Among the biggest questions remaining this offseason for general manager Ken Holland and the Los Angeles Kings is finding the answer to who will be the franchise's next No. 1 center.
One option for the Kings going into this upcoming season at the center position is to have the faith and expectation that Quinton Byfield will make that big leap to become the glue with the first-line forward group.
If the Kings do decide to pursue another top-six center after Anze Kopitar's retirement this offseason, they'll probably need to create additional cap flexibility first. The Kings only have roughly $2 million in salary cap room remaining after free agency this summer.
Los Angeles Kings may need to move salary before making another significant trade this summer
Here are three possible trade candidates for the Kings who could help free up cap space for a bigger trade this offseason.
Joel Edmundson, D
If the Kings want to make additional moves to free up cap space this offseason, many of the candidates with decent cap hits but pretty movable contracts are on the blue line on defense. The physical and proven 6-foot-5 defenseman Joel Edmundson is a good example of a Kings player on the blue line who could be an asset in potential trade discussions this offseason.
As will be a common theme on this list, Edmundson has a pretty movable contract without being too much of a cap anchor. He's paid roughly $3.9 million in average annual value for the life of his remaining contract through the end of the 2027-28 season.
Since the Kings could want to add more depth on the blue line and continue to get younger and developing defensemen, like Brandt Clarke, moving Edmundson could be a possible route to create more meaningful cap flexibility without completely shaking up the defensive core this offseason.
While Edmundson does have a no movement clause with 10 teams on his no-trade list, that's still a pretty flexible situation hypothetically to work with on the trade block this offseason for the Kings' front office. At 33 years old, a 10-team no-trade list is pretty common for bottom-four veteran defensemen like Edmundson.
Add us as a preferred source on Google