While most of the focus is on unrestricted free agents this summer, there is another group of free agents that are restricted free agents. These are players that theoretically could leave in free agency if another team signs them to an offer sheet and the team that has their rights don't match.
It is not very common and in fact there has been only three offer sheets signed since 2021 but two of those were this past offseason. The St. Louis Blues would sign Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to offer sheets and the Edmonton Oilers elected to not match and in return received a second and third round pick respectively in the NHL Draft.
There are several conditions that must be met for teams to sign players to offer sheets, and the most important is having the draft compensation to send to the other team if they elect not to match. These are draft picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, and it would have to be their own pick with draft compensation dependent on the offer sheet they sign the restricted free agent to.
For the Los Angeles Kings, they still have all their picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, so they in theory, could consider signing a restricted free agent to an offer sheet. While it is still unlikely the Kings are able to, it is worth exploring who might be an option to add talent to their forward lines.