Throughout the franchise's history, the Los Angeles Kings have lost notable players in NHL expansion drafts, including defensemen Sean O'Donnell to the Minnesota Wild in 2000 and Brayden McNabb to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.
Even though there currently aren't any official plans for the NHL to expand beyond 32 teams, a recent mock expansion draft from The Athletic explored some potential ideas of what another expansion process could look like if a 33rd franchise eventually entered the league. And in this exercise, the Kings lost speedy winger Trevor Moore.
The Southern California native and longtime Kings' veteran winger Moore would be picked in this expansion draft because of the utility he would give this hypothetical 33rd team with his versatility in the middle six forward group.
Why Trevor Moore would be an attractive expansion draft selection
Moore is a proven penalty killer on special teams and has shown to be a very serviceable player on both sides of the ice for the Kings in this past few years. He's also a versatile enough piece in the roster lineup that he can be moved throughout the forward group in different roles and still hold his own on the ice.
The fact of the matter is in this hypothetical situation that Moore would check most boxes that a hypothetical expansion team would look for in this draft, including an affordable contract, proven NHL production, and versatility.
That said, would it be the right move for the Kings in this hypothetical situation to protect Moore instead of making him available in this expansion mock draft?
The biggest obstacle for Moore is probably the Kings' forward depth. Players like Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin, Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, Mikey Anderson, and potentially even Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere would likely take up most of the available protection slots, leaving Moore as one of the more appealing exposed forwards.
A combination of age and forward depth would probably leave Moore on the outside of the protected ilst in this hypothetical expansion mock draft for the Kings. However, that doesn't mean that losing Moore wouldn't hurt the Kings.
He brings valuable speed, forechecking, versatility, and penalty killing for the Kings, along with a hometown connection as a Thousand Oaks native. That's not easy to replace, especially when you consider that Moore is on a pretty team-friendly contract.
Another NHL expansion draft is purely hypothetical for the Kings right now. Yet, if the league decides to eventually grow beyond 32 teams, Moore is likely the exact type of player who could become one of the toughest exposure decisions for the Kings' front office.
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