Jonathan Quick (or any backup goalie)
The final player is one that really wasn't rumored at all to be available at the NHL Trade Deadline in goalie Jonathan Quick. The fact that he signed a contract extension with the Rangers through the 2025-26 season is another indication that they were not looking to move him.
For the Kings, it would have made perfect sense to bring back the greatest goalie in franchise history with David Rittich's struggles and Darcy Kuemper being on injured reserve twice earlier this season. He could have been a solid addition to address a potential major weakness depending on how the remainder of the season goes.
If Quick wasn't available, the Kings should have been on the market for a backup goalie and been a little more aggressive. Rittich has really struggled as of late, allowing three or more goals in five of the past seven starts with a 2-3-2 record. The two wins that the Kings won when Rittich started he allowed nine goals in those games.
There is no questions that adding a goalie is usually the one position that does the best in terms of trade value and teams usually have to offer a little more. However, this is the one position that has the greatest possibility of derailing the Kings playoff hopes and having a solid backup would have made a lot of sense.