Utah/Arizona
Calgary
Vancouver
Seattle

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Fourth, busy over here so I'll to to the last several posts later on but here is the TFP article. Midway down you'll read the winning culture part. At least that's what I got out of it.

LAK UFA: It’s A Matter Of Trust — The Fourth Period

Dennis Bernstein reviews the LA Kings’ active July 1, bringing in 5 free agents to deepen the roster.

www.thefourthperiod.com

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I mean, compare "losing culture" to so many other teams, and I'm not really buying it. Maybe Vegas and Edmonton of late (but very debatable) as the only two Pacific teams with better winning culture. Edmonton with a very serious tenure of being losers until very recently.

Hope everyone had a nice Fourth weekend. Back to bidness this week.

You made some great points about how the facility is great, they roll out the red carpet for new incoming players, I'm sure it's a top notch experience. But all that is is window dressing - every team does (or should) be doing that from UFAs to prospects going to DevCamp to new players traded to the team to welcoming a new draft class (take them out to a ultra nice dinner, some super expensive team bonding event or something for example - these kids are probably broke and that would be a great first impression about the franchise that just drafted you).

To me culture is far more than that, it is an emotional belief that each and every player - NHL roster or not in an organization - must believe in. That is developed over time, experience, wars won and lost together, the challenges of successes and failures in other areas, management, etc. This creates an ethos and identity of how a team is now and what it will look like in the future.

Under Blake, all of this slowly eroded over the span of 8 years. Losing became acceptable. Busted draft picks became acceptable. Moving assets for peanuts became acceptable. Getting reamed in trades became acceptable. Severely overpaying for UFAs became acceptable (although with so many UFAs not wanting to come here or players kiboshing trades and this is tied together IMO). The biggest thing, the results on the ice became acceptable. It's OK to just make it to April as opposed to making it to June.

That my friend, is nothing but a losing culture to me or at the very least a nonchalant culture. Mediocrity and unfortunately it started at the top and filtered its way down. Dumbo was a master at building this and Blake slowly killed it to where we are now.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

We are agreeing way to much lately? What did you spike my punch with, dude?
Yeah absolutely agree. What I'll add to that is when Voynov decided to play punch bag with his wife things started to go in a downward sprial. Before that back in 2015 you had Richards and Stoll both getting caught with drugs in the same year. Richards got his contract terminated and If i'm not mistaken the kings are still taking a small cap hit on that. Stuff like this lead the team bringing in life coaches and the pussyfacation of the franchise started. Maybe I'm overstating it but a franchise is more than just drafting, signing and trading for players. I've been saying it for years they suck at developing and the "good o'l boys club" attitude they have is toxic.


Example:

Manon Rheaume
The LA Kings have hired Manon Rheaume as a Hockey Operations/Prospect Advisor. Rheaume will work alongside executives within the hockey operations department in multiple areas, with a focus on prospect development. She will report to Director of Player Personnel, Nelson Emerson.

What the **** does this person do exactly?

I couldn't find the article but after the Voynov deal they brought someone in for some Kum ba yah stuff seemed off to me at the time.

Brantt Myhers was brought in as the Player Assistance Director in 2015 after the Stoll, Richards and Voynov incidents. That didn't last long, he left the Kings about a year or two later. Probably a coincidence but Blake came on as GM in 2017, wonder if he thought Myhers wasn't needed anymore.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

I would guess Bernstien would have a better idea of the goings on in the organization then me. However, lack of a winning culture seems to be a bit of a reach. Like him or not (most of us are in the NOT category), but Blake did swing for the fences on a couple of signings/trades. Making the playoffs four straight years and having a 105 point season is nothing to scoff at. Over the last four years, the least amount of points they have had is 99 twice.
How many teams lately really have a winning culture aside from the ones that have recently won cups?
Again, this is just my .02. I think there is something to Gavrikov and Panerin being good friends and wanting to play together. I think he sucks for at least not letting the Kings know so they can get somethign for him.
Why Anderson and I forgot the other who vetoed trades here is beyond me. Even with taxes, there would seem to be more options for endorsements here than other places. As stated elsewhere, NY and CA are essentially the same.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Sabres take Byram to arbitration - this means he is no longer eligible for an Offer Sheet. However, the Sabres and Byram can work out a deal or he can still be traded prior to the hearing. In team elected arbitration, the player chooses the term, either one or two years. If Byram picks two years he will become a UFA at the end of those two years and he can still be traded during the term (under the old CBA, a player could not be traded during the first year of a two year term in arbitration, obviously in a one year term they become a UFA at the end).

This ensures Byram will be in camp, but arbitration usually gets ugly since both sides present their cases for/for not and some have been downright nasty which players sometimes take as personal attacks. I'm pretty sure this is the beginning of the end of that relationship and he will not be a Sabre in two years.

The Kings are still in on him, but that would mean moving someone out - the Sabres do not want prospects or picks, they want NHL roster players. The immediate suspect is Edmundson since he, Anderson and Dumolin are clones but they just signed him and he is older. I'm sure the Sabres would want a forward off the roster too and that leads me to Laferriere which IMO would be a bad mistake.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I would guess Bernstien would have a better idea of the goings on in the organization then me. However, lack of a winning culture seems to be a bit of a reach. Like him or not (most of us are in the NOT category), but Blake did swing for the fences on a couple of signings/trades. Making the playoffs four straight years and having a 105 point season is nothing to scoff at. Over the last four years, the least amount of points they have had is 99 twice.
How many teams lately really have a winning culture aside from the ones that have recently won cups?
Again, this is just my .02. I think there is something to Gavrikov and Panerin being good friends and wanting to play together. I think he sucks for at least not letting the Kings know so they can get somethign for him.
Why Anderson and I forgot the other who vetoed trades here is beyond me. Even with taxes, there would seem to be more options for endorsements here than other places. As stated elsewhere, NY and CA are essentially the same.

Great points, but racking up 105 points, having a 2-0 series lead and blowing the next four games in a row is losing culture to me. There is no belief in the team that they would pull out of that hole from what I saw. You look at Edmonton, they got blown out plenty including by LA but always bounced back. The Panthers did too, multiple teams did even though they didn't make it to the Cup. Once the series was tied 2-2 with Edmo, LA just rolled over and died. G5 was such a microcosm of LA it's hard to fathom - biggest game of the year and they get the barn doors blown off them.

Of course Jill the stupid with his deployment and Buster the dumbass trying to be a hero played huge roles in that so there is that caveat, but over the last four years the Kings have a combined 8 wins in all four series. That's ridiculous, a single team gets that in four weeks in any given playoff season. This team does not have a killer instinct, it's that nice guy hockey I mention. This is not a nice man sport, go play golf. Oh wait, they were by May 1...

There is something off with this team mentally. They buckle under pressure and once the opposing team senses that it's over. Four years in a row is not a coincidence.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Last post on this. Maybe it just works out for LA in the end. Who knows.

But basically saying end of 22-23, they had Doughty, Anderson, Gavrikov, Durzi, Walker, Roy as their 6 defensemen.

I'd take that over what they have now minus Durzi. That guy was an idiot.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

Great points, but racking up 105 points, having a 2-0 series lead and blowing the next four games in a row is losing culture to me. There is no belief in the team that they would pull out of that hole from what I saw. You look at Edmonton, they got blown out plenty including by LA but always bounced back. The Panthers did too, multiple teams did even though they didn't make it to the Cup. Once the series was tied 2-2 with Edmo, LA just rolled over and died. G5 was such a microcosm of LA it's hard to fathom - biggest game of the year and they get the barn doors blown off them.

Of course Jill the stupid with his deployment and Buster the dumbass trying to be a hero played huge roles in that so there is that caveat, but over the last four years the Kings have a combined 8 wins in all four series. That's ridiculous, a single team gets that in four weeks in any given playoff season. This team does not have a killer instinct, it's that nice guy hockey I mention. This is not a nice man sport, go play golf. Oh wait, they were by May 1...

There is something off with this team mentally. They buckle under pressure and once the opposing team senses that it's over. Four years in a row is not a coincidence.

They still have $6m in cap space with some of that going to Laferrier. Does anyone think that he is putting this roster together in hopes to have a run at next years free agent class that has a lot more talent than this years?

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Read something this week about maybe Gavrikov just wanted to be on the top pairing and play certain amount of minutes. Which Kings are locked in on Doughty-Anderson top pairing

 

[Kings4OT]

They still have $6m in cap space with some of that going to Laferrier. Does anyone think that he is putting this roster together in hopes to have a run at next years free agent class that has a lot more talent than this years?

The way he wasted the cap tells me no....he burned it bad with contracts that nobody would want. Could have gone a much better route if targetting next year.

 

[Kings4OT]

Read something this week about maybe Gavrikov just wanted to be on the top pairing and play certain amount of minutes. Which Kings are locked in on Doughty-Anderson top pairing

Thats a tough one to take, would he play that much less than dd8?

 

[PuckinUgly57]

They still have $6m in cap space with some of that going to Laferrier. Does anyone think that he is putting this roster together in hopes to have a run at next years free agent class that has a lot more talent than this years?

My guess is Laferierre will get about $3.5-4 million on any deal he takes, term is the issue but I think he may take a two year deal and bank on himself. If he took a three year that would march himself right to UFA status (2029) which I don't think the Kings want. Taking that into account, with the cap going up to $104 million in 2026-27 the Kings are projected to have roughly $32 million in cap space a year from now.

Next summer Kopitar ($7M), Kempe ($5.5M), Kuzmenko ($4.3M), Perry ($2M plus any performances bonuses reached which he probably will during the regular season - bonuses are $500K at 10GP, $250K at 20/30/40/50 GP, $125K at a QF and CF win and $250K at a CSF win - his contract is actually worth $4 million total - the very least he will be a $3.5 million hit, not total), Burroughs ($1.1M) and Moverare ($775,000) will be UFAs. Helenius and Clarke will need new contracts being RFAs.

My guess is Kopitar is hanging them up unless Perry somehow convinces him that hey 40 year olds can play in this league so a lot of money will be freed up. But Kempe for sure is a keeper and will be paid close to $10 million IMO and most likely the only one back of that UFA group - Kopitar retires, Kuzmenko flames out. If he does succeed, he will probably go to market because I'll tell you why below in the last line.

That still leaves about $22 million in free space but then the two RFAs need new deals. Clarke absolutely needs a breakout year this season if he wants to make upwards of $5 million next summer - sorry, don't see it happening - so they'll still have money to play with but a lot of holes to fill too.

My point: Holland blowing all this money this summer really handcuffed the Kings for next year. Let's just assume all $32 million even was available, there are still 8 spots to fill at minimum including an entire first line. If Kuzmenko hits this season, and Kempe gets say $9 million, there won't be enough for a 1C and a 1LW. All they can hope for is Buster to turn into that which would really help the cap situation; a 1C at $6.25M would be a steal.

If not, they're screwed.