2026-27 Off Season Thread

[PuckinUgly57]

Maybe the Kings can fleece him much the same as Blake was in the past.

Yo Sheista, hear you're having a potential problem with Matthews. We have this guy, great motor, USNDT winner with Boldy and Caufield on his line, 5OA pick named Alex Turcotte...

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Matthews OTB lol

TO in the toilet, front office suspect, nothing like winning the draft lottery for an O6 franchise to cure it all.

What a sham.

 

[LAKINGSFAN]

Yo Sheista, hear you're having a potential problem with Matthews. We have this guy, great motor, USNDT winner with Boldy and Caufield on his line, 5OA pick named Alex Turcotte...

I saw a reel of two TO podcasters saying they he wants to go to the Kings. I dont know how old the video was but basically saying that TO has zero leverage since Matthews has a NMC and can choose where he wants to go. If he only wants to go to the Kings then we have all the cards on what to to or not to give up.
Saw them also mentioning how Matthews, Tkachuk and posible Hellebuyck may all be leaving Canada. Dont remember their names though.

 

[Kings4OT]

I like Matthews just fine, but he is fragile. I know LA is going to mortgage the future even more for this next season. The rebuild is screwed for years anyway so the stupid contracts are moot IMO. The problem is if your trading the future for now, those retarded contracts like Ceci hinder that.....cant move him, cant use him and win. Move assets for something like Thomas that will still be an asset after next seasons failure....

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I saw a reel of two TO podcasters saying they he wants to go to the Kings. I dont know how old the video was but basically saying that TO has zero leverage since Matthews has a NMC and can choose where he wants to go. If he only wants to go to the Kings then we have all the cards on what to to or not to give up.
Saw them also mentioning how Matthews, Tkachuk and posible Hellebuyck may all be leaving Canada. Dont remember their names though.

If that's the case that would a no brainer for LA, conceivably they could pull a Panarin and get him for below what a normal trade would be. Panarin went for peanuts because he held all the leverage (Greentree/conditional 3rd became 2nd 2026 because Kings qualified for the POs/4th 2028), my offer to TO would be Turcotte/1st 2028/30% salary retention putting Matthews at $9.275M for the next two years. Maybe add in one of the goalie or D prospects if needed.

I can see Matthews and Hellebuyck wanting out but not Tkachuk.

 

[PuckinUgly57]

I like Matthews just fine, but he is fragile. I know LA is going to mortgage the future even more for this next season. The rebuild is screwed for years anyway so the stupid contracts are moot IMO. The problem is if your trading the future for now, those retarded contracts like Ceci hinder that.....cant move him, cant use him and win. Move assets for something like Thomas that will still be an asset after next seasons failure....

Apparently the Sabers had a deal at the TDL for Thomas but Buffalo refused to include Josh Norris.

I highly doubt that would be a one for one swap so it must have been a good package. Not sure what LA has to offer if Josh Norris was a throw in.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Cap is going up another $8.5 mil. The comments are saying it because it's true. Some truly awful looking contracts are coming this off-season

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Cap is going up another $8.5 mil. The comments are saying it because it's true. Some truly awful looking contracts are coming this off-season

Somehow Holly will give Peepee a raise even though NHL contracts can't be restructured...

 

[PuckinUgly57]

TA, Scott Wheeler and his first round draft pick predictions. He's one of the more reliable sources when it comes to prospects:

17. Los Angeles Kings: Ilia Morozov, C, Miami (NCAA)

The Kings’ pool desperately needs a skilled forward, and so I wonder about guys like Elton Hermansson, Nikita Klepov and JP Hurlbert here. But the second tier of centers is going to go quickly in this range, and Morozov would give them a future middle-six C they can be confident is going to help them.

I wonder about Lin here, too, if he’s still around. Their need for a forward doesn’t preclude them from taking a D, and their pool doesn’t have one anything like Lin. I could see the Kings liking Jack Hextall, too, and while this might be a little early for him, centers have a way of going fast.

Another center, shocker.

 

[Kings4OT]

Another NOT center, shocker.

Fify

 

[PuckinUgly57]

TA, what they learned about the 8 teams eliminated in the first round:

Los Angeles Kings

Safe is death

To the Kings’ credit, management did try to address its offensive woes. The team probably would have looked a lot different with Kevin Fiala and Artemi Panarin in the lineup at the same time. The Fiala injury situation was completely out of L.A.’s hands and just terrible luck.

But that Panarin trade doesn’t erase the team’s missteps to that point, like the decision to run it back with Jim Hiller despite last postseason’s failures. It doesn’t take away all of Ken Holland’s one-dimensional signings that made the blue line older and slower with Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, while trading away Jordan Spence.

Holland didn’t build the Kings’ foundation or core. But in Year 1 of his tenure, he didn’t do enough to change what was broken, either. He leaned further into it, and it unsurprisingly burned L.A. It landed them in the worst possible playoff position for a Round 1 matchup against an even deeper and dynamic opponent. And it ended the Kings’ playoff hopes even quicker than years past. That’s why the Round 1 lesson is the same for L.A. two years in a row.

As on-brand as this direction was for an old-school GM like Holland, he of all people should have some understanding of what’s gone wrong for the Kings in the past, seeing as he was on the other side of three of those four Round 1 eliminations to the Oilers.

Definitely tracks, Kings hockey for you.[/i]

 

[Kings4OT]

$100 says they target Malkin

 

[PuckinUgly57]

$100 says they target Malkin

He wants to play, Pittsburgh or not. Would be right in line for the age frame of this team, in two years whether the Kings want to or not they will be rebuilding because everyone will age out. They will have no choice.

Personally I think he is a dickbag but he at least a) doesn't cost assets and b) fills the 1C slot while this franchise goes down in flames.

One year $6.5 million. Reevaluate summer 2027.

 

[histkng23]

NHL Draft Rankings 2026 - Draft Center

List and rankings of all top prospects eligible for the 2026 NHL Entry Draft

www.eliteprospects.com

Elite Prospects Draft Centre, has a myriad of top lists from various prognosticators.

Personally, I feel the Kings should focus on building up their D pipeline again, since Bowlby refused to acknowledge that branch of the team...

They've got 3-4 goalie prospects, they've shot their load too many times on forwards and missed (in the top 2 rounds at least), and I feel the D Core is seriously lacking anyone, might need to go heavy on selecting defensemen for this draft...imo

*** And NOOO Pillow Fighters (aka "Highly Skilled") players, need a couple guys with some grit, nastiness & size, that know how to actually protect the paint!!!

 

[davnlaguna]

Wife saw this old news story and said “wasn’t he a king”

Ex-NHLer Ilya Kovalchuk Reportedly Drives Like An Absolute Lunatic

Former NHLer Ilya Kovalchuk is now in his retirement years after spending the last few seasons of his pro career playing in the KHL, but it seems like we know what the goal-scorer

www.outkick.com

REPORT: Ilya Kovalchuk driving infractions in last year and a half:

Kovalchuk was caught for speeding (115 times), driving on the shoulder or not complying with the requirements of signs and markings (46 times) and illegal parking (24 times)