An early look at a potential 2021-22 LA Kings opening night roster
It might seem a little too early to think about a potential LA Kings 2021-22 opening night roster, but here’s why it matters.
Time flies when you’re having fun, and for LA Kings fans, this season has been more fun than expected. The team was supposed to be one more season away from contending for the playoffs. However, here we are halfway through this season, and they are still in a fight for a playoff spot – although playing the Vegas Golden Knights and the St. Louis Blues five times over the next two weeks may determine their playoff fate either way.
This season’s trade deadline of April 12th is fast approaching. The LA Kings are not expected to be buyers. Still, if the next couple of weeks do not go so well, there is potential for the team to become sellers – with names like Alex Iafallo, Andreas Athanasiou, and franchise icon Jonathan Quick creeping into the rumor mill.
It should be noted that Athanasiou is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, and Iafallo will enter unrestricted free agency – even though reports indicate the Kings are very interested in bringing him back. Keep in mind, the Kings will lose one player in the expansion draft this offseason as well.
With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at what the LA Kings 2021-22 opening night roster could look like.
Part one – the forwards
With the contracts they will already have in place, here’s how the LA Kings forward lines could look on the Opening Night of 2021-22.
Open – Kopitar – Brown
Kempe – Vilardi – Frk
Open – Byfield – Carter
Grundstrom – JAD – Wagner
The first name that jumps out here is Quinton Byfield. Byfield will be only 19 years old, so if the Kings send him back to the OHL this season, they will have the same dilemma next season – as he will not be eligible for the AHL due to his age.
He is projected to eventually take over for Anze Kopitar as the team’s number one center, but easing him as the third line center here makes sense. For Byfield to spend next season in the OHL will do nothing for his development, so expect to see him taking the ice at the STAPLES Center come October.
Now for the open spots.
As previously stated, it looks like the LA Kings want Alex Iafallo back. Barring any offseason moves (more on that later), as it stands right now, he would slide back into his LW1 spot should he get a new contract.
The LW3 open spot gets a little trickier. If the Kings re-sign Andreas Athanasiou, the job is his to lose. If he is traded at the deadline, that spot will most likely become an in-house battle between Lias Andersson, Samuel Fagemo, Rasmus Kapari, and Arthur Kalyiev.
A potential battle is also brewing at the RW4 spot. Austin Wagner is penciled into that spot as he is currently under contract. Pending RFA Trevor Moore has performed well in that spot this season, and if he is re-signed, he will be given every chance to keep his spot. Fellow pending RFA Matt Luff would also be in the mix should he re-sign with the LA Kings.
Part two: the defense and goaltending
The defense pairs and goaltending are a bit more clear than the forwards.
Anderson – Doughty
Bjornfot – open
Maatta – Walker
MacDermid
RFA’s: Matt Roy, Kale Clague, Austin Strand, Jacob Moverare
UFA: Daniel Brickley
Wildcards: Sean Durzi and Cole Hults (both are waiver exempt).
Let’s be clear, the open spot on the right side of the second pair is not really open. The LA Kings will re-sign Matt Roy, and he will go back to his spot on the second pair.
Outside of losing Olli Maatta or Kurtis MacDermid to the expansion draft, trade, or waivers, there will not be any other spots open, as all of the rest of the current defense corps outside of Roy is under contract for next season.
Kings general manager Rob Blake has made it clear that he wants a young, dynamic left defenseman. If he makes a deal to get one this offseason, of course, these pairings will end up looking different – and it will be for the better.
The goaltenders are the simplest category to predict of the three. If Jonathan Quick is not traded at the deadline or claimed by Seattle, next season’s goaltending tandem will consist of him and Cal Petersen. If Quick is traded or claimed, it will be Matt Villalta, Jacob Ingham, or (most likely) a free agent backing up Cal Petersen – who will end up with the lion’s share of the starts.
Part three: the conclusion
The LA Kings will go into this offseason with approximately $25 million in cap space available, with only Iafallo, Athanasiou, and Roy as their remaining free agents expected to fetch at least $3 million AAV with their new contracts.
With the team’s biggest needs being an offensive-minded left defenseman and a first-line left-wing, the team has the cap space to get both – what’s available will determine how they go about acquiring them.
The top left defense unrestricted free agents that project will be available are Alexander Edler, Marc Staal, Alex Goligoski, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Alec Martinez. While all are fine players and many LA Kings fans would welcome Martinez back with open arms, none of these players fit the bill of “young, dynamic, left defenseman.”
That need will have to be filled via trade.
The top-line left wing is a different story. If the Kings decide against filling this void in-house, several high-profile unrestricted free agents could be available. Names like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, Mike Hoffman, Jaden Schwartz, Kyle Palmieri, Gabriel Landeskog, and Alex Ovechkin (although it’s unlikely at least the last two will be available) do not have contracts for next season yet.
Next. Fagemo should be next prospect to debut. dark
At some point through next season, the LA Kings will have to figure out how to #playthekids as well. Most of them will probably start the season in Ontario, but they need to be integrated into the big club if the Kings plan to ride their prospects back to Stanley Cup contention.
The roster at the end of next season will, of course, could look different from the one at the start of the season – just how different remains to be seen.