Do the LA Kings need more defensive depth?

Solution number two: The LA Kings explore the free agent wire

For teams in the NHL, this would be a very difficult proposition due to cap restraints, but not the LA Kings. With over $10 million in cap space available, the team could sign virtually anyone on the planet that was available. The problem is, the market is very thin for available right defensemen.

In an interesting twist, on Sunday, the New York Rangers placed right defenseman Tony DeAngelo on waivers. After registering 53 points and posting a +12 last season, the team signed him to a two-year contract extension this off-season with an AAV of $4.8 million.

Will the LA Kings put a claim in on him? The team could certainly afford his cap hit.

DeAngelo would be an upgrade offensively over Alt or Clague (for right now). The problem with DeAngelo is he is having a terrible start to this season, and he is also one of the most polarizing players in the league. At this point, it’s unlikely management would want to bring in a potential headache to solve a temporary problem.

DeAngelo is the highest-profile defenseman to become available, but he certainly isn’t the only one out there. Veteran Ron Hainsey played last season for the Ottawa Senators but did re-sign with the team in the offseason. The 39-year-old right defenseman put up 12 points in 64 games but had an impressive +10 on a last-place team. If he is still looking to play, Hainsey could be a very attractive depth piece which the Kings could get on a reasonable one-year contract to get them through this current storm.

Another free agent option for LA could be Karl Alzner. The 31-year-old played last season for the Montreal Canadiens, who wound up buying out his contract. The wrinkle in signing Alzner is he is a natural left defenseman, but like Hainsey, he could be a very good depth piece on defense for the Kings for the rest of this season.